Portfolio Development
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Portfolio Development
A portfolio is a collection of materials or processes within an organization or by an individual that show the varied skills, materials or other works. Portfolio development is particularly crucial in organizations since it helps in creating a competitive advantage. During the development of portfolios, companies and organizations need to consider some factors such as validity, reliability, legal and ethical implications. It is pertinent to consider these factors, as they will affect the company both directly and indirectly (Pietroni, 2001). Without considering these issues, the portfolio could end up costing the company instead of helping in the creation of a competitive advantage.
One of the reasons of considering the validity of a portfolio is to ensure that the portfolio is valid in terms of serving its purpose. Achievement of the goals of the portfolio is the basis for its validity. If a portfolio does not achieve its goals, then it means it is not valid and will not help the owner. Validity is crucial because it determines the extent to what a portfolio serves its purpose (Pietroni, 2001). For instance, a portfolio assessment is valid if it is able to assess or measure what it was intended. Therefore, in developing a portfolio, one has to consider its validity in terms of what extent it will achieve the desired goals and objectives.
Portfolios need to be reliable as well in order to serve their purpose. The question to ask here is whether they can be used when needed or whether they are available when they are supposed to be. Reliability determines the ability of the portfolio to serve its purposes routinely and during times of pressure and unexpected circumstances. Precisely, it guarantees that the portfolio can be used under all circumstances likely to arise within the workplace without failing any of them. Without considering reliability, it means the portfolio may serve little areas or purposes (Pietroni, 2001).
Within any industry, legal factors affect companies and the way business is conducted. The legal policies determine the rules of operating a business, meaning that one has to consider them before developing a portfolio. For instance, in financial issues, portfolio can represent the various documents showing the competencies of a company as well as skills. The law determines how some of the statements are to be presented, meaning that one has to consider the legal factors during portfolio development (Pietroni, 2001). Thus, when developing a portfolio, one has to consider legal matters since some businesses are under regulation or the law has regulations over the business one operates. It is thus crucial to consider legal issues to avoid penalties that arise for violating laws.
Finally,
it is crucial that a firm or company considers ethical implications of its
portfolio development. Ethical issues have recently been on the rise since it
concerns doing the right thing and abiding to the right morals. Ethical issues
are crucial in determining competitiveness and image of a company. People are
no longer concerned about what the company provides. Rather, they are also
concerned with how the company conducts its business in terms of moral
considerations. Some of the questions that apply in this case are such as
whether the company treats its workers right, whether it uses sustainable means
of productions and whether it is concerned with the welfare of its environment
during its production (Pietroni, 2001). Therefore, implication of a portfolio
development to ethical issues should be considered since failing to do so means
the business is not concerned with the welfare of its environment or standing
for what is right. This means that the portfolio should abide to the moral code
established within an area for purposes of harmony, since people would not want
to associate with a company that violates the moral conduct. For instance, if a
company is developing a portfolio that means production of some waste, the
question could be whether it has a good waste disposal plan that is environment
friendly. Thus, it is very important to consider ethical implications since
they are crucial in maintaining the company image (Pietroni, 2001).
Reference
Pietroni, R. (2001). The Toolbox for Portfolio Development: A Practical Guide for the Primary Healthcare Team. New Jersey, N.J: Radcliffe Publishing.