Organisational Effectiveness 2A (ORE22A2)

WORK STUDY & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

University of Johannesburg
South Africa
DFC CAMPUS
Chapter Contents:

• THE IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• PROJECT PLANNING
– The Project Manager
– Work Breakdown Structure
• PROJECT SCHEDULING
• PROJECT CONTROLLING
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES:
– PERT AND CPM 
• The Framework of PERT and CPM
– Network Diagrams and Approaches
– Activity on Node Example
• Determining the Project Schedule
– Forward Pass AND Backward Pass (critical Path Method)
– Calculating Slack Time and Identifying the Critical Path(s) 2
Chapter Outcomes:

When you complete this chapter, you should be able to :

Identify or Define:
•Work breakdown structure
•Gantt Chart
•Develop a Gantt Chart
•Critical path
•AOA and AON Networks
•Forward and Backward Passes
Describe or Explain:
•The Importance of Project management
•The role of the project manager
•Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)
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•Critical path method (CPM)
 Defining Project Management.

To Fully comprehend what Project Management is all you about we firstly

need to understand what a Project is.

Defining a Project.
•a series of related tasks directed toward a major output
•A Project is a unique Event (The introduction of a new product/Service)
•A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time,
and therefore defined scope and resources.
– “Projects are a common part of our everyday life. Whether we planning a wedding, birthday
party or renovating a house”.

•Projects that take months or years to complete are usually outside the
normal production system.
•Project management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools,
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techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
The Importance of Project Management.

• In firms Projects the Projects that take months or years to complete

are usually handled by Project organizations.
– An organisation form formed to ensure projects receive proper management an
attention.

• Project Management consists of Three Phases:

1.Planning: This phase includes goal setting, defining the project, and
team organization.
2.Scheduling: This phase relates people, money, and supplies to
specific activities and relates activities to each other.
3.Controlling: Here the firm monitors resources, costs, quality, and
budgets. It also revises or changes plans and shifts resources to
meet time and cost demands.
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Project Planning.

• Projects can be defined as a series of related tasks directed

toward a major output.
• Companies with multiple large projects, a project organization is
an effective way of assigning the people and physical resources
needed.
• Project Organizations are most helpful when:
– Work tasks can be defined with a specific goal and deadline.
– The job is unique or somewhat unfamiliar to the existing organization.
– The work contains complex interrelated tasks requiring specialized skills.
– The project is temporary but critical to the organization.
– The project cuts across organizational lines.

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 The Project Manager.

• The picture above provides an example of a project organization.

• Project team members are temporarily assigned to a project and report to
the project manager.
• The manager heading the project coordinates activities with other
departments and reports directly to top management. 7
The Project Manager.

• Project managers receive high visibility and are responsible for

the following:
– ensuring all necessary activities are finished in proper sequence and on time
– ensuring the project comes in within budget
– ensuring the project meets its quality goals;
– Ensuring that the people assigned to the project receive the motivation,
direction, and information needed.

• project managers should be good coaches and communicators

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The Project Manager.
Ethical Issues Faced in Project Management

• Project managers face ethical decisions on a daily basis that can

put there reputations at risk.
– offers of gifts from contractors,
– pressure to alter status reports to mask the reality of delays
– false reports for charges of time and expenses
– pressures to compromise quality to meet bonuses or avoid penalties related to
schedules.

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Work Breakdown Structure

• A hierarchical description of a project into more and more detailed

components.
• This work breakdown structure (WBS) defines the project by
dividing it into its major subcomponents (or tasks), which are then
subdivided into more detailed components, and finally into a set of
activities and their related costs.

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Project Scheduling

• Project scheduling involves sequencing and allotting(Providing)

time to all project activities.
• managers decide how long each activity will take and compute
the resources needed at each stage of production.
• Managers may also chart separate schedules for personnel
needs by type of skill and material needed.
• Common scheduling tools are:
– Gantt Charts
– Network Diagram:
 PERT (Project Evaluation Review Technique)
 CPM (Critical Path Method)

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Project Scheduling.

Project scheduling serves for the following purposes:

 It shows the relationship of each activity to others and to the
whole project.
It identifies the precedence relationships among activities.
It encourages the setting of realistic time and cost estimates for
each activity.
It helps make better use of people, money, and material
resources by identifying critical bottlenecks in the project

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Project Scheduling.
Gantt charts Freivalds (2009)

• The first planning and control technique.

• Gantt charts are low-cost means of helping managers make sure
that:
– Activities are planned
– Order of performance is documented
– Activity time estimates are recorded, and
– Overall project time is developed.
• Gantt charts simply show the anticipated completion times of various
project activities as bars plotted against time on horizontal axis.
• a vertical line is drawn through a given date, you can easily
determine which project components are ahead of or behind
schedule. (See example on next page)

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Project Scheduling.
Gantt charts

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Project Scheduling.
Gantt charts

Developing a Gantt Chart.

• Horizontal bars are drawn for each project activity along a time
line.
– Develop a timeline Horizontally at the top of the page
– Vertically on the left side of the page plot the activities in sequence (A-Z).
– For each activity plot it against the time, according to its predecessor.

Click on the three links below to see how to draw a Gantt Chart:
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+draw+a+gantt+chart+by+hand&rlz=1C1CHBD_enZA
867ZA867&oq=How+to+draw+a+gan&aqs=chrome.5.0l3j69i57j0l4.15333j0j4&sourceid=chrome
&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_OZyyXpSfKNCegQaR0bj4BQ37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBa8YPJvTn0 GANTT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-oN1nMP78Q CPM PERT

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Project Scheduling.
Gantt charts (Class Activity).

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Project Controlling.

• Controlling means using a feedback loop to revise a project plan

and having the ability to shift resources to where they are needed
most.
• When Controlling Projects the stakes are high; cost overruns and
unnecessary delays can occur due to poor planning, scheduling,
and controls.
• Some projects are “well-defined,” whereas others may be “ill-
defined.
• Well-defined projects are assumed to have changes small
enough to be managed without substantially revising plans.

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT
and CPM

• Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) and the critical path method
(CPM) were both developed to help managers schedule, monitor, and control
large and complex projects.

• The Framework of PERT and CPM:

1. Define the project and prepare the work breakdown structure.
2. Develop the relationships among the activities. Decide which activities must precede
and which must follow others.
3. Draw the network connecting all the activities.
4. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each activity.
5. Compute the longest time path through the network. This is called the critical path.

6. Use the network to help plan, schedule, monitor, and control the project.
• Note: step 5, finding the critical path, is a major part of controlling a project
• The activities on the critical path represent tasks that will delay the entire
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project if they are not completed on time.
Project Management Techniques: PERT
and CPM

• PERT and CPM differ to some extent in terminology and in the

construction of the network, their objectives are the same.
• The analysis used in both techniques is very similar.
• The major difference is that PERT employs three time estimates
for each activity.
• CPM makes the assumption that activity times are known with
certainty and hence requires only one time factor for each activity.

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT
and CPM

PERT and CPM are important because they can help answer questions
such as the following about projects:

1.When will the entire project be completed?

2.What are the critical activities or tasks in the project—that is, which activities will delay the
entire project if they are late?
3.Which are the noncritical activities—the ones that can run late without delaying the whole
project’s completion?
4.What is the probability that the project will be completed by a specific date?
5. At any particular date, is the project on schedule, behind schedule, or ahead of schedule?
6.On any given date, is the money spent equal to, less than, or greater than the budgeted
amount?
7.Are there enough resources available to finish the project on time?
8.If the project is to be finished in a shorter amount of time, what is the best way to
accomplish this goal at the least cost?
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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Network Diagrams.

• The first step in a PERT or CPM network is to divide the entire project into significant activities in
accordance with the work breakdown structure.
• A project network is a diagram of all the activities and the precedence relationships that exist
between those activities in a project
Example 1:
Milwaukee Paper Manufacturing had long delayed the expense of installing advanced computerized air
pollution control equipment in its facility. Under strict deadline the manager needs to be sure that
installation of the of a new filtering system progresses smoothly and on time
Milwaukee Paper has identified the eight activities that need to be performed in order for the project to be
completed. When the project begins, two activities can be simultaneously started: building the internal
components for the device (activity A) and the modifications necessary for the floor and roof (activity B).
The construction of the collection stack (activity C) can begin when the internal components are
completed. Pouring the concrete floor and installation of the frame (activity D) can be started as soon as
the internal components are completed and the roof and floor have been modified.
After the collection stack has been constructed, two activities can begin: building the high-temperature
burner (activity E) and installing the pollution control system (activity F). The air pollution device can be
installed (activity G) after the concrete floor has been poured, the frame has been installed, and the high-
temperature burner has been built. Finally, after the control system and pollution device have been
installed, the system can be inspected and tested (activity H). 21
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Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Network Diagrams. (example 1 Solution)

• Note: the activity information table below is a clear representation of the information
provided in example 1:
• It is always convenient to list all the activity information in a table.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION IMMEDIATE
PREDECESSOR
A Build internal components -
B Modify roof and floor -
C Construct collection stack A
D Pour concrete and install frame A,B
E Build high-temperature burner C
F Install pollution control system C
G Install air pollution device D,E
H Inspect and test F,G

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE
 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Network Diagrams. (example 1 Solution Cont.…)

• - means has no Immediate predecessor.

• We see in the table that activity A is listed as an immediate predecessor of activity C,
Likewise, both activities D and E must be performed prior to starting activity G.

• In example 1, there are two activities (A and B) that do not have any predecessors. We draw
separate nodes for each of these activities, as shown below.

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE
 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Network Diagrams. (example 1 Solution Cont.…)

• We now show the precedence relationships using lines with arrow symbols.
• For example, the arrow from Activity A to Activity C indicates that Activity A is A
predecessor of Activity C (see figure below: green arrow).
• Likewise, we first draw a node to represent activity D.
• Then, because activities A and B both precede activity D, we draw arrows from A
to D and from B to D (see figure below: Red Arrows)

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE

Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Network Diagrams. (example 1 Solution Cont.…)

• We then proceed in this fashion, adding a separate node for each activity and a
separate line for each precedence relationship that exists (see figure below: blue
arrows).

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Project Management Techniques: PERT
and CPM.
Network Diagrams.

Exercise 1:
To complete the wing assembly for an experimental aircraft, Jim Gilbert has laid
out the seven major activities involved. These activities have been labeled A
through G in the following table, which also shows their immediate
predecessors. Develop a network diagram

ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS

A -
B -
C A
D B
E C,D
F D
G E
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Project Management Techniques: PERT and
CPM.
Network Diagrams.

• Solution.

• Video links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmXBZk6y1lU&t=16s

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and
CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

• Look back at example 1 for a moment to see Milwaukee Paper’s

completed project network. Once this project network has been drawn to
show all the activities and their precedence relationships, the next step is
to determine the project schedule.
• This means we need to identify the planned starting and ending
time for each activity.

• Note: Move to Example 2 which is based on example 1.

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and
CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

Example 2:
• Let us assume Milwaukee Paper estimates the time required for each activity, in weeks, as
shown in the table below.

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Project Management Techniques: PERT
and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

• The table indicates that the total time for all eight of the company’s
activities is 25 weeks.
• However, because several activities can take place simultaneously, it is
clear that the total project completion time may be less than 25 weeks.
• To find out just how long the project will take, we perform the critical
path analysis for the network

“Critical path analysis: A process that helps determine a project

schedule.”

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and
CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

• To find the critical path, we calculate two distinct starting and ending
times for each activity. These are defined as follows:
– Earliest start (ES) = earliest time at which an activity can start, assuming all
predecessors have been completed
– Earliest finish (EF) = earliest time at which an activity can be finished
– Latest start (LS) = latest time at which an activity can start so as to not delay the
completion time of the entire project
– Latest finish (LF) = latest time by which an activity has to finish so as to not delay
the completion time of the entire project

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Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

ES, EF, LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•To clearly show the activity schedules on the project network, we use the notation
shown in the Figure below:
– The ES of an activity is shown in the top left corner of the node denoting that activity.
– The EF is shown in the top right corner.
– The latest times, LS and LF, are shown in the bottom-left and bottom-right corners, respectively.

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

ES, EF, LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

Earliest Start Time Rule

•Before an activity can start, all its immediate predecessors must be finished:
– If an activity has only a single immediate predecessor, its ES equals the EF of the predecessor.
– If an activity has multiple immediate predecessors, its ES is the maximum of all EF values of its
predecessors. That is: ES = Max {EF of all immediate predecessors}

Earliest Finish Time Rule

•The earliest finish time (EF) of an activity is the sum of its earliest start time (ES) and its
activity time. That is: EF = ES + Activity time

NB: Now lets solve example 2

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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

ES, EF, LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

Using the table in example 2, which contains the activity times. Complete the project
network for the company’s project, along with the ES and EF values for all activities.

Solution: With the help of figure developed in example 1, we can describe how these
values are calculated.

•consider activities A and B, both of which have no immediate predecessors. Using the
earliest start time rule, the ES for both activities A and B equals zero, which is the EF of
activity Start. Now, using the earliest finish time rule, the EF for A is 2 (= 0 + 2), and the
EF for B is 3 (= 0 + 3) refer to the images below.

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE

 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

ES, EF, LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•Since activity A precedes activity C, the ES of C equals the EF of A (= 2). The EF of C is therefore 4 (= 2 + 2)
refer to image below.

•We now come to activity D. Both activities A and B are immediate predecessors for D. Whereas A has an EF
of 2, activity B has an EF of 3. Using the earliest start time rule, we compute the ES of activity D as follows:
– ES of D = Max{EF of A, EF of B} = Max (2, 3) = 3
• The EF of D equals 7 (= 3 + 4). Next, both activities E and F have activity C as their only immediate
predecessor. Therefore, the ES for both E and F equals 4 (= EF of C). The EF of E is 8 (= 4 + 4), and the EF of
F is 7 (= 4 + 3) refer to image below.

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE

Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

ES, EF, LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•Activity G has both activities D and E as predecessors. Using the earliest start time rule, its ES is therefore
the maximum of the EF of D and the EF of E. Hence, the ES of activity G equals 8 (= maximum of 7 and 8),
and its EF equals 13 (= 8 + 5).

• Finally, we come to activity H. Because it also has two predecessors, F and G, the ES of H is the
maximum EF of these two activities. That is, the ES of H equals 13 (= maximum of 13 and 7). This implies
that the EF of H is 15 (= 13 + 2).

•Because H is the last activity in the project, this also implies that the earliest time in which the entire
project can be completed is 15 weeks.

•See Final Solution on next slide

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE
Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

• ES, EF, LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

Video link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADt38alSCU4
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 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•The Early start, Early finish began with the first activity in the project, therefore the late start, late finish
begins with the last activity in the project.
•For each activity, we first determine its LF value, followed by its LS value.
•The following two rules are used in this process:

Latest Finish Time Rule:

•This rule is again based on the fact that before an activity can start, all its immediate predecessors must be
finished:
– If an activity is an immediate predecessor for just a single activity, its LF equals the LS of the activity that immediately
follows it.
– If an activity is an immediate predecessor to more than one activity, its LF is the minimum of all LS values of all
activities that immediately follow it. That is:
LF = Min{LS of all immediate following activities}
Latest Start Time Rule
•The latest start time (LS) of an activity is the difference of its latest finish time (LF) and its activity time. That
is: LS = LF − Activity time
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Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•Calculate the latest start and finish times for each activity in Milwaukee Paper’s pollution project (example 2)

SOLUTION.
•For this solution we will use the final solution of Early start, Early finish, as you can see the LS and LF are not
left blank. We are therefore required to fill them out.

•We begin by assigning an LF value of 15 weeks for activity H. That is, we specify that the latest finish time
for the entire project is the same as its earliest finish time. Using the latest start time rule, the LS of activity H
is equal to 13 (= 15 − 2) see image below (red section).

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE
Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•Because activity H is the lone succeeding activity for both activities F and G, the LF for both F and G
equals 13. This implies that the LS of G is 8 (= 13 − 5), and the LS of F is 10 (= 13 − 3) Refer to images
below.

•Proceeding in this fashion, we see that the LF of E is 8 (= LS of G), and its LS is 4 (= 8 − 4). Likewise, the
LF of D is 8 (= LS of G), and its LS is 4 (= 8 − 4).
• We now consider activity C, which is an immediate predecessor to two activities: E and F. Using the latest
finish time rule, we compute the LF of activity C as follows:
– LF of C = Min{LS of E, LS of F} = Min(4, 10) = 4
– he LS of C is computed as 2 (= 4 − 2).

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SOLUTION CONT… NEXT SLIDE

Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

LS, and LF (CRITICAL PATH METHOD).

•Next, we compute the LF of B as 4 (= LS of D) and its LS as 1 (= 4 − 3).

• We now consider activity A. We compute its LF as 2 (= minimum of LS of C and LS of D). Hence, the LS of
activity A is 0 (= 2 − 2).

NOTE:
•The LF of an activity that is the predecessor of only one activity is just the LS of that following activity.
•If the activity is the predecessor to more than one activity, its LF is the smallest LS value of all activities that
follow immediately.

VIDEO LINK.
1.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oDLMs11Exs
2.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRlXRYok3oQ

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Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

Calculating Slack Time and Identifying the Critical Path(s).

•Once we have computed the earliest and latest times for all activities, the next step is to find the amount of
slack time that each activity has.

•Slack is the length of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project.
Mathematically: Slack = LS − ES or Slack = LF − EF
•The activities with zero slack are called critical activities and are said to be on the critical path.

Calculate the slack for the activities in the Milwaukee Paper project.
•Using the data of the ES, EF, LS, and LF we can compute the slack using the mathematical formulae above.

•SOLUTION: See table on next slide

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Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

Calculating Slack Time and Identifying the Critical Path(s).

•The table above summarizes the ES, EF, LS, LF, and slack time for all of the firm’s activities.
•Activity B, for example, has 1 week of slack time because its LS is 1 and its ES is 0 (alternatively, its LF is 4 and its
EF is 3).
•This means that activity B can be delayed by up to 1 week, and the whole project can still be finished in 15 weeks. On
the other hand, activities A, C, E, G, and H have no slack time.
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•This means that none of them can be delayed without delaying the entire project.
 Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM.
Determining The Project Schedule

Calculating Slack Time and Identifying the Critical Path(s).

• The critical path is a continuous path through the project network that:
– Starts at the first activity in the project (Start in our example).
– Terminates at the last activity in the project (H in our example).
– Includes only critical activities (i.e., activities with no slack time).

• The critical path follows the activities with slack = 0. This is considered the longest path
through the network.
• Therefore, the total project completion time of 15 weeks corresponds to the longest
path in the network. That path is Start-A-C-E-G-H in network form

VIDEO LINKS:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDa-Fq5jeuM
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 A Critique of PERT and CPM

Advantages:
1.Especially useful when scheduling and controlling large projects.
2.Straightforward concept and not mathematically complex.
3.Graphical networks help highlight relationships among project activities.
4.Critical path and slack time analyses help pinpoint activities that need to be closely watched.
5.Project documentation and graphs point out who is responsible for various activities.
6.Applicable to a wide variety of projects.
7.Useful in monitoring not only schedules but costs as well.

Limitations
1.Project activities have to be clearly defined, independent, and stable in their relationships.
2.Precedence relationships must be specified and networked together.
3.Time estimates tend to be subjective and are subject to fudging by managers who fear the dangers of
being overly optimistic or not pessimistic enough.
4.There is the inherent danger of placing too much emphasis on the longest, or critical, path. Near-critical
paths need to be monitored closely as well .

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THE END…

THANK YOU!

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