The effect of selected output modifications on facilitating the assessment of PDM schedules

The purpose of this experimental study was to compare the time and accuracy of evaluating a project schedule under two conditions; using currently-available outputs provided by scheduling software programs and using output modifications that were developed during this investigation. Thus, the study focused on the following five research objectives: (1) Substantiate that schedules developed using software features identified in the literature review are difficult and time-consuming to assess by users. (2) Determine what currently-available outputs are used to assess schedules using the software features. (3) Determine how currently-available outputs can be modified to improve the analysis of project schedules using the software features. (4) Develop an output modification to improve the accuracy and efficiency of assessing project schedules. (5) Validate the output modification by means of experimentation. The results of this research indicate that utilization of modified PDM schedule outputs could decrease assessment time and increase accuracy. Recommendations are given that may provide benefits to the teaching and practice of scheduling.