This high attention toward new projects may prove to be beneficial to decision
makers since scrutinizing early in the process might reduce the need to close projects
later on, which would demotivate employees (Balachandra, 1984; Balachandra et al.,
1996). Although prior research has indicated shifting criteria over phases and at
different gates (Hart et al., 2003; Cooper, 2001), only Cooper (2001) stresses that decision
makers should spend more time on some specific gates than on others. This is not
confirmed here.