Project Resource Planning can benefit from Economy of Force

For organizations trying to achieve enterprise resource planning for projects and other work, there can be no greater place to turn to than the proven military concept of Economy of Force.

Created by Carl Von Clausewitz, and inspired by the methods of Napoleon, Economy of Force consists in using all available resources and giving preference to primary objectives. Of course, too many resources can cause problems too, so the trick is to find the right balance. The secret is to allocate the maximum effective amount of resources on primary strategic objectives (i.e. major projects) and the minimum effective amount of resources on supporting objectives (i.e. enhancements and "run the engine" type work).

To a great degree, Eliyahu Goldratt's Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) supports this model (and indeed may have been inspired by it).

For more info on the use of Economy of Force, read on...

Reader's Companion to Military History - - Economy of Force