Evaluation Of Project Proposals Research Articles

Sustainable procurement of water supply infrastructure projects: a building information modeling-based approach

ABSTRACT Triple Bottom Line (TBL)-based project proposal evaluation is highly data-intensive. The above challenge is elevated when considering the complex nature of construction projects. Emerging concepts, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), provide a data repository that aids TBL-based proposal evaluation. Despite national-level BIM mandates, there is a lack of BIM-based TBL performance evaluation tools. Hence, this study developed a BIM plugin toolkit to automate proposal evaluation of water supply infrastructure projects by considering the TBL performance. This toolkit incorporates a unique TBL-based evaluation methodology that integrates environmental product declarations, social life cycle impact, and life cycle costing. The case study revealed that the selected proposal had superior environmental and social performance while the bid price was slightly higher (6.5%) than the lowest-cost proposal. The proposed method provides a user-friendly tool for TBL-based proposal evaluation and promotes BIM implementation in the construction industry.

Sustainability assessment in the authorisation process of urban transformation: the meta-design of a GeoBIM platform

The assessment criteria and indicators used in the authorisation processes of building or urban projects can play a key role in achieving the goals introduced by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet, on the one hand, the evaluation of project proposals and the granting of building permits still rely to a large extent on the subjective judgement of public technicians, severely limiting the incentive for the development of virtuous practices and innovative procedures; on the other hand, the measurement of the SDGs on a local basis presents strong operational gaps and criticalities, struggling to clearly orientate urban transformation processes. In the paper, these problematic issues represent the starting point to discuss the possibilities that the development of a GeoBIM platform could open to spatialise, measure and automate authorisation processes by integrating local regulations and sustainability indicators of global significance. The methodological and technical implications of the proposal are explored both through a reconstruction of the disciplinary literature on the subject and through the detailed description of some recent experimental tools. In particular, by questioning how to operationalize the integration of local assessment methods and global indicators through a GeoBIM platform, the paper raises broader questions on the relationship between measurement, policies and planning practices. In particular, the revision of priority criteria according to the 2030 Agenda goals is read in the text as a useful opportunity to rethink a number of administrative tools and practices. Indeed, the development of a GeoBIM platform to support building permit applications could not only make the assessment of compliance with local regulations more efficient and automated but also allow for the measurement of project impacts against indicators aimed at the local declination of the sustainability goals defined by the 2030 Agenda.

FEATURES OF EXPERT SELECTION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS

The article emphasizes that in order to receive non-refundable grant resources, potential grant recipients need to create a package of documents and send it to participate in the grant program/competition in order to participate in the selection, after which the project proposal goes through several stages of selection. It is emphasized that potential applicants need to know the features of the competitive selection of applications in order to take into account all the subtleties when forming the application package of documents. The study analyzed the peculiarities of the expert evaluation of grant applications using the example of three grant programs of different complexity: Horizon Europe Program, USAID Agro Program in the direction of "Support for the processing of grain, oil and leguminous crops into food, fodder, industrial products and biofuel" and "eRobota" programs in the direction of "Own business". In order to generalize the approaches of grant providers to the consideration of project proposals of applicants, the article traces the process of consideration and evaluation of project proposals in these programs. The classification of acceptability criteria by which experts select project proposals at the first stage is demonstrated. Eligibility criteria may relate to: 1) applicants who can participate in the competition (their organizational and legal form, term from the date of registration, type of activity, etc.); 2) projects for the implementation of which a grant may be provided (project of institutional or project support, etc.); 3) types of costs that can be financed by the grant (in particular, fees of project participants, transport costs, costs of project activities), etc. In order for the application submitted to the competition to successfully pass this stage of selection, it is necessary that it meets all three groups of eligibility criteria. The criteria that are taken into account by experts during the second stage of the expert review of applications are demonstrated on the example of the Horizon Europe Program, the USAID Agro Program in the direction of "Support for the processing of grain, oil and leguminous crops for food, fodder, industrial products and biofuel" and "eRobota" programs in the direction of "Own business". Summarized: in order to be supported, the application must pass all stages of competitive selection. There may be several such stages, depending on the specifics of the program or competition. Most often, these are the following stages: technical selection, evaluation of applications by experts and negotiations with applicants, or presentation of projects and adoption of a final decision.

Construction project proposal evaluation under uncertainty: A fuzzy-based approach

Construction project proposal evaluations received much attention during the recent years due to increased awareness of sustainability, value for money, and transparency. The bid evaluation matrix is the commonly used method in the construction industry for project proposal evaluation. The subjective judgments used for evaluation criteria are associated with significant uncertainty. Moreover, the transformation of qualitative evaluations raises significant data uncertainty. Attempts have been made by previous researchers to incorporate uncertainties associated with project bid evaluations, but the ability of those methods to account for “true uncertainty” is questionable. The objective of this paper is to develop a fuzzy logic-based evaluation framework for project proposal evaluation. This use of type-2 fuzzy numbers sets the proposed approach apart from the current body of knowledge. An algorithm using type-2 fuzzy numbers was developed to define input uncertainty and parameter weights. The developed method was demonstrated using a building construction project case study. The proposed approach enables quantifying qualitative evaluations more comprehensively from a scientific basis, forming a generic proposal evaluation method applicable to various industry sectors.

Modified analytic hierarchy process for project proposal evaluation: An alternative method for practical implementation

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to develop an alternative means for implementing analytic hierarchy process (AHP). AHP has been widely used for ranking alternative choices among others. AHP builds a matrix containing ordinal scores derived from comparing attributes inherent in alternative criteria. Weights among alternative choices are derived from the eigenvector representing the priorities associated with a special type of positive matrix built according to AHP which become the basis for ranking the alternatives. In practice, matrix operations and calculating the eigenvector are not only a burden to many, but also are difficult to explain the processes and meanings of the eigenvector and eigenvalue to the decision makers using an ordinary common language. The importance of project proposals, particularly for public projects, stems from the fact that implementations of such projects have tremendous impacts on cities and regionals in socio‐economic settings. Since AHP is being used widely in the world for evaluating public project proposals among others, the focus of the paper is to develop an alternative way to evaluate public project proposals based on the modified AHP approach for practitioners. The modified approach described in this paper does not need for a separate calculation of eigenvector since the process guarantees making a consistent matrix for pairwise comparative scores. The workings of the modified approach are reported in detail for evaluating a real‐world example in ranking project proposals.

Assessment of Software Project Proposal using Analytical Hierarchy Process: A Framework

Introduction: Application software helps organizations to perform effectively and efficiently in the competitive environment and hence provide value-added services to customers. High significance of application software stimulates organizations to carrying out thorough evaluation of software project proposals that vendors submit with the view of selecting best proposal with optimal performance when implemented. This process entails a number of assessment criteria, multiple conflicting goals, and increasingly turbulent environment. Therefore the need arises for the use of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for assessment. Aim: This research focused on development of AHP based model for software project proposal assessment and select proposal that guarantees optimal performance when implemented. Materials and Methods: AHP process was divided into 3 phases: Decomposition phase for identification of decision alternatives and evaluation criteria; Measurement of Preference phase for identifying relative importance of criteria using pairwise comparison matrix; and Synthesis phase to establish percentage of relative priorities for ranking proposals and select the best. Results: 64 variables were established and were hierarchically arranged into 4 levels based on degree of preference. It was evident from the priority graph that functionality (35.26%), quality (22.00%) and usability (19.34%) had the higher priority weights, while cost (2.47%) and vendor services (6.26%) had the least. Conclusion: AHP based software project proposal evaluation framework was presented whereby functionality, quality and usability have more consideration than cost elements in the assessment of software projects. Future work attempts to include organizations size, type of business, and experience criteria in the AHP model and implement the framework.

Identifying factors for evaluating software project proposals

One vital aspect of software project management is the initial evaluation of project proposals. Many authors have proposed varying sets of criteria for information technology (IT) software project evaluation. There is the need to develop a common framework for evaluating software projects, based on a manageable set of criteria. In this paper, we identified 83 software project proposal evaluation variables from literature and direct interviews with project evaluators; 31 variables were extracted under ten constructs using exploratory factor analysis. Product characteristics, user characteristics and vendor experience were found to be very crucial in software project proposal evaluation. The parameters identified in this work could serve as a basis for the development of a software system for evaluating software project proposals.

Establishing value of time for the inter-island passenger transport of the Western Visayas region, Philippines

Transportation infrastructure planning process requires cost–benefit analysis in the evaluation of project proposals. Value of time (VOT) facilitates the conversion of travel time savings, which is a significant proportion of benefits in monetary terms. In cases where VOT has not been established, planners resort to crude estimates that often results in erroneous or biased measurements of benefits. This is the case of the Western Visayas region in the Philippines where transportation studies are rare. Secondary cities and its peripheral regions have often been overlooked subjects of transportation studies. In this study, multinomial logit models using revealed preference data were estimated to facilitate the calculation of the VOT. The total cost, square of the total cost, and total time were identified as significant explanatory variables affecting mode choice. The square of the total cost term was introduced in the models in order to account for income effect. Results indicate that VOT estimates for the inter-island passenger transportation between Iloilo and Negros Occidental generally range from 78.15PHP to 179.15PHP (1.91USD to 4.37USD) depending on trip and traveller characteristics.

Selection of Sustainable Rural Agriculture Projects in South Africa: Case Studies in the LandCare Programme

ABSTRACT The degradation of natural resources has a direct and significant impact on those living in rural areas. The resultant increasing pressure that is placed on the livelihoods of rural people leads to desperate and poor agricultural practices, which in turn cause further degradation of natural resources. The LandCare programme of the South African national government aims to address these problems by facilitating rural agricultural projects that are sustainable in the long term. This paper summarises the development of a new set of project selection criteria for the evaluation of project proposals in order to compile an effective LandCare programme portfolio. The new project selection criteria were developed through a review of current literature, existing criteria applied in previously selected projects and interviews with key stakeholders during project site visits. These site visits were also used to determine criterion weights, which were calculated using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a known decision-analysis technique. The established set of criteria was applied to three case studies in South Africa, through which an evaluation procedure is further demonstrated. Thereby a successful project portfolio can be ensured that is dedicated to all three components of sustainable development in rural areas.

The influence of academic environments on the transition from project imagery to project practice: The case of the Lehurutshe Rural Development Project, North West Province, South Africa

Abstract This paper presents a critical discussion of the activities involved in a university-based human development project, in order to suggest guidelines for the evaluation of project proposals submitted by academics. The Lehurutshe Rural Development Project is based at Potchefstroom University (PU) and the University of North West (UNW), North West Province. The aim of the project is to establish the causes of and to find sustainable solutions for the environmental and socio-economic problems experienced by five communities situated in the Lehurutshe and Marico magisterial districts, the former once being part of the homeland of Bophuthatswana. The author, who was the project methodologist for a period of about 30 months, focuses on two aspects that characterize every project, “imagery” and “practice”. Concerning imagery, the author applies this concept to the applicants' conceptions of the objectives and methodologies of the project. With regard to practice, the author compares the results of a clos...

ACM SIGGRAPH special projects organization and project proposal evaluation procedures

ACM SIGGRAPH special projects organization and project proposal evaluation procedures

Policy capturing and the distribution of CETA title VI project grant monies

The application of computer assisted policy capturing to an ill-structured problem environment is presented. The development of a project proposal evaluation model for use by Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Prime Sponsors in the distribution of Title VI Emergency Jobs Act monies is discussed, stressing the necessity for active involvement by all affected parties. The use of this model to aid in the distribution of over $15 million in grant monies is then discussed. This process may be generalized to decision-making in both public and private agencies.