Project portfolio selection through decision support

Project portfolio selection is a crucial decision in many organizations, which must make informed decisions on investment, where the appropriate distribution of investment is complex, due to varying levels of risk, resource requirements, and interaction among the proposed projects. In this paper, we discuss the implementation of an organized framework for project portfolio selection through a decision support system (DSS), which we call Project Analysis and Selection System (PASS). We describe the results of laboratory tests undertaken to measure its usability and quality, 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 through demonstrations for several companies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.