Method

We started out by studying earlier written theses to see if any of them had attempted to estimate the value of an IT investment. We also looked in the Economicum Library at Uppsala University for literature on existing models for valuing IT investments and for models within other areas which could be used analogous for IT investments.

When the information on models for IT value at the library turned out to be scarce we turned to the Internet. We did not find any complete models appropriate for our purpose there either, however, we did find some on-going projects on our subject and from the Swedish IT commission we found a report on measurements to use when valuing IT investments nationally. These sources gave us some ideas to continue with. 

We also visited the Internet World Fair at Sollentuna Mässan. We spoke to representatives of various Internet agencies to discuss how they dealt with the problem of measuring soft variables. Although they did not give us any concrete information, we found out that we were not more lost than the next man.

Finally, from studying even more thesis and searching extensively on the Internet, we came up with two different models for valuation, one developed specifically for IT investments; the PENG model by (Dahlgren et al, 1997) and one developed for the field of human resources, the Balloon model, by (Enstam et al, 1995). These two models became our start out point for creating a model for our purpose. Through brainstorming sessions and by seeing how the models could be altered and improved, we have merged and adapted the models to fit our purpose, which resulted in the GRT model.