Critical Chain

1
Critical Chain

• Chapters 4-6

2
What is a project?

• Textbook definition
• A set of activities aimed to achieve a specific
  objective and have a clear start, middle and
  end.
• Professor Silvers definition
• A complex initiative that needs pictures,
  diagrams, time charts, or showing sequential or
  parallel steps in order to manage it.

3
General Project Problems

• Regardless of industry or project type, there are
  three common problems to all projects
• Budget overruns
• Time overruns
• Compromising content

4
Conflicts - The Meeting

• B.J Von Braun -
• President of University
• Saturating demand for new MBAs
• Overextending capacity
• Large fixed overhead for business program that
  might potentially decline

• Christopher Page
• Dean of Business School
• Demand will not taper off
• Need investments to maintain talent in the
  business schools
• Talent will bring increase reputation and
  increase demand

5
Meeting Adjourns

• Agreements
• Ability of graduates to get jobs as indicators of
  demand
• Use of survey tool as measurement
• BJ VonBraun already has the results she gets
  Page to agree to the decision-making conditions,
  then shares results with him.

6
Class Example New Production Facility Built in
Malaysia

• Sacred cow project for CEO
• Project is grossly over budget and significantly
  late
• Payback period pushed from 3 to 5 years, which
  still seems unrealistic
• All use uncertainty as reasons for delay - Upper
  management blames external environment and lower
  ranks blames internal sources

7
Conclusions

• Most problems in projects are direct or indirect
  results of uncertainty
• Most individuals add a safety margin to any
  deadline, usually around 80