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The '''program ''' '''evaluation and review technique''' ('''PERT''') is a statistical tool used in [[project management]], which was designed to analyze and represent the [[task (project management)|tasks]] involved in completing a given [[project]].
PERT was originally developed by Charles FE. Clark for the [[United States Navy]] in 1958; it is commonly used in conjunction with the [[Critical Path Method]] (CPM), which was also introduced in 1958.<ref name="origins">{{cite journal |last1=Kelley |first1=James E. |last2=Walker |first2=Morgan R. |last3=Sayer |first3=John S. |title=The Origins of CPM: a personal history |journal=Project Management |date=February 1989 |volume=3 |issue=2 |page=18 |url=https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/origins-cpm-personal-history-3762 |access-date=20 March 2024 |publisher=Project Management Institute }}</ref>
== Overview ==
PERT is a method of analyzing the tasks involved in completing a project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and to identify the minimum time needed to complete the total project. It incorporates uncertainty by making it possible to schedule a project while not knowing precisely the details and [[Duration (project management)|durations]] of all the activities. It is more event-oriented than start- and completion-oriented, and is used more for projects where time is the major constraint rather than cost. It is applied to very large-scale, one-time, complex, non-routine infrastructure projects, as well as [[R&D]] projects.
PERT offers a management tool,{{sfn|Kerzner|2009}}{{rp|497}} which relies "on arrow and node diagrams of ''activities'' and ''events'': arrows represent the ''activities'' or work necessary to reach the ''events'' or nodes that indicate each completed phase of the total project."<ref name="MB 1968" />
The '''Project Evaluation and Review Technique or PERT'''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-18 |title=What is PERT in Project Management? - Working {{!}} New Topic [2024] - Poly Notes Hub |url=https://polynoteshub.co.in/what-is-pert-in-project-management/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |language=en-US}}</ref> is a project management technique that analyzes and represents the tasks required to complete a project. It is especially beneficial for projects with significant uncertainty and complexity.
PERT and CPM are complementary tools, because "CPM employs one time estimation and one cost estimation for each activity; PERT may utilize three time estimates (optimistic, expected, and pessimistic) and no costs for each activity. Although these are distinct differences, the term PERT is applied increasingly to all critical path scheduling."<ref name="MB 1968" />
==History==
PERT was developed primarily to simplify the planning and scheduling of large and complex projects. It was developed forby the [[United States Navy Special Projects Office|U.S.]], Navy[[Lockheed SpecialAircraft]], Projectsand Office[[Booz Allen Hamilton]] to support the U.S. Navy's [[Polaris nuclear submarinemissile]] project.<ref name="MRCW 1959">Malcolm, Donald G.; Roseboom, John H.; Clark, Charles E.; [[Willard Fazar|Fazar, Willard]]; "Application of a Technique for Research and Development Program Evaluation", ''Operations Research'', vol. 7, no. 5, September–October 1959, pp. 646–669</ref><ref name="byte198205">{{Cite magazine |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Steve |last2=Conrad |first2=Leo M. |date=May 1982 |title=Programming PERT in BASIC |url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n466/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-12-29 |magazine=BYTE |pages=465–478}}</ref> It found applications throughout industry. An early example is the [[1968 Winter Olympics]] in [[Grenoble]] which used PERT from 1965 until the opening of the 1968 Games.<ref>[http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1968/or1968.pdf 1968 Winter Olympics official report], p. 49. Accessed 1 November 2010. {{in lang|en|fr}}</ref> This project model was the first of its kind, a revival for the [[scientific management]] of Frederick Taylor and later refined by Henry Ford ([[Fordism]]). [[DuPont]]'s CPM was invented at roughly the same time as PERT.
[[File:PERT Summary Report Phase 2, 1958.jpg|thumb|upright|''PERT Summary Report Phase 2'', 1958]]
[[Category:Booz Allen Hamilton]]
[[Category:Operations research]]
[[Category:Management cybernetics]]
[[Category:Engineering management]]
[[Category:Management science]]
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