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An extended model for project portfolio selection with project divisibility and interdependency

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Abstract

In this paper, we develop an extended model for the project portfolio selection problem over a planning horizon with multiple time periods. The model incorporates the factors of project divisibility and interdependency at the same time for real-life applications. The project divisibility is considered as a strategy, not an unfortunate event as in the literature, in choosing the best execution schedule for the projects, and the classical concept of “project interdependencies” among fully executed projects is then extended to the portions of executed projects. Additional constraints of reinvestment consideration, setup cost, cardinality restriction, precedence relationship and scheduling are also included in the model. For efficient computations, an equivalent mixed integer linear programming representation of the proposed model is derived. Numerical examples under four scenarios are presented to highlight the characteristics of the proposed model. In particular, the positive effects of project divisibility are shown for the first time.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Xingmei Li & Jianxun Qi

  2. Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Shu-Cherng Fang

  3. College of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiaoling Guo

  4. School of Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Zhibin Deng

  5. Key Laboratory of Big Data Mining and Knowledge Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Zhibin Deng

Authors
  1. Xingmei Li
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  2. Shu-Cherng Fang
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  3. Xiaoling Guo
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  4. Zhibin Deng
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  5. Jianxun Qi
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Correspondence to Zhibin Deng.

Additional information

Xingmei Li is an associate professor of School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China. She received her B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from Beijing Normal University and Capital Normal University, respectively, and Ph.D. in management science from the North China Electric Power University. Her current research interests are in the area of project portfolio selection, project scheduling, project planning and human factors in project management. She has published more than 20 papers in various journals, such as Journal of the Operational Research Society, Pacific Journal of Optimization. She is also a member of Chinese Society of Optimization.

Shu-Cherng Fang is the Walter Clark Chair and Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Graduate Program in Operations Research at NC State University. His key research interest is on optimization theory and algorithms with real life applications such as intelligent human-machine decision support systems, logistics and supply chain management, telecommunications and bio-informatics. He received his Bachelor's degree from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and PhD degree from Northwestern University in US. Before he joined NC State University, Dr. Fang had been working at AT&T Engineering Research Center, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and AT&T Corporate Headquarters. He is also associated with many universities in Australia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has published a few journal articles and books. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making.

Xiaoling Guo received her PhD degree in 2014, from Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in College of Engineering and Information Technology at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. She is the author or coauthor of papers published in Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization, Optimization, Journal of the Operations Research Society of China, among others. Her research interests include quadratic programming, linear conic programming, algorithm designing, project management and emergency management.

Zhibin Deng is an assistant professor in the School of Management at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received the BS and MS from Tsinghua University in 2007 and 2009 respectively, and the PhD from North Carolina State University in 2013. He was a research assistant in the US Army Research Office since 2011. He received Edwards P. Fitts Fellowship for his excellent academic record when admitted to North Carolina State University. He is the author or coauthor of papers published in European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Operations Research Society of China and Journal of Industrial and Management Optimizati. His research interests include quadratic optimization, linear conic optimization and nonlinear optimization.

Jianxun Qi is a professor of School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China. His current research interests are in the area of project scheduling, network optimization in project management. He has published over 30 papers in operational research fields. He is also a director of Chinese Society of Optimization, Overall Planning and Economic Mathematics.

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Li, X., Fang, SC., Guo, X. et al. An extended model for project portfolio selection with project divisibility and interdependency. J. Syst. Sci. Syst. Eng. 25, 119–138 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11518-015-5281-1

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