Developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, critical chain project management (CCPM) is based on methods and algorithms derived from his Theory of Constraints. The idea of ​​CCPM was presented in 1997 in his book Critical Chain. CCPM has been credited with achieving projects 10% to 50% faster and/or cheaper than using traditional methods (such as CPM, PERT, Gantt, etc.) developed between 1910 and 1960.

Numerous studies by Standish Group") and others on meeting project management objectives reflect that only 44% of projects finish on time and that 70% of projects do not achieve their planned scope, and that 30% are canceled before completion.

Part of these delays may be due to planning problems such as multiple jobs, student syndrome, and lack of prioritization.

In project management, the critical chain is the sequence of resource-dependent precedences and terminal elements that prevent a project, which is given limited resources, from being completed in a shorter time. If a project's resources were always available in unlimited quantities, then a project's critical chain would be equal to its critical path.

In multiproject environments, that is, when several projects are executed or must be executed simultaneously, there will always be limitations on the synchronized availability of resources, which is why the Critical Chain is always more effective than the traditional critical path.

The critical chain method is used as an alternative to the critical path. The main characteristics that distinguish the critical chain from the critical path are:

CCPM uses "buffer management" instead of earned value management to determine project progress. Some project managers believe that the earned value management technique is misleading because it does not distinguish between progress on project constraints and progress on "unconstraints."