Project Scheduling Essentials

Mario Vanhoucke ()
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Mario Vanhoucke: University of Ghent, Faculty of Economics and Business

Chapter 1 in Data-Driven Project Management with Python, 2026, pp 3-12 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter introduces the essentials of project scheduling as the starting point for structured, data-driven project management. Section 1.1 presents the Critical Path Method (CPM) as a systematic approach to organizing project activities through networks and schedules, explaining why it became a cornerstone of modern project management. Section 1.2 illustrates the method through a step-by-step experiment, showing how a project network is constructed, how the earliest start schedule is derived, and how both network and schedule can be evaluated using meaningful network and schedule indicators. Section 1.3 briefly revisits the origins of early scheduling techniques, not to repeat what has been extensively covered elsewhere but to emphasize the central role of time as a scheduling objective, and to introduce the use of the discussed indicators for generating project data in the following chapters. Finally, Sect. 1.4 reflects on the critiques and limitations of CPM, showing that despite its age and simplicity, it remains a fundamental foundation for the more advanced scheduling approaches explored later in this book.

Keywords: Network analysis; Critical path method; Activity slack; Network indicators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-24556-4_1

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