I am currently enrolled in a PM master's program on line. I am trying to figure out another definiton for "network analysis" that ties it in to Quality. Everything I have ever learned says that network analysis is just a generic term for the PERTs, GERTs, and CPMs of the world. But it seems my Instructor is looking for something else. HELP!! And Thanks! Saving Changes...
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Anonymous
The PMBOK provides their accepted definition of Network Analysis as "The process of identifying early and late start and finish dates for the uncompleted portions of project activities". (p 166. 1996 Edition). The PMBOK is just *one* source of expert opinions . I'm not sure of the tie to Quality you need. Quality is defined in the PMBOK as "the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs" Schedule (date) is almost always a stated or implied need. (p.84) That may not help.. but perhaps it is a lead. Saving Changes...
John ZacharProduct Dev Manager| Association for Project Management (APM)Brackley,, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
I think what we are really talking about here are dependency diagrams. I am a PM consultant, working in the UK (our web site is www.citi.co.uk). There is a British standard (BS4334) which provides a very good method of documenting the dependencies in a project.
Earliest start and finish dates, with durations and any float permit the identification of the critical path, and also help with the indentification of any schedule risk. E-mail me direct, and I may be able to a little more. Saving Changes...
George WhyteAirdrie, North Lanarkshire, United Kingdom
I won't offer a definition, but can recommend someone who for me is a prime exponent of problem solving and complex systems. He may well have an alternative definition of Network Analysis and give you the "out of the box" view your looking for. Prof. Don Steward can be contacted at ... Donald V. Steward [[email protected]] Saving Changes...
It might be useful to think about why durations for individual tasks might vary. Quality in the project context means the ability to meet all of the requirements for a task and to be able to know when you have met them. For most tasks, ACTUAL duration turns out to be however long it takes to demonstrate that the requirements for that task have been met. This may be dramatically different from ESTIMATED duration, which depends on your ability to predict the future. Thus, the Optimistic, Pessimistic and Most Likely components of PERT estimating can be thought of as attempts to guess the likely variations in duration that may be encountered in the quest for quality for the task. Saving Changes...
The instructors intent may be to look at network analysis within the realm of defect or problem analysis. Network analysis may be used to help identify the root cause(s) of problems. Saving Changes...
