Duration (project Management)
Duration of a project's terminal element is the number of calendar periods it takes from the time the execution of element starts to the moment it is completed. Duration should not be confused with work. E.g. it takes three days for a snail-mail letter to arrive at point B from point A, whereas the work put into mailing it may be 0.5 hours. Strictly speaking, the phrase ''Duration of terminal element X is 5 days'' is incomplete. It fails to specify the following: * the probability with which the completion is expected in the time allotted (since any estimate is only a prediction about the uncertain future, see critical chain) * the resources to be used (sometimes using more resources or different resources speeds things up) * the assumptions which were made * the author of the estimation * the date the estimate was made * the work schedule of the resources * etc. So the improved statement could read: :''I, Marek Kowalczyk, as of 27 March 2005 strongly believe that if I fully a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Project
A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations". A project may be a temporary (rather than a permanent) social system ( work system), possibly staffed by teams (within or across organizations) to accomplish particular tasks under time constraints. A project may form a part of wider programme management or function as an ''ad hoc'' system. Note that open-source software "projects" or artists' musical "projects" (for example) may lack defined team-membership, precise planning and/or time-limited durations. Overview The word ''project'' comes from the Latin word ''projectum'' from the Latin verb ''proicere'', "before an action," which in turn comes from ''pro-'', which d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Terminal Element
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): is terminal if for every object in there exists exactly one morphism . Initial objects are also called coterminal or universal, and terminal objects are also called final. If an object is both initial and terminal, it is called a zero object or null object. A pointed category is one with a zero object. A strict initial object is one for which every morphism into is an isomorphism. Examples * The empty set is the unique initial object in Set, the category of sets. Every one-element set (singleton) is a terminal object in this category; there are no zero objects. Similarly, the empty space is the unique initial object in Top, the category of topological spaces and every one-point space is a terminal object in this category. * In the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Snail-mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal systems have generally been established as a government monopoly, with a fee on the article prepaid. Proof of payment is usually in the form of an adhesive postage stamp, but a postage meter is also used for bulk mailing. With the advent of email, the retronym "snail mail" was coined. Postal authorities often have functions aside from transporting letters. In some countries, a postal, telegraph and telephone (PTT) service oversees the postal system, in addition to telephone and telegraph systems. Some countries' postal systems allow for savings accounts and handle applications for passports. The Universal Postal Union (UPU), established in 1874, includes 192 member countries and sets the rules for international mail exchanges as a Specializ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Probability
Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1, where, roughly speaking, 0 indicates impossibility of the event and 1 indicates certainty."Kendall's Advanced Theory of Statistics, Volume 1: Distribution Theory", Alan Stuart and Keith Ord, 6th Ed, (2009), .William Feller, ''An Introduction to Probability Theory and Its Applications'', (Vol 1), 3rd Ed, (1968), Wiley, . The higher the probability of an event, the more likely it is that the event will occur. A simple example is the tossing of a fair (unbiased) coin. Since the coin is fair, the two outcomes ("heads" and "tails") are both equally probable; the probability of "heads" equals the probability of "tails"; and since no other outcomes are possible, the probability of either "heads" or "tails" is 1/2 (which could also be written ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Critical Chain
Critical chain project management (CCPM) is a method of planning and managing projects that emphasizes the resources (people, equipment, physical space) required to execute project tasks. It was developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. It differs from more traditional methods that derive from critical path and PERT algorithms, which emphasize task order and rigid scheduling. A critical chain project network strives to keep resources levelled, and requires that they be flexible in start times. Origins Critical chain project management is based on methods and algorithms derived from Theory of Constraints. The idea of CCPM was introduced in 1997 in Eliyahu M. Goldratt's book, ''Critical Chain''. The application of CCPM has been credited with achieving projects 10% to 50% faster and/or cheaper than the traditional methods (i.e., CPM, PERT, Gantt, etc.) developed from 1910 to 1950s. According to studies of traditional project management methods by Standish Group and others as of 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Resource (project Management)
In project management, resources are required to carry out the project tasks. These can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, or anything else capable of definition (usually other than labour) required for the completion of a project activity. The lack of a resource will therefore be a constraint on the completion of the project activity. Resources may be storable or non storable. Storable resources remain available unless depleted by usage, and may be replenished by project tasks which produce them. Non-storable resources must be renewed for each time period, even if not used in previous time periods. Resource scheduling, availability and optimisation are considered key to successful project management. Allocation of limited resources is based on the priority given to each of the project activities. Their priority is calculated using the Critical path method and heuristic analysis. For a case with a constraint on the number of resources, the objective is to create the most ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Metamodeling
A metamodel or surrogate model is a model of a model, and metamodeling is the process of generating such metamodels. Thus metamodeling or meta-modeling is the analysis, construction and development of the frames, rules, constraints, models and theories applicable and useful for modeling a predefined class of problems. As its name implies, this concept applies the notions of meta- and modeling in software engineering and systems engineering. Metamodels are of many types and have diverse applications. Overview A metamodel/ surrogate model is a model of the model, i.e. a simplified model of an actual model of a circuit, system, or software like entity. Metamodel can be a mathematical relation or algorithm representing input and output relations. A model is an abstraction of phenomena in the real world; a metamodel is yet another abstraction, highlighting properties of the model itself. A model conforms to its metamodel in the way that a computer program conforms to the gramma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Student Syndrome
''Student syndrome'' refers to planned procrastination, when, for example, a student will only start to apply themselves to an assignment at the last possible moment before its deadline. This eliminates any potential safety margins and puts the person under stress and pressure. According to one academic source, it is done in order to induce a level of urgency high enough to ensure the proper amount of effort is put into the task. The term is used to describe this form of procrastination in general, and not only by students. For example, in the field of software engineering: "This initial research investigates three behavioral issues which may affect team member productivity in both a traditional waterfall project and in a Scrum project: the management of stress, the use of slack and the student syndrome." The term is said to have been introduced by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his novel ''Critical Chain''. See also * Cramming (education) * Hofstadter's law * Parkinson's law * Pyg ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |