A combinatorial optimization solution for activity prioritizing problem

This paper discusses a special situation in project management in which an analyst wants to prioritize several independent activities to handle all them one after another, in such a way that there are no precedence relationships over the activities. As a novel idea, in this research, the notion is that the structure of prioritized activities is a linear arrangement, and therefore it could be taken into account as a combinatorial optimization problem. The paper formulates a mathematical model, develops a row-generation solving procedure, and reports the computational results for the problem instances of size up to 300 activities. The results demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed methodology.