Economic feasibility
DeKalb is a city in the state of Illinois in the United States of America. The governance of the city rests with the Council Manager government and the policies are formed by the City Council. The City Council formed an all-round strategic development christened ‘DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan’ dated November 17, 2015. The ten year plan aims to achieve involvement of the residents to achieve development in the socioeconomic conditions and strengthen the city economically.
The report was prepared by Northern Illinois University Center for the government of the city. The aim of the study would be conducting a feasibility study of the strategic plan in relation to cost, technology and the implementation of the plan. The report would give special importance to the role of NIU, which plays a very important role in the city of DeKalb and would play a pivotal role in ensuring successful implementation of strategic plan.
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Economic feasibility:
The report would be feasible economically feasible and as per the strategic plan, the city has resources to fuel the project. The ninth page of report mentions that the city has natural and cultural to attain economic feasibility. The report has underutilized natural resources like Kishwaukee River which can utilized to boost the revenue in the city (Cityofdekalb.com, 2018). However, the report does not mention other important criteria to ensure economic feasibility-financial resources. The report however remains silent on the financial resources and the human resources which would be require to support the strategic development plan.
However, the Downtown Revitalisation Plan available on the official website of the city shows that several infrastructural development projects have been undertaken by the government like creation of development of sites for residential and business purposes. The Economic Development Strategic Plan of the local government mentions that the government has also taken steps to bring about improvement in the business climate and revitalisation of the business corridors. The strategic plan report remains silent regarding the funding and partnership aspects of the projects. The government website sheds light on the partnership bodies like the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce and the DeKalb County Development Corporation.
The website further reports that the city governing body is also supported by the departments of the Government of Illinois like The Illinois County Development Corporation (Dekalbcountyga.gov. 2018). Thus, considering the above discussion and the infrastructural developmental projects being undertaken by the government of DeKalb, it can be affirmed that the strategic planning is feasible.
Cost analysis:
The DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan would involve several variable, fixed and semi-variable costs. The development plan would involve a large number of stakeholders with the City Council of the DeKalb City at the helm. The plan clearly mentions that the natural resources of the city would be exploited to bring about development. This means that council would have to involve a number of planners, contractors and architects. The exploitation of the resources like the river and the parks would need employment of the several engineers and geologists. This would attract an immense amount variable costs in the form of salaries of these personnel (Ngacho & Das, 2014).
Cost analysis
The second type of costs which the project would attract would be the expenditure which would be borne towards acquisition of resources to commence the development project. Ngacho and Das (2014) in this respect points out that the development projects undertaken to develop resources attract acquisition and holding of raw materials like building materials and water. The United States Environment Protection Agency mandates the bodies involved in the construction and development projects comply with federal environment regulations. The body right on the opening page mentions that violation of the federal environment laws would a civil penalty of $ 27500 a day, criminal penalty of $ 250000 and imprisonment for a term of 15 years (Cem.va.gov. 2018).
This means that the government body as well as the companies involved have to bear waste management expenditure which would be a fixed costs. The government body has to ensure availability of electricity which would come under semi-variable costs. Hilbert (2016) mentions that development projects involve acquisition, sharing, management and application of a huge body of information. This means that the government body as well the firms would require to incur a fixed amount of data management expenditure which would belong to the fixed cost category. As far as the City Council of DeKalb is concerned, the body has to employ its own staff to supervise the project. The body has to pay them salaries and other allowances on monthly basis which would a fixed cost.
The expenses like internet and telephone would be recurring costs which the body would be to bear. These expenses would be semi-variable in nature since the amount spent would depend on the rate of usage of these facilities. It can be inferred in the light of the above discussion that the expenses pointed out are reasonable and important for the commencement of the project. The strategic report does not mention any specific amount which the City Council of DeKalb has allocated towards the project. Hence, the adequacy of the budgeted amount to cover the aforementioned budget cannot be decided. The expenses mentioned above would be both long term as well as recurring as shown in the above description.
Technological feasibility of the project:
The DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan would be technologically feasible since the city of DeKalb is economically strong. Moreover, the City Council is supported by the state government level bodies like The Illinois County Development Corporation. This means that the City Council also provides financial assistance and support from the government at state and central level. This financial strength enables it to acquire highly advanced equipment required to commence the development project. Dunwoody and Peters (2016) mention that the United States is technologically very strong. The country is able to mobilise immense technological, financial and human resources to support long term developmental projects. Thus, in this light it can be pointed out that the DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan project is highly feasible.
The DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan remains silent about the equipment which would be needed for the project and under the possession of the NIU, one of the frontline supporting body of the development project. Williams (2016) points out with respect to large scale community development projects attract immense planning and deployment of resources. It can be pointed out that project under study is a large scale community development project which would involve application of advanced machinery. It can be pointed out in this respect that NIU does not have the equipment required to commence this large scale project. The equipment required for the project exists in the American economy. This is because the project is extremely complicated and required participation of several corporates.
Technological feasibility
The community development project would require application of advanced civil construction machinery and project management techniques. Kumar (2015) in support of this availability of machinery points out that ability to mobilise financial resources towards acquisition of machinery results in advancements in community development project management. Considering the fact that the United States is a technological and financial giant, it can very strongly be established that the nation has the machinery as well as technology However, the capability of NIU to reuse the equipment cannot be established on the basis of the strategic report published by the City Council.
The appropriateness of the technology cannot be concluded on the basis of the information provided about the 10 years community development plan of DeKalb (Green & Haines, 2015). The obsoleteness and depreciation rate of the machinery cannot be affirmed. However, the City Council can acquire modern machinery which would use less amount fuel and provide higher levels of productivity which would function as a trade-off for the cost management of the project.
Organisational feasibility:
The DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan is organisationally feasible and achievable. This statement can be established from the fact that the City Council of the DeKalb takes up development projects to bring infrastructural and socio-economic developments in the city (Dekalbcountyga.gov, 2018). It can be established that NIU has relevant expertise, training and skills. This fact can be established from to the fact the university plays a pivotal role towards the development of the city and has in-depth knowledge about the local macroeconomic conditions within the city. Loh (2015) points out that community development projects besides knowhow about local conditions, also involves usage of technical knowhow. Considering that NIU is a university,
it can be established that it is not feasible for it to have knowledge about technical knowledge. The employees of NIU cannot participate in the technical aspect however, they can create awareness about the community development project among the people in the city. The staff of the university can play important role in gaining support for the DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan and encouraging them to embrace the change like using alternative sources of energy as already mentioned in the plan. It can be pointed out that task is a complex community development task and NIU does not have the resources to support the project. The reaction of the employees cannot be commented on at this stage.
Implementation:
The implementation of the project would invite complex feasibility issues which might have impacts on values, traditions and lifestyle of the local community. This is because the community development program would attract more universities and educational institutes to the city of DeKalb. Moreover, new educational institutes might emerge in the city. These new university and educational institutes would start catering to the local community. The NIU might view this as a challenge to its own popularity and importance it holds in the city. Secondly, foreign universities would usher foreign traditions and values. Thus, the NIU would view this entry of foreign universities as an invasion rather than as an outcome of the community development plan.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that community development programs play immense role in bringing about development in cities. These community development activities are actually expensive projects which require the deployment of immense resources in terms of technology, funding and manpower. It is not feasible for the cities to have all of these which necessitates them to depend of external organisations.
It can be pointed out that universities often have great influences on the local population. However, it can also be pointed out that entry of foreign bodies including universities is inevitable in cities, especially after the development take place. However, the resident companies including universities should not view this as a cultural threat but as a stiffening competition. This discussion would finally come to a close with a few recommendations which could be made to the City Council.
Recommendations:
The City Council should consider the following recommendations with relationship to the DeKalb 2025 Strategic Plan.
Inviting foreign corporate bodies:
The City Council should invite companies resident in other countries and states to participate in the community development program. This would lead to more innovation in the communication development project which would boost the quality of execution of the project. This would boost the economic development of the city of DeKalb and enhance its brand power.
Curtailing the influence of NIU:
The City Council must aim to curtail the power of the NIU to influence the residents of the city of DeKalb. The council should encourage entry universities from other states as well as countries. This would contribute towards development of the education industry in DeKalb and provide the companies with more talented staff.
References:
Cem.va.gov. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cem.va.gov/pdf/fedreqs.pdf
Cityofdekalb.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cityofdekalb.com/DocumentCenter/View/3001/City-of-DeKalb-Draft-10-Year-Strategic-Plan
Dekalbcountyga.gov. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/economic-development/economic-development-strategic-plan-0
Dunwoody, S., & Peters, H. P. (2016). Mass media coverage of technological and environmental risks: A survey of research in the United States and Germany. Public understanding of science.
Green, G. P., & Haines, A. (2015). Asset building & community development. Sage publications.
Hilbert, M. (2016). Big data for development: A review of promises and challenges. Development Policy Review, 34(1), 135-174.
Kumar, V. (2015). Evolution of marketing as a discipline: What has happened and what to look out for. Journal of Marketing, 79(1), 1-9.
Loh, Y. A. (2015). Approaches to ICT for development (ICT4D): vulnerabilities vs. capabilities. Information Development, 31(3), 229-238.
Ngacho, C., & Das, D. (2014). A performance evaluation framework of development projects: An empirical study of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) construction projects in Kenya. International Journal of Project Management, 32(3), 492-507.
Walcott, S. M. (2017). Chinese science and technology industrial parks. Routledge.
Williams, T. (2016). Identifying success factors in construction projects: A case study. Project Management Journal, 47(1), 97-112.
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