Review of earned value management (EVM) methodology, its limitations, and applicable extensions

Abstract

Department of Defense (DoD) Instruction 5000.02 requires an Earned Value Management System (EVMS) compliant with ANSI/EIA-748 for all DoD cost or incentive contracts valued at or greater than $20M. Earned Value Management (EVM) integrates cost, schedule, and time to draw conclusions about current project status as well as make projections for future project status. Though EVM has been widely adopted on many projects, there are clear limitations indicated in the literature which ultimately inhibit the ability of EVM to become universally accepted as a best practice across all industries. In response, researchers have developed extensions such as Earned Schedule Management (ESM), Earned Duration Management (EDM), and Customer Earned Value (CEV). This paper addresses the evolution, limitations, and new extensions of EVM.