The Role of the Project Life Cycle (Life Span) in Project Management

2/1/04
The Role of the Project Life Cycle (Life Span) in Project Management
A literature review by R. Max Wideman
(Updated February, 2004.)
Introduction
Patel and Morris have stated that
"The life cycle is the only thing that uniquely distinguishes projects from non-projects".1
If that is true, then it would be valuable to examine just what role the so-called project life cycle plays in
the conduct of project management. And, moreover, has this changed over the years as we improve our
understanding of the complexities of project management.
So, what is the project life cycle? According to the same source
"The sequence of phases through which the project will evolve. It is absolutely
fundamental to the management of projects . . . It will significantly affect how the project
is structured. The basic life cycle follows a common generic sequence: Opportunity,
Design & Development, Production, Hand-over, and Post-Project Evaluation. The exact
wording varies between industries and organizations. There should be evaluation and
approval points between phases often termed 'gates'."2
How does that make it different from normal operational corporate endeavors? For that we must
understand the definition of project. According to Richard E. Westney: "A project can be defined as the
work required to take an opportunity and convert it into an asset."3 In this sense, both the opportunity
and asset are singular, with the implied use being for generating benefit – rather than consumed as a
resource in normal operational activity over a prolonged period.
The Patel and Morris definition refers to "gates" between phases. Another name for "gates" is
milestones, albeit "major milestones". Since scheduling also involves milestones, how is a project life
cycle different from a project schedule? Once again there are various definitions, but essentially a
project schedule is a display of "the planned dates for performing activities and the planned dates for
meeting milestones."4 The two are clearly very similar, but the essence of a project schedule is to
provide specific activity dates while the project life cycle is in the nature of a strategic plan displaying
sequence only.
And, while we are at it, what about that word "cycle"? It is true that cycle implies a period of time for a
series of events, but the essential feature of a cycle is that it is repeated. This is not the case with a
project, except in certain special cases such as linear projects like pipe laying, road building or high-rise
construction, where a sequence of activities may be repeated at the working level during the execution
phase. So the term appears to be inappropriate. Therefore, a better term would be "project life span".
Historical perspective
The concept of a "sequence of phases", or sequential periods of time for an undertaking is not a new one.
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC ©2003
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 2 of 22
More than 2,500 years ago, the famous Chinese philosopher, Confucius, expressed this sentiment. "In all
things, success depends upon previous preparation – and without such preparation there is sure to be
failure." In modern parlance, this elementary observation translates into a simple two-step sequence:
"Plan before doing", or the more popular exhortation "Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan!" So, here we
have the genesis of the project life span.
One of the earliest references to a planned sequence that I can find is from the Institution of Civil
Engineers (ICE) Post War National Development Report published in 1944.5 In this report, the ICE
recognized the need for a systematic approach to planning public works projects by pointing out that:
"In order to carry out work efficiently, it is essential that a scheme of operations be first
decided by those directly responsible for the execution … With such planning the work
can be broken down into a series of operations and an orderly sequence or programme of
execution evolved … Without a Programme the execution can only be haphazard and
disorderly … The drawing up of a Programme at the beginning of the work does not
mean, of course, that it is drawn up once and for all and cannot be changed. The exact
reverse is the case …"
It is true that this might be interpreted as a reference to scheduling, known as programming in the UK.
However, the reference to "scheme of operations" also permits a strategic intent, especially as
scheduling, per se, did not come into its own until some years later.
In fact, according to Wilemon:
"In the late 1950s, for example, considerable attention was focused on the Navy's use of
project management in the development of the Polaris program. A few years later, NASA
received the attention of practitioners and academicians for the advances it made in
project management in administering the large, complex Apollo program."6
Actually, the "attention of practitioners and academicians" was focused mainly on the critical path
method (CPM) for scheduling a complex set of project activities, especially with the emergence of
mainframe computer capabilities.
Early project management focused texts
One of the earliest comprehensive texts on project management is Archibald's book: Managing High-
Technology Programs and Projects (1976). In it, Archibald explains the project life span as follows:
The project life cycle has identifiable start and end points, which can be associated with a
time scale. A project passes through several distinct phases as it matures, as illustrated in
Figure 2.1. The life cycle includes all phases from point of inception to final termination
of the project. The interfaces between phases are rarely clearly separated, except in cases
where proposal acceptance of formal authorization to proceed separates the two phases."7
Figure 2.1 is actually a table, which lists five types of project and shows the typical activities for each in
each of six phases. The six phases are sequentially: 1 - Concept; 2 - Definition; 3 - Design; 4 -
Development; 5 - Application; and 6 - Post Completion.
Archibald goes on to say
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 3 of 22
"The Project Character Changes in Each Life-Cycle Phase
In each succeeding phase of a project new and different intermediate products (results)
are created, with the product of one phase forming a major input to the next phase. Figure
2.2 illustrates the overall process. The rate of expenditure of resources changes, usually
increasing with succeeding phases until a rapid decrease at completion. The people,
skills, organizations, and other resources involved in the project change in each life cycle
phase. Major review of the entire project occurs at the end of each phase, resulting in
authorization to proceed with the next phase, cancellation of the project, or repetition of a
previous phase."8
Archibald's Figure 2.2 is shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Archibald's Project Life Span
The Project Management Institute ("PMI"), a US based not-for-profit organization dedicated to project
management was launched in Pennsylvania in 1969. Its first formal textbook was "The Implementation
of Project Management" edited by Dr. Linn Stuckenbruck (1981). In it, Stuckenbruck describes the
project life cycle as follows
"The Project Life Cycle
A project consists of sequential phases as shown in Figure 1-1. These phases are
extremely useful in planning a project since they provide a framework for budgeting,
manpower and resource allocation, and for scheduling project milestones and project
reviews. The method of division of a project into phases may differ somewhat from
industry to industry, and from product to product, but the phases shown in the Figure are
basic." 9
Stuckenbruck's Figure 1-1 is shown in Figure 2.
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 4 of 22
Figure 2: Stuckenbruck's government system life span
Stuckenbruck also tabulates what must be done in each phase by both top management and, as the
project matures, by the project manager as shown in Table 1
Concept or
Growth or
Production or
Shut-down
Initiation
Organization
Operational
Management decides
Organizational
The major work of the
Project terminated.
that a project is needed.
approach defined.
project accomplished
(i.e., design,
Manpower, resources,
Management establishes Project plan and
development,
and commitments
goals and estimates of
schedule for operational construction,
transferred to other
resources needed.
phase defined.
production, testing, site
organizations.
activation, etc.).
Management "sells" the
Project objectives, tasks
organization on the
(WBS), and resources
need for project
defined.
management.
Project team build-up.
Management makes key
appointments.
Table 1: Stuckenbruck's project phase actions
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 5 of 22
In this table we see clear signs of the evolutionary nature of a project and the purpose of establishing a
project life span model. Stuckenbruck then establishes a second purpose by observing
"This book is primarily concerned with the actions that take place during implementation
of a project, which is a combination of the concept or initiation phase and the growth or
organization phase. It is often useful to divide the project into phases as shown in Figure
1-2. This scheme of phases fits projects such as construction, and by plotting the phases
versus total effort, a very clear picture can be obtained as to where the money goes."
Stuckenbruck's Figure 1-2 is shown in Figure 3.
Given the different interpretations of "implementation" we may question Stuckenbruck's use of this
word. Is it the "execution phase", or is it the launching of the entire project? The contents of Table 1
suggest the latter. While on the subject of word meanings, program management and project
management were often considered back then to be one and the same, as Stuckenbruck states "For the
purposes of this book, the words project and program are considered to be synonymous."10
Figure 3: Stuckenbruck's effort-loaded life span
PMI followed this publication with a series of monographs or mini handbooks. One, by Cavendish and
Martin, described the relationship between contracting and the project life span, that is, the life span
from a general contractor's perspective. The authors point out that for the contractor, the project starts
with contract award and hence coincides with the implementation phase. This is an important point
because many diehard project people, i.e. those from the contracting fraternity, do not consider that there
is a "real" project to manage until it exists under a contract. Cavendish and Martin's project life span is
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 6 of 22
shown in Figure 4 (1982).11
Figure 4: Cavendish and Martin's contract project life span
For the record, in a text that was little recognized at the time, this author attempted to distinguished
between the corporate business life cycle, the facility/product life cycle and the project life cycle.
Figure 5 shows the graphic that accompanied the descriptive text in PMI's first Project Management
Body of Knowledge publication (1987).12 This is perhaps the first formal recognition that projects
always exist in an encompassing "environment", be it the government, private or non-profit sectors.
However, Webster later picked up this idea in The Handbook of Project Management (1993) as shown
in Figure 6.13
Figure 5: Wideman's corporate business, facility/product and project life spans compared
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 7 of 22
Figure 6: Webster's comparison of project and product life spans
Project life spans, late 1980s
During the '80s, the documenting of project management as a recognizable discipline proceeded apace
largely inspired by the influence of the US Institute and the Internet (now renamed International Project
Management Association or IPMA) in Europe. For example, Patzak, in Dimensions of Project
Management, an IPMA book published in honor of Roland W. Gutsch, the founder of IPMA upon his
65th birthday, discusses the systems approach to project planning (1990). He wrote
"The starting point for the analysis of the phenomenon PROJECT is to look at a process –
the process of transferring an initial state I [Input, or problem] into a desired final state O
[Output or problem solution]. In state O all more or less intended outcomes of the process
'project execution' are available having been produced during the whole process. These
outputs are concrete (products, organizations, etc.) or abstract (plans, knowledge,
experiences, emotional states, etc.) or both. They may be distinguished into
1. Outputs during the process (e.g. satisfaction of personnel, gain of experience)
2. Outputs at the end of the process (final products, state of knowledge)
So, it is obvious that the total process output is much more than the product that is the
object to be produced in the project under consideration. Management has to be
concerned with all dimensions of process output."
"The problem solving process – the project execution – shows a typical cycle of project
life, which is structured into the following pattern of phases:
1. Objectives Definition Phase (what is to be accomplished?)
2. Design Phase (what/how to do it)
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 8 of 22
3. Realization Phase (doing it)
4. Implementation Phase (hand-over of it)
These phases can be observed in any problem solving process, they do not change with
different project definitions."14
Interestingly, Patzak goes on to observe that in every phase there is both a management function as well
as an execution function and describes the difference in some detail. These observations are important
because they introduce the idea of system processing and an acknowledgement of outputs other than
those stemming directly from the objective of the project, especially those associated with the people
working on the project.
The US influence during this period was reflected in such books as Kerzner's epic 980-page book
Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (1989) and
Cleland's book Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation (1990). Kerzner discusses
systems theory and concepts at some length but along the way draws a clear distinction between the
project life span and the product life span. Figure 7 depicts his product life span resulting from research
and development.15 The distinction between project and product life spans is important because a
number of present-day writers either make no distinction or define the former in terms of the latter.
Figure 7: Kerzner's R&D product life cycle
This confusion appears to extend to the Cleland book's chapter on The Project Management Process,
which discusses the various phases of the project life cycle in some depth. But the reader may be
forgiven for any misunderstanding arising from the apparent ambivalence displayed in the text. The
section on project life cycles quotes a number of sources, starting out with one that consists of twelve
phases beginning with 'Concept' and ending with 'Production/Maintenance'.16 The project/product life
cycle issue aside, this sequential list reads more like an outline for a Gantt (bar) chart schedule.
However, another "Generic project life cycle" quoted encompasses the phases "Conceptual; Definition;
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 9 of 22
Production; Operational; and Divestment".17 True, the author notes that different industries use different
terminology, and a closer reading of the text makes it clear that the term "Divestment" does not mean
disposal of the product at the end of its useful life but rather the transfer of the product at the end of the
project's useful life! Still, there can be no doubt that Belanger is confusing product with project life
cycle as late as 1997 when he describes the life cycle phases of a construction project as "General
Concept; Definition; Detailed Planning; Development and Construction; Implementation and Operation;
Closeout or Retirement"18 (emphasis added.)
About his generic project life cycle, Cleland makes an important point
"Between the various phases are decision points, at which an explicit decision is made
concerning whether the next phase should be undertaken, its timing, etc."19
This idea represents an important development for two reasons:
1. It introduces the idea of strategic high-level decision points (also known as Executive Control
Points, Gates or Gating) at which a decision is taken whether or not to continue, and
2. It is distinguished from those earlier texts that emphasize that such phases may, and frequently
do, overlap.
This idea is reinforced by Youker in a keynote paper presented at INTERNET 88. In the address he
stated in part:
"The development cycle for World Bank projects . . . defines six sequential steps:
identification, preparation, appraisal, negotiations, implementation and supervision and
expost evaluation. Other organizations use slightly different terms but most think of the
process as a cycle. In reality, even though one can learn from experience, one can never
return to the past. So the cycle is really a spiral, circling through the required steps but
always moving on to new projects. The cycle consists of a series of steps separated by
decision points. The process moves toward implementation and start-up of operations.
Evaluation is an ex-post look to seek if the objectives were accomplished and if they
were the right objectives."20
Youker's illustration is shown in Figure 7a.
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---

The Role of the Project Life Cycle in Project Management Page 10 of 22
Figure 7a: Youker's World Bank investment project life span
In passing, a number of people had difficulty in relating the "generic" project life span with a "practical"
life span such as construction. The author's Figure 8, (circa 1987) not only showed the connection but
also indicated the general proportionate time of each phase as a percentage of the construction time,
based on building project data collected in the 1970s.21
Figure 8: Wideman's construction bar chart related to the generic project life span
The question of responsibility was also an issue. Figure 9 shows the project delivery system developed
by Public Works Canada (1989). 22
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 2003, 2004
Email: max_wideman@sfu.ca

---