Belgacom: IT Project Selection 2005

This teaching case features a situation at Belgacom, the leading telecommunications company in Belgium, end of April 2005. Wim Bouckenooghe, newly appointed finance director of Belgacom’s Network and IT division within the Fixed Line Services (FLS) segment, is troubled by the effectiveness of the selection of the discretionary IT projects, particularly the larger ones. He is especially concerned about the early stages of developing ideas into project proposals and the prioritization of these proposals for selection for development into full, detailed business cases. Bouckenooghe is keen to raise his doubts and propose improvements at the next quarterly meeting of the FLS management committee in July. The teaching case is designed to enable a multifaceted class discussion on the principles, tools, and practices of IT project selection, with a special focus on the early assessment and funneling of project ideas.