Deck 16: Managing Projects

Question 1

There are more resources required during the performance phase of a project than the project definition phase.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A critical path is composed entirely of critical activities.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In what way are projects and typical business activities similar?

A)For most companies,projects and typical business activities can be described as routine.
B)Both projects and typical business activities have a defined ending point at which time they are complete.
C)Projects and routine business activities require significant levels of cross-functional and inter-organizational coordination.
D)The successful completion of projects and business activities is essential to a firm's competitive position.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Project planners develop a broad definition of what the project is and what its scope will be during the:

A)concept phase.
B)project definition phase.
C)planning phase.
D)performance phase.

Question 5

One of the primary characteristics of projects as a form of work is the movement of personnel from project to project.

Question 6

Your authors argue that the increasing numbers of middle management are attributable to their ability to manage projects.

Question 7

Program evaluation and review technique,PERT,is a network-based technique in which there are multiple time estimates for each activity.

Question 8

The earliest finish time of an activity is always later than its latest start time.

Question 9

Activities on the critical path may have positive or negative slack as long as the overall slack time of the critical path is zero.

Question 10

Key points in a project,such as when a major activity or phase is completed,are referred to as lodestones.

Question 11

Most project management software represents a project in AON format.

Question 12

The earliest finish time is calculated by adding the activity's duration to the predecessor's earliest finish time.

Question 13

Crashing a project refers to the technique that minimizes completion cost of the project.

Question 14

In the project definition phase,project planners identify,among other tasks,how to accomplish the work and how to organize for the project.

Question 15

The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®)is divided into two main parts,the various business processes that organizations follow in carrying out projects and the nine knowledge areas applicable to nearly all projects.

Question 16

A project is a one-time undertaking designed to achieve a particular organization goal.

Question 17

A forward pass through a network is used to determine the earliest start and finish times for each project activity.

Question 18

Performance or time targets for each major group of activities in a project are set during the planning phase of a project.

Question 19

The BEST use of a Gantt chart is to show precedence requirements for a project's constituent activities.

Question 20

The earliest start time of an activity is dependent on the earliest finish time of its immediate predecessors.

Question 21

This Gantt chart can be used to show:

A)activity D must come before activity C.
B)activity F can be done at the same time as D.
C)activity E can begin as soon as activity A is complete.
D)activities D and B can be done simultaneously.

Question 22

A project is comprised of 6 activities that have durations and precedence requirements shown in the table.Which of these activities is not on the critical path?

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

Question 23

PERT is an acronym meaning:

A)Project Evaluation and Review Technique.
B)Project Execution and Review Technique.
C)Program Evaluation and Review Technique.
D)Plan Estimation and Review Technique.

Question 24

The budget estimates made during the concept phase are usually accurate to within:

A)20 percent.
B)30 percent.
C)40 percent.
D)50 percent.

Question 25

What is the latest that activity B can start if A is 35 days,B is 5 days,C is 6 days,and D is 7 days long?

A)35
B)36
C)40
D)41

Question 26

What is the fastest completion time of the project with activity lengths (in days)and precedence requirements as shown in the table?

A)22
B)25
C)27
D)30

Question 27

A hatmaker,fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year.He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop.For the sake of simplicity,and to avoid giving away any trade secrets,the activities have been identified by letters A-G.The activities,their time estimates,and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below.

Which of the activities in this project has the greatest amount of slack?

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

Question 28

The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table.

What is the cheapest completion cost for the project if the contractor must complete all work in 45 days?

A)$550
B)$950
C)$1150
D)$1450

Question 29

A(n)________ is a graphical tool that should be used to show a project's progress as time elapses.

Question 30

The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table.The fixed cost for being on site is $450.What is the lowest total completion cost for the project?

A)$10,600
B)$11,000
C)$11,400
D)$12,000

Question 31

A hatmaker,fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year.He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop.For the sake of simplicity,and to avoid giving away any trade secrets,the activities have been identified by letters A-G.The activities,their time estimates,and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below.

Which of these statements is BEST?

A)Only four of these activities have zero slack.
B)The late finish of D minus the late finish of C is less than the slack of B.
C)B's late start plus its slack equals F's late finish.
D)The sum of the late start values for activities A through E is less than the sum of the late start values for F and G.

Question 32

During the ________,project planners identify how to accomplish the work,how to organize for the project,and the key personnel and resources needed.

Question 33

A hatmaker,fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year.He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop.For the sake of simplicity,and to avoid giving away any trade secrets,the activities have been identified by letters A-G.The activities,their time estimates,and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below.

Which of these activities has slack?

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

Question 34

A performance or time target for each major group of activities in a project is a(n)________.

Question 35

An expectation that a new building's foundation would be poured and cured by the end of the year is an example of a(n):

A)activity.
B)scope.
C)milestone.
D)precedence.

Question 36

The actual work gets done during the ________ phase of a project.

Question 37

What is the total cost to complete this project as quickly as possible if each day on site costs $1000?

A)$43,100
B)$40,300
C)$39,300
D)$41,900

Question 38

Work on a project's constituent activities begins in the project's:

A)planning phase.
B)concept phase.
C)post-completion phase.
D)performance phase.

Question 39

What is the latest that activity D can start if A is 5 days,B is 7 days,C is 4 days,D is 5 days,E is 7 days,and F is 6 days long?

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

Question 40

How many days can this project be shortened if money is no object?

A)6 days
B)9 days
C)10 days
D)13 days

Question 41

The project shown below has crash costs as shown in the table.What is the minimum completion cost for this project that has a fixed cost of $1000 per day?

Question 42

An activity's length added to its early start time yields the ________.

Question 43

The longest path in a network from the start of a project to the end of a project is ________.

Question 44

What are the early and late start and finish times for all of these activities?

Question 45

________ is a technique to shorten the overall length of the project that usually involves a trade-off between time and cost.

Question 46

Discuss the recent business trends that have increased the attention and interest in project management skills.

Question 47

The professional organization that serves the needs of project management professionals is ________.

Question 48

What are the phases of a project and the activities within each?

Question 49

Complete this table containing early and late start times and activity lengths.

Question 50

A hatmaker,fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year.He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop.For the sake of simplicity,and to avoid giving away any trade secrets,the activities have been identified by letters A-G.The activities,their time estimates,and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below.

Develop a Gantt chart for this project and indicate the finish times for each activity.

Question 51

The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table.

You have been given a budget of $2500 and instructed to complete the project as quickly as you can using that amount.Which activities do you expedite and what is the final cost and project duration?

Question 52

A project is composed of the twelve activities shown in the table.What are the early and late start times for each of these activities?

Question 53

A project represented by the activities shown in this table must meet a deadline of 51 days.Sketch the network and determine the critical path.Using the crash costs and minimum activity lengths shown in the table,determine which activities to shorten and provide the total cost of finishing this project in 51 days.

Question 54

In what ways are projects distinct from typical business activities?

Question 55

For critical path activities,slack is ________.

Question 56

Given the early and late finish times for each of these activities,what are the activity lengths?