This post is an excerpt (with slight modifications) of a recent paper titled “Project Selection using Decision Support Optimization Tools.” If you’d like to read the full paper, click here for the PDF version of Project Selection using Decision Support Optimization Tools. The full version of the paper has full details of the LINGO model used for decision support and project selection optimization.
During good times and bad, selecting the proper projects to undertake is an extremely important activity for organizations. Selecting the right projects (or wrong ones) can be the difference between success and failure for most organizations. The process of selecting projects and managing the project portfolio, formally called Project Portfolio Management, can help organizations get a grasp on their projects and the risk & benefits associated with those projects [1].
Project Portfolio management and selection has become an important part of most organization’s project management activities. By managing their project portfolio’s correctly, organizations can gather information about all projects, prioritize those projects and manage the selected projects throughout the project lifecycle.
The remainder of this paper provides an overview on project selection and describes a prototype system that can be used to optimize the selection of projects. The project selection prototype uses optimization techniques to select the optimal number of projects based on given criteria.