An approach for identifying and selecting improvement projects

Abstract

When improvement projects are properly aligned with an organisation’s strategy, they help achieve strategic business goals. Often, however, it can be challenging for organisations to select the most appropriate improvement project(s) from a pool of many potential project ideas. To address this issue, this research proposes a new approach specifically developed to retain the value generated by other methods, but reduce the time/effort required for rigorous, objective project identification, and prioritisation/selection. As demonstrated through a real-world case example, this approach combines a modified form of process failure modes’ effects analysis with a standardised version of a project desirability matrix and a possible, implement, challenge, kill chart to support both the effort required to develop ideas for improvement projects and the complex, multi-criteria decision-making process involved in prioritising/selecting improvement projects. The organisation where this case example was conducted obtained specific guidance regarding which improvement projects to pursue. Furthermore, this example provides direct evidence regarding the rigorousness and flexibility of the proposed approach from which other organisations can learn to increase improvement project success and build competitive advantage.