Project Management Quadruple Constraint

Jeffrey P. Landry, Ph.D.

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Project

Defined: “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.”*

IS project: A temporary endeavor to develop or enhance an information system

* Project Management Institute, Inc. A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge

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Characteristics of Projects

Unique purpose (eg. to build or enhance an IS)

Temporary Requires resources Has a primary sponsor (customer) Involves uncertainty (and unpredictability?)

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Four Dimensions of Projects

Scope Time Cost Quality

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Quadruple Constraint

Scope

Time Cost

Quality

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Quadruple Constraint

A change in one dimension affects one or more of the others• Increasing scope increases both time and

cost

• Cutting quality reduced cost and time

• Increasing cost decreases time

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Quadruple Constraint

Deals with core areas of project performance

Each dimension is measurable Project success and failure in terms of

these dimensions

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Brooks’ Law

Adding workers to a late project makes it later

Recognizes that adding new people to a project creates• The need for training and learning

• Additional communication paths

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Abdel-Hamid

Found that Brooks’ Law had a caveat• Increasing cost (adding people) early enough

can reduce time

• Adding more people to quality assurance activities has a greater impact on time while not sacrificing quality goals