Question 1

Annie is planning a large surprise party for her sister Gwendolyn. She has developed the following plan, including estimates of the time (in hours) and cost necessary to perform each of the tasks required.  Annie will save $40 for every hour she can reduce from her plan. Annie has decided to crash her project and use the money she saves to purchase a larger gift for Gwendolyn. Which task should she crash first?

Accepted Answer

A)  A
B)  D
C)  C
D)  E
E)  B A

Question 2

Given the project data below, what is the expected length of path A, B, C?

Accepted Answer

A)  9.0
B)  9.8
C)  9.4
D)  17 C

Question 3

A project manager has discovered that three tasks are on the critical path for a particular project. She has developed the time estimates (in days) shown in the table below. Complete the table and determine the expected completion time for the project.

Accepted Answer

A)  Approximately 92 percent
B)  Approximately 88 percent
C)  Approximately 75 percent
D)  Approximately 84 percent D

Question 4

An estimate of the duration of a task that is based on a weighted average of a range of possible task durations is known as:

Accepted Answer

A)  Most likely duration.
B)  Expected duration.
C)  Worst-case duration.
D)  Probabilistic duration.

Question 5

A simple sequential project (each task must be completed before the next one can begin) has the time estimates (in days) shown below:  What is the likelihood the project will be completed in 10 days?

Accepted Answer

A)  Between 88 and 88 percent
B)  Between 89 and 92 percent
C)  Between 93 and 98 percent
D)  Between 99 and 100 percent

Question 6

Given the tasks, estimated durations, and crash costs shown below, what is the total cost of the steps needed to provide the cheapest way to reduce the project length by three days?

Accepted Answer

A)  $2,800
B)  $2,500
C)  $1,100
D)  $2,300

Question 7

A project manager has discovered that three tasks are on the critical path for a particular project. She has developed the time estimates (in days) shown in the table below. Complete the table and determine the expected completion time for the project.

Accepted Answer

A)  17 days
B)  18 days
C)  21 days
D)  19 days

Question 8

Given the project data below, what is the standard deviation of durations for path A, B, C?"

Accepted Answer

A)  1.4
B)  2.3
C)  1.7
D)  None of the choices is correct

Question 9

In evaluating time-cost trade-offs, we start by crashing the task on the critical path that:

Accepted Answer

A)  Has the lowest cost to reduce by one unit of time.
B)  Has the lowest total crash cost.
C)  Can be reduced the most.
D)  Is the longest.
E)  None of the these.

Question 10

Task X has a best-case duration of 4 days, a worst-case duration of 10 days, and a most likely duration of 6 days. Using this information, we can estimate a 50 percent probability that the task will be completed in no more than how many days?

Accepted Answer

A)  6.0 days
B)  3.3 days
C)  10.0 days
D)  6.3 days

Question 11

Which of the following statements best describes "crash cost"?

Accepted Answer

A)  Estimated cost to reduce a project task duration by one time unit.
B)  Estimated cost to reduce a project duration by one time unit.
C)  Estimated cost to reduce the project schedule by one time unit.
D)  Actual cost to reduce a project duration by one time unit.
E)  Actual cost to change a project schedule.

Question 12

A simple sequential project (each task must be completed before the next one can begin) has the time estimates (in days) shown below:  What is the expected total time for the path?

Accepted Answer

A)  7.33 days
B)  9.00 days
C)  10 days
D)  12.67 days

Question 13

If a project path has an expected duration of 10 days and a standard deviation of 3 days, what is the probability that the path will be completed in 10 days or less?

Accepted Answer

A)  0 percent
B)  33 percent
C)  50 percent
D)  75 percent

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true regarding crash costs?

Accepted Answer

A)  Crash costs tend to increase with each additional day of crashing.
B)  Crash costs tend to decrease with each additional day of crashing.
C)  It is usually cheaper to crash tasks that are not on the critical path.
D)  Additional crash costs are rarely justified in practice.

Question 15

Annie is planning a large surprise party for her sister Gwendolyn. She has developed the following plan, including estimates of the time (in hours) and cost necessary to perform each of the tasks required.  Annie turns her attention to crashing another task in her project. If she wants to benefit even more, what is the next task to crash?

Accepted Answer

A)  A
B)  C
C)  E
D)  F

Question 16

Annie is planning a large surprise party for her sister Gwendolyn. She has developed the following plan, including estimates of the time (in hours) and cost necessary to perform each of the tasks required.  What is the planned duration of the preparation for the surprise party, assuming the critical path is completed?

Accepted Answer

A)  16 hours
B)  8 hours
C)  20 hours
D)  30 hours

Question 17

If a project path has an expected duration of 10 days and a standard deviation of 3 days, what is the probability that the path will be completed in 13 days or less?

Accepted Answer

A)  50 percent
B)  33 percent
C)  75 percent
D)  84 percent

Question 18

A simple sequential project (each task must be completed before the next one can begin) has the time estimates (in days) shown below:  What is the probability that the project shown in Exhibit 15S-5 will be completed within 8.5 days? (Choose the closest answer.)

Accepted Answer

A)  80 percent
B)  20 percent
C)  75 percent
D)  5 percent

Question 19

Given the tasks, estimated durations, and crash costs shown below, if the benefit to crash the project by each day is a maximum of $750, how many days would it be worthwhile to crash the project?

Accepted Answer

A)  0
B)  1
C)  2
D)  3
E)  4

Question 20

Annie is planning a large surprise party for her sister Gwendolyn. She has developed the following plan, including estimates of the time (in hours) and cost necessary to perform each of the tasks required.  If Annie crashes only the task identified in the previous problem, but crashes it to its minimum duration, how much will she save on the project?

Accepted Answer

A)  $55
B)  $185
C)  $160
D)  $50

Exam 15: Extension: Advanced Methods for Project Scheduling

Given the project data below, what is the expected length of path A, B, C?

A project manager has discovered that three tasks are on the critical path for a particular project. She has developed the time estimates (in days) shown in the table below. Complete the table and determine the expected completion time for the project.

An estimate of the duration of a task that is based on a weighted average of a range of possible task durations is known as:

A simple sequential project (each task must be completed before the next one can begin) has the time estimates (in days) shown below: What is the likelihood the project will be completed in 10 days?

Given the tasks, estimated durations, and crash costs shown below, what is the total cost of the steps needed to provide the cheapest way to reduce the project length by three days?

A project manager has discovered that three tasks are on the critical path for a particular project. She has developed the time estimates (in days) shown in the table below. Complete the table and determine the expected completion time for the project.

Given the project data below, what is the standard deviation of durations for path A, B, C?"

In evaluating time-cost trade-offs, we start by crashing the task on the critical path that:

Task X has a best-case duration of 4 days, a worst-case duration of 10 days, and a most likely duration of 6 days. Using this information, we can estimate a 50 percent probability that the task will be completed in no more than how many days?

Which of the following statements best describes "crash cost"?

A simple sequential project (each task must be completed before the next one can begin) has the time estimates (in days) shown below: What is the expected total time for the path?

If a project path has an expected duration of 10 days and a standard deviation of 3 days, what is the probability that the path will be completed in 10 days or less?

Which of the following statements is true regarding crash costs?

If a project path has an expected duration of 10 days and a standard deviation of 3 days, what is the probability that the path will be completed in 13 days or less?

A simple sequential project (each task must be completed before the next one can begin) has the time estimates (in days) shown below: What is the probability that the project shown in Exhibit 15S-5 will be completed within 8.5 days? (Choose the closest answer.)

Given the tasks, estimated durations, and crash costs shown below, if the benefit to crash the project by each day is a maximum of $750, how many days would it be worthwhile to crash the project?