The front end of projects is strategically important; yet, how project concepts are identified, evaluated, and selected at the pre-project stage is poorly understood. This article reports on an inductive multiple-case study of how executives made such decisions in major upstream oil and gas projects. The findings show that in such a high-risk context, often an experienced executive makes these decisions alone and he creates value by facilitating growth. We identified three value-creating decision processes that varied by the executives’ risk approach and decision context. These processes depart from the formal project management prescriptions and the strategic decision-making literature.

项目的前端具有重要的战略意义；但是，人们对在项目前阶段如何识别，评估和选择项目概念的了解很少。本文报告了一个归纳式多案例研究，该案例研究了高管如何在大型上游石油和天然气项目中做出此类决策。调查结果表明，在如此高风险的环境中，经验丰富的高管通常会独自做出这些决定，并通过促进增长来创造价值。我们确定了三个创造价值的决策过程，这些决策过程因高管的风险方法和决策环境而异。这些过程不同于正式的项目管理规定和战略决策文献。