Question 4 part iv

PERT and CPM compared

5 marks

Time to write: About 10 minutes

From an older CBCS paper

Question

Question 4 part iv · 5 marks

Compare and contrast any three from the following:

PERT and CPM

Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.

Before you write

Read off the question and its marks

10 minfor 5 marks

Read from the question

any threeThe paper asks for any 3, and this is one of them. Only 3 are marked: a fourth earns nothing.
CompareCompare in a table, basis by basis.

Write it in this order

Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
1 Network analysis 1 mark 1 min
2 PERT 1.2 marks 2 min
3 CPM 1.2 marks 2 min
4 Points of similarity ½ mark 2 min
5 Points of contrast, with example 1 mark 1 min
Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min

12345

Short on time? Trim steps 2 and 3 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks. End with step 5 in a line or two.

Try it first. About 10 minutes for 5 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.

Solution

Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.

Network analysis

PERT and CPM are network techniques of planning and control, treated as a newer generation of control tools than the traditional ones such as budgets and personal observation. In network analysis a project is broken down into small activities arranged in a logical sequence, and a network diagram is drawn to show how they depend on one another, which activities must be finished before others can start, and where the flow plan has gaps. The aim is to help managers plan, organise and control the work so that the project is completed economically and efficiently.

PERT

PERT, the Programme Evaluation and Review Technique, is a project-management technique for planning, monitoring and controlling projects. It helps project managers foresee slippages in the schedule, divide resources among tasks, draw up time and cost schedules and estimate the manpower skills the project will need. It uses probability to estimate how long the various activities will take, and linear programming to get the most out of the project's objectives. It is used, for instance, in installing computer systems and in building highways or ships.

CPM

CPM, the Critical Path Method, is the most widely used planning and control technique in business, and it is applied to projects whose activity times are fairly well known. The project is split into activities, their relationships are shown on the network, and the network is used to make the best use of time and resources. CPM marks the critical activities and concentrates on them, assuming that the expected time is the time the project will actually take. It needs more planning, which raises planning cost, but that cost is justified because attention goes to the critical path instead of close supervision of the whole project; it also gives a standard way of communicating plans, schedules and costs.

Points of similarity

Both break a project into activities, show their sequence and interdependence on a network diagram, and serve the planning and control of a project.

Points of contrast

Basis	PERT	CPM
Activity times	Estimated with the help of probability	Relatively well known in advance; expected time taken as actual time
Main concern	Schedules, cost status, likely slippage and resource needs	The critical activities on which completion depends
Tools used	Probability and linear programming	The network itself, used to optimise time and resources
Cost and control	Monitoring and review of the whole schedule	Higher planning cost, saved by not supervising every activity closely

The contrasts follow the study text's account of the two techniques. A state agency building a new metro station in Bhopal, where some tasks have never been done on that soil, would lean on PERT's probability-based time estimates; a contractor repeating a standard warehouse design in Nagpur, where each step's duration is known, would use CPM to track the critical path.

Where the 5 marks sit

#	Component	Marks
1	Network analysis	1
2	PERT	1.25
3	CPM	1.25
4	Points of similarity	0.5
5	Points of contrast, with example	1
	Total	5

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