Integrated whole life cycle value evaluation framework for infrastructure megaprojects

Abstract

In the past decades, while many countries planned and undertook more and bigger

infrastructure megaprojects, poor performance has marred their delivery, for example

through cost overruns, delays, disputes, and shortfalls in expected benefits. It is therefore

important to improve performance levels, especially in infrastructure megaprojects that

can considerablely influence the economy, society and environment. Project evaluation is

an effective tool in project performance management as it provides stakeholders with a

management process through which they can learn from the past and perform better in the

future. Most of the traditional evaluation approaches emphasize the three basic success

criteria of time, budget and quality. However, with the increasing importance of

sustainability criteria and concerns, as well as the growing imperatives for stakeholder

engagement, it has already been suggested to reconsider and redefine value by also

evaluating other factors, such as those related to the environment and society. Therefore,

an integrated whole life cycle value (WLCV) evaluation framework is proposed in order to

improve infrastructure megaproject WLCV performance.

In this study, whole life cycle (WLC) evaluation has a two-fold meaning: (i) the evaluation

is based on a set of value factors drawn from a WLCV system; and (ii) this evaluation is a

systematic continuous process from the start to the end of the project. However,

considering the unique characteristics of every project, a totally fixed or static structure

and content framework is neither sufficient nor suitable for the various types of

infrastructure megaprojects. The recommended solution is to develop a semi-flexible

framework that enables a pre-determined step by step dynamic structure formulation and a

flexible WLCV system. In order to measure project WLCV derived from stakeholders’

expectations, from more objective and persuasive perspectives, the relevant value

objectives/criteria/indicators, their weightings and targets will be identified, integrated and

developed through this WLCV system. Cross-criteria relationships which have not been

addressed adequately before, will be dealt with by assigning appropriate weightings. It is

also proposed to build a database to store completed project information including various

stakeholders’ expectations expressed in the form of value objectives.

In order to develop the above proposed framework, a basic literature review was

conducted to reveal and analyze the significant evaluation problems, identify trends in

stakeholder engagement and develop the concept as well as typical criteria and indicators

of project WLCV. Meanwhile evaluation practices, stakeholder engagement in the process

of evaluation and WLCV perspectives in the Hong Kong construction industry were

examined through a first round of interviews and the first of two focus group meetings.

The first focus group meeting, second round interviews and the second focus group

meeting were conducted to improve the proposed framework by investigating the

importance of assigning an appropriate weighting to each value objective and each group

of stakeholders; elaborating the various value criteria to measure value objectives at

appropriate points of a project WLC. The findings from literature reviews, interviews,

focus group meetings and a case study were integrated and injected into developing the

aforementioned framework for building and administering the evaluation of project

WLCV in ways that could improve desired project WLC performance.

The outputs of the current research are expected to assist clients of infrastructure

megaprojects to build a sense of ownership among all the key stakeholders at the outset,

and to help motivate all stakeholders to be more co-operative, with a view to jointly

targeting and monitoring an agreed project WLCV, thereby helping to achieve better WLC

performance on infrastructure megaprojects.

The main contributions to knowledge from this research are in developing a

comprehensive evaluation methodology which combines and refines relevant components

from existing evaluation approaches as well as injects the WLCV concept and criteria into

a more holistic approach that is expected to identify and address current inadequacies in

infrastructure megaproject delivery.