Strategic R&D program selection and resource allocation with a decision support system application

Continuous evaluation of engineering project ideas for portfolio selection and resource allocation is one of the most challenging decisions that managers make on an ongoing basis. Decisions regarding project portfolios must be continuously monitored and updated due to the emergence of new opportunities and availability of more profitable projects, changes in the technical and/or commercial success probabilities, possible changes in the organizational objectives and goals, and variations in the forecasts at different points in time as the development and implementation of optimal decision rules take place. This paper presents a decision support system to assist management in systematically allocating resources to competing interrelated R&D projects under uncertainty within semi-structured decision environments. The model and the decision process integrate and extend the attractive features of scoring techniques, pairwise comparison method and probabilistic tradeoff development method.<<ETX>>

[1]  Joseph P. Martino,et al.  The selection of R&D program content — Survey of quantitative methods , 1967 .

[2]  D. Keefer Allocation planning for R & D with uncertainty and multiple objectives , 1978, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[3]  A. P. Muhlemann,et al.  PORTFOLIO MODELING IN MULTIPLE‐CRITERIA SITUATIONS UNDER UNCERTAINTY , 1978 .

[4]  Hemant K. Jain,et al.  Evaluating Research Proposals with Group Techniques , 1981 .

[5]  A. G. Beged Dov,et al.  Optimal assignment of research and development projects in a large company using an integer programming model , 1965 .

[6]  Jeffrey L. Ringuest,et al.  The linear multi-objective R&D project selection problem , 1989 .

[7]  Edward R. Clayton,et al.  An Integer Nonlinear Goal Programming Model for the Deployment of State Highway Patrol Units , 1985 .

[8]  Frank Krawiec,et al.  Evaluating and Selecting Research Projects By Scoring , 1984 .

[9]  Thomas L. Saaty,et al.  Priority setting in complex problems , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[10]  Frederick S. Hillier,et al.  A Basic Model for Capital Budgeting of Risky Interrelated Projects , 1971 .

[11]  Robert L. Schmidt,et al.  An improved discrete dynamic programming algorithm for allocating resources among interdependent projects , 1991 .

[12]  Tony E. Gear,et al.  A NOTE ON MODELING PROJECT INTERDEPENDENCE IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT , 1980 .

[13]  Matthew J. Liberatore,et al.  The Practice of Management Science in R&D Project Management : Management Science , 1983 .

[14]  Bernard W. Taylor,et al.  Allocation of research and development funds: A zero-one goal programming approach , 1979 .

[15]  Robert E. Gee,et al.  A Survey of Current Project Selection Practices , 1971 .

[16]  Edward R. Clayton,et al.  R&D Project Selection and Manpower Allocation with Integer Nonlinear Goal Programming , 1982 .

[17]  Dennis J. Sweeney,et al.  A Decision Process Model of R&D Resource Allocation in Hierarchical Organizations , 1981 .

[18]  Y. Gousty,et al.  Technical management notes: Delphic Goal Programming (DGP): A multi-objective cost/benefit approach to R&D portfolio analysis , 1986, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[19]  Jonathan F. Bard,et al.  An interactive approach to R&D project selection and termination , 1988 .

[20]  D. L. Hall,et al.  An interactive approach for selecting IR&D projects , 1990 .

[21]  Dundar F. Kocaoglu,et al.  A participative approach to program evaluation , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[22]  A. H. Rubenstein,et al.  Methodology for increasing the adoption of R & D project selection models , 1973 .

[23]  D. A. Aaker,et al.  A model for the selection of interdependent R&D projects , 1978, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[24]  William E. Souder,et al.  Achieving Organizational Consensus with Respect to R&D Project Selection Criteria : Management Science , 1975 .

[25]  Jeffrey L. Ringuest,et al.  The linear R&D project selection problem: an alternative to net present value , 1990 .

[26]  James R. Freeland,et al.  Recent progress in modeling R&D project-selection processes , 1992 .

[27]  M. M. Menke Tools for improving the quality of R&D management , 1991, Technology Management : the New International Language.

[28]  Norman R. Baker,et al.  Economic Models for R and D Project Selection in the Presence of Project Interactions , 1984 .

[29]  Burton V. Dean,et al.  A multiple objective selection methodology for strategic industry selection analysis , 1991 .

[30]  William E. Souder,et al.  Utility and Perceived Acceptability of R&D Project Selection Models , 1973 .

[31]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  An empirically derived new product project selection model , 1981 .

[32]  John R. Moore,et al.  Computational Analysis of Scoring Models for R and D Project Selection , 1969 .

[33]  Dennis J. Sweeney,et al.  Composition vs. Decomposition: Two Approaches to Modeling Organizational Decision Processes , 1978 .

[34]  R. G. Cooper,et al.  An empirically derived new product project selection model , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[35]  C. E. Kepler,et al.  The use of dynamic programming techniques for determining resource allocations among R/D projects: An example , 1973 .

[36]  Tomislav Mandakovic,et al.  A flexible hierarchical model for project selection and budget allocation , 1985 .

[37]  F. S. Hillier,et al.  Chance-Constrained Programming with 0-1 or Bounded Continuous Decision Variables , 1967 .

[38]  H. Weingartner Capital Budgeting of Interrelated Projects: Survey and Synthesis , 1966 .

[39]  John R. Moore,et al.  An analytical approach to scoring model design — Application to research and development project selection , 1969 .

[40]  William E. Souder,et al.  Experimental test of a Q-sort procedure for prioritizing R&D projects , 1974 .

[41]  A. F. Czajkowski,et al.  Selecting interrelated R & D projects in space technology planning , 1986, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[42]  Albert H. Rubenstein,et al.  Factors Affecting Adoption of a Quantitative Method for R&D Project Selection , 1974 .

[43]  Burton V. Dean,et al.  Scoring and Profitability Models for Evaluating and Selecting Engineering Projects , 1965 .

[44]  W. Souder Analytical Effectiveness of Mathematical Models for R&D Project Selection , 1973 .

[45]  Sidney W. Hess,et al.  A Dynamic Programming Approach to R and D Budgeting and Project Selection , 1962, IRE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[46]  Y. Gousty,et al.  Delphic goal programming (DGP): a multi-objective cost/benefit approach to R and D portfolio analysis , 1986 .