Integrated PPM Process: Scale Development and Validation Marisa Padovani, Marly M. Carvalho ⁎ Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Received 10 March 2015; received in revised form 7 January 2016; accepted 15 January 2016 Abstract This study aims to propose and validate a structural model on project portfolio management, identifying the core processes. Moreover, this study aims to investigate the relation between project portfolio management and performance. The model is proposed and validated through a survey-based research, applying structural equation modeling. The total sample size comprises 103 valid questionnaires. The project portfolio management measurement model validated is composed by a set of 11 processes as follows: knowledge of the organizational context; opportunity identification; decision criteria; classification; selection, prioritization, optimization and sequencing; balancing; approval; resource allocation; formation of portfolio; and project portfolio management infrastructure. The findings indicate that there is a strong relationship between project portfolio management and performance. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved. Keywords: Portfolio management, Performance; Project management, Structural equation modeling 1. Introduction Project portfolio management is an emerging aspect of business management that focuses on how projects are selected, prioritized, integrated, managed and controlled in the multi-project context that exists in modern organizations (Young and Conboy, 2013). However, there is still a lack of consensus on which are the core processes of project portfolio management (PPM). Some studies have been conducted to gain a better understanding of the PPM decision processes involved in the selection, prioritization, balancing, and optimization of projects and portfolios and their alignment with strategy (Archer and Ghasemzadeh, 1999; Greiner and Fowler, 2003, Cooper et al., 1999; Lager, 2002; Jolly, 2003; Roussel et al., 1991; and PMI, 2013a). However, the current organizational environment, which is characterized by greater complexity and number of projects, high level of uncertainties, aspects involving communication, reliability of information, information technol- ogy (IT) infrastructure, and distribution of information in a global environment turn also essential for portfolio management (Artto and Dietrich, 2004; Barczak and Sultan, 2006; Salem and Mohanty, 2008; Browning, 2010; Froese, 2010; Lam et al., 2010 and Vaccaro et al., 2010; Martinsuo et al., 2014). In this context, which are the core processes in PPM? This study aims to identify the core processes on PPM. Moreover, this study aims to investigate the relation between project portfolio management and project performance. Different studies on project portfolio management have been developed to understand how the project management portfolio affects performance, receiving increasing attention as a field academic research. Various authors sustain that project portfolio management plays an important role, contributing to enable companies to continuously gain competitive advantages (Shenhar and Dvir, 2007; Dutra et al., 2014; Kaiser et al., 2015). Beringer et al. (2013) detected that project management maturity affects the intensity of engagement of portfolio-internal stakeholders and the project portfolio success. Additionally, for Patanakul (2015), the effectiveness in managing project portfolio are related to three strategic attributes:1) strategic alignment, 2) adaptability to internal ⁎ Corresponding author at: Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, trav 2, n 128, ZIP code 05508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. E-mail address: marlymc@usp.br (M.M. Carvalho). www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.01.006 0263-7863/00 © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect International Journal of Project Management 34 (2016) 627 – 642