Name and describe the major features of a feasibility analysis?

[Doctor P]

The most important aspects of a feasibility study are

http://www.accountantnextdoor.com/what-i...d-process/

http://www.ehow.com/about_4597757_feasib...udies.html

A feasibility study is a formal report that documents decisions concluding in a choice of one from two or more alternatives. It establishes possibilities, evaluates economics, and forces reflections on the perceptions of a decision (social, political). It begins, of course, with a consideration of the audience that will read the study and your purpose in writing to that audience, as always.

The feasibility study is an important tool in engineering and management because it formalizes much of the openness of a brainstorming process (it forces you to think of novel solutions), and it encourages you to think in quantifiable terms about real dimensions to the problem you are trying to solve. The phrase "systems approach," used below, refers to a number of steps, taken as part of a formal study, that begin with problem definition (via a feasibility study) and progress through modeling, selection and construction of a single solution, and follow-up evaluation of the real-world system.

In the feasibility study, the problem is carefully described, and one or more potential solutions to the problem are considered in some depth. Later decisions about what particular steps to take to actually effect a solution are based upon the results of the feasibility study. Often, the feasibility study -- in the form of a grant proposal or an impact assessment statement -- provides the basis for action by funding agencies. A well done feasibility study should tell its author whether further action is desirable, and should be able to convince others as well. This section outlines several essential features of a feasibility study and explains why they are important.

Needs analysis. Of the several steps in the systems approach, this is one of the most critical. This step establishes the reasons for the system, and indeed is essential in determining whether changes in the management of an existing system or the design of a new system are warranted. That is, it is a statement of what is or is not working in an existing system, describing hoped-for improvements (e.g., lower costs, better products or services). Needs analysis also clarifies quantifiable standards to be used to measure options, including measures of minimal needs (requirements) and additional desired wants (preferences).


Initially, needs may be expressed in non-specific terms, creating a blurry image of what it is the future users of the system would have it do. Such primitive needs may be clarified somewhat through techniques developed in marketing or economic texts, providing there is a sufficiently clear economic aspect to the problem allowing questions to be couched in terms of what people might be willing to pay for various alterations in system behavior. For example, appropriate government investment in anti-pollution technologies might begin with an assessment of how much additional tax burden a polled sampling of people would be willing to bear to eliminate the source of contamination. However, in many ecological problems, there is no useful conversion established to permit transposing of aesthetic values, health concerns in the face of uncertainty about cause and effect relationships, energy costs, etc., into simple economic equivalents useful for weighing value or establishing need. This is a fundamental weakness in contemporary economics, one dealt with briefly (see A Note on Value Judgments, below).

Needs analysis should aim for a specific statement answering simple questions. What is it the system should do? For whom? How will changes in system design or management meet existing needs more effectively (i.e. lower cost, reduced energy or material demand, greater safety, less impact on the environment)? For the ecologist involved in assessing the impact of technological developments or regional economic plans, expression of needs will focus on the crucial questions, what should the system look like in its most desirable form? and, alternatively, what do we not want the system to become?

Needs analysis must consider all potential users of the system, including people and institutions, managers, administrators, maintainors, distributors if goods or services are involved, and users of goods and services. If the system requires continual decisions to regulate performance, interactions with decision makers must also be considered.