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(OWN-3666) Improving Project Gatekeeping Through Stakeholder Alignment and Behavioral Decision Making

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Level: Advanced
TCM Section(s):
2.3. Strategic Asset Management Process Map
Venue: 2021 AACE International Conference & Expo

Abstract: When looking at why many major projects fail to meet their cost and schedule expectations, the root cause is often a misalignment between the engineered solution and the owner’s business case. This paper will explore this issue by first briefly describing the gatekeeping process. At its core, gatekeeping is a decision-making process and so next, the paper looks at decision making in the context of projects.Stakeholder management, salience and interaction with gatekeepers are explored next.The interrelationships between gatekeeping, decision making, and stakeholder management is illustrated by looking at both a simple and a slightly more complex project.Even in these simple examples it is apparent how misalignment can occur. From an owner’s perspective, misalignment at the project approval stage can have very significant financial repercussions.This paper offers three strategies to mitigate potential misalignment, based on our examination of decision making and stakeholder management.