The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a project modeling technique where the "critical path" represents the sequence of scheduled activities that determines the duration of the project. It is defined as the longest path through the project network, measured in terms of total time or duration. The sum of the durations of the activities on the critical path equals the shortest possible time to complete the entire project. Any delay to an activity on this path will directly result in a delay to the project's overall completion date. The path is not determined by the number of tasks or their complexity, but solely by their cumulative duration.

A. The critical path is determined by total duration, not the quantity of steps. A path with fewer steps can be longer if those steps have longer durations.

B. The path is measured by time, not the number of individual activities. A path with many short activities may be shorter than a path with a few long activities.

D. Complexity is a subjective measure and not the metric used in CPM. The method relies on the objective and quantifiable measure of time duration.

1. Vanhoucke, M. (2012). Project Management with Dynamic Scheduling: Baseline Scheduling, Risk Analysis and Project Control. Springer Science & Business Media. In Chapter 2, "The Critical Path Method," it is stated: "The critical path is the longest path from the unique start node to the unique end node of the network and its length is equal to the minimal project duration." (p. 19).

2. Liberatore, M. J., & Pollack-Johnson, B. (2013). "Improving project management decision making by modeling quality." IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 60(3), 547-557. The paper defines the critical path as "the longest duration path of activities through the project network, which determines the minimum project completion time." (Section II.A, para. 1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2012.2221993

3. Eppinger, S. D., & Browning, T. R. (2012). Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications. MIT Press. In the context of project scheduling, the text explains: "The longest path of dependent tasks through the network is called the critical path because it determines the total time required to complete the project." (Chapter 7, p. 158).

4. MIT OpenCourseWare. (2005). 1.040 Project Management, Lecture 6: Project Scheduling: PERT/CPM. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The lecture notes state: "The critical path is the longest path through the network. The length of the critical path is the project duration." (Section: The Critical Path Method (CPM), Slide 11).