Deck 12: Managing Projects

Question 1

PERT stands for?

A) Program Evaluation and Review Technique
B) Program Experience Restoration Technique
C) Project Extension and Reduction Technique
D) Project Evaluation and Review Technique

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The third step in both the CPM and PERT approaches is?

A) Determine the sequential relationship between all of the activities
B) Identify all project activities and time to complete each activity
C) Develop an activity network
D) Determine the critical path

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The x-axis on a Gantt chart shows?

A) Time
B) Activity name
C) Activity duration
D) Precedence relationships

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The fifth step in both the CPM and PERT approaches is?

A) Determine the sequential relationship between all of the activities
B) Identify all project activities and time to complete each activity
C) Determine the early start/early finish and late start/late finish schedules for each activity
D) Determine the critical path

Question 5

Project management involves all of the following except?

A) Planning resources
B) Eliminating resources
C) Scheduling resources
D) Controlling resources

Question 6

The longest sequence of activities in a project is referred to as the?

A) Critical sequence
B) Critical path
C) Major sequence
D) Minor path

Question 7

CPM stands for?

A) Critical posterior method
B) Critical project method
C) Critical path method
D) Critical planning method

Question 8

Approximately what fraction of new software projects fail due to poor project planning?

A) 1/4
B) 1/3
C) 1/2
D) 1/8

Question 9

A chart to show time lengths and sequences of project task activities was developed by?

A) Rebecca Scott
B) Henry Gantt
C) Nathan Palmer
D) Suzuki Ishikawa

Question 10

Project management is primarily concerned with all of the following aspects of projects except?

A) Planning
B) Reducing
C) Scheduling
D) Controlling

Question 11

The set of task descriptions for a project is known as a(n)?

A) Task listing
B) Work breakdown structure
C) Bill of materials
D) Activity diagram

Question 12

PERT is probably most well known for being applied to?

A) The first Super Bowl
B) The U.S. Polaris missile project
C) The Manhattan Project
D) Logistics for the Korean War

Question 13

The first step in both the CPM and PERT approaches is?

A) Determine the sequential relationship between all of the activities
B) Identify all project activities and time to complete each activity
C) Develop an activity network
D) Determine the critical path

Question 14

The difference between the early start and late start times and the early finish and late finish times is referred to as?

A) Slack time
B) Flexible time
C) Strict time
D) Cached time

Question 15

The bars in a Gantt chart show?

A) Precedence relationships
B) Activity descriptions
C) Activity start and finish times
D) Activity resources needed

Question 16

Which of the following is not likely to be an example of a project?

A) Constructing a roadway tunnel
B) Planning a wedding
C) Building a custom home
D) Cleaning kitchen equipment at a restaurant

Question 17

PERT was initially developed for?

A) The U.S. Department of Agriculture
B) The U.S. Department of Energy
C) The U.S. Army
D) The U.S. Navy

Question 18

The second step in both the CPM and PERT approaches is?

A) Determine the sequential relationship between all of the activities
B) Identify all project activities and time to complete each activity
C) Develop an activity network
D) Determine the critical path

Question 19

Modern concerns of project managers include all of the following except?

A) Risk assessment
B) Project security
C) Elimination of need for projects
D) Development of contingency plans

Question 20

The fourth step in both the CPM and PERT approaches is?

A) Determine the sequential relationship between all of the activities
B) Identify all project activities and time to complete each activity
C) Develop an activity network
D) Determine the critical path

Question 21

If an activity has a late start time of 10 and an early start time of 10, what is the activity's slack time?

A) 2
B) 0
C) -2
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 22

PERT relies on all of the following time estimates except?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Most likely completion time
C) Pessimistic completion time
D) Least likely completion time

Question 23

The first step to crash a project is?

A) Determine the desired completion time and the critical path
B) Calculate the crash cost per period for all activities
C) Reduce the length of the crashed path and update the project cost
D) It is impossible to crash a project

Question 24

Activities on the critical path are referred to as?

A) Essential activities
B) Important activities
C) Significant activities
D) Critical activities

Question 25

Critical activities primarily govern what aspect of a project?

A) Project start time
B) Project completion time
C) Project budget
D) Project resource availability

Question 26

The time estimate that represents the time to complete the activity if everything goes according to plan is the?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Most likely completion time
C) Pessimistic completion time
D) Least likely completion time

Question 27

The time estimate that represents the time to complete the activity if everything goes wrong is the?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Most likely completion time
C) Pessimistic completion time
D) Least likely completion time

Question 28

Activities on the critical path have slack times of?

A) 0
B) 1
C) >1
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 29

A project has four activities. Activity A has no predecessors and a duration of 1 week. Activity B has Activity A as its predecessor and a duration of 4 weeks. Activity C has Activity A as its predecessor and a duration of 3 weeks. Activity D has activities B and C as its predecessors and a duration of 2 weeks. What is the length of critical path for this project?

A) 4
B) 5
C) 7
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 30

The time estimate that represents the best estimate of time to complete the activity is the?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Most likely completion time
C) Pessimistic completion time
D) Least likely completion time

Question 31

If an activity has a late start time of 10 and an early start time of 8, what is the activity's slack time?

A) 2
B) 0
C) -2
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 32

Reducing a project's completion time by dedicating additional resources to the project is referred to as?

A) Project limiting
B) Project reduction
C) Project crashing
D) Project tightening

Question 33

The optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic completion times are used to determine the?

A) Least likely completion time
B) Maximum completion time
C) Minimum completion time
D) Expected completion time

Question 34

The second step to crash a project is?

A) Determine the desired completion time and the critical path
B) Calculate the crash cost per period for all activities
C) Reduce the length of the crashed path and update the project cost
D) It is impossible to crash a project

Question 35

The shortest possible time to complete an activity is referred to as the activity's?

A) Window time
B) Crash time
C) Pessimistic time
D) Limit time

Question 36

When estimating the probability of completing a project by a given time, we often assume that project duration is distributed according to which statistical distribution?

A) Binomial
B) Normal
C) Exponential
D) Poisson

Question 37

A project's completion time variance is calculated by?

A) Summing the variances of the critical path activities
B) Multiplying the variances of the critical path activities
C) Multiplying the variances of all of the project activities
D) Summing the variances of all of the project activities

Question 38

The third step to crash a project is?

A) Determine the desired completion time and the critical path
B) Calculate the crash cost per period for all activities
C) Reduce the length of the crashed path and update the project cost
D) It is impossible to crash a project

Question 39

If an activity has a late start time of 8 and an early start time of 10, what is the activity's slack time?

A) 2
B) 0
C) -2
D) An activity's late start time cannot be less than its early start time

Question 40

A project has four activities. Activity A has no predecessors and a duration of 1 week. Activity B has Activity A as its predecessor and a duration of 4 weeks. Activity C has Activity A as its predecessor and a duration of 3 weeks. Activity D has activities B and C as its predecessors and a duration of 2 weeks. What is the critical path for this project?

A) A $\rightarrow$ B
B) A $\rightarrow$ B $\rightarrow$ D
C) A $\rightarrow$ C $\rightarrow$ D
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 41

Project risks that are mostly within company control such as design changes are referred to as?

A) Cost risks
B) Technology risks
C) Operational risks
D) External risks

Question 42

Lack of communication among key personnel would be an example of what type of project risk?

A) External
B) Operational
C) Cost
D) Schedule

Question 43

Project risks outside of company control such as economic conditions are referred to as?

A) Cost risks
B) Technology risks
C) Operational risks
D) External risks

Question 44

Poor supplier selection is an example of what type of project risk?

A) External
B) Operational
C) Cost
D) Schedule

Question 45

Three critical activities (A, B, and C) have crash costs per hour of $100, $150, and $200, respectively. Which of these activities should be crashed first?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 46

Three activities (A, B, and C) have crash costs per hour of $75, $50, and $100, respectively. Which of these activities should be crashed first?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 47

What type of activities should be considering for crashing?

A) Critical activities
B) Noncritical activities
C) Both critical and noncritical activities
D) Neither critical nor noncritical activities

Question 48

Which of the following activities would likely be the best candidate for crashing?

A) Activity A, Slack = 4
B) Activity B, Slack = 0
C) Activity C, Slack = 1
D) Activity D, Slack = 9

Question 49

Crash cost per period is determined by which of the following equations?

A) (Crash cost) / (Normal cost)
B) (Crash cost - normal cost) / (normal time - crash time)
C) (Normal time - crash time) / (crash cost - normal cost)
D) It is impossible to calculate the crash cost per period for an activity

Question 50

An activity has a normal duration of 2 hours and a crash time of 1 hour. How much crash time is available for this activity?

A) 2
B) 1
C) 0
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 51

Which of the following activities would likely be the best candidate for crashing?

A) Activity A, Slack = 14
B) Activity B, Slack = 10
C) Activity C, Slack = 0
D) Activity D, Slack = 11

Question 52

Project risks that are either inside or outside of company control such as software integration problems are referred to as?

A) Cost risks
B) Technology risks
C) Operational risks
D) External risks

Question 53

Project risks that are within company control such as poor forecasting are referred to as?

A) Cost risks
B) Technology risks
C) Operational risks
D) External risks

Question 54

The use of unfamiliar software would be an example of what type of project risk?

A) External
B) Operational
C) Cost
D) Technology

Question 55

Project risks that are mostly within company control such as unrealistic activity time estimates are referred to as?

A) Schedule risks
B) Technology risks
C) Operational risks
D) External risks

Question 56

An activity has a normal duration of 4 hours and a crash time of 4 hours. How much crash time is available for this activity?

A) 4
B) 1
C) 0
D) Cannot be determined from the information given

Question 57

Unrealistic activity time estimations would be an example of what type of project risk?

A) External
B) Operational
C) Cost
D) Schedule

Question 58

Poor estimates of activity costs would be an example of what type of project risk?

A) External
B) Operational
C) Cost
D) Schedule

Question 59

Which of the following is not a category of project management risk?

A) External
B) Internal
C) Cost
D) Schedule

Question 60

Unexpected events that may lead to missed project completion times or cost overruns are referred to as?

A) Project adversity
B) Project danger
C) Project risk
D) Project complexity

Question 61

Expected activity completion time can be calculated (where a = optimistic completion time, b = pessimistic completion time, and m = most likely completion time) as:

A) t = (a + m + b)/3
B) t = (2a + 2m + 2b)/6
C) t = (a + 5m + b)/6
D) t = (a + 4m + b)/6

Question 62

The Z value is found by:

A) Z = (expected completion date) / project duration standard deviation
B) Z = (desired completion time - expected completion date) / project duration standard deviation
C) Z = (desired completion time) / project duration standard deviation
D) Z = (desired completion time - expected completion date) / project duration variance

Question 63

Within a complex project, all of the following may present for project tasks except?

A) Unique completion problems
B) Unique due dates
C) Nonunique project managers
D) Unique subcontractors

Question 64

A notable example of an open source project management software solution is?

A) Microsoft Project
B) Basecamp
C) OpenProj
D) SAP

Question 65

If project completion times are normally distributed, what is the probability that the project will be completed by the mean project duration?

A) 0.00
B) 0.25
C) 0.50
D) 1.00

Question 66

An activity's early finish time minus late finish time is referred to as the activity's?

A) Slack time
B) Flex time
C) Relaxation time
D) Loose time

Question 67

Which of the following is widely used for large/complex projects with far-flung participants?

A) Fax-based communication systems
B) Project management software
C) Open-source project management tools
D) Projects do not typically have participants that are located far from each other

Question 68

A plan to deal with project risks would be referred to as a?

A) Risk mitigation plan
B) Risk elimination plan
C) Risk reduction plan
D) Risk aversion plan

Question 69

A project manager should?

A) Communicate with the team members
B) Collaborate with the team members
C) Communicate and collaborate with the team members
D) Neither communicate nor collaborate with the team members

Question 70

The access to and delivery of information on an as-needed basis for a subscription fee is referred to as?

A) Cloud computing
B) Local computing
C) Foreign computing
D) Underground computing

Question 71

The variance of a project's completion time is determined by the?

A) Sum of all project activity variances
B) Sum of all project activity durations
C) Sum of all critical path activity variances
D) Sum of all critical path activity durations

Question 72

In the t = (a + 4m + b)/6 calculation for expected activity completion time, the b refers to?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Pessimistic completion time
C) Most likely completion time
D) Activity completion time variance

Question 73

In the t = (a + 4m + b)/6 calculation for expected activity completion time, the a refers to?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Pessimistic completion time
C) Most likely completion time
D) Activity completion time variance

Question 74

Many free software products are also known as?

A) Open source
B) Closed source
C) Restricted access
D) Limited access

Question 75

In the t = (a + 4m + b)/6 calculation for expected activity completion time, the m refers to?

A) Optimistic completion time
B) Pessimistic completion time
C) Most likely completion time
D) Activity completion time variance

Question 76

In a large and complex project, all of the following should be tracked and updated except?

A) Team member tasks
B) Quality considerations
C) Costs
D) Marketing plans

Question 77

Project management software allows for all of the following except?

A) Identification of potential problems
B) Elimination of need to pay for completed work
C) Clarification of project scope
D) Optimization of resources

Question 78

An activity's early start time minus late start time is referred to as the activity's?

A) Slack time
B) Flex time
C) Relaxation time
D) Loose time

Question 79

A project's critical path is the?

A) Longest path through the network
B) Mean path through the network
C) Shortest path through the network
D) Median path through the network

Question 80

When evaluating a project risk, the project team should consider all of the following except?

A) Likelihood of risk occurrence
B) How the marketing team will promote the project
C) Severity of impact on the project
D) Controllability of the risk