ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines authorization process that often consists of several approval steps. A company commissioned a business case for the purchase of a complex and sophisticated software package. The business case, if it has been correctly prepared, should set out the benefits expected to accrue directly and indirectly from the project as value flashpoints, each with a date and value, and with the recognition events and causal milestones also listed. In this case, the proposal confidently predicted benefits that would be four times as great as the project costs. The proposal gave no corresponding indication at all of how performance towards achieving those benefits could be tracked. These cases have been disguised to preserve their companies' anonymity and are presented in increasing sequence of project scale. Apart from financial considerations, another serious issue before project authorization is whether or not the company has the will, determination and resources to carry the project through.
