1 Introduction

You will be regularly faced with decisions about changes at home, such as whether to buy a new three-piece suite or a multimedia computer to help you and your partner or children better understand the new technology and improve future work prospects. What influences you to think about these changes in the first place? And what makes you have these particular options, where other people may choose between a replacement car or a holiday in similar circumstances?

Everyone has different needs, wants and tastes. In each case, something needs to be satisfied. And it is the same in organizations, the managers and owners of which will want to improve service, enhance profits and ensure survival.

In organizations there are likely to be a number of individuals, all with their own ideas about how changes will improve matters for themselves and their customers. Perhaps you would like new equipment to help you and your workteam be more effective, or would like to see more money spent on training to improve the productivity of your team? Ideally senior managers will undertake thorough analysis of these ideas and prioritize the options to ensure that the best use is made of resources available, and ideas are turned into effective projects.

In this session we will look at how ideas arise from changes, why some are given greater attention than others, and why some are finally turned into viable projects and others are not. By understanding what makes a project...