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TOC to a variety of other areas of project management beyond the creation and execution of project schedules. He recognized the multidisciplinary nature of project management and how it affects cash flow, stakeholder needs, and risk management. Yeo and Ning (2002) began work on integrating supply chain management with project management. Sonawane (2004) incorporated systems dynamics with CCPM to create a “modern” project management system. Similarly, Lee and Miller (2004) applied systems thinking to multiple projects along with CCPM, and Trietsch (2005) argued that CCPM is, in fact, a more holistic approach to project management than traditional methods.

Herroelen and Leus concede that CCPM “seems practical and well thought-out...nevertheless, for single projects, the unconditional focus on a ‘Critical Chain’ seems useless...” (2004, 1616). Srinivasan, Best, and Chandrasekaren (2007) presented a case study that clearly appears to contradict this conclusion. The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) is charged with the repair and overhaul of C-5 transport aircraft. After an eight-month implementation period starting in 2005 and without the addition of any resources, WR-ALC returned five additional aircraft to the operational fleet by reducing the number of in-service planes from 12 to 7. The replacement value of these aircraft is $2.4 billion and does not consider nonmonetary benefits such as increased responsiveness and casualty avoidance during wartime.

Summary and Conclusions

The literature of project management relates to the practice of project management and to the theory of project management. The practice emphasizes the large number of project failures, and the theory focuses on fine-tuning algorithms in an attempt to minimize computer time or project duration. Certainly, the two themes should converge to provide a simple but effective approach to project management. One approach to refocusing the theoretical literature is to take a different perspective to project management. Our systems approach attempts to specifically identify several of the sources of project failure.

The purposes of this chapter were twofold. First, we examined the macro issues associated with project management. Second, the micro issues of project networks were examined. The overall objective of this research is not to propose solutions to each of the surface problems revealed in this chapter but to identify and logically link these surface problems to their underlying causes as well as to project failure. One must fully understand the core problems of project management and its environment before proposing a comprehensive solution to these core problems. Without this systems perspective, a proposed solution may create more problems than it solves.

This chapter provides evidence that, not unlike other business environments, the management of single and multiple projects has certain core problems that must be recognized prior to the development of new tools for planning and control. Recent research in the areas of both single and multiple project planning and control has recognized the shortcomings of the PERT/CPM method. Twelve guidelines have been proposed by which the effective planning and control of both single and multiple projects might be improved.

These guidelines reflect fundamental changes to the way single and multiple projects are currently planned and controlled. The objective of any improved planning and control technique should not be to find the optimal solution to each of the problems found in project management, but rather that a feasible or realistic solution be found for all of the problems in project management (such as that presented by Goldratt, 1997 and Newbold, 1999). Furthermore, solutions for any one problem should not be developed in isolation of the other problems. Additionally, complex solutions should not be developed for such solutions are difficult for practitioners to both understand and apply. A realistic planned project completion date that is met is better than an optimal solution that