Goal-oriented prioritization of project outputs: a stratified approach

The literature points out that project outputs need to be aligned with project goals. However, it does not demonstrate how this alignment can be utilized to enhance project decision making. Drawing on system theory, this paper shows how to evaluate and utilize project goal-outputs relationships–while integrating risk related to the future values of goals–to support decisions made by executives in large and complex projects. To do so, a novel analytical approach that combines the stratified approach and quality function deployment (QFD) is developed and introduced to the literature. The stratified approach is a tool from operations research, which is used to integrate risk related to the future values of goals, and QFD is a quality management tool which is used to translate one set of elements (goals) to another (outputs).