Deck 16: Pert CPM models for project management

Question 1

An immediate predecessor of an activity must be completed before that activity can begin

Answer 1

True

Question 2

If two paths are tied for the longest duration,both would be considered to be critical paths

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In an Activity-On-Node project network,the nodes are used to separate an activity from each of its immediate predecessors

Answer 3

False

Question 4

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 5

A Gantt chart of a project shows the scheduled start and finish times for activities

Question 6

Projects involve routine activities that are performed repeatedly

Question 7

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

Question 8

The activities with the longest durations in a project network are called critical activities

Question 9

In PERT,the path with the fewest activities is referred to as the critical path

Question 10

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

Question 11

In PERT,the project duration will never exceed the expected duration of the critical path

Question 12

The length of the critical path is determined by adding the expected completion times for all the activities in the project

Question 13

Project managers must often function in an environment that is beset with uncertainties

Question 14

An activity in a project network cannot begin until all of the activities leading into that activity have been completed

Question 15

The earliest start of an activity is the latest early finish of any immediately preceding activity

Question 16

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

Question 17

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

Question 18

The project network diagram describes sequential relationships among major activities in a project

Question 19

The path in a project network with the average duration is the critical path

Question 20

The values assigned to the nodes in a project network are there to identify the precedence relationships

Question 21

The slack of an activity is the difference between the latest finish and the earliest finish times

Question 22

If an activity is not on the critical path,then the project cannot be delayed if that activity is delayed

Question 23

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

Question 24

Only activities on the critical path are initial candidates for crashing

Question 25

The PERT three-estimate approach can be used to determine the probability that a project will be completed by a certain time

Question 26

When making a backward pass through a project network,you must start at the finish node

Question 27

Crashing cannot be accomplished by using different materials than originally planned

Question 28

If the variance of an activity duration is equal to 1 then all the durations are the same

Question 29

The CPM method provides an excellent procedure for evaluating time-cost tradeoffs

Question 30

The mean critical path is the path through the project network that would be the critical path if the duration of each activity equals its mean

Question 31

The slack of any activity is the amount of time that the activity can be delayed without delaying the completion of the project

Question 32

When calculating the probability that a project will finish by a certain time,the approximation that is obtained is usually lower than the true probability

Question 33

A normal distribution is usually used to describe the form of the probability distribution of activity durations in the PERT three-estimate approach

Question 34

The latest finish of an activity is the earliest late start of any immediately preceding activity

Question 35

A manager has decided that an activity has a pessimistic estimate of 15 days,a most-likely estimate of 6 days,and an optimistic estimate of 3 days The expected duration of this activity is 6 days

Question 36

The standard deviation of the critical path is equal to the sum of the standard deviations of all the activities on the critical path

Question 37

A forward pass is the process of moving forward through the project network to determine the latest start times and latest finish times of each activity

Question 38

Crashing an activity will always reduce the duration of a project

Question 39

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 40

PERT/Cost is a systematic procedure to help a project manager bid on a project

Question 41

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

A)the most activities
B)the fewest activities
C)the most events
D)the longest time
E)the greatest variance

Question 42

PERT/CPM can answer which of the following questions?

A)When do activities need to start and finish to meet a deadline?
B)How much delay can be tolerated for certain activities?
C)Given uncertainties,what is the probability that a project will finish on time?
D)What is the least expensive way to expedite a project to meet a deadline?
E)All of the above

Question 43

Given this information about activity H: 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 44

In project network analysis,slack refers to the difference between:

A)observed and predicted times
B)optimistic and pessimistic times
C)latest finish and latest start times
D)earliest finish and earliest start times
E)latest start and earliest start times

Question 45

51

A)22
B)23
C)24
D)25
E)26

Question 46

AON project networks have which of the following advantages over AOA networks?

A)They are easier to construct
B)They allow the project to be completed faster
C)They are easier to revise when there are changes in a project
D)a and c only
E)b and c only

Question 47

Which of the following is not a feature of PERT/CPM?

A)An estimate of how long a project will take
B)A graphical display of project activities
C)An indication of crucial activities
D)An indication of slack time
E)All are features

Question 48

The expected duration of this project is:

A)12
B)17
C)20
D)36
E)77

Question 49

A project manager does not need to monitor each individual activity,just the overall project when looking at budget costs

Question 50

Concerning PERT and CPM:

A)These are two different names for essentially the same technique
B)CPM tends to focus more on the critical path
C)PERT gives a better indication of activity slack,CPM a better picture of path slack
D)Because of its recent discovery,much less is known about CPM that PERT
E)All of the above are true

Question 51

The critical path for the network shown is:

A)A-C-G
B)A-D-F-G
C)A-D-H-I
D)B-E-F-G
E)B-E-H-I

Question 52

The path with the greatest slack is:

A)A-E
B)B-F
C)C-D-F
D)C-G
E)None of the above

Question 53

PERT/Cost can be used to monitor budget overruns

Question 54

There is currently no method that permits activities and their immediate predecessors to overlap

Question 55

The critical path is:

A)A-E
B)B-F
C)C-D-F
D)C-G
E)there are two critical paths

Question 56

The earliest start time for an activity is:

A)based on the length of the critical path
B)determined by the maximum of the earliest finish times of its immediate predecessors
C)determined by the maximum of the earliest finish times of its immediate successors
D)the same as the latest start time of its immediate predecessor
E)None of the above

Question 57

52

A)3
B)4
C)9
D)10
E)12

Question 58

A common assumption when using PERT/Cost is that the costs are incurred at a constant rate throughout the duration of an activity

Question 59

The duration of the critical path is:

A)11 days
B)20 days
C)18 days
D)22 days
E)15 days

Question 60

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 61

What is the probability that this project will be completed within 205 days?

A)0 6826
B)0 8413
C)0 9544
D)0 9772
E)0 9987

Question 62

The expected duration of this project is:

A)13
B)15
C)20
D)52
E)81

Question 63

What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity E?

A)2 days
B)3 days
C)4 days
D)16 days
E)24 days

Question 64

An activity has an optimistic time estimate of three days,a most likely time estimate of eight days,and a pessimistic time estimate of ten days The expected duration of this activity is:

A)7 0 days
B)7 5 days
C)8 0 days
D)8 5 days
E)10 0 days

Question 65

Activity C in a project network has an optimistic time estimate of five days,a most likely time estimate of seven days,and a pessimistic time estimate of nine days Its expected duration is approximately:

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

Question 66

There are four activities on the critical path,and they have standard deviations of 1,2,4,and 2 days The standard deviation of the critical path is:

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

Question 67

The standard deviation of a path is computed as:

A)the sum of the standard deviations of all activities on the path
B)the square root of the sum of the standard deviations of all activities on the path
C)the sum of the variances of all activities on the path
D)the square root of the sum of the variances of all activities on the path
E)None of the above

Question 68

The path with the greatest slack is:

A)A-E-H
B)B-H
C)A-D-G
D)C-F-H
E)C-I-J

Question 69

What is the estimated slack time for activity A?

A)0 days
B)20 days
C)40 days
D)60 days
E)100 days

Question 70

The slack for path A-D-H-I is:

A)0
B)3
C)4
D)7
E)8

Question 71

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

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

Question 72

What is the estimated mean time for activity E?

A)91 days
B)99 days
C)100 days
D)101 days
E)115 days

Question 73

When finding the approximate probability of project duration,it is necessary to know which of the following?

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

Question 74

What is the estimated slack time for activity D?

A)0 days
B)30 days
C)40 days
D)50 days
E)100 days

Question 75

What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity E?

A)1 days
B)2 days
C)3 days
D)4 days
E)5 days

Question 76

An important assumption in PERT calculations is:

A)activity durations are normally distributed
B)activity durations are independent
C)a computer will be available to do the calculations
D)a and b only
E)a and c only

Question 77

What is the estimated mean time for project completion?

A)160 days
B)170 days
C)200 days
D)210 days
E)300 days

Question 78

What is the estimated mean time for activity E?

A)35 days
B)36 days
C)39 days
D)40 days
E)45 days

Question 79

What is the estimated mean time for project completion?

A)100 days
B)140 days
C)199 days
D)200 days
E)440 days

Question 80

The critical path for the network shown is:

A)A-E-H
B)B-H
C)A-D-G
D)C-F-H
E)C-I-J