The Project Scheduling Game (PSG): Simulating Time/Cost Trade-Offs in Projects

Abstract

The Project Scheduling Game is an IT-supported simulation game that illustrates the complexity of scheduling a real-life project. The project is based on a sequence of activities for a large real-life project at the Vlaamse Maatschappij voor Watervoorziening, which aims at the expansion of the capacity to produce purified water. The basic problem type that we use in the game has been described in the literature as a CPM (critical path method) network problem, and focuses on the time/cost relationship in each activity of the project. Indeed, by allocating resources to a particular activity, the manager decides about the duration and corresponding cost of each network activity. The manager schedules the project with the negotiated project deadline in mind, focusing on the minimization of the total project cost.