Critical Chain Method in Traditional Project and Portfolio Management Situations

Abstract

Critical Path (CP) method has been under scrutiny in recent years as the next evolution of project schedule development, the Critical Chain (CC) project management is gaining attention. Advocates of the Critical Chain method cite the Critical Path method's failure to address uncertainty properly. The purpose of this paper is to apply some of the features of the Critical Chain concepts to traditional approach of Critical Path for projects. More importantly, this research effort aims to demonstrate the applicability of CCPM to managing a portfolio of projects. The analysis, based on a critical review of past studies, experiments in both Critical Path and Critical Chain techniques, and a case study, presents recommendations to gain benefits of Critical Chain in a traditional Critical Path scheduling environment and to manage portfolio of projects or programs using some of the concepts of the Critical Chain Method.