Project portfolio selection is a crucial decision in many organizations which must choose, from a variety of possible investments of available resources, those which can best meet organizational objectives. For example, fi rms involved in engineering, construction, or new product development, and many fi rms investing in information technology projects, often have more proposed projects than resources to support them. They must make informed decisions where the appropriate distribution of investment is complex, due to varying levels of risk, resource requirements, and interaction among the proposed projects. In previous work we have suggested a framework that builds on the strengths of existing project selection methods to help overcome the complexity of project portfolio selection, by simplifying the process through a logical series of steps. This process can be adapted to use those techniques preferred by the organization, and it lends itself to computer decision support. In this paper we discuss the implementation of the on-line portion of our framework in the form of a decision support system (DSS) which we call PASS (Project Analysis and Selection System). We describe the results of laboratory tests undertaken to measure its usability and the quality of its results, compared to manual selection processes, in typical portfolio selection problems. We also discuss the potential of PASS in supporting corporate decision making, through exposure this system has received at several interested companies.
A zero-one integer linear programming model is proposed for selecting and scheduling an optimal project portfolio, based on the organization's objectives, and constraints such as resource limitations and interdependence among projects. The major contribution of the paper is that the proposed model not only suggests projects that should be incorporated in the optimal portfolio, but it also determines the starting period for each project. Scheduling considerations can have a major impact on the combination of projects that can be incorporated in the portfolio, and may all ow the addition of certain projects to the portfolio that could not have been selected otherwise. Moreover, the model handles situations that frequently happen in real world applications, in which the amount of available and consumed resources varies in different periods. An example problem is described and solved with the proposed model to ill ustrate the approach, and some areas for future research are discussed .
In this article we develop a ‘Stakeholder Mapping’ approach to ex-ante policy evaluation. The proposed framework helps to assess policy implementation activities by applying several tests to evaluate the completeness, non-redundancy, proper assignment and internal consistency of a policy design. We illustrate the method by applying it to the analysis of e-commerce policy in Iran. We conclude by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the approach.
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