CRITICAL PATH METHOD

Critical path is the sequence of activities which added up to the longest overall duration. It is the
shortest time possible to complete a project.

Critical path method is one of the techniques for doing projects that are made up of a number of
individual activities. If some of the activities require other activities to finish before they can
start, then the project becomes s complex web of activities.

Critical path method can help managers to determine how long the complex project will take to
be complete and identify which activities are critical meaning that they have to be done on time
or else the whole project will take longer.

It is used for project with interdepend activities.

An activity is a specific task, It gets something done

Illustration

2
3
AC4
AC1

START FINISH

AC2

AC3
5
4

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 Steps
Specify the individual activities
Determine the sequence of those activities
Draw a network diagram
Estimate the completion time for each activity
Identify the critical path (the longest path through the network)

In case we have a project like recruitment, It has activities like job analysis, invitation to treat,
shortlisting , interviews, appointment and induction on the web.

Illustration
Selection
Advert
7 5
2

Job Analysis Appointment

Interview
1 7 8
4

Induction

6
Application
Short Lishting

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Advantages of the critical path
It shows the graphical view of a project
It provides an easy method of evaluating the effects of technical and procedural changes that
occur on the overall project schedule.
Critical path method enables the most economic planning of all operations to meet desirable
project competition dates.
It helps to identify the most critical elements in the plan.
It helps project managers get a complete overview of the total project by looking at the
activities involved.
It helps to ascertain the time schedule of activities having a sequential relationship

Disadvantages of the critical path

It assumes that all resource are available for the project all times since its an optimal
planning tool.
It does not consider resource dependencies
There are chances of missing floats or slack
Float or slack is the amount of time that a task can be delayed without causing a delay to the
project completion.
Less attention on the non-critical activities and it can easily fail a project.
Critical Path Method time estimates are not based on statistical analysis.
It cannot be used as a controlling device for the simple reason that any change introduced
will change the entire structure of the network.

PERT (Project Evaluation Rating Technique)

Is project management tool used to scheduler organize and coordinate tasks with in a project. It
is basically the time needed to complete each task and to identify the minimum time needed to
complete the total project.

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Steps in PERT
Break the project into different activities and milestones systematically
Arrange activities in Logical sequence
Draw the network diagram
Events and activities for each are numbered
Estimates the time for each activity
Earliest starting time and latest finishing time are calculated.
Critical paths are identified and marked on the network diagram it shows the total time
required for a project.
Length of the critical path or the total project duration is found out.

Illustration

Activity Description Predecessors Optimistic Pessimistic Most Expected

Time Likes
1. Job Analysis - 7days 4days 10 days 12
2. Advert 1 5 10 8 7
3. Application 2
4. Interview 6
5. Selection 4
6. Short Listing 3
7. Appointment 5
8. Induction 7

AE.T =(0+4M+P)/6 5+(4x8)+10/6 =

7+(4x14)+10/6 47/6 = 7

= 12

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 7 5
2

12
Start

1 7 8
4

End

Expected project completion time

Milestones are the events marking the beginning and the end of one or more activities

Advantages of PERT
PERT forces the management o plan carefully an d study how the various parts fit into whole
project
Pert enables the business manager to predict time and cost of the project in advance.
PERT is a project forward looking control device for management. PERT calls attention on
the timely completion of the project and avoids delay.
It enables the determination of the probability of the probabilities concerning the time by
which activity and project would be completed.
It suggests areas for increasing efficiency and reducing cost.
It provides up to date information of the project programme so that delays and interruptions.
It assists in coordinating the different parts of the total project.

Expected time = (0 + 4 X Most likely + pessimistic)/6

Optimistic time is the shortest time in which an activity can be concluded

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Pessimistic the longer time that an activity can be completed.

Disadvantages of PERT
It is assumed that all activities involved in the project are know in advance yet it is not
possible to list all activities to be done in a project in in advance.
The assumption that a project can be subdivided into a set of predictable and independent
activities may not hold true always.
It empathizes only on time and not the costs.
It is based on time estimates and there may be errors in estimating time.
It is an expensive and time consuming exercise which requires highly trained personnel to
always update and revise calculations.

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