Life-cycle project management

Facility delivery has been traditionally the focus of project management in capital projects. The current body of knowledge, project administrative systems, and the associated model contracts support the delivery of physical facilities with limited focus on original business objectives, or market dynamics. There is an increasing realization that the main focus should be on the creation of a viable business entity of which the facility forms only one part. When focus is shifted from the delivery of the physical facility to the creation of a business to service project objectives, it becomes clear that the traditional project delivery approaches will have to give way to a new system in which project life-cycle objectives will be the basis for decisionmaking throughout the project's life. Under this method, the project participants assume partial responsibility for the viability of the project over its operational life. A simplified form of sharing risks/rewards, known as a project alliance, is already popular. Capital projects are technology based, and few projects can be competitive without significant innovation in their conceptualization, implementation, and operation. This also provides the additional argument that project life-cycle objectives should be the basis for project development and management.