MAICA FETALINO BSA II-A

ASSIGNMENT

1. What is the concept of critical path?

 The concept of Critical Path is wherein the management identify the sequence of task
that must be done on time for able for the entire project of the management to be
completed successfully. It’s like mapping out all tasks that is needed for the completion
of one project of the management.
 The critical path method (CPM) is used in project management to create project
schedules and helps project managers create a timeline for the project. The critical path
method includes:
a. Identifying every task necessary to complete the project and the dependencies
between them
b. Estimating the duration of the project tasks
c. Calculating the critical path based on the tasks’ duration and dependencies to
identify the critical activities
d. Focusing on planning, scheduling and controlling critical activities
e. Setting project milestones and deliverables
f. Setting stakeholder expectations related to deadlines
 After making these considerations, you will be enlightened into which activities must be
prioritized. Then, you can allocate the necessary resources to get these important tasks
done. Tasks you discover that aren’t on the critical path are of a lesser priority in
your project plan, and can be delayed if they’re causing the project team to become
over allocated.

2. Explain the contribution of critical path method regarding planning, scheduling and controlling
of business activities.
 The contribution of critical path to PLANNING is it provides visual representation and it
clearly show the time needed to be allotted in every task in order to complete the
project. In planning a project as much as possible we want to finish it easily but with a
smooth outcome. Through the help of critical path, management avoids some
uncertainty activities that might cause a delayed for the completion of task. When
management make plans, as much as possible they want to avoid the ones that should
be avoided that can mess up the project. So critical path is very helpful when it comes to
project planning.
 The contribution of critical path to SCHEDULING is it gives the management the
important information on how to maximize the time to complete the projects. It shows
what to prioritize first, what to do next and what can be done in the end. Through
critical path, the assigning of task to complete the project is very flexible; through this
the scheduling in the management is much easy to do. And as we can see the critical
path is very helpful in the areas that we need to consider when it comes to project
scheduling.
  The contribution of critical path to CONTROLLING, is it helps in ensuring that the project
goals, timeframes and cost are all complied with, since critical path’s already identified
the sequence of task that must be done on time for able for the entire project of the
management to be completed successfully. Also, through the help of critical path
controlling the business activities become much easier and the management take
corrective measures to keep the project on track.

3. Discuss uncertain activity times in project scheduling.

 Once the management have developed the project network, they will need information
on the time required to complete each activity. This information is used in the
calculation of the total time required to complete the project and in the scheduling of
specific activities.
 For repeat projects, such as construction and maintenance projects, managers may have
the experience and historical data necessary to provide accurate activity time estimates.
However, for new or unique projects, estimating the time for each activity may be quite
difficult. In fact, in many cases, activity times are uncertain and are best described by a
range of possible values rather than by one specific time estimate.
 In these instances, the uncertain activity time are treated as random variables with
associated probability distributions.
 To incorporate uncertain activity times into the analysis, we need to obtain three time
estimates for each activity:
a. Optimistic time; a = the minimum activity time if everything progresses ideally
b. Most probable time; m = the most probable activity time under normal
conditions
c. Pessimistic time; b = the maximum activity time if significant delays are
encountered
 With uncertain activity times, we can use the variance to describe the dispersion or
variation in the activity time values. The variance of the activity time is given by the
formula. The difference between the pessimistic (b) and optimistic (a) time estimates
greatly affects the value of the variance. Large differences in these two values reflect a
high degree of uncertainty in the activity time.