Chapter.5 Scheduling the Project Exam Questions 6th Edition - Project Management Practice 6e Complete Test Bank by Jack R. Meredith. DOCX document preview.
Chapter 5: Scheduling the Project
True/False
1. When it was originally developed, PERT used certain (deterministic) methods to estimate activity duration.
Level: medium
2. AON and AOA networks can both be used to depict any project network.
Level: medium
3. The shortest time to complete a network is equal to the duration of the longest path through the network.
Level: medium
4. Critical path tasks always have zero slack.
Level: medium
5. To manage a project successfully, the project manager need only pay close attention to tasks on the critical path.
Level: medium
6. “Merger” is a term used to describe the situation in which two or more paths in a network join together.
Level: easy
7. If task duration estimates are carefully made, the project manager needs to only examine the critical path when conducting a risk analysis.
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
8. The actual project duration will be known with certainty after the project is completed.
Response: See section 5.3
Level: medium
9. Milestones cannot be identified on a Gantt Chart.
Response: See section 5.4
Level: medium
10. It is easiest to see lead and lag time in a project task on a PERT/CPM networks.
Level: medium
11. A start-to-finish linkage is the most common way of linking to successive task.
Response: See section 5.5
Level: medium
12. The formula for the expected time of an activity in a network assumes that the optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely time estimates have a Beta distribution.
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
13. A project schedule is a project action plan converted into a timetable.
Level: medium
14. A Gantt chart cannot depict a critical path, only a PERT/CPM chart can.
Level: medium
15. The difference between the LST and EST is called slack.
Level: medium
16. A disadvantage of Gantt charts is that they are hard to draw.
Response: See section 5.4
Level: medium
17. The difference between LST and LFT is called slack.
Level: medium
18. Standard Pert/CPM networks can be use to resolve probabilistic concerns.
Level: medium
19. Technical dependencies are often harder to see on a Gantt chart than on a PERT/CPM network.
Response: See section 5.4
Level: medium
20. The difference between EST and LFT is called slack.
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
21. The difference between LFT and EFT is called slack.
Level: medium
22. A big advantage of AON networks is that they are easier to draw.
Level: medium
23. The tasks of project planning, project budgeting, and project scheduling are largely separable from one another.
Level: medium
24. An event is a series of connected activities.
Level: easy
25. A disadvantage of using beta distribution to approximate activity times is that it is generally less flexible than the normal distribution.
Level: medium
26. The simulation approach is generally preferred over the statistical method.
Level: medium
27. Technical dependencies are generally easier to see on a Gantt chart than on PERT/CPM networks.
Response: See section 5.3
Level: medium
28. The start-to-finish linkage is used in situations where is it desirable for two or more activities to finish at the same time.
Response: See section 5.5
Level: medium
29. Milestones are not depended upon the predecessor activities in the project plan.
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
30. Another name for total slack is free slack.
Level: medium
31. A diagram of nodes connected by directional arcs that defines the project and illustrates the technical of all activities is referred to as a network.
Level: medium
32. Networks are usually drawn with a “Start” node to the right and a “Finish” node to the left.
Level: medium
33. A situation where two or more activities have the same starting and finishing nodes or where a single activity connects to two or more nodes is called a dummy task
Level: medium
34. The movement from left to right through the network beginning with the start node that calculates the LS and LF for each activity is known as “FORWARD PASS”
Level: medium
35. Float refers to the amount of time a noncritical task can be delayed without causing a delay in the entire project.
Level: medium
36. The amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the start time of any successor activity is known as free slack.
Response: See section 5.1
Level: easy
37. Events in a project consume no resources or time.
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
Multiple Choice
38. Technical dependencies on a project plan are easiest to see on a:
a) Gantt chart
b) Cost chart
c) PERT/CPM chart
d) Work Breakdown Structure
e) RACI Matrix
Response: See section 5.4
Level: medium
39. PERT was originally used for what type of project?
a) construction
b) R & D
d) computer software development
e) advertising
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
40. Which of the following terms is most closely associated with a task required by the project?
b) event
c) milestone
d) network
e) path
Response: See section 5.1
Level: easy
41. What is the expected time to complete a task with an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic times of 3, 4, and 7 days respectively?
a) 3
b) 4
c) 4.3
d) 4.7
e) 7
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
42. What is the standard deviation of a task with optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic times of 3, 4, and 7 days respectively assuming the estimates were made at the 99% plus level?
a) .444
b) .667
c) 1.212
d) 1.469
e) 1.540
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
43. The amount of time a noncritical task can be delayed without delaying the project is called?
a) surplus
b) flop
c) slack
d) critical time
e) safety
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
44. Slack is calculated as?
a) LFT - EST
b) LFT - LST
c) LST - LFT
d) LFT - EFT
e) EFT - EST
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
45. A Term not used in the discussion of PERT/CPM analysis is
a) Activity
b) Events
c) Critical Path
e) network s
Level: medium
46. An identifiable state resulting from the completion of one or more activities is called?
a) an event
b) an activity
c) a milestone
d) a path
e) the critical path
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
47. Organ Bennett Inc., a public relations firm, is working on a project to improve the brand image of Sizil, a client firm, over a period of a year. The project requires Organ Bennett to organize a press conference to announce the launch of Sizil's new product. The project members need to invite reporters for the same. In the context of the language of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and the Critical Path Method (CPM), inviting reporters is most likely a(n) _____.
a) event
b) activity
c) network
d) milestone
e) float
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
48. Rico Gen, a sports apparel manufacturing company, maintains a target of increasing its sales by 20 percent per month to achieve its goal of expanding its business in the international market. In the context of the language of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and the Critical Path Method (CPM), the monthly targets achieved by Rico Gen are known as _____.
a) activities
b) floats
c) activity slacks
d) milestones
e) paths
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
49. Paul, the marketing manager of a food company, created a diagram of nodes to represent the marketing process for a new product of the company. Each node represented an activity in the marketing process, and an arc joined each node. He used this diagram to demonstrate the objectives of the marketing process. In the context of the language of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and the Critical Path Method (CPM), the diagram used by Paul is known as a _____.
a) network
b) flowchart
c) Gantt chart
d) Smith chart
e) control chart
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
50. Verita Nist, an automobile company, sought to improve the production time and quality of its products within a year. In the first month, the company installed five new assembling machines. This reduced the production time by 15 percent. In the context of the language of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and the Critical Path Method (CPM), this decrease in the production time of Verita Nist's products is an example of a(n) _____.
a) task
b) activity
c) critical path
d) event
e) throughput
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
51. Minkset Blu, a textile company, wants to improve its sales over a span of four years. In the first year, the company installs new looming machines that improve the production cost. However, it takes two years for the company to establish a liaison with online retailers to improve the accessibility of its products. This delays the company's goal of improving sales by a year. In the context of the language of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and the Critical Path Method (CPM), the set of activities that cause the delay are part of _____.
a) the Smith chart
b) the Portolan chart
c) the critical path
d) the throughput process
e) the control chart
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
52. Nessage Mique, a niche fashion boutique, displays its production process by using a network of nodes and arrows. The nodes are used to depict the state of completion of various activities and the arrows are used to depict their order of precedence. Which of the following project networks is Nessage Mique using in the given scenario?
a) An event-on-arrow network
c) An activity-on-node network
e) An activity-on-arrow network
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
53. Miros Inc., a recording studio, displays its recording process by using a network of nodes and arrows. The nodes are used to depict the activities involved in recording a song, such as setting up the instruments, and the arrows are used to depict the order of precedence of the activities. Which of the following project networks is Miros using in the given scenario?
a) A time-on-node network
b) An activity-on-arrow network
c) A time-on-arrow network
d) An activity-on-node network
e) An event-on-node network
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
54. Ben is part of a new project in his company. He is asked to complete a task within two days, but he is only able to finish it in three days. Since the task assigned to him is noncritical in nature, the extra day taken by Ben does not cause a delay in the project. In this scenario, the additional day taken by Ben is known as _____.
a) flow time
b) throughput
c) slack
d) critical time
e) flowgrind
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
55. Consider a project network that begins with activity A and is followed by activity B. Activity A takes 6 days to finish. If the earliest start time for activity B is 6 days and the latest start time for it is 10 days, activity B has a slack of _____.
a) 16 days
b) 4 days
c) 10 days
d) 2 days
e) 12 days
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
56. Consider a project network that begins with activity X and is followed by activity Y. The earliest start time for activity X is 5 days and it will take 3 days to be completed. The earliest start time for activity Y is 12 days. Given this information, activity X has _____ of free slack.
a) 20 days
b) 4 days
c) 12 days
d) 9 days
e) 15 days
Response: See section 5.1
Level: difficult
Short Answer
57. Define the term critical path.
Response: See section 5.1
Level: easy
58. What is activity slack?
Response: See section 5.1
Level: easy
Response: See section 5.4
Level: easy
60. What are the four methods of linking steps in a project using precedence diagramming?
Response: See section 5.5
Level: easy
61. Contrast total slack and free slack.
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
62. Contrast the traditional statistical approach to calculating the probability of completing a project by a specified time with the simulation approach.
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
63. Why should we only draw the Gantt chart after we have drawn the network for the project?
Response: See section 5.4
Level: medium
64. What assumptions are made about the probabilities of the optimistic and pessimistic times in the standard formula for calculating the variance of a particular activity? Explain how the formula can be modified to accommodate different assumptions.
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
65. Explain why the term critical path has less meaning in cases where the activity times are not known with certainty.
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
66. What is a merger and what problems do mergers create?
Response: See section 5.2
Level: medium
67. Why is it necessary for the project manager (PM) to be aware and to manage the slack in the project?
Response: See section 5.1
Level: medium
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Project Management Practice 6e Complete Test Bank
By Jack R. Meredith