Overview: A Ten Year History of Industry Success   Since its development in 1993 by Thomas Murphy, a dozen major corporations and universities have adopted the “ Decision Model” as their standard process for making investment and strategic decisions. This model has helped organizations reduce spending by $30 million while prioritizing and improving the success of more than 600 major programs. The model has been customized and applied for making decisions in product development, research, supply chain, marketing, information technology and sales investment programs. The impact of this model on these organizations has been the subject of a half dozen articles in major publications, case studies by global research houses and presentations by top executive clients at national conferences.     Success Story:   The Campbell Soup Company   This Fortune 500 global consumer goods company has applied the decision model to select and improve programs in IT, sales product campaigns, supply chain and research. The model has been customized to each of these areas. Several hundred program and investment options have since been scored and prioritized using the model. The model has been applied worldwide across all subsidiaries, including Godiva Chocolates Company, Pepperidge Farms Company and Arnotts Foods.  The benefits to this global corporation include reduced program spending, consolidation of major investments and improved success of selected initiatives.     Success Story:     Northeastern University   Northeastern University is one of the largest private universities in the world with more than 20,000 full and part time students. Northeastern has customized and applied the decision model to create a formal process to select and improve their investment in technology. The list of programs scored, prioritized and improved with the model encompasses every area of the university, from academic programs to strategic initiatives.   Application of the customized model has resulted in consolidation of critical programs and a better focus on initiatives that enhance the mission and objectives of Northeastern University. The model has become a fully adopted decision process by the Senior Vice President council.       Success Story:     Welch Foods Company   Welch’s, a global food and beverage company, adopted the Decision Mapping Model in October of 2002. The model was customized to help prioritize and improve the investment in IT programs throughout the company. Although focused on IT programs, the development and application of the model encompassed every function of the company. Vice Presidents from all functions helped create weighted decision factors to identify the value and success potential of programs sponsored in any area of the company. The result was a model that identified programs that did not meet the criteria for investment or needed to be modified to improve their value. The model also allowed critical selected programs to be analyzed for potential risks to their success. The final model was fully endorsed by the corporate executive team in January of 2003, when the first priority target map was presented. Since that time several dozen key programs have been selected, analyzed and improved through the process. The global CIO for Welch has been invited to speak at several executive forums on the success and value of this model for the company.       Success Story:     J.C. Robinson Seed Company   This global company, a division of Golden Harvest Corporation, is a premier supplier of genetically enhanced corn and soy seeds to farmers in North America and Europe. The executive team of J.C. Robinson adopted the decision model in June of 2003. It was customized to improve the selection and impact of the major IT initiatives being considered across the company. Critical programs of every major function, from marketing to sales and research all had a significant IT component. The creation of the customized model had to encompass the value and success criteria for major initiatives in all key functions. In its first few months of use this model identified and reduced major risks of cross-functional programs such as inventory management and forecasting. The model has since become a cornerstone of a new program selection and management process.     Additional Focus Areas   Marketing Programs:                 Computer manufacturers H.R. Strategies:                          Hotel and resort chains New Product Launch:                 CPG companies Product Development:               Food & Beverage companies Academic & Development:       Universities and Colleges Future Technology Investment   Universities, Consumer Goods Corporate Directions:                 Consumer Goods