Abstract
Decision Conferencing, a decision analytic approach, was introduced for science project prioritisation in two organisations of the UK public sector: the National Measurement System Programmes, Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (now part of the National Measurement Office, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and the Science Department of the Environment Agency of England and Wales. Despite some similarities between the organisations, they responded in quite different ways. We describe the organisational contexts in the two organisations, the process by which Decision Conferencing was introduced, and explore possible reasons for the differing experiences.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ackoff RL (1979). The future of operational research is past. J Opl Res Soc 30: 93–104.
Austin J and Mitchell IM (2008). Bringing value focused thinking to bear on equipment procurement. Mil Opns Res 13: 33–46.
Bana e Costa C, Fernandes FGF and Correia PVD (2005). Prioritisation of public investments in social infrastructures using multicriteria value and analysis and decision conferencing: A case study. Int T Opns Res 13: 279–297.
Beaujon GJ, Marin SP and McDonald CC (2001). Balancing and optimizing a portfolio of R&D projects. Nav Res Log 48: 18–40.
Belton V and Stewart TJ (2002). Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis: An Integrated Approach. Kluwer: Boston.
Blau GE, Pekny JF, Varma VA and Bunch PR (2004). Managing a portfolio of interdependent new product candidates in the pharmaceutical industry. J Prod Innovat Mngt 21: 227–245.
Bodily SE and Allen MS (1999). A dialogue process for choosing value-creating strategies. Interfaces 29: 16–28.
Bordley RF (1998). R&D project selection versus R&D project generation. IEEE T Eng Mngt 45: 407–413.
Bowns S, Bradley I, Knee P, Williams F and Williams G (2003). Measuring the economic benefits from R&D: Improvements in the MMI model of the United Kingdom National Measurement System. Res Policy 32: 991–1002.
Brealey RA and Myers S (2004). Principles of Corporate Finance. McGraw-Hill: New York.
Catalyze Ltd (2007). Equity Product Tour. http://www.catalyze.co.uk/products/equity/tour, accessed 20 February 2007.
Chien C-F (2002). A portfolio-evaluation framework for selecting R&D projects. R&D Mngt 32: 359–368.
Cook WD and Seiford LM (1982). R&D project selection in a multidimensional environment—A practical approach. J Opl Res Soc 33: 397–405.
Cooper RG, Edgett S and Kleinschmidt EJ (2001). Portfolio Management for New Products. Perseus: New York.
Danila N (1989). Strategic evaluation and selection of R&D projects. R&D Mngt 19: 47–62.
Dyer JS and Sarin RK (1979). Measurable multiattribute value functions. Opns Res 27: 810–822.
Environment Agency (2006). Environment Agency Corporate Plan 2006–09. Environment Agency: London and Bristol.
Henriksen AD and Traynor AJ (1999). A practical R&D project-selection scoring. IEEE T Eng Mngt 46: 158–170.
Hess SW (1993). Swinging on the branch of a tree: Project selection applications. Interfaces 23: 5–12.
HM Treasury (2003). The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government. TSO: London.
Keeney RL and Raiffa H (1976). Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Tradeoffs. Wiley: Chichester.
Kleinmuntz DN (2007). Resource allocation decisions. In: Edwards W, Miles RF and von Winterfeldt D (eds). Advances in Decision Analysis. CUP: Cambridge, pp. 400–418.
Kusnic MW and Owen D (1992). The unifying vision process—Value beyond traditional decision-analysis in multiple-decision-maker environments. Interfaces 22: 150–166.
Layard R and Glaister S (1994). Cost Benefit Analysis. CUP: Cambridge.
Leitch S, Kuskey K, Buede D and Bresnick T (1999). Of Princes, Frogs, and Marine Corps' Budgets: Institutionalizing decision analysis over 23 Years. In: Decision Analysis Practice Award Presentation. INFORMS: Philadelphia.
Liberatore MJ and Titus GJ (1983). The practice of management science in R&D project management. Mngt Sci 29: 962–974.
Linton JD (2002). Implementation research: State of the art and future directions. Technovation 22: 65–79.
Loch CH, Pich MT, Terwiesch C and Urbschat M (2001). Selecting R&D projects at BMW: A case study of adopting mathematical programming models. IEEE T Eng Mngt 48: 70–80.
Lorenco J, Bana e Costa C and Morton A (2008). Software packages for multi-criteria resource allocation. International Engineering Management Conference—Europe, Estoril, Portugal.
Mandakovic T and Souder WE (1985). An interactive decomposable heuristic for project selection. Mngt Sci 31: 1257–1271.
Martello S and Toth P (1990). Knapsack Problems: Algorithms and Computer Implementations. Wiley: Chichester.
Martino JP (1995). R&D Project Selection. Wiley: Chichester.
Matheson D and Matheson J (1998). The Smart Organisation: Creating Value Through Strategic R&D. Harvard Business School Press: Boston.
McCartt A and Rohrbaugh J (1995). Managerial openness to change and the introduction of GDSS: Explaining initial success and failure in decision conferencing. Org Sci 6: 569–584.
McCartt AT and Rohrbaugh J (1989). Evaluating group decision support system effectiveness: A performance study of decision conferencing. Decis Support Syst 5: 243–253.
Morgan M (2006). Testing scope invariance in MCDA resource allocation. Unpublished MSc thesis, Department of Operational Research, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Morton A and Fasolo B (2009). Behavioural decision theory for multi-criteria decision analysis: A guided tour. J Opl Res Soc 60: 268–275.
Morton A and Phillips LD (2006). Constructing organisational preferences: A study of within-criterion weighting. Working paper. Operational Research Group, London School of Economics, London. Under review at Group Decision and Negotiation.
Murov L (2004). Evaluation of an Initial Use of Decision Conferencing & Resource Allocation: Tailor-fitting a Process to an Existing Organisational Culture. Department of Operational Research, London School of Economics: London.
Mustajoki J, Hamalainen RP and Sinkko K (2007). Interactive computer support in decision conferencing: Two cases on off-site nuclear emergency management. Decis Support Syst 42: 2247–2260.
Perdue RK, McAllister WJ, King PV and Berkey BG (1999). Valuation of R&D projects using options pricing and decision analysis models. Interfaces 29: 57–74.
Phaal R, Farrukh CJP and Probert DR (2004). Technology roadmapping—A planning framework for evolution and revolution. Technol Forecast Soc 71: 5–26.
Phillips LD (2007). Decision conferencing. In: Edwards W, Miles RF and Von Winterfeldt D (eds). Advances in Decision Analysis: From Foundations to Applications. CUP: Cambridge, pp. 375–399.
Phillips LD and Bana e Costa C (2007). Transparent prioritisation budgeting and resource allocation with multi-criteria decision analysis and decision conferencing. Ann Opns Res 154: 51–68.
Quaddus MA and Tung LL (2002). Explaining cultural differences in decision conferencing. Commun Acm 45(8): 93–98.
Quaddus MA, Atkinson DJ and Levy M (1992). An application of decision conferencing to strategic-planning for a voluntary organization. Interfaces 22: 61–71.
Ringuest JL, Graves SB and Case RH (2004). Mean-Gini analysis in R&D portfolio selection. Eur J Opl Res 154: 157–169.
Schmidt RL (1993). A model for R&D project selection with combined benefit, outcome and resource interactions. IEEE T Eng Mngt 40: 403–410.
Schmidt RL and Freeland JR (1992). Recent progress in modeling R&D project-selection processes. IEEE T Eng Mngt 39: 189–201.
Sharpe P and Keelin T (1998). How SmithKline Beecham makes better resource-allocation decisions. Harvard Bus Rev 76: 45–57.
Sinuany-Stern Z and Mehrez A (1987). Discrete multiattribute utility approach to project selection. J Opl Res Soc 38: 1133–1139.
Souder WE and Mandakovic T (1986). R&D project selection models. Res Mngt 29: 36–42.
Stewart TJ (1991). A multi-criteria decision support system for R&D project selection. J Opl Res Soc 41: 17–26.
Sugden R and Williams A (1978). Principles of Practical Cost-benefit Analysis. OUP: Oxford.
Taylor BW, Moore LJ and Clayton ER (1982). R&D project selection and manpower allocation with integer nonlinear goal programming. Mngt Sci 28: 1149–1158.
Thorp J and Fujitsu Consulting's Center for Strategic Leadership (2003). The Information Paradox: Realizing the Business Benefits of Information Technology. McGraw-Hill: New York.
Timmermans D and Vlek C (1996). Effects on decision quality of supporting multiattribute evaluation in groups. Org Behav Hum Dec 68: 158–170.
Vari A and Vecsenyl J (1992). Experiences with decision conferencing in Hungary. Interfaces 22(6): 72–83.
von Winterfeldt D and Edwards W (1986). Decision Analysis and Behavioral Research. CUP: Cambridge.
Vonortas NS and Hertzfeld HR (1998). Research and development project selection in the public sector. J Pol Anal Mngt 17: 621–638.
Walsham G (1992). Management science and organisational change: A framework for analysis. OMEGA: The Int J Mngt Sci 20: 1–9.
Weinstein M and Zeckhauser R (1973). Critical ratios and efficient allocation. J Public Econ 2: 147–157.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morton, A., Bird, D., Jones, A. et al. Decision conferencing for science prioritisation in the UK public sector: a dual case study. J Oper Res Soc 62, 50–59 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2009.184
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2009.184