OPTIMISING VALUE DURING CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE ACCELERATION

Construction Schedule Acceleration (CSA) can affect not just the time but many other project aspects. During a CSA, there can be many impacts having significant effects on the project value. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of considering quality, productivity and functionality at a CSA along with cost and time. The aim of this research is, therefore, to investigate how value can be optimised during a CSA process. A qualitative research approach was adopted. Altogether, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using a manually performed content analysis. This study has revealed types of CSA based on the purpose (delay minimising purpose or non-delay minimising purpose) and the party who initiates it. Cost, quality, functionality, productivity and profitability were identified as main value considerations during a CSA other than time. Applicability of value management (VM) job plan stages and Earned Value Management (EVM) indicators during different CSA stages to optimise value were also found. Finally, these findings were mapped in a framework to show how VM and EVM concepts could be used in enhancing value during a CSA. The framework conceptualises the relationship between “value” and CSA and how it varies upon distinct parties of a construction project during different stages and types of CSA. The proposed framework can be used as a guidance for optimising the value during the stages of a CSA.

THE AGILE EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT METHOD AS A COST MANAGEMENT TOOL IN SCRUM PROJECTS

According to the statistics, the majority of IT projects run 50–150 percent over budget, which indicates the importance of managing its cost. In agile methodologies which are widely used in software development, little attention is given to cost management. Lack of specialized cost management tools in agile practices raises the question of the feasibility of adapting traditional project management methods and techniques. The purpose of the research is to improve the quality of IT projects cost control processes by developing a project cost management model using the Agile Earned Value Management method. The paper discusses the EVM techniques which have been adopted to provide the benefits of traditional EVM in Agile projects. There are some misconceptions that EVM techniques are too difficult to perform effectively on projects implemented using agile approaches (i.e. Scrum framework). The challenges are primarily associated with the fact that the EVM method requires creating a complete description of project tasks and a detailed schedule of their execution at the initial stage allowing accurate estimates of the actual data and monitoring the project progress from start to completion. On the other hand, Scrum emphasizes the need for incremental, multi-level planning and discourages planning software projects down to the lowest level of decomposition in the early stages. The reason for this is the high degree of ambiguity inherent in complex software systems, and the high probability of changes that make fully defining the requirements up front nearly impossible. However, upon closer examination of Sprint attributes, such as fixed duration, fixed backlog, cost measurement of sprint tasks, the ultimate goal of delivering a minimum viable product – leads us to the conclusion that Sprint can be considered as a subproject to which the mechanism of the EVM method can be applied using the same metrics. The paper further summarizes the main provisions and guidelines of the AgileEVM method, based on which its process model is developed. The inputs of the model are initial release baseline parameters and data captured at the completion of each Sprint: Planned Sprints (PS); Planned Release Points (PRP); Budget at Complete (BAC); Points Completed (PC), Points Added (PA), and Sprint Cost (SC). The controls are the AgileEVM method guidelines. The mechanisms are project manager and necessary software (MS Excel, MS Project). At the output of the model we obtain forecast indicators: Estimate to Complete (ETC), Estimate at Complete (EAC), Number of Total Sprints (N), and Release Date (RD). The final conclusion of the conducted research is that the application of the Earned Value Management method to projects implemented with Scrum enables the project manager and the project team with a valuable tool to monitor the progress of their work and to take appropriate measures.

EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STATE TARGET PROGRAM IN THE MEDICAL FIELD

The practical principles of using the method of earned value management of public sphere projects on the example of monitoring of the implementation of the National Targeted Social Program to Combat Tuberculosis for 2012–2016 are considered. The essence of this method is revealed, the main directions and areas of its use in project management by such institutions as the US Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, NASA are investigated. It is noted that the method is not mentioned in any methodological document for the development and monitoring of domestic target programs. Thus, in order to substantiate the feasibility of using the method of earned value management to control and monitor the implementation of project actions in the public sector of Ukraine, a practical example of its use to control costs during the implementation of the domestic state target program is demonstrated. For this purpose, the planned and reported indicators of the National Targeted Social Program to Combat Tuberculosis are compared with the basic indicators of the method of earned value and based on them the forecast values of the required indicators are obtained by constructing a trend line in Microsoft Excel. The obtained forecast values are analyzed according to the parameter of deviation from the actual performance of this program. It is proved that the forecast models obtained on the basis of the trend line are able to adequately describe the dynamics of project work in the public sector, including forecasting the possible volume of their funding. Further prospects for the use of the method of earned value management for monitoring and control of projects and programs in the public sphere are identified.

Sustainability in the Aerospace Sector, a Transition to Clean Energy: The E2-EVM Valuation Model

Civil aviation is one of biggest industrial contributors to CO2 emissions worldwide. One of the most urgent problems of this sector is providing new technologies to continue operating in a more sustainable environment through a transition to clean energy. The Earned Value Management (EVM) model, as a traditional project management tool, is continuously being revised with new releases and extensions (e.g., ESM, EDM, QEVM, E-EVM, and ZEVM), but to date none of them has applied an expert judgment criterion to be able to modify and anticipate the final result of the project. In such a way, this paper introduces a novel approach to the topic with the so-called Enhanced and Efficient Earned Value Management (denoted E2-EVM) model by including this new capability through the real options methodology, thus helping to support the sustainability of the aerospace sector. This research focuses on three main goals: the description of recent green initiatives in the aerospace sector by checking its contribution to reaching the well-known Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the development of a new version of the EVM model by applying the real options methodology, and, finally, the financial contribution to the aerospace industry by applying these initiatives and methodologies.

Earned Value Management System in Indonesian Construction Projects

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a methodology combining scope, schedule, and resource measurements to assess project performance and progress. It involves integrating the three critical elements of the project covering schedule, work scope, and cost. Various benefits are associated with the use of EVM in project management. This research aims to analyze four units of building construction projects using the EVM method consisting of an analysis of project performance, estimation of cost, and time for project completion, and planning estimation analysis against project completion. The results revealed that from the aspect of time, three buildings were completed ahead of schedule, and another one was behind schedule. In terms of cost, three buildings cost lower than the estimated budget, while one other building was higher.

Stability and accuracy of deterministic project duration forecasting methods in earned value management

PurposeEarned Value Management (EVM) is a project monitoring and control technique that enables the forecasting of a project's duration. Many EVM metrics and project duration forecasting methods have been proposed. However, very few studies have compared their accuracy and stability.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an exhaustive stability and accuracy analysis of 27 deterministic EVM project duration forecasting methods. Stability is measured via Pearson's, Spearman's and Kendall's correlation coefficients while accuracy is measured by Mean Squared and Mean Absolute Percentage Errors. These parameters are determined at ten percentile intervals to track a given project's progress across 4,100 artificial project networks with varied topologies.FindingsFindings support that stability and accuracy are inversely correlated for most forecasting methods, and also suggest that both significantly worsen as project networks become increasingly parallel. However, the AT + PD-ESmin forecasting method stands out as being the most accurate and reliable.Practical implicationsImplications of this study will allow construction project managers to resort to the simplest, most accurate and most stable EVM metrics when forecasting project duration. They will also be able to anticipate how the project topology (i.e., the network of activity predecessors) and the stage of project progress can condition their accuracy and stability.Originality/valueUnlike previous research comparing EVM forecasting methods, this one includes all deterministic methods (classical and recent alike) and measures their performance in accordance with several parameters. Activity durations and costs are also modelled akin to those of construction projects.