Time-Cost-Quality Tradeoff Modeling based on Resource Allocation

Read this article. The paper presents an optimization model that enables managers to effectively evaluate trade-offs related to time, cost, and other competing priorities. Pay particular attention to Section 6 as it provides an illustrated example of building a home.

Decision Variables and Assumptions

The project time-cost-quality performance is essentially formed from each activity's time, cost, and quality, respectively. The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a method to decompose a project into a number of construction activities and further into construction resources such as labors, materials, equipment, and administration, whose utilization determines each activity's time, cost, and quality parameters and the project's overall time/cost/quality performance is finally formed, as shown in Figure 1.


Figure 1 

Breakdown and formation structure of time-cost-quality in a construction project essential relationships among the time, cost, and quality parameters in construction activities are assumed and discussed as follows.