How this guide is written
Explanations, illustrative examples and calculator code are written independently. References identify original publications and authoritative author, publisher or owner sources. Later summaries are distinguished from originating work. Where a method has many contributors, or the history is uncertain, we say so.
Standard mathematical relationships can be explained independently. The expression of an idea—such as a particular diagram, chapter, questionnaire or assessment—can still be protected. Attribution alone does not authorise copying. See WIPO’s explanation of copyright protection.
What you will find here
- Original explanations and implementations: practical guidance and tools with stated assumptions, limitations and reading references.
- Source pointers: brief identification of published or branded frameworks, linking to their authors or owners. We do not reproduce their assessments, training diagrams or proprietary checklists.
- Honest origin notes: a later authoritative handbook is identified as a reference, not recast as the originator. A disputed history is not presented as settled.
Reuse and trademarks
Do not infer a licence from a link, free download or attribution. Where an owner supplies a licence, its exact version, scope and conditions apply to that material. A publication’s licence may exclude third-party content. Names and trademarks are used to identify sources, not to imply endorsement.
For example, the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence includes noncommercial and share-alike conditions. Strategyzer’s tool-specific terms and the Scrum Guide’s licence must be considered for their respective materials. This site’s source pointers do not reproduce those resources.
Scope and limitations
This is a growing reference, not an exhaustive bibliography or a legal clearance certificate. The importance labels are editorial priorities, not official assessment weights. Tools support exploration; they cannot establish that an estimate, causal claim, contract interpretation or decision is correct. Check inputs and context before relying on a result.
Understanding source status
Each entry distinguishes the author or originator from later technical references. Framework pages state whether a source edition has been checked; an identified bibliography link is not a completed rights review. Original publications and owner resources remain subject to their own terms.
Technical and historical references
Malcolm, Roseboom, Clark & Fazar (1959): PERT
D. G. Malcolm, J. H. Roseboom, C. E. Clark and W. Fazar, Application of a Technique for Research and Development Program Evaluation (1959). This calculator uses a simplified fixed-path approximation, not the entire original procedure.
OpenStax: Principles of Finance, capital budgeting
Standard financial mathematics; no single inventor is asserted.
OpenStax: calculating WACC
Standard corporate-finance calculation; no single inventor is asserted.
GAO: Schedule Assessment Guide
Common scheduling practice. The critical-path method is associated with James E. Kelley Jr. and Morgan R. Walker; their 1959 paper is the historical reference.
GAO: Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide
Standard estimating practice; the cited guide documents use rather than claiming invention.
NIST: process capability
Standard process-capability indices. This implementation uses the published mathematical definitions without copying diagrams.
NIST/SEMATECH: statistical methods
Standard mathematical statistics; the handbook is an authoritative technical reference, not a claim of sole origin.
NASA: learning and cost-improvement curves
Theodore P. Wright is associated with the cumulative-average learning curve. It differs from a unit-time curve.
Federal Acquisition Regulation: incentive contracts
Standard incentive-contract arithmetic. The link gives one jurisdiction’s contractual context, not a universal rule.
John D. C. Little (1961): original proof
John D. C. Little, A Proof for the Queuing Formula: L = λW (1961).
Walt Lipke: original earned-schedule papers
Walt Lipke introduced earned schedule in “Schedule Is Different” (2003).
NIST: control charts
Walter A. Shewhart developed statistical control charts. NIST is a later technical reference, not their inventor.
Mitchell, Agle & Wood (1997): stakeholder identification and salience
Ronald K. Mitchell, Bradley R. Agle and Donna J. Wood, Academy of Management Review (1997). Original publication; this practical explanation is independently written.
Saaty & Kułakowski: Axioms of the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Thomas L. Saaty developed the Analytic Hierarchy Process. This later paper by Saaty and Konrad Kułakowski explains its foundations; it is not its first publication.
HM Treasury: The Magenta Book
Evaluation practice has multiple research traditions. This is an authoritative later guide, not a claim of sole invention.
MIT: annotated system dynamics literature
System dynamics traces to Jay W. Forrester, including Industrial Dynamics (1961). Systems thinking is a wider field with multiple origins.
Framework authors and owners
Kotter’s change approach
John P. Kotter; Leading Change (1996).
Kotter: methodologyADKAR®
Jeff Hiatt and Prosci; use the owner’s current account and licensing terms.
Prosci: licensingBridges Transition Model
William Bridges; author’s organisation.
William Bridges Associates: transitionLewin’s group dynamics and change
Kurt Lewin, Frontiers in Group Dynamics (1947).
Lewin: original publicationGROW coaching model
Associated with John Whitmore, Graham Alexander and Alan Fine. Co-development and naming accounts differ; no sole-inventor claim is made.
Performance Consultants: historyWOOP
Gabriele Oettingen and research collaborators; mental contrasting and implementation intentions have related research histories.
WOOP: scienceBelbin® Team Roles
Meredith Belbin and collaborators; Belbin’s owner documentation.
Belbin: copyright and permitted useCynefin®
Dave Snowden; creator’s organisation.
The Cynefin Co: Dave SnowdenPorter’s Five Forces
Michael E. Porter; introduced in 1979. Harvard’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness maintains the author’s account.
Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness: Five ForcesBalanced Scorecard
Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (1992).
Kaplan & Norton: original articleMcKinsey 7-S framework
Developed through McKinsey work involving Tom Peters, Robert Waterman, Julien Phillips and other contributors; avoid a sole-author attribution.
McKinsey: 7-S frameworkBusiness Model Canvas
Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur; Strategyzer’s publication and usage guidance.
Strategyzer: tool usage termsEFQM Model
EFQM; current model owner.
EFQM: the modelCMMI®
Developed from the Software Engineering Institute’s maturity work; the current model is owned by ISACA.
CMMI Institute: model licenceCritical chain and constraints
Eliyahu M. Goldratt; Critical Chain (1997).
Publisher: Critical ChainLean thinking
James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Lean Thinking (1996); substantial earlier roots in Toyota’s production system.
Lean Enterprise Institute: Lean thinkingPlan–Do–Study–Act
Walter A. Shewhart’s learning cycle influenced W. Edwards Deming’s development and teaching of PDSA.
The Deming Institute: PDSAScrum
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland; The Scrum Guide.
Official Scrum GuidePM² project management methodology
European Commission; methodology publisher.
European Commission: PM²NIST AI Risk Management Framework
National Institute of Standards and Technology; AI RMF 1.0 (2023).
NIST: AI RMFGPM® P5™ Standard
GPM; use the owner’s current standard and authorship information.
GPM: P5 StandardReference class forecasting
Bent Flyvbjerg’s project application builds on the outside-view work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.
Flyvbjerg: From Nobel Prize to Project ManagementTuckman’s team development research
Bruce W. Tuckman (1965); later extension with Mary Ann C. Jensen (1977).
Tuckman: original publication recordGersick’s punctuated equilibrium research
Connie J. G. Gersick, Time and Transition in Work Teams (1988).
Gersick: original publicationPsychological safety research
Amy C. Edmondson, Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams (1999). Earlier work on the broader concept predates this team-level study.
Harvard repository: Edmondson’s original paperHofstede’s cultural dimensions
Geert Hofstede; later work with Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov, including Cultures and Organizations (2010).
Hofstede: author bibliographySelf-determination theory
Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, with subsequent research collaborators.
Self-Determination Theory: research overviewStakeholder theory
R. Edward Freeman, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach (1984). The stakeholder concept has earlier contributors and related traditions.
Cambridge: Freeman’s originating book