Phyllis has called you into her office to help her make sense of the contradictions in the two project evaluations. How would you explain the reasons for the divergence of opinion from one technique to the next? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each screening method? Project Selection at Nova Western, Inc. Phyllis Henry, vice president of new product development, sat at her desk trying to make sense of the latest new project proposals she had just received from her staff. Nova Western, Inc., a large developer of business software and application programs, had been experiencing a downturn in operating revenues over the past three quarters. The senior management team was feeling pressure from the board of directors to take steps to correct this downward drift in revenues and profitability.

The consensus opinion was that Nova Western needed some new product ideas, and fast.

The report Phyllis was reading contained the results of a project screening conducted by two independent groups within the new product development department. After several weeks of analysis, it appeared that two top contenders had emerged as the optimal new project opportunities. One project, code-named Janus, was championed by the head of software development.

The other project idea, Gemini, had the support of the business applications organization. Phyllis’s original charge to her staff was to prepare an evaluation of both projects to decide which one Nova Western should support. Because of budget restrictions, there was no way that both projects could be funded