Science and Art in Project Assessment

The dominant view in the information systems (IS) and software engineering literature is that the application of a rigorous pre-investment assessment methodology is the key to ensuring the selection of the best projects - that is those with the highest expected value for the organisation and with the highest probability of success. While the literature is replete with methodologies that take a narrow view of project assessment, there is insufficient attention given to the evaluation process itself and to what constitutes successful project assessment. This book deals aims to provide in-depth knowledge of project assessment processes in practice and re-conceptualise the notion of the project proposal, the evaluation process and evaluation methodology that reflect the needs and critical issues in practice. These aims are achieved by conducting an in-depth case study of project assessment processes in a company with a history of high success rates of its projects ($3 billion worth of successfully delivered projects in the past few years).