Risk Management Model – Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)

Risk Model Exercise
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Institutional Affiliations
Course Name and Number
Due Date
Risk Model Exercise
Risk Management Model – Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)
The Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) approach focuses on an organization’s capacity to effectively utilize its diverse resources, including equipment, workforce, and internal settings, to execute the specifications or objectives of a project. Thakkar (2022) indicates that Eliyahu M. Goldratt formulated the model in 1997 through his “Critical Chain” book (214). The author indicates that CCPM reflects the theory of constraints (TOC) but emphasizes project planning. Unlike other conventional approaches that underscore the role of the critical path, CCPM takes a different direction by highlighting the importance of the critical chain. The leading difference in this technique is that all activities must incorporate the beginning and the ending. Project managers are gradually shifting to CCPM because of its emerging benefits, including the observation that it induces a 10% to 50% speed rate or cheapness compared to traditional options (Thakkar, 2022). The increasing popularity of CCPM arises from its capacity to rectify and improve many project-related performance metrics that derailed competition time and ballooned budget. As a result, CCPM provides a new perspective for viewing project management by emphasizing arithmetical variations and contingent events interactions. It advances the principle that project activities do not require the same execution time as the estimated one. Thus, it integrates the concepts of student’s syndrome, Parkinson’s law, the Murphy Act, and bad multitasking (Thakkar, 2022). Applying CCPM in different institutions demonstrates its effectiveness as a risk management model.
CCPM Implementation in a Government and a Private Agency
Different organizations are starting to embrace CCPM to improve their productivity and efficiency. According to Luiz et al. (2019), integrating this approach in an organization commences with detailed documentation of the tasks or activities alongside estimated time and dependencies. The author indicates that the implementer needs to devise the tasks’ initial schedule while considering the interactions between the limited resources and these tasks. A critical chain emerges once stakeholders apply the resource leveling, representing the longest route for completing the project tasks. In this context, CCPM facilitates the recalculation of the schedule to complete it by up to 50% of the time. Mirzaei and Mabin (2019) note that CCPM employs buffers to overcome possible uncertainties. Luiz et al. (2019) indicate that the buffers use aggregation law to shield the project from activity-based uncertainties, a feeding buffer to eliminate delays in the critical chain path, and a resource buffer to counter resource unavailability. Other buffers CCPM employs guide managers about the timing and feasibility of interference through action. Such an aspect leads to buffer management for efficient application of the CCPM.
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
NNSA is a government agency tasked with modernizing, maintaining, and safeguarding the United States’ nuclear weapons. Its security institution includes stakeholders such as government owed players, contractor-based security labs, and nuclear manufacturing institutions (Government Accountability Office (GAO), 2023). They collaborate to provide diverse services such as developing, researching, testing, and designing technologically-inclined innovations for keeping the United States’ nuclear weapons modern. The author demonstrates that the activities and timing of these needs are complex due to the rapidly evolving nuclear niche and increasing competition from other nations. As a result, leveraging the strengths of CCPM is critical in such an environment replete with complex and interrelated activities that require seamless execution at a faster rate. The challenges associated with running such a government agency, including bureaucratic issues and slowing of activities due to system-based aspects, position CCPM as the ideal approach for overcoming these disadvantages and improving the efficiency of the NNSA.
Microsoft
Microsoft is an American multinational enterprise known for its software and hardware production dominance. Its leading item, Microsoft Windows, tops the list of its many products that illustrate its impact on the technology advancement niche (Microsoft, 2022). Microsoft’s continued recognition on the global stage emerges from the usability and dependability of its products. The company ensures that all its software remains abreast with the changing technological landscape, leading to its position in the sector. However, the firm encounters diverse challenges while pursuing these goals, including managing a large workforce to collaborate while executing numerous time-based tasks that ensure it remains a leader in the software sector. As a result, without an appropriate project management method, Microsoft would not successfully meet the needs of its customers. In this context, the firm can exploit the benefits related to CCPM, especially in eliminating workforce-based issues, task delays, and other uncertainties of completing sophisticated software development projects. Thus, CCPM offers the best approach for Microsoft to remain updated with the disruptive technological environment.
Risks Faced by NNSA and Microsoft
NNSA Risks
Cybercrime. NNSA’s primary objective is to protect the United State’s nuclear stock from cybersecurity-related threats. As a result, this problem forms its primary issue, with numerous state and non-state actors challenging the department’s capacity to deter complex threats, ranging from malware attacks, infrastructure invasions, and data hacking, among many others (GAO, 2023). The operational technologies (OT) employed by NNSA in its processes must always remain protected from internal and external risks. Without such efforts, the nation becomes vulnerable to losing its nuclear weapons or these facilities becoming compromised.
Limited Scope in NNSA OT System Inventory. The GOA report indicates that NNSA is still in the early stages of creating a thorough and detailed inventory of its operational technologies. Such a scenario is risky, considering the sensitivity of the information and equipment that the agency protects. The inability to account for all fundamental equipment that requires extra protection could threaten the nation’s safety. As a result, this internal preparedness issue arises as a risk for the NNSA.
Administrative Complications. As a government-led agency, NNSA faces complex operational-based hurdles due to the lengthy and sometimes slow decision-making process. This risk is commonplace among such government agencies, which affects their speed in the execution of operations. Such an aspect represents the drawbacks of bureaucracy and can emerge as a risk factor for an institution dealing with sensitive equipment and information like NNSA.
Wastage. The complexities associated with modernizing and safeguarding nuclear weapons in the nation create a risk of wastage. Such issues often occur in a resource context, demonstrating the importance of integrating CCPM as a model for risk management due to its capacity to streamline operations. Thus, NNSA should re-examine its internal environment to address the risk of wastage while maximizing security from different threats.
Microsoft Risks
Cybercrime. The digital defense publication by Microsoft in 2022 revealed that the company has been grappling with rising cases of cybercrime. For instance, a summary of these risks revealed that by the time of the report, the firm had eradicated over 10,000 cybercriminal domains and 600 established by state actors (Microsoft, 2022). The increasing complexity of the approaches employed by the attackers exerts more pressu...