Developing Project Performance Model and Key Project Performance Metrics for Infrastructure Projects through Review of Literature

Abstract

Research involving project performance is evident across the world. Similarly, literature exists on various models and approaches that can be used to operationalize project performance. However, scholars have operationalized project performance variedly, making it difficult to achieve an exhaustive approach to assess project performance. This is particularly true for infrastructure projects that vary greatly in terms of size, nature of stakeholders, and project environment, creating the need for a deeper understanding of project performance and settling on project performance metrics. Through an extensive and systematic review of literature on project performance models as well as empirical literature on project performance, these review papers enhance understanding of project performance and propose project performance metrics for infrastructure projects. The paper reports that traditionally, cost/budget, schedule/time, and quality have been used as metrics for project performance, including infrastructure performance. Cross-examination of literature and models indicate that owing to the complex and varied nature of infrastructure projects, their stakeholder interest and project impact on health, safety, and the environment cannot be overlooked. Therefore, this paper proposes five project performance metrics: cost/budget, schedule/time, quality, stakeholder satisfaction, and health and safety. The paper proposes a project performance model, adopted from the project excellence model, EFQM Excellence model, the key performance metrics model, and the golden iron triangle model, incorporating the five metrics as opposed to the traditional three metrics.