A review of the scholarly literature on CCPM : a focus on underpinning assumptions

Since critical chain project management (CCPM) was introduced, there have been many reports of its successful application, along with some claims of its shortcomings. However, there has been no attempt to reconcile the often-contradictory claims. To this end, we compiled and analysed a comprehensive database of CCPM scholarly publications. The literature analysis was complemented with text mining using NVivo and Leximancer software. We identify five assumptions CCPM makes about projects, leading to five characteristics that projects need to have for CCPM to apply fully and thus, provide the expected benefits. These characteristics are unity of purpose, fixed ‘throughput’, urgency, sequential workflow and a non-dedicated team. If projects have these or can be adapted, then they will suit CCPM. Through the process of assumption challenging, this research extends and enhances our understanding of CCPM and its core mechanisms