Quality: the third element of earned value management

This paper aims to contribute to studies seeking to add the quality component into earned value management method using as background a case study in agricultural operation. Thus, this case study considered harvesting soybean in a farm located in Brazil as a project. A methodology for calculating the Quality Earned Value (QEV) is proposed. It is proposed formulas to estimate the Quality Variance (QV), Quality Index Number (QIN), and Quality Performance Index (QPI). It was identified five quality indicators for harvesting soybean that were used to illustrate the proposed method. Also, it was evaluated the possibility of using the EVM to assess the operational performance of crops. The lack of quality resulted in a QIN as 0.67 (average), and an accumulated QEV as R$ 7,074.12. The results indicated a SPI as 0.07, the total cost as R$ 10,470.60, average CPI as 0.46, and an expense of R$ 2,519.25 higher than planned budget (R$ 7,950.90). The results indicated that it is possible to add the quality component in EVM method and that EVM can be used to measure the performance of harvesting soybean, however, further assessments are needed. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.