MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF THE STUDENT SYNDROME FOR USE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The paper deals with the "Student Syndrome" phenomenon and its expression using different mathematical models. Every existing activity in any project is, to a higher or lower extent, determined by the effect of the human agent, which commonly takes the Student's syndrome form. The inefficiency of a number of projects in practice is largely caused by an unsuccessful realization of partial activities. The effect of the human agent is in this respect fundamental. The human agent, as an allocated resource in the activity, is liable to a number of non-specified impacts and stimuli, and as such s/he is rather versatile in his/her behaviour. The versatility of the human agent in projects can be described by the "Student Syndrome" phenomenon. If the "Student Syndrome" phenomenon could be completely expressed by means of a mathematical model, it would be possible to improve the prediction of its impact on project activities, and therefore to exploit the resources allocated in the project more efficiently and prevent project crises. We can not expect that the "Student Syndrome" phenomenon can be expressed in a trivial way and using only one mathematical function. This paper proposes several functions for this representation. The proposed functions are compared in terms of their course and the possibility of work schedule resources parameterization. We can regard this original viewpoint as suggestive for the area of human resources management in projects. The article brings the quantification of qualitative features of the human agent in project management.