The evaluation cycle: In Res evaluation approaches for the eighties

There is a lack of consensus in the literature and in practice regarding evaluation measures for engineering and research projects. The lack of consensus is especially clear when the evaluation focus is on the implementation or in res stage of the evaluation cycle. The absence of a systems-based perspective and a concomitant consideration of six interrelated factors helps to explain the controversy and confusion over project evaluation measures. The six factors are: nature of decision-making tasks, level of managerial decision-making, unit of evaluation, primary and secondary consumers of evaluation, ease of quantification, and elements of general setting (including project technology, political context, coupling pattern among units involved in the project, and reward structure). The discussion of these six factors' impacts upon evaluation makes clear the need for dynamic project evaluation approaches which utilize both qualitative and quantitative data. One such approach is the use of modified ethnographic techniques in constructing project case studies which capture effectively what actually occurs during project implementation.