Deck 17: Project Management

Question 1

Once a project is underway,project managers are only responsible for managing the project schedule (time)and budget (costs).

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Risks involved in a project can be transferred by outsourcing a particular component of the project and requiring performance bonds.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The path in a PERT/CPM precedence network with the fewest activities and shortest duration is referred to as the critical path.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A project manager usually staffs the human resources required for a project by hiring outside specialists that only work for the company for the duration of the project.

Question 5

The probability of occurrence of risk events is lower near the beginning of a project and higher near the end of the project.

Question 6

An advantage of Gantt charts in project management is that they reveal which activities can be delayed without delaying the overall project.

Question 7

Careful planning of complex projects can eliminate the occurrence of risk events that have undesirable consequences.

Question 8

Project managers bear the ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of the project.

Question 9

Although PERT and CPM were originally developed for somewhat different types of projects,they are now nearly identical in terms of analysis and procedures.

Question 10

Projects involve routine operations that are performed repeatedly.

Question 11

A hierarchical listing of what must be done during a project is called a project matrix.

Question 12

A Gantt chart provides a visual representation of the sequence of activities in a project.

Question 13

Following project initiation,planning and scheduling,project execution is the last phase of a projects life cycle.

Question 14

The task of identifying risks should involve everyone associated with the project.

Question 15

Companies that are organized as pure project organizations are equivalent to matrix organizations that temporarily group specialists from different departments.

Question 16

Purchase planning is typically outside the scope of project planning activities.

Question 17

One way that project management differs from management of more traditional operations is the limited time frame of projects.

Question 18

PERT was originally developed for military planning in the 1940's during the Second World War (WWII).

Question 19

Sequential dependencies among project activities are less important than the time required to complete activities.

Question 20

The precedence network for a project depicts sequential relationships among activities in a project.

Question 21

Simulation can be used for cases in which network activity durations are dependent.

Question 22

A normal distribution is usually used to describe probabilistic duration estimates for activities in a project.

Question 23

If two consecutive activities on the same path each have two days of activity slack,this means that each of them can be delayed by two days without delaying the overall project.

Question 24

The latest starting time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity time.

Question 25

The standard deviation of the duration of the critical path is equal to the square root of the sum of the variances of all of the activities on the critical path.

Question 26

The earliest finish time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity slack.

Question 27

Consecutive activities on the same path have shared slack,which means if activities are delayed,the amount of slack remaining is reduced for all these activities without delaying completion of the project.

Question 28

The sum of activity durations of the longest path in a network indicates expected project completion time,and the activities on it are called the critical activities.

Question 29

Activity slack is the difference between the latest finish and earliest finish times.

Question 30

The path in a precedence network with the longest duration is the critical path.

Question 31

The probability that the project will go beyond the desired time is equal to one minus the joint probability that all paths will be completed within the desired time.

Question 32

The critical path has zero path slack time.

Question 33

For the PERT/CPM technique,completing the backward pass includes making the latest finish (LF)equal to the earliest finish (EF)for the end activity.

Question 34

The standard deviation of a project duration is equal to the sum of the variances of all the activities of the project.

Question 35

A beta distribution can be used to describe the inherent variability of an activity's duration.

Question 36

In order to determine the probability of timely project completion,it is sometimes necessary to take into account paths other than the critical path.

Question 37

Deterministic networks use three duration estimates for each activity in order to best determine the activity's estimated duration.

Question 38

The earliest finish time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity time.

Question 39

Activities not on the critical path have a slack time equal to zero.

Question 40

Project managers are sometimes able to reduce indirect project costs by increasing direct costs.

Question 41

A relatively simple tool for planning and scheduling simple projects is the:

A) an activity-on-arrows network.
B) an activity-on-nodes network.
C) a Gantt chart.
D) critical path method.
E) program evaluation and review technique.

Question 42

Besides project activities,the primary information that all Gantt charts illustrate is:

A) project budget and when activities occur.
B) cost of activities and delays in the schedule.
C) planned duration of activities and when they occur in the schedule.
D) project budget and staffing levels.
E) critical path and project budget.

Question 43

Scope creep refers to the tendency for projects to take longer than planned.

Question 44

Which of the following is a part of project scheduling?

A) Identify resource requirements for activities
B) Estimate the duration of activities
C) Identify activities in the work breakdown structure
D) Identify sequential dependencies among activities
E) All of the choices are a part of project scheduling.

Question 45

Which of the following is not involved in project planning?

A) Risk management planning
B) Material requirements planning (MRP)
C) Quality planning
D) Communication planning
E) Purchase planning

Question 46

The advantage(s)the PERT/CPM technique has over a Gantt chart is (are):

A) its ability to reveal relationships among activities.
B) it illustrates multiple paths as a project network.
C) it indicates which activities are most critical.
D) it indicates the implications of delays in activities.
E) all of the choices are correct.

Question 47

Which of the following is not a form of risk reduction in project management?

A) Backup systems
B) Outsourcing components of the project
C) Frequent monitoring of project activities
D) Expand the project scope to reduce external dependencies
E) Improving communications

Question 48

Only activities on the critical path are initial candidates for crashing.

Question 49

A hierarchical listing of what must be done during the project is called:

A) work breakdown structure (WBS).
B) program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
C) planning matrix.
D) crashing.
E) critical path method (CPM).

Question 50

Which of the following are advantages of CPM/PERT?
I)Relationships among activities can be identified.
II)Slippage in project activities is no longer an issue.
III)Activities that need to be watched closely can be identified.

A) I and II
B) II and III
C) III only
D) I and III
E) I, II, and III

Question 51

Which of the following would probably not involve the use of project management?

A) Planning and constructing a new city hall
B) Developing a marketing campaign for the launch of a new product
C) Designing and constructing a subway system
D) Scheduling workers and purchasing raw materials for a manufacturing plant
E) Producing and staging a music festival

Question 52

In a precedence network the critical path is the sequence of activities which has:

A) the most activities.
B) the most nodes.
C) the most events.
D) the longest duration.
E) the greatest variance.

Question 53

The optimum project length in crashing occurs when the cumulative cost of crashing equals savings in the indirect costs.

Question 54

The life cycle of a project includes which of the following phases?
I)Initiation
II)Planning and scheduling
III)Growth and maturity
IV)Closeout

A) I and II only
B) II and III only
C) I, II, and IV only
D) II, III, and IV only
E) I, II, III, and IV

Question 55

The project management technique that is repeated until activities are decomposed into work packages that can be performed by a designated worker,team or subcontract is called:

A) work breakdown structure (WBS).
B) program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
C) planning matrix.
D) crashing.
E) none of the choices.

Question 56

The principal advantage a Gantt chart has over other project scheduling techniques is:

A) its ability to reveal relationships among activities.
B) it illustrates multiple paths as a project network.
C) it focuses on the critical path.
D) its simplicity.
E) both cost and time are included in the chart.

Question 57

Concerning PERT and CPM,which of the following statements is correct?

A) These are two different names for what is essentially the same technique.
B) CPM tends to focus more on the critical path.
C) PERT gives a clearer indication of activity slack, while CPM gives a better picture of path slack.
D) Because of its recent discovery, much less is known about CPM than PERT.
E) Neither provides as much detail as a Gantt chart.

Question 58

People working on a project are:

A) often on loan from their regular job.
B) often working only part-time on the project.
C) associated with the project for less than the full time required to complete it.
D) all of the choices.

Question 59

Once a project is underway,the project manager is responsible for effectively managing:
I)the people.
II)costs.
III)time.
IV)communications.

A) II only
B) I and II only
C) II and III only
D) I, II and III only
E) I, II, III, and IV

Question 60

The cost control technique of earned value analysis measures project progress by the budgeted cost of work scheduled.

Question 61

There are four activities on the critical path.Coincidentally,the standard deviations for their durations are all equal to 4.The standard deviation of the duration for the critical path is therefore equal to:

A) 2
B) 4
C) 8
D) 16
E) 64

Question 62

In the probabilistic approach to precedence network analysis,the duration estimate annotated "tm" for any activity is the:

A) mean duration.
B) median duration.
C) most likely duration.
D) optimistic duration.
E) pessimistic duration.

Question 63

Activity 4 in a network diagram has an optimistic duration estimate of 5 days,a most likely duration estimate of 7 days,and a pessimistic duration estimate of 10 days.The expected duration of Activity 4 is:

A) 5
B) 6
C) 7
D) 8
E) 9

Question 64

Activity C has an early start time of 8,an early finish time of 12,a latest start time of 13,and a latest finish time of 17.Its slack is:

A) 0
B) 1
C) 4
D) 5
E) 9

Question 65

At which point does crashing of a project cease?

A) When the project is completed
B) When no additional crashing is possible
C) When the cost to crash equals or exceeds the benefit of crashing
D) All of the choices are correct
E) None of the choices are correct

Question 66

Activity 7 is directly preceded by two activities-activity 5 and activity 6.Activity 5 has an expected duration of five and an ES time of six.Activity 6 has an expected duration of seven and an ES time of seven.Activity 7 has an expected duration of 10.The ES for activity 7 is:

A) 11
B) 14
C) 21
D) 24
E) 25

Question 67

A PERT/CPM activity has an optimistic duration estimate of 3 days,a most likely duration estimate of 8 days,and a pessimistic duration estimate of 10 days.The expected duration of this activity t_e is:

A) 7.0
B) 7.5
C) 8.0
D) 8.5
E) 10.0

Question 68

The project management strategy of injecting additional resources in order to reduce the length of the project is called:

A) expediting.
B) rushing.
C) panicking.
D) crashing.
E) none of the choices are correct.

Question 69

In precedence network analysis,knowing the slack time allows managers to:
I)allocate scarce resources.
II)pay attention to activities that could delay the project.
III)delay critical activities.

A) I only
B) II only
C) III only
D) I and II only
E) I, II, and III

Question 70

In the probabilistic approach to precedence network analysis,the duration estimate that is given the highest weighting in calculating the expected duration for an activity is:

A) duration of the immediately prior activity.
B) duration of the immediately following activity.
C) most likely duration.
D) optimistic duration.
E) pessimistic duration.

Question 71

Given this information about activity B: ES = 10,EF = 15,LS = 16 and LF = 21,we can determine that the amount of slack associated with the activity is:

A) 0
B) 1
C) 5
D) 6
E) 11

Question 72

When developing probabilistic estimates of project duration,it is necessary to know which of the following?

A) The mean and variance of every activity
B) The mean and variance of activities on the critical path
C) The standard deviation of activities on the critical path
D) Each activity's probability of completion
E) The distribution of activity durations

Question 73

Which of the following is not an advantage of using project management software?

A) It automatically generates and formats a variety of reports.
B) It reduces project costs.
C) It can enhance communication among team members.
D) It can generate various charts.
E) It provides a logical planning structure.

Question 74

An activity,A,has two succeeding activities,B and C.Given the following information,determine the latest starting time for activity A. EF B = 15,EF C = 17,LF B = 24,LF C = 27; activity times are A = 4,B = 6,C = 8.

A)14
B)15
C)16
D)17
E)18

Question 75

Uncontrolled growth in the number of activities that end up being included as a part of a project is called:

A) the critical path.
B) project slack.
C) scope creep.
D) indirect costs.
E) time-cost trade-offs.

Question 76

Given the portion of the network shown above,based on the activity durations shown what is the latest start time of activity 7 if the latest finish of activity 8 is 26,and the latest finish of activity 9 is 23?

A) 18
B) 17
C) 13
D) 12
E) 10

Question 77

Which of the following is used to compute the earliest finish times once the earliest start times are calculated for an activity on a precedence network?

A) Expected activity duration
B) Activity slack time
C) Activities that are on the critical path
D) Variance in project duration
E) Maximum project duration

Question 78

Given the portion of the network shown above,based on the activity durations shown what is the earliest finish time for activity D,if the earliest start time of B is 12,and the earliest start time of C is 13?

A) 19
B) 20
C) 21
D) 22
E) 23

Question 79

There are four activities on the critical path,and the standard deviations for their durations are 1,2,4,and 2 days.The standard deviation of the duration of the critical path is:

A) 3
B) 5
C) 9
D) 16
E) 25

Question 80

In "crashing",a project manager will generally focus on activities which:

A) are not on the critical path.
B) are the least costly to crash.
C) are costly to crash and are on the critical path.
D) are on the critical path and are the least costly to crash.
E) none of the choices are correct.