The Shell DPM has been used in different industries and some practical problems have been raised.
1. There is a need to change the questions for companies not in the petroleum industry and the questions regarding the factors should be customised for the company doing the analysis.
2. Shell advocated equal weightings for the criteria on each of the axes. This worked for Shell but other companies may feel that certain factors are more important than others and therefore the weights should be adjusted accordingly
3. The environment was the fourth factor on the business sector prospects axis yet Shell often left this factor out altogether. Environment can be a very important factor as it deals with the wider question of risk
4. When using the Shell DPM methodology, it was found that the star rating system added very little value and a point’s allocation rating was superior.