Paper Example on Critical Path Analysis: Robust Tool for Project Planning

Introduction

A critical path analysis (CPA) is a robust tool that enables the development of a project program and resource planning of the entire project. It is a representation of all the activities necessary for the completion of the project, the amount of time needed to complete each task, and dependencies between the tasks (Render, Stair, & Hanna, 2015). Critical path activities are activities that must be completed on time to continue a project. There are several critical path activities, they include specification and identification of every task/activity in the project, establishment of dependencies (the sequence of the activities), drawing the CPA chart (also referred to as network diagram), estimating the time it will take to complete each task, establishing the critical path, and updating the path diagram as the project progresses. CPA helps in the identification of the most important activities and tasks (Render et al., 2015). Critical path analysis helps project managers know the exact duration of a project. By knowing the exact duration of a project, project managers prioritize activities with success, avoiding setbacks that could potentially endanger the project itself (Zareei, 2018). In this way, they manage any future risks and uncertainties. Other advantages include the optimization of resources and the budget, minimizing risks, prediction of contingencies, quick and effective decision making, and management of balanced resource consumption.

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Response to Post CM1

I am in agreement with you regarding how you explained what a critical path analysis is. I agree that it is used to create expectations and set realistic deadlines for different parts of the project to monitor that the project is on task and will be completed on time. I think schedule and deadline are perfect words when describing what a critical path is. I also agree with the explanation that you provided on critical paths activities being activities that must be completed on time to continue a project. I also liked how you provided the example of the roof and how it is a critical path when building a house. However, I think you did not fully answer the question especially regarding the importance of critical path activities. Although you have answered the first and second part of the question sufficiently, the third part has not been fully addressed. Among the benefits of the critical path activities that you could have mentioned include; they ensure that there are no delays in the completion of the project and that all the critical tasks are on schedule (Project Management Knowledge, 2019). It is, however, an informative and interesting analysis.

Response to Post CM2

I like how you discuss what a critical path analysis is and what is used for. I agree that critical path analysis is the research and observations of using certain methods to get things done on time. I, however, did not understand your explanation of what critical path activities are, in your analysis, you explain that "Critical path activities are projects and that put together the whole project to make sure it gets turned in or completed when it should." I think this definition is mixed up and it is hard to understand its meaning. You have however stated the importance of critical path activities by stating that if these activities are not followed, there might be a delay in the completion of the project (Primavera Project Management, 2019). You raise excellent points about the identification of critical activities using the float and the longest path techniques. I loved reading what you said regarding these identification techniques and I also agree that if inter-projects are scheduled alone, it could lead to problems. However, I am not certain if your answers are clear enough. They should have centered on the concept of critical path analysis, its activities and significance more rather than explaining the identification techniques in detail.

Waiting Line Models

The theory of queues is a discipline, within operational research, which aims to study and analyze situations in which there are entities that demand a certain service, in such a way that said service cannot be satisfied instantaneously, which, is why people have to wait. The system consists of a queue system and a service system, in which entities enter a population through an arrival process, to receive a required service. The service rate indicates the average number of customers that can be serviced in a certain duration of time whereas the service rate indicates the capacity of the service system (Render et al., 2015). Usually, customers arrive at a service center in a random way and their arrival is in general probabilistic. The queue system exists as long as the number of entities is greater than the number of servers. The arrival rate () and the service rate (m) must be given in the Poissonian process, that is, the arrivals are given according to the Poisson distribution and the service time follows an exponential distribution (Render et al., 2015). If the average number of customers arriving is greater than the number of customers that can be served per time period, the waiting line would keep growing infinitely (Xiao & Zhang, 2010). Thus, the service rate of a system must be lower than the arrival rate of the system, otherwise, the system collapses m> (Render et al., 2015). If the arrival rate is greater than the service rate, the line would eventually grow infinitely large. Other factors why the service rate must be greater than the arrival rate include the exponential service times, the exponential services times with a finite queue, the distribution of the service times, and the exponential service times with a finite calling population.

Response to Post CM1

The answer you have provided is concise and precise. I, however, find several parts of the answer incomprehensible and lacking cohesion. In the first sentence, you state, "When evaluating service compared to queuing a manager has to find a happy median". I believe the word happy should not have been used, maybe the word suitable is preferable. The lack of use of commas also makes it hard to understand several statements such as, "In a single queuing system service rate must be greater because different from a many of today's multi-phase systems a single queuing system has one person that handles all parts of providing service to that customer." Although you brought up valid points and you have provided a good example of the waiter in a hotel, I think the question has not been sufficiently answered. You have really not provided reasons why the service rate should be greater than the arrival rate. I think it would have been more effective if you would have focused more on the reasons since they are several. For example, you could have stated that the service rate of a system must be lower than the arrival rate of the system, otherwise, the system collapses and that the waiting line would eventually grow infinitely large if arrival rate is greater than service rate (Beasley, 2018).

Response to Post CM2

The way you focused on answering the question was not very well done. I have quite a few issues with your post. First and foremost, I like your introductory sentence since it sets in motion what the reader should anticipate. You stated that there are many reasons why the service rate is greater than the arrival rate but you have provided the only one which is a bit mixed up. I applaud and like the fact that you have provided examples but in my opinion, you have not answered the question well. Some statements are also incomplete, for example, you state, "Another reason is that the customer service lacks." I tend to believe that that sentence is incomplete. At one point you mention patients and am not sure what you exactly meant by that. In my opinion, you should have provided reasons such that, if the average number of customers arriving is greater than the number of customers that can be served per time period, the waiting line would keep growing infinitely thus resulting in the system collapsing (Sahu & Sahu, 2014). Your answer does not enable the reader to know why the service rate must be greater than the arrival rate.

References

Beasly, J. (2018). The Queuing theory. Retrieved from http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~mastjjb/jeb/or/queue.html on 8th July 2019.Primavera Project Management (2019). What are the critical path activities? Retrieved from https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E17462_01/Web_Access/Help/en/Projects/Tasks/pm_cpm.htm on 8th July 2019.

Project Management Knowledge (2019). Critical Path Activity. Retrieved from https://project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/c/critical-path-activity/ on 8th July 2019.Render, B., Stair, R. M., & Hanna, M. E. (2015). Quantitative analysis for management. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.

Sahu, C., & Sahu, S. (2014). Implementation of Single Channel Queuing Model to Enhance Banking Services. International Journal of Management, Information Technology and Engineering 2(7), 71-78. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/8004012/IMPLIMENTATION_OF_SINGLE_CHANEL_QUEUING_MODELTO_ENHANCE_BANKING_SERVICES

Xiao, H., & Zhang, G. (2010). The queuing theory application in bank service optimization. International Conference on Logistics Systems and Intelligent Management (ICLSIM), 2, 1097-1100. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICLSIM.2010.5461127

Zareei, S. (2018). Project scheduling for constructing biogas plant using the critical path method. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 81 (1), 756-759. Retrieved from https://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/redir.pf?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS1364032117311693;h=repec:eee:rensus:v:81:y:2018:i:p1:p:756-759