Podcast: Chris Harrop – Pareto Toolbox
[ E07 ]In this episode of Co-op Leader Conversations, Chris Harrop, General Manager of Digital Transformation at Pareto Toolbox, joins Cooperative Business NZ to unpack why project portfolio management has become a critical capability for co-operatives and mutuals.
Chris draws on experience across FMCG, Asia-Pacific digital transformation and large-scale change programmes to explain a common challenge. Many organisations carry far more strategic and transformation work than they have the capacity to deliver. Digital initiatives, supply chain redesign, regulatory change and business-as-usual are often layered together, with organisations overestimating their capacity by as much as 150 percent. The result is fatigue, cost overruns and benefits that are never fully realised.
The conversation explores how modern project portfolio management brings discipline and visibility to this complexity. Chris explains how centralised data, standardised workflows and live dashboards allow leaders to see what is actually happening across a portfolio, rather than relying on static reports or siloed updates. Resource constraints, benefit realisation and priority trade-offs become visible, enabling more grounded decision making.
Importantly, Chris and Cooperative Business NZ explore this through a co-operative lens. In member-owned organisations, major investments represent member capital and intergenerational decisions. Expectations of transparency are higher, and the consequences of poor prioritisation are felt directly by members. Portfolio governance, when done well, supports alignment with member value, sustainability and long-term resilience rather than short-term optics.
The episode also touches on supply chain resilience, including sourcing strategies, inventory planning and logistics design. Chris shares practical observations from client work, noting that post-Covid environments demand a reassessment of just-in-time models and greater visibility of supply risk.
Conversation themes
Why transformation portfolios fail without discipline
Project portfolio management versus siloed delivery
Transparency and governance in co-operative investment
Digital tooling and the Microsoft ecosystem
Supply chain resilience and capacity realism
Why this matters
This episode is highly relevant for co-op executives, boards and transformation leaders managing multiple strategic initiatives at once. It offers practical insight into how disciplined portfolio governance protects member capital, improves delivery confidence and strengthens long-term trust.
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