Create a 5-activity example and use it to explain the difference between the critical path method and critical chain project management

What will be an ideal response?

Examples will vary. The critical chain is usually not the same as the critical path within an activity network. The critical path depends on upon the task dependency; that is, the linkage of tasks with their predecessors. In this process, activity slack is discovered after the fact, once the network is laid out and the critical path identified, all other paths and activities may contain some level of slack. On the other hand, the critical chain usually jumps task dependency links. This is because the critical chain requires that all resource leveling be done before the critical chain can be identified, not afterwards as in the case of PERT and CPM networks.

In the example, activities C and D of project ABCDE both require the same drum resource. The critical path method focuses only on the longest route from start to finish, path ACE.

The critical chain recognizes that the drum resource must be the focus of our scheduling efforts, so attention is called to this resource. The critical chain is shown as a dotted line in this example.