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Value Breakdown Structure
A value breakdown structure (VBS) is a project management technique introduced by Stephen Devaux as part of the total project control (TPC) approach to project and program value analysis. The concept has similarities with the deliverable-oriented work breakdown structure (WBS) decomposition which is used in project management and systems engineering to break down a project into smaller components in a tree structure that represents how the work of the project will create the components of the final product. Resources and cost are typically inserted into the activities in a WBS, and summed to create a budget both for summary levels (often called "work packages") and for the whole project or program. Similarly, a value breakdown structure will provide the expected value-added of each activity and/or component of the project (or projects within a program). Mandatory and optional activities In most projects (and programs), there are some components and activities (and projects) that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Project Management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives. The objective of project management is to produce a complete project which complies with the client's objectives. In many cases, the objective of project management is also to shape or reform the client's brief to feasibly address the client's objectives. Once the client's objectives are clearly established, they should influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project – for example, project managers, designers, contractors, and subcontractors. Ill-defined or too tightly prescribed project management objectives are detrimental to decision-maki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Total Project Control
Total project control (TPC) is a project management method that emphasizes continuous tracking and optimization of return on investment (ROI). It was developed by Stephen Devaux. It builds upon earlier techniques such as earned value management, critical path method, and program evaluation and review technique, but uses these to track and index projected project profitability as well as the more traditional cost and schedule. In this way it aims to manage projects as profit and investment centers, rather than cost centers. Introduced with TPC are a variety of project management metrics and techniques, among them critical path drag, the value breakdown structure (VBS), Devaux's Index of Project Performance (the DIPP), Doubled Resource Estimated Duration (DRED), and Cost of Leveling with Unresolved Bottlenecks (CLUB). The Project Management Institute's monthly magazine PM Network reviewed the TPC methodology as making "solid points about what can be done to maximize ROI during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Work Breakdown Structure
A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a deliverable-oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK 5) defines the work-breakdown structure as a "hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables." A work-breakdown structure element may be a product, data, service, or any combination of these. A WBS also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimation and control while providing guidance for schedule development and control.Booz, Allen & HamiltoEarned Value Management Tutorial Module 2: Work Breakdown Structure [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systems Engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking principles to organize this body of knowledge. The individual outcome of such efforts, an engineered system, can be defined as a combination of components that work in synergy to collectively perform a useful Function (engineering), function. Issues such as requirements engineering, reliability, logistics, coordination of different teams, testing and evaluation, maintainability and many other Discipline (academia), disciplines necessary for successful system design, development, implementation, and ultimate decommission become more difficult when dealing with large or complex projects. Systems engineering deals with work-processes, optimization methods, and risk management tools in such projects. It overlaps technical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree Structure
A tree structure, tree diagram, or tree model is a way of representing the hierarchical nature of a structure in a graphical form. It is named a "tree structure" because the classic representation resembles a tree, although the chart is generally upside down compared to a biological tree, with the "stem" at the top and the "leaves" at the bottom. A tree structure is conceptual, and appears in several forms. For a discussion of tree structures in specific fields, see Tree (data structure) for computer science; insofar as it relates to graph theory, see tree (graph theory) or tree (set theory). Other related articles are listed below. Terminology and properties The tree elements are called "nodes". The lines connecting elements are called "branches". Nodes without children are called leaf nodes, "end-nodes", or "leaves". Every finite tree structure has a member that has no superior. This member is called the "root" or root node. The root is the starting node. But the conver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drag Cost
Drag cost is a project management metric developed by Stephen Devaux as part of the Total Project Control (TPC) approach to project schedule and cost analysis. It is the amount by which a project’s expected return on investment (ROI) is reduced due to the critical path drag of a specific critical path activity Task (project management) or other specific schedule factor such as a schedule lag or other delaying constraint.Stephen A. Devau"The Drag Efficient: The Missing Quantification of Time on the Critical Path" Defense AT&L magazine of the Defense Acquisition University. Drag cost is computed at the activity level, but is caused by the impact at the project level due to: 1. A reduction in a project's expected value because of later completion, or 2. An increase in a project's cost due to its indirect costs being increased because of a longer project duration. Drag cost computation is often used on projects in order to justify additional project resources Resource refers to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Critical Path Drag
Critical path drag is a project management metric developed by Stephen Devaux as part of the Total Project Control (TPC) approach to schedule analysis and compression in the critical path method of scheduling. Critical path drag is the amount of time that an activity or constraint on the critical path is adding to the project duration. Alternatively, it is the maximum amount of time that one can shorten the activity before it is no longer on the critical path or before its duration becomes zero. In networks where all dependencies are finish-to-start (FS) relationships (i.e., where a predecessor must finish before a successor starts), the drag of a critical path activity is equal to whichever is less: its remaining duration or (if there is one or more parallel activity) the total float of the parallel activity that has the least total float.Stephen A. Devau"The Drag Efficient: The Missing Quantification of Time on the Critical Path" Defense AT&L magazine of the Defense Acquisition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devaux's Index Of Project Performance
Devaux's Index of Project Performance (usually known as the DIPP) is a project management performance metric formulated by Stephen Devaux as part of the total project control (TPC) approach to project and program value analysis. It is an index that integrates the three variables of a project (scope, time and cost) into a single value-based index where: * Scope is monetized as the value the project is expected to generate if it is completed on a certain date; * Time is a plus or minus monetary value if the completion is earlier or later than the target date; and * Cost is the cost estimate-to-complete (Cost ETC) of the project, the monetary units that will be needed for resources to complete the project (i.e., factoring out sunk cost). As an index for project go/no go decisions The DIPP was originally proposed as a value-based metric that quantified the key variables in the decision of whether to continue funding or terminate an ongoing project. It was introduced in the Sep/Oct 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
