The Scheduling Behaviors in Project Management: A Viewpoint of "Prospect Theory"

The TOC technique for project management is often referred to as the "critical chain" technique. It\´s pivotal to determine the buffer which is suggested to providing sufficient protection against delays in project completion time. Owing to the "Student syndrome", many buffer sizing techniques have been investigated to increase project performance. However, the decision maker is human, "bounded" in its ability to acquire and process information. Further research is needed to be able to make reliable predictions of individual behavior in more complex real-world decision situations. We attempt to explore the application of prospect theory to investigate such phenomenon. Furthermore, a value function defined over variations of wealth and a probability weighting function reflects the subjective probability distortion shown by most individuals will be used. Given such findings, it becomes critical to observe the decision maker\´s perception when the buffer allocations are resolved.