CPM: Critical Path Method:

Critical path method is designed for the projects involving many activities with on-time completion. It may also be referred as CPM with a single time estimate because it assumes that activity time is known. It is a dynamic system that is used periodically as the project progresses.

Generic Steps

The fundamental steps for scheduling a project are as follows:

Activity Identification

The first and foremost step in critical path analysis is to divide the project into the activities. The project team selects the activity that means the components of the project.

For instance, a project is to decide whether to invest in an industry or not. Team members divide the project into following activities:

• Deciding industry.
• Collecting its annual report and performing a ratio analysis
• Collecting technical stock price data.
• At last, reviewing the data and preparing a report.

The team members take the decision about the sequence of above activities. These activities are illustrated in Table. The immediate predecessor of the each activity is also shown in table.

Table: The Required Sequence of Activities