Literature Review for PAFC

Boniface Theuri in his paper titled “Project Planning/preparation, Feasibility study” has
described project planning as an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action; also
a process of drawing layouts for some project or enterprise. According to him project planning is
a continuous process that is conducted throughout the life of the project. It is essential for each
and every organization undertaking a new project as (1) project plans helps to coordinate the
activities; (2) it allows to make use of different personalities within the project environment; (3)
Preschedule frequent revisions to project plans; (4) Empower workers to estimate their own
work; (5) Describe value-creating tasks rather than activities; (6) Define specific and tangible
milestones; (7) Use check lists, matrices, and other supplements to project plans.

Boniface Theuri also recognizes that project feasibility analysis is the most important step in any
project after project plan, i.e. to determining the viability of the idea that has been proposed.
Feasibility analysis is used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a proposed project and
present directions of activities which will improve a project and achieve desired results.
Feasibility literally means whether some idea will work or not. It is done to know before-hand
whether there exists a sizeable market for the proposed product/service, what would be the
investment requirements and where to get the funding from, if or form where the necessary
technical know-how to convert the idea into a tangible product may be available, and so on. In
other words, feasibility study involves an examination of all the aspects of a business, i.e.
operations, financial, HR and marketing, on ex ante basis.

Boniface Theuri explains feasibility as a multivariate concept; that is, a project has to be viable
not only in technical terms but also in economic and commercial terms too. According to him
project feasibility analysis is a process having the following characteristics: i. Is driven by
research and analysis; ii. Usually involves some form of consultation with stakeholders,
community, users, etc.; iii. Focuses on analyzing, clarifying and resolving key issues and areas of
concern or uncertainty; iv. Very often involves basic modeling and testing of alternative concepts
and approaches.

Another important thing that the author of the paper Boniface Theuri focuses on is the fact that
feasibility analysis is not a rigid process, on multiple occasions he has mentioned that a
feasibility analysis depends on the person who is conducting the feasibility analysis and also that
it can be adapted and shaped to meet the specific needs of any given situation.

According to him the purpose of feasibility analysis is to identify the make or break issues, i.e.
the issues that can significantly affect the decision of the top management of an organization
whether to go ahead with the proposed project or not. In other words, to determine if a business
idea will be successful or not before committing to it. Today the business environment is very
volatile and uncertain hence the risk of the businesses has increased significantly, hence a
feasibility analysis helps the organizations to minimize the risk of failure of the new project. As
per Boniface Theuri feasibility analysis for a project should be covering the following elements:

1) Need Analysis
2) Process Work
3) Engineering & Design
4) Cost Estimate
5) Financial Analysis
6) Project Impacts
7) Conclusions and Recommendations

These elements are necessary for a feasibility study report to be able to help a manager reach a
more informed and correct decision.

Mukund in his article titled “Why a Feasibility Study is Important in Project Management” has
defined project feasibility study as tool to determine the viability of an idea, such as ensuring a
project is legally and technically feasible as well as economically justifiable. According to him
the importance of a feasibility study is based on organizational desire to “get it right” before
committing resources, time, or budget. A thoroughly conducted feasibility study provides the
following benefits to an organization: Improves project teams’ focus; Identifies new
opportunities; Provides valuable information for a “go/no-go” decision; Narrows the
business alternatives; Identifies a valid reason to undertake the project; Enhances the
success rate by evaluating multiple parameters; Aids decision-making on the project;
Identifies reasons not to proceed.
He also identifies five areas of project feasibility namely Technical
Feasibility, Economic Feasibility, Legal Feasibility, Operational Feasibility
and Scheduling Feasibility, which helps in finding out the project’s
potential of success which acts as an important factor in the credibility of
the study for potential investors and lending institutions.

 Technical Feasibility – Assessment of the technical resources

available to the organization. It helps in analyzing if the technical
resources available with the organization meet capacity and
whether the technical team is capable of converting the ideas into
working systems.
 Economic Feasibility – It involves a cost/ benefits analysis of the
project, i.e. the financial costs that an organization will have to pay
for the proposed project compared to the financial benefits that the
organization will receive from the project. This type of assessment is
most crucial which enhances project credibility and helps in decision
making.
 Legal Feasibility – To assess whether any aspect of the proposed
project conflicts with legal requirements like zoning laws, data
protection acts social media laws, environmental laws, etc.
 Operational Feasibility – This type to assessment is done to
analyze the extent to which the organization’s needs can be met by
completing the project.
 Scheduling Feasibility – In this an organization estimates how
much time the project will take to complete, because a project
will fail if not completed on time.

After proper examination of these areas a feasibility study helps in

identifying any constraints that may be faced if the organization decides to
go with the proposed project. These constraints can be broadly divided into
three categories:

 Internal Project Constraints: Technical, Technology, Budget, Resource, etc.

 Internal Corporate Constraints: Financial, Marketing, Export, etc.
 External Constraints: Logistics, Environment, Laws and Regulations, etc.