Project
A B G
Definition:
“A project is a series of activities directed to accomplishment of
a desired objective.”
Or “A project is defined as a combination of interrelated
activities which must be executed in a certain order in for its
completion.”
Or “a project is defined as a specific, finite activity that produces
an observable and measurable result under certain preset
requirements.”
Or “A project is an activity to meet the creation of a unique
product or service and thus activities that are undertaken to
accomplish routine activities cannot be considered projects.”
Or “A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
"unique" product or service”
Or “Project is a group or combination of interrelated activities
that must be executed in a certain fixed order before the entire
task is completed. Activities are interrelated in a logical
sequence in the sense that some activity can only be started
when all activities earlier to it are completed.”
Or “A project is a collection of tasks that must be
completed in minimum time or at minimal cost.”
A project is composed of
– a number of related activities that are directed to the
accomplishment of a desired objective
A project starts when
– at least one of its activities is ready to start
A project is completed when
– all of its activities have been completed
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Definition and Key Characteristics
Activity 1 2 3 4
Preceding Activity
Any individual operation which utilizes resources and has an end and a
Successor
Event
beginning is called activity. C E Dummy
Activity
D F
5 6
An activity represents an action and consumption of resources (time,
money, energy) required to complete a portion of a project. Activities A and C precede activities B and D respectively. E is dummy
activity. 1,2,3,4,5,6 are events.
An activity is a clearly definable portion of a project, which could be an
operation, a process or a situation consuming time and normally other The dummy activity is inserted in the network to clarify the activity
resources. It lies between two events. pattern in the following two situations
➢ To make activities with common starting and finishing points
An arrow is commonly used to represent an activity with its head distinguishable
indicating the direction of progress in the project. These are classified ➢ To identify and maintain the proper precedence relationship
into four categories. between activities that is not connected by events.
Predecessor activity : Activities that must be completed immediately
prior to the start of another activity are called predecessor activities. Event
An event represents a point in time signifying the completion of some
Successor activity : Activities that cannot be started until one or more activities and the beginning of new ones.
of other activities are completed but immediately succeed them are
called successor activities. An event (or node) will always occur at the beginning and end of
an activity. The event has no resources and is represented by a circle.
Concurrent activity : Activities which can be accomplished
concurrently are known as concurrent activities. It may be noted that The events are classified in to three categories
an activity can be a predecessor or a successor to an event or it may be
concurrent with one or more of other activities. Merge event : When more than one activity comes and joins an event
such an event is known as merge event.
Dummy activity : An activity which does not consume any kind of
resource but merely depicts the technological dependence is called a Burst event : When more than one activity leaves an event such an
dummy activity. event is known as burst event.
It Indicates only precedence relationships and does not require any
time of effort Merge and Burst event : An activity may be merge and burst event at
the same time as with respect to some activities it can be a merge
An imaginary activity which does not consume any resource and time event and with respect to some other activities it may be a burst event.
is called a dummy activity. Dummy activities are simply used to
represent a connection between events in order to maintain a logic in
the network. It is represented by a dotted line in a network.
Merge event Burst event Merge and Burst event
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Project
Project Scheduling
The project Schedule outlines the tasks and activities of the project;
the duration; start and end dates for each individual task and the
project as a whole; and the resources and effort required.
Schedules also help you do the following:
➢ Schedule converts action plan into operating time table
➢ They provide a basis for you to monitor and control project
activities.
➢ They help you determine how best to allocate resources so you can
achieve the project goal.
➢ They help you assess how time delays will impact the project.
➢ You can figure out where excess resources are available to allocate
to other projects.
➢ They provide a basis to help you track project progress.
Sequencing
The first prerequisite in the development of network is to maintain the
precedence relationships. In order to make a network, the following
points should be taken into considerations
➢ What job or jobs precede it?
➢ What job or jobs could run concurrently?
➢ What job or jobs follow it?
➢ What controls the start and finish of a job?
Since all further calculations are based on the network, it is necessary
that a network be drawn with full care
Definition and Key Characteristics
Network Construction Dummy activities must be used only if it is necessary to reduce the
complexity of a network.
Construction of network should be based on logical or technical
dependencies among activities A network should have only one start event and one end event.
Example - before activity ‘Approve Drawing’ can be started the
activity ‘Prepare Drawing’ must be completed In order to ensure the correct precedence relationship in the arrow
diagram, following questions must be checked whenever any activity is
Each activity is represented by one and only one arrow in the network added to the network
➢ What activity must be completed immediately before this activity
Two activities starting from a tail event must not have a same end can start?
event. To ensure this, it is absolutely necessary to introduce a dummy ➢ What activities must follow this activity?
activity, In a network, there should be only one start event and one ➢ What activities must occur simultaneously with this activity?
ending event as shown in Figure
3
In case of large network, it is essential that certain good habits be
practiced to draw an easy to follow network
Try to avoid arrows which cross each other
A
1 2 1 2 ➢ Use straight arrows
➢ Do not attempt to represent duration of activity by its arrow length
Wrong Correct ➢ Use arrows from left to right. Avoid mixing two directions, vertical
and standing arrows may be used if necessary.
➢ Use dummies freely in rough draft but final network should not have
Looping error should not be formed in a network, as it represents any redundant dummies.
performance of activities repeatedly in a cyclic manner, as shown ➢ The network has only one entry point called start event and one
below in Figure
3 point of emergence called the end event.
Common Errors in Drawing Networks
The three types of errors are most commonly observed in drawing
1 2 network diagrams

Wrong Dangling :
Procure Deactivate Remove Install No single activity can be represented more than once in a network. To disconnect an activity before the completion of all activities in a
Pipe lines old lines new pipe
The length of an arrow has no significance. network diagram is known as dangling. As shown in the figure activities
Wrong (5 – 10) and (6 – 7) are not the last activities in the network. So the
The event numbered 1 is the start event and an event with highest diagram is wrong and indicates the error of dangling
Procure number is the end event. Before an activity can be undertaken, all
Pipe activities preceding it must be completed. That is, the activities must
follow a logical sequence (or – interrelationship) between activities.
Deactivate Remove Install
lines old lines new pipe
In assigning numbers to events, there should not be any duplication of
Correct event numbers in a network.
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Project Definition and Key Characteristics
Looping or Cycling:
Looping error is also known as cycling error in a network diagram. 9
F
D
Drawing an endless loop in a network is known as error of looping as 3

shown in the following figure. 3 7

10

3
H
A 5 E

8 7
6 5
4

B C G
5 4

Critical Path
A-D = 3
A-B-D= 4+5 = 9 (Maximum Time/ Resources )

Redundancy Example
Draw a network for a house construction project. The sequence of B-E = 8
Unnecessarily inserting the dummy activity in network logic is known B-C-E = 5+6 =11
as the error of redundancy as shown in the following diagram activities with their predecessors are given in Table , below.
B-D-E = 5+7 = 12 (Maximum Time/ Resources )

D-F = 9
D-E-F = 7+10 =17 (Maximum Time/ Resources )

E-H =3
E-G-H=7+5 = 12
E-F-H = 10+3 =13 (Maximum Time/ Resources )

A-D-F-H = 3+9+3 = 15
A-B-C-G-H = 4+5+4+5 =18
Some conventions of network diagram are shown in Figure (a), (b), A-B-D-E-F-H= 4+5+7+10+3 = 29 (Critical Path)
(c), (d) below:

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PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique)
Introduction :
PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) was devised in 1958
for the POLARIS missile program by the Program Evaluation Branch of
the Special Projects office of the U.S.Navy, helped by the Lockheed te = Expected time
𝑡𝑝− 𝑡𝑜
Missile Systems division and the Consultant firm of Booz-Allen & 2
𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝜎 =
Hamilton. The calculations were so arranged so that they could be 6
Probability computation: Determine probability that project is
carried out on the IBM Naval Ordinance Research Computer (NORC) at
Dahlgren, Virginia. completed within specified time
𝑥−µ
𝑧=
𝜎 It is defined as the difference between the latest event and earliest
PERT is a statistical technique that is adopted for the determination of Where µ = project mean time
time that a project should take to complete. σ = project standard mean time
x = (proposed) specified time
Notably, the PERT technique is resourceful when dealing with
unpredictable activities in a project since it accounts for uncertainties The notations used are
that might occur. This is achieved by controlling the uncertainties in a (i, j) = Activity with tail event i and head event j
manner that the time allocated for the project is not affected. Ei = Earliest occurrence time of event i
Lj = Latest allowable occurrence time of event j
PERT is a method to analyze the involved tasks in completing a given Dij = Estimated completion time of activity (i, j)
project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and (Es)ij = Earliest starting time of activity (i, j)
identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project. (Ef)ij = Earliest finishing time of activity (i, j)
(Ls)ij = Latest starting time of activity (i, j)
PERT is based on the assumption that an activity’s duration follows a (Lf)ij = Latest finishing time of activity (i, j)
probability distribution instead of being a single value.
Three time estimates are required to compute the parameters of Float:
an activity’s duration distribution: Float of an activity represents the excess of available time over its
duration.
Pessimistic (P): The task duration based on analysis of the worst-case
scenario for the task. This will tell the maximum time a task can Total Float (Ft)
potentially take. (the time the activity would take if things did not The amount of time by which the completion of an activity could be
go well) delay beyond the earliest expected completion time without affecting
the overall project duration.
Optimistic (O): The task duration based on analysis of the best-case (Tf)ij = (Latest start – Earliest start) for activity ( i – j)
scenario for the task. This will tell the minimum time the task may take.
(the time the activity would take if things did go well.) Free float (Ff)
The time by which the completion of an activity can be delayed beyond
Most likely estimate (M): This estimate is based on the duration of the the earliest finish time without affecting the earliest start of a
task, given the resources likely to be assigned, their productivity, subsequent activity.
realistic expectations of availability for the activity, dependencies on (Ff)ij = (Earliest time for event j – Earliest time for event i) – Activity
other participants, and interruptions. (the consensus best estimate time for ( i, j)
of the activity’s duration) (Ff)ij = (Ej - Ei) - Dij
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Probability Model
Independent float (If)
The amount of time by which the start of an activity can be delayed
without effecting the earliest start time of any immediately following
activities, assuming that the preceding activity has finished at its latest
finish time.
(If)ij = (Ej - Li) - Dij
The negative independent float is always taken as zero..
Event slack
event times.
Head event slack = Lj – Ej, Tail event slack = Li – Ei
Determination of critical path
Critical event :
The events with zero slack times are called critical events. In other
words the event i is said to be critical if Ei = Li
Critical activity :
The activities with zero total float are known as critical activities. In
other words an activity is said to be critical if a delay in its start will
cause a further delay in the completion date of the entire project.
Critical path : The sequence of critical activities in a network is called
critical path. The critical path is the longest path in the network from
the starting event to ending event and defines the minimum time
required to complete the project.
In PERT activities are shown as a network of precedence
relationships using activity-on-arrow network construction
➢ Multiple time estimates
➢ Probabilistic activity times
USED IN: Project management - for non-repetitive jobs
(research and development work), where the time and cost
estimates tend to be quite uncertain. This technique uses
probabilistic time estimates.
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Critical Path Method Deterministic Model
CPM (Critical Path Method) was the discovery of M.R.Walker of E.I.Du
Pont de Nemours & Co. and J.E.Kelly of Remington Rand, circa 1957.
Criteria PERT CPM
The computation was designed for the UNIVAC-I computer. The first
test was made in 1958, when CPM was applied to the construction of a Abbreviation Program Evaluation & Review Technique Critical Path Method
new chemical plant. In March 1959, the method was applied to
maintenance shut-down at the Du Pont works in Louisville, Kentucky. PERT is a project management CPM is a statistical technique of
Unproductive time was reduced from 125 to 93 hours. Purpose technique, used to manage project management that manages
uncertain activities of a project well defined activities of a project.
Critical Path Method (CPM) refers to a management technique
employed in the planning, coordinating, scheduling, and controlling a A technique of planning and
project’s activity in a quest to manage both time and cost of a project. Use A method to control cost and time.
control of time.

CPM is a technique which is used for the projects where the time Research and Development Non-research projects like civil
Suitable for
needed for completion of project is already known. It is majorly used Project construction, ship building etc.
for determining the approximate time within which a project can be
completed. Critical path is the largest path in project Management of Unpredictable Activities Predictable activities
management which always provide minimum time taken for
completion of project, for example, construction of a house. Orientation Event-oriented Activity-oriented
Evolved as Research &
The critical path method is used to estimate the minimum project Evolution Evolved as Construction project
Development project
duration. This will help determine the amount of scheduling flexibility
available on network paths. It calculates the early start, early finish, Model Probabilistic Model Deterministic Model
late start, and late finish dates for all tasks. These do not consider any
Focuses on Time Time-cost trade-off
resource limitations by performing a forward and backward pass
analysis through the schedule network. Estimates Three time estimates One time estimate

Appropriate for High precision time estimate Reasonable time estimate

In CPM activities are shown as a network of precedence
relationships using activity-on-node network construction
➢ Single estimate of activity time Nature of jobs Non-repetitive nature Repetitive nature
➢ Deterministic activity times

USED IN: Production management - for the jobs of Critical and Non-critical
repetitive in nature where the activity time estimates can be No differentiation Differentiated
activities
predicted with considerable certainty due to the existence of past
experience.
Crashing
Not Applicable Applicable
concept

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