Critical path analysis has been widely used to handle time sensitive and complex projects, it helps the project managers to tackle the complex elements of a project. Covered in Chapter 2, page 53 to 56 in the class text, For All Practical Purposes: Mathematical Literacy in Today's World; the technique has been widely used in projects to determine the earliest completion time through a particular path of the tasks making up the overall job. It is the algorithm used to schedule the project tasks in a logical order because not all tasks can be done randomly. The situation is common in our daily lives, we have many activities; which is why I am interested in the topic, it cuts across projects and activities and help us be better planners and managers.
There are other resources on the internet with information on critical path analysis, most of the information that is easily accessed in the internet focus on project management. After doing a google search on the topic, there were several results, but there was one link to a pdf from Plymouth University that gave an in-depth coverage of the topic. Getting the right material from the internet was not easy because there were some sites that did not offer good explanations to the topic, hence, reading them over, and going to the next link to go through took some time, but with the link to an academic institution, which was reliable, the information was satisfactory.
Critical path analysis is crucial especially when an individual wants to construct activity networks while trying to identify the latest and earliest starting times for the tasks. To use the technique, one has to develop the activity network, which highlights the various tasks that have to be undertaken to complete a project. The critical path is constructed from the activity network, and to get the critical path, one has to identify the earliest and latest possible starting times for each activity. The earliest starting times is computed moving forward the activity network while the latest possible starting time can be found by moving backwards the activity network. There are cycles for each task, where the earliest starting times are recorded at the top, and the latest below; the paths with equal times make the critical path ("Plymouth University", 2016).
In the current news, while planning for the 2016 election, critical path analysis can be used to conduct the entire process. The primaries have to be done first before the main elections; there are many other activities that have to be done before the main elections. Managing these activities need the knowledge of critical path analysis, determining when the party primaries should be held when the debates should be conducted and when the party candidates should campaign among other tasks. The sequence of activities will help people run the entire election process smoothly and without many hiccups on the way before the main election. Even during the elections, conducting the process needs planning for activities such as distributing ballots, setting up stations, the voting, tallying, and announcing results.
Critical path analysis is commonly used more than we know, the simple projects do not need the explicit application of the process, but as the projects become complex, it is inevitable. For instance, constructing a house, the tasks need to be managed through a critical path, which will ensure the project is completed in a short time. From the research, I noticed that critical path analysis is very useful in managing any project; the process has some important elements that can allow us to save a lot of time and resources on the way while optimizing the output.
References
Consortium for Mathematics, & Its Applications (US). (2009). For All Practical Purposes: Mathematical Literacy in Today's World. Macmillan.
Plymouth University. (2016). Critical Path Analysis. Retrieved 9 March 2016, from http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk//discrete_ch12.pdf
