Time management in the cost evaluation of limited resource programs

Planning, implementing and evaluating an intervention program all hinge around time. A program's actions are planned according to a forecast of the time required to achieve certain objectives, and the program's implementation among a group of users is conditioned by its real time application. Similarly, program evaluation needs to take into consideration the time resource when analysing objectively the extent to which a program's targets have been reached, and when conducting a cost analysis of the program. In limited resource programs, any disparity between the scheduled time and the real time available can have serious consequences, and even undermine a program's efficacy. Time management, above all where resources are limited, is therefore the linchpin in the planning, implementation and evaluation of an intervention program. In this study we analyse the utility of PERT and CPM as basic tools for the efficient time management of limited resource programs.