Answer to Question #209491 in Economics for Emmanuel Egbuagha

Question

Give a detail explanation and description of the following tools below:

1) WBS, up to level three,

2) Gantt Chart,

3) Network diagram, visual approach and indicating the critical path.

Include references in your answers

Answer 1

1) Work - a continuous physical or mental effort aimed at overcoming obstacles and achieving goals or results; a specific task, responsibility, function? or assignment, often part of a phase or other larger work volume; something produced or performed as a result of effort or the use of skills (qualifications).

Breakdown (Decomposition) - division into parts or categories, highlighting simple components.

Structure - a fixed ordered set of objects and relationships between them, classifying something according to a given basis.

These definitions mean that the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) has the following characteristics:

Describes with the required accuracy the content of the project;

Determines the entire scope of work for the project;

It is formed in the form of a hierarchical structure (the project is decomposed into packages/sub packages, etc. works).

Represents the scope of work for a package as a list of activities that have a measurable or comparable outcome.

Has an objective or measurable result, which is considered as the result of work on a package or a set of work results.

2) The Gantt chart is a tool that allows you to visualize and manage projects, structure their implementation, and see the big picture of tasks, both personal and organization.

The Gantt chart is represented by horizontal bars located between two axes:

Vertical. This is a list of tasks.

Horizontal. This is the timeline for the project.

Each bar represents a project, task, or subtask that needs to be completed within a specific time frame. The timeline is chronological to help you track deadlines and the sequence of tasks.

The Gantt chart became famous thanks to the American engineer Henry Gantt in 1910. But the first who invented this planning method in 1896 was Karol Adamecki, who called the graph her monogram. However, information about this method of planning did not appear in Polish until 1931.

Until now, the Gantt chart is an important project management tool that provides a graphical display of the work plan, convenient for monitoring and tracking the progress of completed tasks.

3) The Critical Path Method (CPM) is the main method of project management, along with the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) system. In Soviet practice, both methods, as well as their more complex modifications, are united by the concept of “methods of network planning and management”.

The critical path of the network model is the longest sequential work chain in terms of timing. In both the critical path method and the PERT method, projects are viewed as networks of individual events and activities. Work on these systems represents any element of a project that takes time to complete and that may delay the start of other work.

The main difference between the critical path method and the PERT method is the different approaches to the duration of operations. The critical path method assumes that the duration of operations can be estimated with a sufficiently high degree of accuracy and certainty.

The PERT method allows for uncertainty in the duration of operations and analyzes the effect of this uncertainty on the duration of the project as a whole. The critical path method has become more widespread, rather than the method of evaluating and revising plans. Project management systems based on the critical path method are currently used around the world.