Life Cycle Management for an Investment Project in Cluj-Salaj Area, Romania

Abstract

The Project Life Cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the project’s goals or objectives. Regardless of scope or complexity, any project goes through a series of stages during its life. Authors’ experience in preparing and implementing investment projects in the water sector has led to several conclusions: there is first an identification phase, in which the outputs and critical success factors are defined, followed by a planning phase, characterized by breaking down the project into smaller tasks, an execution phase, in which the project plan is executed, and lastly a completion phase, that marks the closure and exit of the project. Investment project activities must be grouped into phases because by doing so, the project management and the core team can efficiently plan and organize resources for each activity, and also objectively measure achievement of the goals. This paper introduces several issues related to the Project Cycle Management for a large local infrastructure investment project in the Cluj- Sălaj area, Romania. Successfully managing the project cycle and making timely decisions at every stage (identification, planning, execution and sustainability) require the Project Management Unit from the Cluj-Sălaj Water Company to constantly understand and adapt to strategic considerations, both external and internal.