An effect-cause-effect analysis of project objectives and trade-off assumptions

Purpose - This paper endeavors to critically examine the trade-offs among project objectives and their underlying assumptions. Design/methodology/approach - Effect-cause-effect (ECE) methodology of theory of constraints (TOC) has been applied to examine the assumptions behind successfully managing business projects. Findings - The essence of discussion in this paper leads towards the realization that a possibility exists for time, cost and quality objectives to be pursued collectively in a project management environment. Research limitations/implications - This paper evaluates to what extent trade-offs among project objectives actually exist and explores the possibility of their co-existence in a project management environment. This realization can significantly impact the project trade-off models in existing literature. Originality/value - Time, cost and quality have been recognized to be important objectives to successfully complete a project and several studies have acknowledged the necessity to address their trade-offs. However, most of these studies have taken the trade-offs for granted without critically examining the assumptions behind such trade-offs. The present paper fills that gap by applying ECE approach of TOC to examine project management trade-off assumptions. There-in lies the value of the current paper.