Drag cost is a
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. Th ...
metric developed by Stephen Devaux as part of the
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 managemen ...
(TPC) approach to project schedule and cost analysis. It is the amount by which a
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 even ...
’s expected
return on investment
Return on investment (ROI) or return on costs (ROC) is a ratio between net income (over a period) and investment (costs resulting from an investment of some resources at a point in time). A high ROI means the investment's gains compare favourably ...
(ROI) is reduced due to the
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 t ...
of a specific
critical path activity
Task (project management)
In project management, a task is an activity that needs to be accomplished within a defined period of time or by a deadline to work towards work-related goals. It is a small essential piece of a job that serves as a means to differentiate various ...
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 Indirect costs are costs that are not directly accountable to a cost object (such as a particular project, facility, function or product). Like direct costs, indirect costs may be either fixed or variable. Indirect costs include administration, pers ...
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 all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...
. For example, if a project's expected ROI will be reduced by $5,000 for every day of duration, then an activity that has critical path drag of ten days (i.e., is delaying project completion by ten days) will have a drag cost of $50,000. If the addition of a resource that costs $10,000 would reduce the activity's drag to five days, the drag cost would be reduced by $25,000 and the project's expected ROI would be increased by $15,000 ($25,000 minus the additional $10,000 of resource costs).
On projects which are performed for non-monetary reasons, such as public literacy programs or emergency response, drag cost can be measured in units of reduction in citizens educated or lives lost due to the additional time taken by critical path activities.
Just as drag is only found on the critical path, the same is true of drag cost.
Notes and references
{{Reflist, 30em
Cost engineering
Business analysis