Chapter 9:
Project Management

True/False

1. Which of the following best defines a unique, one-time operational activity or effort is referred to as a process?
   1. project
   2. activity
   3. objective
   4. schedule
2. In general, projects are subject to less uncertainty than other types of processes.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. Which of the following is NOT a primary element of project management?
   1. scheduling
   2. costing
   3. control
   4. planning
2. A typical project team is cross-functional consisting of members throughout an organization.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. A(n) ___________ provides a common understanding of and justification for a project.
   1. activity
   2. work breakdown structure
   3. objective
   4. project scope

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. Control, one of the basic elements of a project plan, involves a set of procedures for monitoring and evaluating progress and performance.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. What is term for a project benefit that cannot be measured in a tangible way?
   1. soft return
   2. fuzzy return
   3. intangible return
   4. non-monetary return

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. The upper level of a work breakdown structure for a project highlights summary activities and/or major components.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. Global projects are rarely concerned with cultural differences among team members because English is the universal business language.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 2

1. Asian cultures tend to embrace project management’s methodical approach more than western cultures.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 2

1. Issues of cultural diversity in project management should only be addressed if and when they arise.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 2

1. A ________ provides a visual display of the project schedule that includes scheduled start times, finish times, and available slack.
   1. work breakdown structure
   2. PERT
   3. Gantt chart
   4. critical path
2. ___________ is recognized as the most critical element in the project management process.
   1. Critical path
   2. Project scheduling
   3. Communication
   4. Time management
3. Which of the following is NOT a key element of project control?
   1. time management
   2. cost management
   3. diversity management
   4. quality management

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. Two key elements of project control are time management and cost management.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. Enterprise project management refers to the management and control of a large, complex project.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. Managing quality is not an important part of project management.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. The principles of total quality management (TQM) cannot be applied to project management.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. __________ reports a project’s performance by tracking its forecasted completion date and anticipated budget variations.
   1. Earned value analysis
   2. Enterprise project management
   3. Activity scheduling
   4. The critical path

1. Management and control of a companywide portfolio of projects is known as enterprise project management.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. PERT stands for
   1. program enterprise and resource technique.
   2. project enterprise and resource technique.
   3. program evaluation and review technique.
   4. project evaluation and review technique.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Slack represents the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. With an activity-on-node (AON) network diagram, the nodes indicate the precedence relationships and the arrows represent the project’s activities.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. A dummy variable is an activity inserted into the AOA network diagram to show a precedence relationship, but does not represent any passage of time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Unlike PERT, CPM incorporates probabilistic time estimates into the project management process.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. What is the longest path through a network?
   1. AOA network
   2. AON network
   3. critical path
   4. project network

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. The critical path is the longest path through the project’s network.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. The earliest start time for the first activity in a project is generally at time zero.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Indirect costs always increase as a project’s duration increases.

Difficulty: Moderate

Feedback: Project Crashing

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Activities that are not on a project’s critical path have zero slack.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Microsoft Project is a software package that supports CPM/PERT analysis.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 7

1. Crashing activities with positive slack reduces a project’s duration.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 7

1. A project’s duration can be reduced by crashing activities on the critical path.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 7

1. In general, crashing costs decrease as a project’s duration is systematically reduced to a target value.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 7

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is not a basic element in a project plan?
2. Objectives
3. Personnel
4. Contract requirements
5. All of these answer choices are correct.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. Which of the following is not a general characteristic of a project?
2. a project has a unique purpose
3. a project has more certainty
4. a project has more uncertainty
5. a project often draws resources from various areas in the organization

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. The project management process encompasses
2. planning.
3. scheduling.
4. control.
5. All of these answer choices are correct.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. A(n) _______________ is a project team structure that includes members from different functional areas.
2. matrix organization
3. project network
4. organizational breakdown structure
5. work breakdown structure

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. The _______________ is a document that provides a common understanding, justification, and expected result for a project.
2. statement of work
3. work breakdown structure
4. scope statement
5. responsibility assignment matrix

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. A(n) ______________ breaks down a project into components, subcomponents, activities, and tasks.
2. work breakdown structure (WBS)
3. scope statement
4. responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)
5. organizational breakdown structure (OBS)

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

1. Which of the following is the universal business language most often utilized when managing global projects?
2. French
3. Spanish
4. English
5. Chinese

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 2

1. Diversity among project team members brings different
   a. views.
   b. experiences.
   c. values.
   d. All of these answer choices are correct.
   Difficulty: Easy
   
   Learning Objective: LO 2
2. Which area of the world takes a lot of holidays potentially impacting project schedules?
   a. Asia.
   b. Southern Europe
   c. North America
   d. None of these answer choices is correct.
   Difficulty: Easy
   
   Learning Objective: LO 2
3. Which area of the world employs a more methodically approach to business that values patience and relationship building?
   a. Asia.
   b. Southern Europe
   c. North America
   d. None of these answer choices is correct.
   Difficulty: Easy
   
   Learning Objective: LO 2
4. Project managers must address cultural diversity in
   a. project planning
   b. project scheduling.
   c. project control.
   d. None of these answer choices is correct.
   Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 2

46. A bar graph displaying when activities are scheduled to start, when they will be finished, and where extra time is available is known as a

1. PERT chart.
2. work breakdown structure (WBS).
3. Gantt chart.
4. responsibility assignment matrix (RAM).

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 3

47. One disadvantage of Gantt charts, especially for large projects, is that it does not

1. clearly show precedence relationships.
2. indicate activity start times.
3. indicate activity finish times.
4. use bars to represent activities.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 3

48. Which of the following is one of the oldest and most widely used scheduling technique?
a. PERT
b. CPM
c. Gantt
d. Microsoft Project
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 3

1. Which of the following is not one of the basic steps involved in developing a schedule?
   a. define the activities
   b. sequence the activities
   c. estimate the time required to complete each activity
   d. identify the project cost
   Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 3

1. _______________ relationship is the sequential relationship of project activities to each other.
   a. Precedence
   b. Scheduling
   c. Slack
   d. Prior
   Difficulty: Easy
   
   Learning Objective: LO 3
2. The single most important criterion for the success of many projects is that
   a. it be finished on time.
   b. the quality meet minimum standards.
   c. the costs are minimized.
   d. None of these answer choices is correct.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 3

1. The key elements of project control include all the following except
2. time management.
3. cost management.
4. material management.
5. communication.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. A standard procedure for numerically measuring a project’s progress is referred to as
2. program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
3. critical path method (CPM).
4. Gantt chart.
5. earned value analysis.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

1. ________________ is the process of making sure a project progresses to a successful completion.
   a. Project planning
   b. Project scheduling
   c. Project control
   d. None of these answer choices is correct.
   Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 4

55. For an activity-on-node (AON) network,

1. arrows represent activities and nodes represent events.
2. nodes represent activities and arrows indicate precedence relationships.
3. arrows represent events and nodes indicate precedence relationships.
4. nodes indicate precedence relationships and arrows indicates the length of the activity time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

56. Which of the following is not used to calculate probabilistic time estimates?

1. optimistic
2. most likely
3. least likely
4. pessimistic

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

57. In project management the term slack refers to the amount of time

1. to complete an activity without delaying the project.
2. an activity can be delayed without delaying the project.
3. needed to complete the entire project.
4. required to complete the project’s critical activities.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

58. The longest path through a project network is referred to as the

1. activity-on-node path.
2. path of greatest slack.
3. critical path.
4. noncritical path.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 5

59. In general, the earliest finish time for an activity is equal to

1. earliest start time + activity time estimate.
2. earliest start time – activity time estimate.
3. earliest start time – slack time.
4. earliest start time + slack time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

60. In general, the latest finish time for an activity is equal to

1. latest finish time minus the activity time estimate.
2. the minimum of the latest start times for the activities that immediately follow.
3. the maximum of the latest start times for the activities that immediately follow.
4. the average of the latest start times for the activities that immediately follow.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 5

61. For activities on a project’s critical path,

1. earliest start time (ES) equals latest start time (LS).
2. earliest start time (ES)is greater than latest start time (LS).
3. earliest start time (ES) is less than latest start time (LS).
4. earliest start time (ES) equals latest finish time (LF).

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

62. The slack time for an activity can be computed as

1. latest start time (LS) – latest finish time (LF).
2. earliest start time (ES) + earliest finish time (EF).
3. latest start time (LS) – earliest start time (ES).
4. latest finish time (LF) + earliest finish time (EF).

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

63. The _______________ probability distribution is typically used to describe uncertain activity times in a project.

1. beta
2. normal
3. binomial
4. exponential

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

A project consists of the following activities:

Table XX

64. Using Table XX, the earliest finish (EF) time for activity D is

• 1. 7 weeks.
  2. 13 weeks.
  3. 20 weeks.
  4. 30 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table XX, the earliest start time for activity F is
2. 30 weeks.
3. 20 weeks.
4. 14 weeks.
5. 13 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table XX, the latest start (LS) time for activity B is
2. 5 weeks.
3. 8 weeks.
4. 13 weeks.
5. 14 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table XX, the critical path for this project consists of activities
   1. A-B-C-D-E-F.
   2. A-C-E-F.
   3. A-B-C-F.
   4. A-B-D-F.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table XX, the time complete the entire project is
2. 20 weeks.
3. 30 weeks.
4. 36 weeks.
5. 39 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table XX, the amount of slack associated with activity C is
2. 0 weeks.
3. 3 weeks.
4. 6 weeks.
5. None of these answer choices is correct.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

A project consists of the following four activities with activity times in days:

Table YY

1. Using Table YY, the earliest finish (EF) time for activity C is
2. 4 days.
3. 6 days.
4. 10 days.
5. 11 days.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table YY, the earliest start (ES) time for activity B is
2. 5 days.
3. 6 days.
4. 11 days.
5. 14 days.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table YY, the latest start (LS) time for activity D is
2. 8 days.
3. 11 days.
4. 19 days.
5. 12 days.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table YY, the critical path for this project is
2. A-B-C.
3. A-C-D.
4. A-B-D.
5. A-B-C-D.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table YY, the time to complete the entire project would be
2. 23 days.
3. 19 days.
4. 17 days.
5. 11 days.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

1. Using Table YY, the amount of slack associated with activity C is
2. 4 days.
3. 3 days.
4. 2 days.
5. 1 day.

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. The estimated mean time for an activity with a most likely time (m) equal to 11 days, the optimistic time (a) equal to 6 days, and the pessimistic time (b) equal to 18 days is
2. 9.67 days.
3. 11 days.
4. 11.33 days.
5. 11.67 days.

Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: t = (6 + 4 × 11 + 18)/6 = 11.33 days.

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. The estimated variance for an activity with a most likely time (m) equal to 11 days, the optimistic time (a) equal to 6 days, and the pessimistic time (b) equal to 18 days is
2. 2 days.
3. 4 days.
4. 6 days.
5. 11 days.

Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: Variance = ((18 − 6)/6)² = 4 days

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. The estimated mean time for an activity with a most likely time (m) equal to 12 weeks, an optimistic time (a) equal to 9 weeks, and a pessimistic time (b) equal to 18 weeks is
2. 13.0 weeks.
3. 12.75 weeks.
4. 12.5 weeks.
5. 9.0 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: t = (18 + 4 × 12 + 9)/6 = 12.5 weeks

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. The estimated variance for an activity with a most likely time (m) equal to 12 weeks, an optimistic time (a) equal to 9 weeks, and a pessimistic time (b) equal to 18 weeks is
2. 3.75 weeks.
3. 1.50 weeks.
4. 5.25 weeks.
5. 0.25 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: variance = ((18 − 9)/6)² = 0.25 weeks

Learning Objective: LO 6

The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

Table ZZ

80. Using Table ZZ, the expected time to complete activity A is

1. 5.00 weeks.
2. 7.33 weeks.
3. 7.67 weeks.
4. 8.00 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: t = (3 +4 × 5 + 7)/6 = 5.0 weeks

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the variance for activity E is
2. 1.291 weeks
3. 1.667 weeks.
4. 2.582 weeks.
5. 2.778 weeks.

Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: variance = ((15 − 5)/6)² = 2.778 weeks

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the earliest start (ES) time for activity D is
2. 8.17 weeks.
3. 12.67 weeks.
4. 18.33 weeks.
5. 21.67 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the earliest finish time for activity C is
2. 5.00 weeks.
3. 8.17 weeks.
4. 9.50 weeks.
5. 12.67 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the critical path for the project consists of activities
2. A-B-C-D-E
3. A-B-C-E
4. A-B-D-E
5. A-B-C-D

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, how much slack is associated with activity C?
2. 0 weeks.
3. 4.50 weeks.
4. 12.67 weeks.
5. 31.00 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the expected time to complete the project is
2. 34.17 weeks.
3. 33.23 weeks.
4. 31.00 weeks.
5. 21.67 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the variance of the project’s total completion time is
2. 5.472 weeks.
3. 5.222 weeks.
4. 4.872 weeks.
5. 3.752 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the probability that the project could be completed in 34 weeks or less is approximately
2. 86 percent.
3. 89 percent.
4. 91 percent.
5. 96 percent.

Difficulty: Hard

Solution: Z = (34 − 31)/2.285 = 1.31, Pr. = 0.91

Learning Objective: LO 6

1. Using Table ZZ, the probability that the project will take longer than 33 weeks to complete is approximately
2. 0.19.
3. 0.32.
4. 0.68.
5. 0.81.

Ans A

Difficulty: Hard

Solution: Z = (33 − 31)/2.285 = 0.875, Pr. = 0.19Learning Objective: LO 6

1. The reduction in one or more activities normal time to shorten the project duration is called
   a. crashing.
   b. scheduling.
   c. adjusting.
   d. None of these answer choices is correct.
   Difficulty: Easy
   
   Learning Objective: LO 7
2. Which of the following statements is generally true regarding the relationship between project crashing costs and indirect costs?
3. both crashing costs and indirect costs are highest when the project is shortened
4. only indirect costs increase when the project is shortened
5. both are unaffected by the length of the project
6. crashing costs increase when the project is shortened while indirect costs decrease when the project is shortened

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 7

A project consists of the following four activities with activity times in days:

Table CC

1. Using table CC, which of the activities has the largest total allowable crash time?
   a. A
   b. B
   c. C
   d. D
   Difficulty: Moderate
   
   Learning Objective: LO 7
2. Using table CC, what is the total allowable crash time for activity B?
   a. 5
   b. 1
   c. 2
   d. 0
   Difficulty: Moderate
   
   Learning Objective: LO 7
3. Using table CC, which of the activities has the lowest crash cost per day?
   a. A
   b. B
   c. C
   d. D
   Difficulty: Moderate
   
   Learning Objective: LO 7

95. Using table CC, what is the crash cost per day for activity B?
a. 100
b. 200
c. 250
d. 300
Difficulty:

Learning Objective: LO 7

Short Answer

96. Briefly discuss project management and what it involves.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

97. Why have projects taken on a more crucial role in operations management?

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4

98. Briefly describe the makeup of the project management team.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

99. What is a scope statement?

Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

100. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The expected time to complete activity A is __________.

a) 4.00 weeks

b) 4.50 weeks

c) 4.75weeks

d) 5.00 weeks

Solution: t = (3 +4 × 4 + 8)/6 = 4.5 weeks

101. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The variance for activity F is __________.

a) 1.291 weeks

b) 1.361 weeks

c) 1.578 weeks

d) 1.778 weeks

Solution: variance = ((9 − 2)/6)² = 1.361 weeks

102. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The earliest start (ES) time for activity D is __________.

a) 7.67 weeks

b) 8.17 weeks

c) 12.67 weeks

d) 13.17 weeks

103. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The earliest finish time for activity C is __________.

a) 4.50 weeks

b) 9.67 weeks

c) 12.17 weeks

d) 12.83 weeks

104. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The critical path for the project consists of activities __________.

a) A-B-C-D-E-F

b) A-B-D-F

c) A-C-D-E

d) A-B-E-D

105. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The slack is associated with activity C is __________ weeks.

a) 0

b) 1.25

c) 2.50

d) 5.17

106. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The expected time to complete the project is __________ weeks.

a) 22.00

b) 23.83

c) 26.33

d) 28.83

107. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The variance of the project’s total completion time is __________ weeks.

a) 2.94

b) 3.19

c) 4.11

d) 5.00

108. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The probability that the project could be completed in 28 weeks or less is approximately __________ %.

a) 97.3

b) 83.5

c) 81.3

d) 77.5

Solution: Z = (28 – 26.33)/1.1759 = 0.97, Pr. = 0.835

109. The following table of probabilistic time estimates (in weeks) and activity predecessors are provided for a project.

The probability that the project will take longer than 30 weeks is approximately __________ %.

a) 1.42

b) 1.51

c) 1.62

d) 1.71

Solution: Z = (30 – 26.33)/1.1759 = 2.14, Pr. = 1.62%