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 Earned value management (EVM), earned value project management, or earned value performance management (EVPM) is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress in an objective manner. Overview Earned value manag ...

, critical path method, and

program evaluation and review technique The program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is a statistical tool used in project management, which was designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project. First developed by the United States Navy in 1 ...

, 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 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 ...

, the

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 ...

(VBS),

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 ...

(the DIPP), Doubled Resource Estimated Duration (DRED), and Cost of Leveling with Unresolved Bottlenecks (CLUB). The

Project Management Institute The Project Management Institute (PMI, legally Project Management Institute, Inc.) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit professional organization for project management. Overview PMI serves more than five million professionals including over 680,00 ...

's monthly magazine PM Network reviewed the TPC methodology as making "solid points about what can be done to maximize ROI during project execution." In a 2015 PMI white paper on organizational project management, Joseph Sopko wrote about the DIPP: "The effect of project delivery of any new capability on program NPV should always be quantified and communicated to the project team by the project sponsor... DIPP is the ratio of EMV divided by ETC. As either the EMV is improved or the ETC is reduced, the effect on project

value contribution In management, business value is an informal term that includes all forms of value that determine the health and well-being of the firm in the long run. Business value expands concept of value of the firm beyond economic value (also known as economi ...

is quantified." He also wrote: "Tools and practices for managing projects and programs as investments have been defined... For example, critical path drag is a concept for evaluating how much any activity along the critical path can be shortened to optimize the project duration."

Later enhancements

Since the total project control approach was introduced in the first edition of Devaux's 1999 book by that title, others have extended both the theory and the practice. In 2013, Tomoichi Sato of

JGC Corporation JGC Holdings Corporation, formerly , and before that , is a global engineering company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The company was founded on 25 October 1928. In 1976, it changed its original name from Japan Gasoline Co. to JGC Corp. In ...

in Yokohama suggested an "extended DIPP" based on risk-based project value. He wrote: "The key concept of Simple DIPP is to obtain the ratio of expected income to cost ETC, neglecting sunk costs in the past. Using RPV instead of expected income, the author proposes a criterion "extended DIPP". This represents the ratio of remaining RPV to cost ETC. If there are project alternatives which are mutually independent, the one with the highest extended DIPP should be chosen... To maximize the project portfolio value of a company, extended DIPP can be used as criteria for prioritisation." Additionally, critical path drag calculation has been coded into project scheduling software, both in Spider Project and as an add-on product to

Microsoft Project Microsoft Project is a project management software product, developed and sold by Microsoft. It is designed to assist a project manager in developing a schedule, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing the budget, and analyz ...

from Boyle Project Consulting, PLLC.Thomas Boyl
"Drag Calculation in BPC Logic Filter for Microsoft Project"
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Later enhancements

Sources

Further reading