Activity networks determine project performance
Abstract Projects are characterised by activity networks with a critical path, a sequence of activities from start to end, that must be finished on time to complete the project on time. Watching over the critical path is the project manager’s strategy to ensure timely project completion. This intens...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27180-0 |
| _version_ | 1828063762074042368 |
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| author | Alexei Vazquez Iacopo Pozzana Georgios Kalogridis Christos Ellinas |
| author_facet | Alexei Vazquez Iacopo Pozzana Georgios Kalogridis Christos Ellinas |
| author_sort | Alexei Vazquez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Projects are characterised by activity networks with a critical path, a sequence of activities from start to end, that must be finished on time to complete the project on time. Watching over the critical path is the project manager’s strategy to ensure timely project completion. This intense focus on a single path contrasts the broader complex structure of the activity network, and is due to our poor understanding on how that structure influences this critical path. Here, we use a generative model and detailed data from 77 real world projects (+ $10 bn total budget) to demonstrate how this network structure forces us to look beyond the critical path. We introduce a duplication-split model of project schedules that yields (i) identical power-law in- and-out degree distributions and (ii) a vanishing fraction of critical path activities with schedule size. These predictions are corroborated in real projects. We demonstrate that the incidence of delayed activities in real projects is consistent with the expectation from percolation theory in complex networks. We conclude that delay propagation in project schedules is a network property and it is not confined to the critical path. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:48:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76431eff22524270872c48158ea8e1dc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:48:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-76431eff22524270872c48158ea8e1dc2023-01-15T12:10:49ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-01-011311810.1038/s41598-022-27180-0Activity networks determine project performanceAlexei Vazquez0Iacopo Pozzana1Georgios Kalogridis2Christos Ellinas3Nodes & Links Ltd, Salisbury HouseNodes & Links Ltd, Salisbury HouseNodes & Links Ltd, Salisbury HouseNodes & Links Ltd, Salisbury HouseAbstract Projects are characterised by activity networks with a critical path, a sequence of activities from start to end, that must be finished on time to complete the project on time. Watching over the critical path is the project manager’s strategy to ensure timely project completion. This intense focus on a single path contrasts the broader complex structure of the activity network, and is due to our poor understanding on how that structure influences this critical path. Here, we use a generative model and detailed data from 77 real world projects (+ $10 bn total budget) to demonstrate how this network structure forces us to look beyond the critical path. We introduce a duplication-split model of project schedules that yields (i) identical power-law in- and-out degree distributions and (ii) a vanishing fraction of critical path activities with schedule size. These predictions are corroborated in real projects. We demonstrate that the incidence of delayed activities in real projects is consistent with the expectation from percolation theory in complex networks. We conclude that delay propagation in project schedules is a network property and it is not confined to the critical path.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27180-0 |
| spellingShingle | Alexei Vazquez Iacopo Pozzana Georgios Kalogridis Christos Ellinas Activity networks determine project performance Scientific Reports |
| title | Activity networks determine project performance |
| title_full | Activity networks determine project performance |
| title_fullStr | Activity networks determine project performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Activity networks determine project performance |
| title_short | Activity networks determine project performance |
| title_sort | activity networks determine project performance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27180-0 |
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