Portfolio management aligns projects and programs with organizational strategy. Which of the following is usually not considered a primary goal of portfolio management?

Introduction / Context:
Portfolio management is a discipline that focuses on selecting and managing a collection of projects and programs to achieve strategic business objectives. It is different from project management and program management. While program management coordinates related projects to obtain benefits that would not be realized if managed separately, portfolio management looks at the mix of projects and programs as investments. The question asks which option is usually not a primary goal of portfolio management.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The topic is portfolio management goals. - Several options describe strategic, resource, and alignment functions. - One option refers specifically to managing detailed relationships between projects as a single program. - Standard PMI distinctions between portfolio and program roles are assumed.

Concept / Approach:
Portfolio management seeks to maximize value, ensure strategic alignment, balance investments across risk and return dimensions, and optimize resource use. It decides which projects and programs should be started, continued, modified, or terminated. Managing detailed interdependencies between related projects is typically the responsibility of program management, not portfolio management. Therefore, we need to identify the option that shifts from portfolio level concerns to program level coordination.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Review the goals of portfolio management: strategic alignment, value maximization, risk balancing, and resource optimization. Step 2: Compare each option with these goals and mark those that clearly match them. Step 3: Identify any option that emphasizes managing detailed relationships and dependencies between projects as a unified whole. Step 4: Recognize that such detailed interproject coordination is a hallmark of program management rather than portfolio management.

Verification / Alternative check:
Think about a portfolio that contains many independent projects and several programs. Portfolio management decides which initiatives stay in the portfolio and how resources are allocated, but it does not manage the day to day dependencies between projects inside a program. That coordination role belongs to the program manager. This confirms that the option referring to managing detailed relationships between projects as a single integrated program is not a primary goal of portfolio management.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A is wrong as a choice for the incorrect goal because managing resources across projects and programs is indeed a key portfolio management objective. Option B is wrong because balancing the portfolio between incremental and radical investments is central to portfolio risk and return management. Option C is wrong because maximizing portfolio value by excluding initiatives that do not support strategy is a classic portfolio management responsibility. Option E is wrong because maintaining alignment with changing strategy and risk appetite is an ongoing responsibility of portfolio management.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to blur the roles of project, program, and portfolio management. Many learners assume that portfolio management also handles detailed coordination of related projects, when that is actually the domain of program management. Another pitfall is to undervalue the strategic nature of portfolio decisions and treat portfolios as merely large collections of projects without emphasizing alignment, balancing, and value optimization.

Final Answer:
The activity that is usually not a primary portfolio management goal is to ensure that the detailed relationships and dependencies between individual projects are managed as a single integrated program.