Cincinnatti Software: Scheduling Technique
Cincinnatti Software, which currently specializes in the installation of manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) systems in small firms, is planning a major expansion into installing the new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This major expansion into the hottest software area will be organized as an in-house project of strategic importance. The company has selected a project manager and team to follow the project through to completion. The project team is very interested in selecting an appropriate scheduling technique for the project. The project manager has thus set the following guidelines for the selection process: simple; able to show durations of events, the flow of work, and the relative sequence of events; able to indicate planning and actual flow, which items may proceed at the same time, and how far they are completion. The assistant project manager favors the Gantt chart, the finance representative likes PERT, and the information technology department head prefers CPM.
Questions: If you were the project manager, which method would you use, and why?