Abstract
Front-end planning is gaining renewed attention in choosing projects for long term success. The frequent and large scale of project failures is often due to increased complexity, uncertainty, and lack of a systematic approach to project selection. The aim in this paper is to address the latter by retrospectively field testing a novel decision support system for front-end planning using the Gold Coast Light Rail as a case study. ‘Doing the right project’ from the beginning is attributed to four success factors (or decision stage gates) assessed in sequence but with feedback loops that enable design optimization. The overall performance of front-end planning ultimately is computed as a single number on a scale of +100 to -100 using a balanced scorecard approach. The results of the case study are shown to be generally successful based on a derived ranking of +28. This study demonstrates that a decision support system can add rigor to front-end planning processes by making the assessment of multiple criteria more objective. It is argued that this approach is applicable to other types of projects regardless of their size, location or date.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Project Leadership and Society: Proceedings of the 9th IPMA Research Conference |
| Editors | Ding Ronggui |
| Publisher | IPMA |
| Pages | 50-63 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-94-92338-35-8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-94-92338-33-4 |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Jun 2021 |