Progress in large-shared projects: Method for forecasting and optimizing project duration in a distributed project

In large-shared projects, it is still difficult to measure progress due to the complexities involved, because the realization is shared among departments of a company or among companies in the world. Project management and operations research literature is reviewed for discovering various techniques applicable. Widely used tools for progress measurement and forecasting, such as earned value analysis, progress plot, milestone and resource slip charts, concurrent engineering, can be employed. This paper is based on a problem of pharmaceutical industry where the effectiveness of a certain medical treatment is examined on patients in a number of countries. The number of variables involved increase the complexity of this problem. The main objective is to analyze the effectiveness of a solution in different situations during the project such that a better project duration and a lower cost can be achieved. Our findings suggest that reallocation of patients among countries produces better results in terms of progress.