Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) - An Effective Project Management Essay.

As a researcher he must have some question to meet the main aim and objectives of research.it is most important that researcher should create question to identify the gap and adopt effective steps to fill it, and main question of the research are described below.

Which technique is the most effective for multiple project?

What are the reason behind project failure?

How much an undertaking of project will be overseen relies upon the measure of the task of project.

A standout amongst the most ordinarily utilized strategies for improvement of an arrangement for the venture.

Agile Method is a specific way to deal with project management that is used in programming advancement.

Fulfill the customer and consistently create programming.

Changing necessities are grasped for the customer's upper hand.

Focus on conveying working programming much of the time. Conveyance inclination will be set on the most limited conceivable time traverse. Designers and specialists must cooperate all through the whole task of project.

Undertakings must be founded on individuals who are roused. Give them the correct condition and the help that they require. They are responsible to be trusted to complete their employments.

Up close and personal correspondence is the most ideal approach to exchange data to and from a group.

Working programming is the essential estimation of advance.

Proposes that the sort of research strategy decided for research data ought to rely on given conditions:

The purpose of this study is to throw light on the aspects related to the critical chain method and highlight the beneficial aspects in the delivery of an effective and efficient project management delivery. It can also be used as the substitute of the traditional project management approaches and allow the project manager to manage the constraints of the project in far better and efficient way. Many researchers have highlighted these aspects and the attempt will be driven to analyze the CCPM (Critical Chain Project Management) fundamentals and principles. Critical chain is unique from the basic way which emphasizes on the asset conditions and the resources dependencies (Leach 2014). With the help of the CCPM, the task plan turns out to be better through ensuring that it is conceivable and shielded from sensible predominant reason limits. It can be done through joining vulnerability or uncertainties with the buffers toward the complete of the project growth and development. The project buffer secures the delivery of the project on the critical chain path and nourishing buffer shields the critical chain from crossing the same path. This process is helpful in enhancing the decision-making and measurement for project control. (Goto and Yokoyama 2015) discusses the facts related to the traditional approaches and the newly proposed critical chain project management. They explained the difference between the CCPM and CPM or PERT analysis is that these methods do not consider the human factors

Literature review on a subject is done to identify the current status of knowledge that is available of a particular subject. Hence, the aim of the discussed section is to identify the current status of knowledge that is available on the critical chain project management. The scholarly work that had been assessed on the subject has been reviewed to gain the current status of knowledge that is available on the subject. The sub-sections below offer an insight into the knowledge that is available about the subject and its components.

According to Jo, Lee and Pyo (2018), CCPM is a disruptive management technique that emphasises on the resource rather than scheduling and task order which has dominated the traditional management techniques. The resources here are not limited to the raw material or inventory but extends to human, financial, information and other resources of the organisation. The management technique in discussion was first introduced by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and pursues the TOC (theory of constraints) to address the management challenges such as delivery issues and project task (Leach 2014). Other prominent management needs such as the project timing, performance, increase cost and under delivery are also offered with adequate attention. According to Seymour and Hussein (2014), CCPM is capable of enhancing the management processes and in the process delivery time of the offering with a high quality. The delivery time of the project gets a buff by 10 to 50% post adoption of the management technique in discussion (Su, Lucko and Thompson 2016). The management techniques in discussion considers three stages to complete a project that are planning, execution and reviewing. The technique has now been digitalised and is available as software and web-applications making it easier for the project team to understand and use the technique. Therefore, it would be justified to state that CCPM is a disruptive management technique that is proving to be dominant over traditional management techniques such as PERT and critical path (Anantatmula and Webb 2014).

CCPM

The review of the scholarly article has offered a great insight into the subject and has enhanced the understanding of the author. Furthermore, it will also act as a source of understanding for the readers who can vitalise it to adopt the discussed management technique in real-world scenario to enhance the performance of their project or the projects that they are associated with.

One of the most prominent components of CCPM that has been identified in the section above is Theory of Constraints that is the source of inspiration for the subject. Hence, it is one of the most needed topic that needed to be assessed and Rand (2016) in his paper has focused on the same. Introduced by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, it is one of the most widely adopted management technique. The theory believes that all the sophisticated processes is a chain of multiple sub-processes and even if one of the sub-process is inadequate in nature, it will disrupt the whole process (Bhowmik, Gangwar and Ray 2018). To support the hypothesis and to attain its objective of gaining profit, the theory has also recommended tools & techniques that could assist in attaining the goal. The tools & techniques in discussion are the thinking processes that assists in analysing and resolving of the problems, five focusing steps that is aimed at identifying and eliminating the constraints and throughput accounting that is aimed offering its assistance in measuring the performance along with guiding with the management decision.

The discussion on the principle of CCPM that is the theory of constraints, the author has earned an insight into the working of the management technique which will be utilised in the future actions that will be undertaken by the author. The readers will also gain an enhanced understanding of the management technique and it will assist them on deciding the adoption of the CCPM.

The review about the CCPM showed that the management technique works in three stages and they are planning, execution and review. Izamoliv, Korneva and Kozhemiakin (2016), in their article has stated that the understanding of the discussed phases is of great importance because it directly impacts that outcome of the project.

1. Planning is the first phase where a WBS (work breakdown structure) or project plan that is based on the principles of critical path. The plan pursues a backward pattern where completion date acts as a reference and each task is deemed to start as late as possible (Huang et al. 2013). Other potential measures are taken to ensure that the planning if effective and will save the time and resources during the execution phase. The main purpose of this phase is to define critical path that comprises of safety, reduction in task estimated and detailing critical task.
2. Execution is the next stage which is dependent on the planning stage. The results from the planning stage are assessed and based on that necessary actions are taken with regard to the resources. The discussed phase is also aimed at overcoming the challenges posed by the Parkinson’s Law and Student Syndrome. It also forces the project associates to move at a rapid speed even if the deadline is far distant. The discussed stage brings the difference between the traditional project management techniques and CCPM and also is responsible for the time and resource saving.

• Reviewing or monitoring is the final stage that deems special attention from the CCPM. To determine the success rate of the earlier stages in the discussed stage, buffer management is implemented. The implementation is aimed at assessing each task. Buffer and its consumption ratio serves as the torch point reflector for the project and its associated tasks.

The discussion on the crucial stages of CCPM, has enabled the author to understand the crucial importance of the management technique along with the steps that it equips to attain the objective of resource and time-saving. The readers of the paper will also earn an insight into the subject’s internal operations which will assist them to understand the concept and will ultimately help them to make a decision over the adoption of the management technique.

Apart from the stages discussed in the section above, there are certain steps that are considered crucial part of the management technique. According to Nasseri, et al. (2013), assessing the discussed steps adequately ensures that the management technique is citing the results that is expected of it. The first major step that is undertaken as part of the management technique is reduction of all the estimated time by 50% and is carried in the planning stage. Levelling of the project plan while removing the resource retentions which assists in conversion of the critical path to critical chain. The time estimates that had been reduced during the planning stage is then added to the project buffer and inserted at the concluding phase of the project which is then succeeded by insertion of the feeding buffers at the junctions where the critical and non-critical chain paths meet. Furthermore, resource buffers at added at the necessary points for protecting the critical chain from suffering due to unavailability of resources. Another notable step undertaken is the insertion of the capacity buffers at the much needed points and scheduling of tasks to the last possible situation that enables prevention of multitasking. One of the motivations that is cited by the management technique in discussion is to ensure that the approach adopted by the team is aggressive and they aim to complete the scheduled task as early as possible.

TOC: Principle of CCPM

The discussion above has enabled to understand how the management techniques avoid failing of the project due to unavailability of resources through different steps that are undertaken as part of the process. The conversion of the critical path to critical chain and other prominent steps that are considered for the development of a realistic project plan has also been discussed that are part of the CCPM. Hence, it would be justified to state that the discussed reviews have offered an insight into the techniques that are the initial requirement of the management technique in discussion and the need for adopting those steps. It would assist both the reader and author to consider the CCPM with appropriate attention.

The discussions above have cited that CCPM is one of the massively adopted management technique and hence it becomes of great prominence to discuss the benefits of the considered technique. Mirzaei et al. (2015), in their paper attempted to offer an insight into the benefits that is offered by the management technique in discussion. The most prominent benefit that was identified through the review of the scholarly work states that the discussed management technique enables the project team to cite more focus on the tasks that had been designated to them. The focus on the tasks enables the team to connect with each other and enhance the quality of the delivery, in the process upgrading the team efficiency and productivity. Another notable benefit offered by the discussed management technique is preventing the development of the Student Syndrome phenomena. Further, the mismanagement of the floats is also one of the notable benefits that is offered by the CCPM. Furthermore, it is evident from the discussions above that it considers minimal possible time for the completion of a task that ensures that the delivery is on or before time which gains trust for the project team in context to the project owner. Along with the trust of the project owner the project completion time is also accelerated that saves time-sensitive resources of the organisation. The pre-deadline completion and saving of the organisational resource in the process saves the financial resources which is one of the most desired actions of a project. Similarly, multiple other benefits of the discussed management technique have been identified, however, the most prominent of them has been discussed in this section.

Hence, it would be justified to state that the discussion above has made it evident that CCPM is capable of offering significant benefits to a project. The identification of the benefits will also enable the readers to offer adequate attention that CCPM deserves. Furthermore, the author of the paper also earned an insight into the need of discussion over the subject which will assist in pursuing future works.  

According to Mirzaei, Mabin and Sheffield (2015), CCPM is the most efficient project management approach and is dominant over other traditional project management approach and has cited evidence to validate their perspective. The table attached below discusses the advantage of the CCPM that it has over its traditional counterparts. Different sources has been reviewed to develop the table and has been referenced.

CCPM Stages

CCPM can be defined as the longest chain that can be helpful in determining the projects’ lead time or in other words it describes how to tackle up with the tasks duration  and possible uncertainties those might influence the overall delivery of the project and manages its deliveries in far better and efficient way. () stated that the propose buffer method can be helpful in controlling the uncertainties considering the delivery of the project eliminating the uncertainties and issues. This will be allowing the project managers to enhance the lead time estimation during the instance of accessing the reliable information related to the project delivery. Following figure describes the task lead time confidence and estimation graph:

Conclusion

The report in discussion could be summarised to state that project management is of great importance when discussed in context to the success of the project. However, the selection of most appropriate and effective project management approach is also crucial. Several project management approaches are available in the market that could be adopted by the project team. One of them is CCPM which is emerging as one of the most dominant project management approach. The discussed report has reviewed the literary works that are available on the subject to identify the current state of knowledge. The review has discussed different aspects of CCPM and identified its approach, components benefits and other similar factors.

The discussion has cited that CCPM pursues theory of constraints to resolve the delivery issues and other issues. The management approach adopts three stages to attain the project completion that includes, planning, execution and reviewing. The benefits that are offered by the discussed approach has also been identified and pre-deadline completion and saving of the organisational resource is the most prominent of them. The discussion has also reflected the perks and the reason for them that CCPM entertains over its traditional counterparts. Along with the discussion, the paper has also offered the prominence of discussion and how it offers assistance to the author and the readers.

Hence, in conclusion the report could be emphasised to state that CCPM is capable of offering major benefits in the completion of the project in context with the delivery time and saving of the organisational resources in comparison to its traditional counterparts and hence, should be adopted.

References

Al Nasseri, H., Widén, K. and Aulin, R., 2013. Towards a taxonomy of planning and scheduling methods in the context of construction management. CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND ORGANISATION 2013, p.570.

Anantatmula, V.S. and Webb, J.B., 2016. Critical chain method in traditional project and portfolio management situations. In Project Management: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1005-1022). IGI Global.

Bhowmik, C., Gangwar, S. and Ray, A., 2018. Integrating Six-Sigma and Theory of Constraint for Manufacturing Process: A Case Study. In Soft Computing: Theories and Applications (pp. 607-617). Springer, Singapore.

Goto, H. and Yokoyama, H., 2015, December. Minimization of the Makespan a Project in the Critical Chain Project Management Framework Using a Max-Plus Linear Representation. In Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2015 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 234-238). IEEE.

Gwiazda, A., Paprocka, I. and B?czkowicz, M., 2017. Estimation of the resource buffers in the assembly process of a shearer machine in the CPPM method. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 94, p. 06012). EDP Sciences.

Huang, C.L., Li, R.K., Chung, Y.C. and Hsu, Y.W., 2013. A study of using critical chain project management method for multi-project management improvement. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 2(3), p.55.

Izmailov, A., Korneva, D. and Kozhemiakin, A., 2016. Project management using the buffers of time and resources. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 235, pp.189-197.

Jo, S.H., Lee, E.B. and Pyo, K.Y., 2018. Integrating a Procurement Management Process into Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM): A Case-Study on Oil and Gas Projects, the Piping Process. Sustainability (2071-1050), 10(6).

Leach, L.P., 2014. Critical chain project management. Artech House.

Mirzaei, M., Mabin, V.J. and Sheffield, J., 2015. Constraint classification for projects.

Rand, D.G., 2016. Cooperation, fast and slow: Meta-analytic evidence for a theory of social heuristics and self-interested deliberation. Psychological Science, 27(9), pp.1192-1206.

Seymour, T. and Hussein, S., 2014. The history of project management. International Journal of Management & Information Systems (Online), 18(4), p.233.

Su, Y., Lucko, G. and Thompson, R.C., 2016, December. Evaluating performance of critical chain project management to mitigate delays based on different schedule network complexities. In Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), 2016 (pp. 3314-3324). IEEE.