Chapter tree

Idea Generation (Project

Identification)
The search for promising project idea is
the first step towards establishing a
successful venture
As traditional saying goes
“ the key to success lies in getting into
the right business at the right time”
Identification of meaningful project idea
requires,
 Imagination
 Sensitivity to environmental changes
 Realistic assessment of what a firm or
organization can do

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Idea Generation (Cont …)

Identification is often the outcome

of a triggering (iterative) process
rather than an analytical exercise

While the notion of identification is

simple it is difficult to develop
methods or procedure for
accomplishing it.
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 Idea Generation (Cont …)
However, there are certain broad guidelines
which are helpful in the generation and
screening of project ideas

Project identification commonly follows the

following procedure
1. Generation of ideas
2. Monitoring the environment
3. Corporate appraisal ( self assessment)
4. Preliminary screening
5. Project rating index.

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 3.1. Generation of ideas
Most of the new projects ideas are a result of
 Once specialized technical knowledge or
 Marketing expertise or
 Some other competence

To stimulate the flow of project idea the

following are helpful
i. Analysis of Strength, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT):
 SWOT analysis represents a conscious and
deliberate , and dynamic effort by an organization
to identify opportunities that can be exploited.
 Periodic SWOT analysis facilitates the generation of
new idea
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 Generation of Ideas (Cont …)

ii. Clear articulation of objectives

 The operational objectives of the organization may

help to generate ideas
 The operational objective of business firm for
example,
 Cost reduction
 Productivity improvement
 Increase in capacity
 Expansion and growth

Can be helpful in generating the project idea

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3.2.Monitoring the environment
The organization must systematically
monitor the environment in which it will
operate
In other words the organization is
expected to monitor the following key
environmental factors in relation to
each of identified ideas.
Economic aspects
State of the economy
Possible fluctuation in the economy
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 Monitoring the environment (Cont
…)
The degree of integration with the world
economy
National policy
Sectoral policy
Government program
Tax policy
Government support
Financial policy
Technological factor
Availability of technology
Accessibility of the available technology
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 Monitoring the environment (Cont
…)
Socio demographic factor
Population size and distribution
Education level
The nature of competition (for
business firms
Number of firms in the industry
Nature of entry
Nature of input supply
Availability
Cost of row material
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 3.3. Self assessment and scouting
the project idea
A realistic appraisal of the organization’s
strength and weakness is essential to select
the best idea that can be realized as a
successful venture
To screen the project idea in terms of this aspect the
following suggestions are helpful
a) Analyze the industry (sector) and analyzing
the organization in terms of,
Its capacity (I.e., whether the organization
has the capacity to implement or to put into
practice the proposed idea).
Analyze the project in term of the benefit
(profit) that it will provide to the society ( firm)
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 Self assessment (cont …)
b) Examine the input or resources requirement
and firms ability to make it available
c) Review its innovativeness
d) Study government plan, outlays, and
guidelines: This analysis is important
because;
It will help to see if the idea is in line with the
government priority area
To check if there are guideline that need to be
followed if the project idea is acceptable.
f) Suggestion of financial institutions and
development agencies. (that is
investigating priority area of development
agencies )
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 3.4. Preliminary screening
In some case it is possible to have a long list
of project ideas.
In such cases some kind of preliminary
screening is required to eliminate ideas
which are not promising.
For that purpose the following aspects could
be looked into
a) compatibility with the promoter: The
idea should be compatible with
 the vision,
 mission,
 and goal of the promoter
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 Preliminary screening
(cont…)
In business venture, it should be compatible
with the owner’s objective. In other words,
It has to fit with the personality of the owner
Acceptable to the firm’s owner
It offers the prospect of rapid growth and
high return
b) Consistence with government priority:
Evaluate the project idea in terms of the
government priority. Here we ask questions like,
Is the project consistent with the
national goal and priority ?
Are there any environmental effect ?
Will there be any difficulty to obtain
permission?
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 Preliminary screening (cont…)
c) Availability of inputs
d) Adequacy of the market
e) Cost of the project:
f) Acceptability of risk level: The desirability of
the project idea depends upon the level of
risk associated with it

When a large number of project ideas

are evaluated, it may be helpful to
streamline the process of preliminary
screening.
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 3.4. Project rating
index
For that purpose a preliminary
evaluation may be translated into
a project rating index.
Steps involved in the process of the
project rating index are,
Identify factors relevant for project
rating
Assign weight to those factors ( the
weight are suppose to reflect their
relative importance)
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Project rating index
(Cont…)
Rate the proposed idea on various
factors using a suitable rating scale
(typically a 5-7 point scale is used)
For each factor, multiply the factor
rating with the factor weight to get
the factor score
Add all the factor score to get the
overall project rating index
The following table illustrate the
determination of the project rating
index
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 Factor VG G A P VP Factor
Factors weight 5 4 3 2 1 score
Input availability 0.25 X 0.75

Technical know how 0.1 X 0.40

Reasonableness of cost 0.05 X 0.20

Adequacy of market 0.15 X 0.30

Complementary relationship 0.05 X 0.20

Stability 0.1 X 0.5

Dependency on firm’s 0.2 X 0.2

strength
Consistency with government 0.1 X 0.1
policy
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Total 1.00 3.15
END OF CHAPTER THREE

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