Critical Path Method for Project Management: A Critical Analysis of Articles and Project Plan Development

Running head: MANAGEMENT 1
MANAGEMENT
[Author]
[Institution]

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Introduction
The critical path is an impotent element for managing project which helps to understand
and identify the time and cost of each activity of the project. The consideration of the critical
path in the planning and scheduling of a project increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the
project to meet the desired outcome. The report will critically analyze 5 journals for critical path
creditability and validation and choose one for developing the project. Moreover, the report will
develop a project plan and define activities as well as utilization of critical path for scheduling of
the project.
1. Critical analysis of articles on critical path
Article 1: According to the article of optimization of project scheduling activities in
dynamic CPM and PERT networks, the Critical Path Method (CPM) is used for identifying the
optimal set of project planning and scheduling that help to gain the insight of cost and time that
requires for completing the project. The CPM is helpful in analyzing the duration between the
tasks and developing the network that supports to identify the genetic algorithm (GA) for the
scheduling of the project in a proper manner. The purpose of using GA in project management
scheduling is to optimize the complex problem to make the correct decision for implementing the
project activities (Calp, & Akcayol, 2018). Therefore, the consideration of CPM can be useful
for obtaining a shorter time for completing the task. However, the articles have provided
information related to the time, cost and errors that occur during the management of project but it
lacks in the complete control of CPM functions to supply the best optimal solution for the
project. Apart from that, the article offers the information related to the importance of the critical
path in the planning of the project as it is used for measuring the length of the project and delay
in the activities.

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Article 2: The article for Critical Path Analysis in a project network using the ranking
method suggests that CPM is a vital tool for planning and controlling the complex project. The
critical path is useful for deciding for controlling the cost and time of the project that has been
used by the organization for managing production and business operations. Moreover, the article
has offered brief information related to the application of the fuzzy set for developing the
network of the project. The ranking method is helpful for defining the procedures on intuitionist
fuzzy numbers that applied for getting the critical path (Porchelvi, & Sudha, 2015). However, the
article has provided useful information for the preliminary concept of critical path focusing on
the fuzzy set and fuzzy numbers for developing the critical path, but it lacks in theoretical
explanation to understand the application of the ranking method for defining the critical path for
managing the project.
Article 3: The article of Delay analysis methods for construction projects has provided
discussion over role and utilization of the critical path method for managing the project.
According to the article, the CPM programming is based on the network modeling technique for
evaluating the time and cost of the project as well as identifying the sequence of the activities
which cause the delay in the project. The CPM is the most commonalty used method for
planning and scheduling the tasks for a project. This technique is helping managers to forecast
the likely effect of the changes in the activities of the project and manage the composition of the
events (Vasilyeva-Lyulina, Onishi, & Kobayashi, 2015). Moreover, the article suggests that the
CPM programming uses the network analysis technique which is based on the two variables like
activity duration and activity relationship. The CPM uniquely calculates the necessary time for
completing the project and support to develop the structure that systematically describes the
project schedule. The article has provided in-depth knowledge for identifying the approach of

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CPM in project management and development of a valid plan for managing the project
effectively, but it is lacking in offering the numerical representation of the calculating the critical
path time and cost.
Article 4: The article for Integrated LBMS, LPS, and CPM has discussed the merits and
demerits of the CPM methods for project management planning and scheduling. According to
the article, a critical path method is an essential tool for analyzing the efficiency and
effectiveness of the project plan to minimize the cost and time for completion of the project. For
managing daily activities and evaluating the issues that might cause a delay in the project, the
CPM can be helpful to forecast the complex situation in the project in planning and controlling
of a project. The advantages that proposed in the article for CPM include the development of an
integrated plan for the project and identifying the delay (Olivieri, Seppänen, & Granja, 2016).
Moreover, the article has highlighted the disadvantage of CPM like lack of offering potential
solutions for handling the complicated situation. The article is good in terms of gaining
information related to the CPM and its traditional utilization for managing project. Moreover, the
article has stated that CPM is important for understanding the contractual aspects of the project
to manage the relation and allocation of role and responsibilities to the team members. The
article lacks in describing the factors and most likely consequences of the CPM that could
influence the approach of project manager and interdependency of the tasks.
Article 5: The article is about integrating task fragmentation and earned value methods.
The article has provided theoretical information for utilizing the CPM in project management. As
per the analysis of the article, the CPM algorithm is used for managing commercial activities in a
project that plays a vital role in the planning and achievement of goals. The CPM provides
benchmarking for handling the time and cost for the project in a realistic manner. The