Taylor, J M (1981) Development and evaluation of a network scheduling procedure based on utility theory. PhD thesis, Texas A&M University, USA.
Abstract
Activity networks have been widely used in the planning, management, and control of building construction projects since their introduction in the 1950s. As the popularity of activity networking procedures has grown, so has the theory underlying the various procedures. Procedures are presently available that consider both technological and non-technological constraints and offer solutions solved optimally or heuristically. However, activity networks typical of building construction projects have not lent themselves to efficient optimal solutions because of their size, complexity, and diversity. Therefore, various heuristic scheduling procedures have been developed to solve this class of problem pragmatically if not optimally. A disadvantage to the heuristic scheduling schemes available is that they follow a set of rigid heuristics and therefore may not be sensitive to a variety of differing network types or a variety of constraints. This study undertakes the development of a scheduling procedure that is heuristically based but that is sensitive to any variety of network types or constraints imposed by the scheduler. This is accomplished by combining all pertinent factors through a utility analysis and scheduling each activity based on the results of this analysis. The factors that are considered pertinent for the purpose of this study are the activity times based on technological constraints, network complexity, resource usage and availability, resource unit cost, and total activity cost. These factors are combined through the use of an additive utility model and prioritized to yield a scheduling sequence. Four different activity networks are tested under a variety of resource constraints and resource limitations. The resulting schedules are evaluated based on their relative performance and on their comparative performance against schedules generated by another heuristic procedure and by an optimum procedure.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | complexity; construction project; scheduling; heuristic |
| Index terms: | heuristic, complexity, scheduler, building construction, utility theory, network scheduling, resource constraint, construction project, scheduling, unit cost, networking |
| Subjects: | building construction, operations research, risk assessment, systems engineering, financial and cost management, production management, communication, practitioner, economic theory, operations management |
| Topics: | Time Control, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Risk Management, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Cost Management, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here