Investigating the cost/schedule trade-off in software development

The author has studied the effects of schedule compression or stretch-out on total project cost within a much broader effort to study and predict the dynamics of the entire development process. The resulting cost/schedule tradeoffs were examined. Much of this project involved developing a comprehensive system-dynamics model. He used the model to conduct three simulation experiments. (1) He investigated the effects of different levels of schedule compression and stretch-out on total project cost in man-days and compared the results to those reported in the literature. (2) He addressed the stealthy role undersizing plays in schedule compression. (3) He investigated how different levels of managerial commitment affect the project´s final cost and completion time. The results of all three experiments are presented and discussed.<>