| Project management has been a constant challenge for many practitioners, notably the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions community. While most DoD projects are technologically advanced, the tools and methods to manage these projects are the same as for simple, repetitive projects. The current research starts with an assumption that traditional approaches fail because they only evaluate the relationships between two of the three elements of cost, schedule, and performance. Instead, the author has developed a system dynamics model that allows cost, schedule, and performance to interact and influence each other. This model is complementary to other research and intended to be usable by the practicing project manager. The results from model runs provide consequences for three potential control alternatives in DoD project management as well as the impact of additional rework on DoD development program results. This research will advance the understanding of general and DoD project management with contributions of a literature review, a validated system dynamics model, model results and analysis, and recommended future areas of studies. |
