Question

Basic similarity and different between BAUM, UNIDO, DEPSA project life cycle

Answer 1

Answer:

BAUM, UNIDO, and DEPSA all refer to types of project development cycles.

A. The BAUM project lifecycle refers to the World Banks' project development cycle as described by Warren Baum.  

The BAUM project life cycle features 6 stages namely:

1. identification of opportunity
2. preparation for the project
3. appraisal of the project
4. negotiations related to the project
5. implementation and supervision  of the project and
6. ex-post evaluation  

B. UNIDO - The UNIDO model features three major stages which are also broken down into various steps.

Pre-investment phase

This phase is further divided into:

• A study of the opportunity presented. This has to do with identifying ideas to be invested in.
• Pre-feasibility study. This stage involves the formulation, and selection of project alternatives)

• Feasibility study. When the project is selected, then it is tested to economic feasibility.
• Submission of report on the evaluation          

    2. Investment phase  

This stage is further broken down into:

• Project design stage: At this stage, the criteria for success, and key deliverables are spelt out.
• Construction stage  (For engineering or building projects)
• Pre-production marketing stage

• Training  of staff
• Kick-off stage  

  3. Operational phase  

This is also broken down into:  

Replacement of equipment  due to wear and tear or upgrade to better technologies

Development, invasion or liquidation states.

C. DEPSA stands for "Development Project Studies Authority".

This variant of the Project Lifecycle also consists of three major stages. They are:  

• Pre-investment phase
• Investment and
• Operation

The DEPSA stage is very similar to the UNIDO project life cycle. Both are defined according to an Investment Cycle paradigm and that's the reason why you have pre-investment, investment and operations phase for both methodologies.  

Whilst the UNIDO model is more 'universal' in that it speaks to a wide range of businesses including engineering projects, DEPSA seems a little skewed towards engineering projects.  

This is evident in the terminologies used in the investment phases. With DEPSA you would notice terms like 'detailed engineering design'

'construction', and 'erection'. The UNIDO the investment phase contains engineering terms but also speaks to 'marketing' and 'training'  

While the BAUM project lifecycle contains all the basic stages in the DEPSA and UNIDO life cycles, it holds a universal outlook and seems applicable to both business and engineering projects.

Cheers!