Prioritizing project selection criteria with AHP method: A comparative analysis of manufacturing and consultancy companies

Today, with the rapidly developing technology, the efforts of organizations to realize different and innovative projects have increased, so the discipline of Project Management has gained even more importance in different sectors. Appropriate project selection has been a critical decision-making problem for organizations that understand the importance of the project management discipline. In this context, the aim of this study is to comparatively analyze the prioritization of project selection criteria with the AHP method according to Manufacturing and Consulting companies. For this purpose, analyzes were made with the project selection criteria mentioned in the literature and the project selection criteria of the study were determined. Then, 11 senior managers from each of the selected defense industry manufacturing company and project management consultancy company were interviewed, and a total of 22 experts were reached throughout the study. The participants were asked to prioritize the determined project selection criteria and in line with their opinions, the AHP technique was preferred and the priority order of the project selection criteria was analyzed separately for both companies. During the interviews, the decision makers were asked whether there was a different situation they encountered during the project selection processes, and the answers were explained in the study. As a result of the study, the prioritization rankings of the project selection criteria for both companies were compared, it was discussed whether the different sectors in which they were located influenced the results, and suggestions were made to shed light on the next studies.