Research Reports from the Department of Operations

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

9-30-1982

Abstract

This is a proposal for an applied thesis research project in the area of R&D management. The environment of the problem that will be modeled is within Goodyear Aerospace Corporation at the division level. The decision problem is one of determining an optimum portfolio of projects focusing on new business development. The major funding categories are Research & Development (R&D) and Bid & Proposal (B&P). The problem involves selecting projects from a large group of proposed projects and then determining what level to fund them at. Goals or objectives of this process include achieving a prescribed ROI and sales growth and maximizing profits. In addition to these goals, several non-financial goals must be achieved. Constraints include total budgetary limits and maximum/minimum funding levels for the individual projects. The problem will be modeled as a multi-attribute utility problem under uncertainty and the decision makers expected utility will be maximized using that mathematical programming methodology most compatible with the utility function developed for the problem. It is proposed that several sub-models will be coupled together into a general decision support system for use by decision makers at several levels of the management hierarchy. This thesis proposes (1) to utilize recent developments in decision analysis; (2) to develop a user-friendly software package to assure that the results are of use by the firm, and (3) to compare the model with other multiobjective methods including dynamic programming and goal programming.

Keywords

Operations research, Research and development projects, Goodyear Aerospace Corporation, Decision support systems, Mathematical optimization, Portfolio management, Business planning--Mathematical models, Utility theory

Publication Title

Technical Memorandums from the Department of Operations, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University

Issue

Technical memorandum no. 524

Rights

This work is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded for personal or academic use

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