Scheduling reconstruction operations with modes of execution

Since the decline of the Cold War, the risk of major conflict between powerful, industrialized nations has decreased. Insecurities in the 21st century are more apt to arise from the debris of imploding states. Such situations may require intervention—military or otherwise—by concerned states. To meet this new operational challenge, nations must adapt their planning procedures to account for Security, Stabilization, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations (SSTRO). This paper develops a project scheduling framework for post-conflict reconstruction that schedules reconstruction activities to maximize the positive impact to the local economy during the initial phase of SSTRO. Specifically, this paper builds on the Multimode Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem with Generalized Precedence Relations (MM-RCPSP-GPR) using goal programming to maximize the reconstruction operations’ positive impact to local population's economic welfare. This MM-RCPSP-GPR variant is applied to a notional example to illustrate its potential use in post-conflict SSTRO. The basic framework can be extended to other settings.