About this Presentation
Do project management scholars understand critical chain and its potential to improve project performance? This session suggests they don’t, and will make the case that this matters.
Ian will share his analysis of nearly 600 academic papers on Critical Chain that were found in databases of academic articles. He will facilitate a discussion amongst attendees about his analysis so far, whether it matters, and what else might be worth looking into in the future.
He will contrast the academic perspective of CC with practitioner experience shared through TOCICO and other media.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
Learn how most academic research on Critical Chain focuses on schedule optimization and buffer sizing while overlooking execution, behavior, and real-world outcomes.
Understand the key gaps between academic perspectives and practitioner experience, including limited use of empirical case studies and outdated interpretations of CCPM.
See how differences in philosophy—optimization versus pragmatism—shape how Critical Chain is researched, taught, and understood.
Gain insight into why bridging practice and academia matters, given the influence of research on teaching, policy, and professional standards.
Instructor(s)
Ian Heptinstall
Ian is an Associate Professor of Project Management at the University of Birmingham (UK).
He is a late-career academic, joining the University after 35 years of working in project management, procurement and management consulting.
His project & procurement experience primarily in the capex, construction & engineering fields.
He has been a regular TOCICO Conference attendee since 2011, and in 2020 he helped set up the annual Critical Chain virtual conference, to share CC real world experience with project management practitioners who have little or no knowledge of TOC or critical chain.
In 2016 he published “The Executive Guide to Breakthrough Project Management” about overcoming obstacles to using critical chain on capital/construction projects, in collaboration with Robert Bolton, and he supported Rene Nibbelke in producing the APM’s “Senior Managers’ and Project Managers’ Guide to Critical Chain” (2024