An effect‐cause‐effect analysis of project objectives and trade‐off assumptions

Purpose – This paper endeavors to critically examine the trade‐offs among project objectives and their underlying assumptions. Design/methodology/approach – Effect‐cause‐effect (ECE) methodology of theory of constraints (TOC) has been applied to examine the assumptions behind successfully managing business projects. Findings – The essence of discussion in this paper leads towards the realization that a possibility exists for time, cost and quality objectives to be pursued collectively in a project management environment. Research limitations/implications – This paper evaluates to what extent trade‐offs among project objectives actually exist and explores the possibility of their co‐existence in a project management environment. This realization can significantly impact the project trade‐off models in existing literature. Originality/value – Time, cost and quality have been recognized to be important objectives to successfully complete a project and several studies have acknowledged the necessity to address their trade‐offs. However, most of these studies have taken the trade‐offs for granted without critically examining the assumptions behind such trade‐offs. The present paper fills that gap by applying ECE approach of TOC to examine project management trade‐off assumptions. There‐in lies the value of the current paper.