Test Bank Ch.9 Project Management 1st Canadian Edition

CHAPTER 9

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan. The project management process encompasses three major processes—planning, scheduling, and control. Project planning tools include a scope statement, which is a document that provides an understanding, justification, and expected result of a project; a statement of work, which is a written description of the objectives of a project; a work breakdown structure (WBS), which breaks down a project into components, subcomponents, activities, and tasks; an organizational breakdown structure (OBS), which shows which organizational units are responsible for work items; and a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM), which shows who is responsible for the work in a project. Project plans generally include the following basic elements: objectives, project scope, contract requirements, schedules, resources, personnel, control, and risk and problem analysis.

2. Explain the basics of project scheduling and how to use a Gantt chart. Project scheduling involves determining the start and finish times of various project activities, and is typically the most critical element in the project management process because often the single most important criterion for the success of a project is that it be finished on time. The basic steps in project scheduling are:

Step 1: Define the activities that must be performed to complete the project.

Step 2: Sequence the activities in the order in which they must be completed.

Step 3: Estimate the time required to complete each activity.

Step 4: Develop the schedule based on this sequencing and time estimates of the activities.

A Gantt chart (also called a bar chart), which was developed by Henry Gantt, a pioneer in the field of industrial engineering, has been a popular project scheduling tool since its inception and is still widely used today. It is a graph or bar chart with a bar for each project activity that shows the passage of time. The project manager can use the chart to monitor the progress of the activities and see which ones are ahead of schedule and which ones are behind schedule.

3. Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management. Project control requires that a project be monitored and progress be measured so that any deviations from the project plan—particularly the project schedule—are minimized. Key elements of project control include time management, cost management, quality control, performance monitoring, and communication. While project management focuses on a clearly defined, tangible outcome with its own scope and goals within a specified time frame, enterprise project management refers to the management and control of a company-wide portfolio of projects. In the enterprise approach to managing projects, a company’s goals are achieved through the coordination of simultaneous projects. The company grows, changes, and adds value by systematically implementing projects of all types across the enterprise.

4. Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work. A CPM/PERT network consists of branches and nodes and depicts the precedence relationships between activities. The Gantt chart does not clearly show precedence relationships, which can be a disadvantage when using it for small projects. However, CPM/ PERT also has certain limitations. The project manager tends to rely so heavily on the project network that errors in the precedence relationship or missing activities can be overlooked; attention to critical path activities can become excessive to the extent that other project activities may be neglected or delayed.

Both CPM and PERT were derived from the Gantt chart and so were very similar. However, there were originally two primary differences between CPM and PERT. CPM used a single estimate for activity time that did not allow for any variation and treated activity times as if they were known for certain, or “deterministic.” PERT used multiple time estimates for each activity that allowed for variation, and so they were treated as “probabilistic.” The other difference was that they used different conventions for constructing a network. With CPM, the nodes (circles) represented the project activities. The arrows in between the nodes indicated the precedence relationships between activities. This approach to network construction was called activity-on-node (AON). With PERT, the opposite convention was taken. The branches represented the activities, and the nodes in between them reflected events or points in time such as the end of one activity and the beginning of another. This approach was referred to as activity-on-arrow (AOA).

Over time, however, CPM and PERT merged into a single technique now referred to as CPM/PERT.

5. Develop and analyze a probabilistic activity time estimate network for a project. Unlike the CPM–deterministic approach, which used a single estimate time, in the PERT-type approach to estimating activity times, three time estimates for each activity are determined:

Most likely time (m): a subjective estimate of the activity time that would most frequently occur if the activity were repeated many times

Optimistic time (a): the shortest possible time to complete the activity

Pessimistic time (b): the longest possible time to complete the activity assuming everything went wrong

See Example 9.1 for a project network with probabilistic time estimates.

6. Use OM Tools to develop CPM/PERT networks and perform a probabilistic network analysis. See Example 9.2 and Example 9.3.

7. Explain project crashing and time–cost tradeoffs, including how they are determined. A project manager is frequently confronted with having to reduce the scheduled completion time of a project to meet a deadline—finish the project sooner than indicated by the CPM/PERT network analysis. This can be done by assigning more labour to project activities, in the form of overtime, and by assigning more resources (material, equipment, and so on). However, additional labour and resources increase the project cost, so the decision to reduce the project duration must be based on an analysis of the tradeoff between time and cost. Project crashing is a method for shortening the project duration by reducing the time of one (or more) of the critical project activities to less than its normal activity time. This reduction in the normal activity time is referred to as crashing. Crashing is achieved by devoting more resources, usually measured in terms of dollars, to the activities to be crashed.

The objective of crashing was to reduce the scheduled completion time to reap the results of the project sooner. However, there may be other reasons for reducing project time. As projects continue over time, they consume indirect costs, such as the cost of facilities, equipment, and machinery; interest on investment; utilities; and labour. Also, there may be direct financial penalties for not completing a project on time. For example, many construction contracts and government contracts have penalty clauses for exceeding the project completion date.

In general, project crashing costs and indirect costs have an inverse relationship—crashing costs are highest when the project is shortened, whereas indirect costs increase as the project duration increases.

See Example 9.4 for an example of project crashing.

8. Use Microsoft Project for CPM/PERT analysis. Microsoft Project is one of many project management software packages available. It is very popular and widely used for project management and CPM/PERT analysis, and is also relatively easy to use. Microsoft Project also has many additional tools and features for project updating and resource management. See Exhibits 9.2 to 9.10 for how to use Microsoft Project for project management and CPM/PERT analysis.

9. Discuss the issues that can arise in a diverse project group. Global projects involving companies and team members from different countries have grown as a result of increased information and communication technology. While a globally diverse project team can have advantages, issues can arise that affect project work and the success of the project. English is generally accepted and used globally to conduct business, so language will not necessarily be an issue. Instead, issues may arise from things such as differing attitudes toward work and vacation time, differing management styles, and differing ways of addressing problems. Or some people may simply have trouble working with others from different cultures. Whatever the issues, identifying and addressing these issues in a global project group is critical for project management and for achieving project success.

TRUE-FALSE STATEMENTS

1. A unique, one-time operational activity or effort is referred to as a process.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

2. In general, projects are subject to less uncertainty than other types of processes.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

3. The three major components of project management include planning, scheduling, and costing.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

4. A project team is typically cross-functional consisting of members throughout an organization.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

5. A work breakdown structure provides a common understanding of and justification for a project.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

6. Project planning involves a set of procedures for monitoring and evaluating progress and performance.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

7. Project scope involves a set of procedures for anticipating and assessing uncertainties that might increase the risk of delaying the project.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

9. A Gantt chart provides a visual display of the project schedule that includes scheduled start times, finish times and available slack.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the basics of project scheduling and how to use a Gantt chart.

Section Reference: 9.2 Project Scheduling

10. Project scheduling is recognized as the most critical element in the project management process.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the basics of project scheduling and how to use a Gantt chart.

Section Reference: 9.2 Project Scheduling

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

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

13. Earned value analysis reports a project’s performance by tracking its forecasted completion date and anticipated budget variations.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

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

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

15. Project control involves monitoring a project and measuring its progress toward a successful completion.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

19. PERT stands for program enterprise and resource technique.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

22. The critical path is the shortest path through the project’s network.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

24. The earliest start time for an activity is at time zero.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

26. Because the critical path is the shortest path through a network it defines the minimum project completion time.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

27. Indirect costs always increase as a project’s duration decreases.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Learning Objective: Explain project crashing and time–cost tradeoffs, including how they are determined.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

Section Reference: 9.7 Project Crashing and Time–Cost Tradeoff

28. Crashing activates with positive slack reduces a project’s duration.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain project crashing and time–cost tradeoffs, including how they are determined.

Section Reference: 9.7 Project Crashing and Time–Cost Tradeoff

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain project crashing and time–cost tradeoffs, including how they are determined.

Section Reference: 9.7 Project Crashing and Time–Cost Tradeoff

30. In general, crashing costs decrease as a project’s duration is shortened.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain project crashing and time–cost tradeoffs, including how they are determined.

Section Reference: 9.7 Project Crashing and Time–Cost Tradeoff

31. Microsoft Project is a software package that supports PERT but not CPM.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Use Microsoft Project for CPM/PERT analysis.

Section Reference: 9.8 Microsoft Project

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the issues that can arise in a diverse project group.

Section Reference: 9.9 Global and Diversity Issues in Project Management

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

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss the issues that can arise in a diverse project group.

Section Reference: 9.9 Global and Diversity Issues in Project Management

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the issues that can arise in a diverse project group.

Section Reference: 9.9 Global and Diversity Issues in Project Management

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

35. Which of the following is not a general characteristic of a project?

a) A project has a unique purpose.

b) A project has more certainty.

c) A project has more uncertainty.

d) A project often draws resources from various areas in the organization.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

36. The project management process encompasses

a) planning.

b) scheduling.

c) control.

d) all of the above.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

37. A(n) ___ is a project team structure that includes members from different functional areas.

a) matrix organization

b) project network

c) organizational breakdown structure

d) work breakdown structure

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

38. The ___ is a document that provides a common understanding, justification, and expected result for a project.

a) statement of work

b) work breakdown structure

c) scope statement.

d) responsibility assignment matrix

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

39. A ___ breaks down a project into components, subcomponents, activities, and tasks.

a) work breakdown structure (WBS)

b) scope statement

c) responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)

d) organizational breakdown structure (OBS)

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

40. Which of the following is not a basic element in a project plan?

a) objectives

b) personnel

c) contract requirements

d) All the above are basic elements.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

41. 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

a) PERT chart.

b) work breakdown structure (WBS).

c) Gantt chart.

d) responsibility assignment matrix (RAM).

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Explain the basics of project scheduling and how to use a Gantt chart.

Section Reference: 9.2 Project Scheduling

42. One disadvantage of a Gantt chart, especially for large projects, is that it does not

a) clearly show precedence relationships.

b) indicate activity start times.

c) indicate activity finish times.

d) use bars to represent activities.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Explain the basics of project scheduling and how to use a Gantt chart.

Section Reference: 9.2 Project Scheduling

43. A standard procedure for numerically measuring a project’s progress is referred to as a(n)

a) program evaluation and review technique (PERT).

b) critical path method (CPM).

c) Gantt chart.

d) earned value analysis.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

44. The key elements of project control includes all the following except

a) time management.

b) cost management.

c) material management.

d) communication.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

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

a) optimistic

b) most likely

c) least likely

d) pessimistic

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

a) to complete an activity without delaying the project.

b) an activity can be delayed without delaying the project.

c) needed to complete the entire project.

d) required to complete the project’s critical activities.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

47. For an activity-on-node (AON) network

a) arrows represent activities and nodes represent events.

b) nodes represent activities and arrows indicate precedence relationships.

c) arrows represent events and nodes indicate precedence relationships.

d) nodes indicate precedence relationships and arrows indicates the length of the activity time.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

a) activity-on-node path.

b) path of greatest slack.

c) critical path.

d) noncritical path.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

a) earliest start time + activity time estimate.

b) earliest start time – activity time estimate.

c) earliest start time – slack time.

d) earliest start time + slack time.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

a) latest finish time minus the activity time estimate.

b) the minimum of the latest start times for the activities that immediately follow.

c) the maximum of the latest start times for the activities that immediately follow.

d) the average of the latest start times for the activities that immediately follow.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

51. For activities on a project’s critical path

a) earliest start time (ES) equals latest start time (LS).

b) earliest start time (ES)is greater than latest start time (LS).

c) earliest start time (ES) is less than latest start time (LS).

d) earliest start time (ES) equals latest finish time (LF).

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

a) latest start time (LS) – latest finish time (LF).

b) earliest start time (ES) + earliest finish time (EF).

c) latest start time (LS) – earliest start time (ES).

d) latest finish time (LF) + earliest finish time (EF).

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

53. The ___ probability distribution is typically used to describe uncertain activity times in a project.

a) beta

b) normal

c) binomial

d) exponential

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

54. 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

a) 9.67 days.

b) 11 days.

c) 11.33 days.

d) 11.67 days.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

55. 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

a) 2 days.

b) 4 days.

c) 6 days.

d) 11 days.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

56. 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

a) 13.0 weeks.

b) 12.75 weeks.

c) 12.5 weeks.

d) 9.0 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

57. 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

a) 3.75 weeks.

b) 1.50 weeks.

c) 5.25 weeks.

d) 2.25 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

58. A project consists of the following activities:

Table 9.1

Using Table 9.1, the earliest finish (EF) time for activity D is

a) 7 weeks.

b) 13 weeks.

c) 20 weeks.

d) 30 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

59. Using Table 9.1, the earliest start time for activity F is

a) 30 weeks.

b) 20 weeks.

c) 14 weeks.

d) 13 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

60. Using Table 9.1, the latest start (LS) time for activity B is

a) 5 weeks.

b) 8 weeks.

c) 13 weeks.

d) 14 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

61. Using Table 9.1, the critical path for this project consists of activities

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

b) A-C-E-F.

c) A-B-C-F.

d) A-B-D-F.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

62. Using Table 9.1, the time complete the entire project is

a) 20 weeks.

b) 30 weeks.

c) 36 weeks.

d) 39 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

63. Using Table 9.1, the amount of slack associated with activity C is

a) 0 weeks.

b) 3 weeks.

c) 6 weeks.

d) cannot be calculated.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

Table 9.2

Using Table 9.2, the expected time to complete activity A is

a) 5.00 weeks.

b) 7.33 weeks.

c) 7.67 weeks.

d) 8.00 weeks.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

65. Using Table 9.2, the variance for activity E is

a) 1.291.

b) 1.667.

c) 2.582.

d) 2.778.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

66. Using Table 9.2, the earliest start (ES) time for activity D is

a) 8.17 weeks.

b) 12.67 weeks.

c) 18.33 weeks.

d) 21.67 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

67. Using Table 9.2, the earliest finish time for activity C is

a) 5.00 weeks.

b) 8.17 weeks.

c) 9.50 weeks.

d) 12.67 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

68. Using Table 9.2, the critical path for the project consists of activities

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

b) A-B-C-E.

c) A-B-D-E.

d) A-B-C-D.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

69. Using Table 9.2, how much slack is associated with activity C?

a) 0 weeks.

b) 4.50 weeks.

c) 12.67 weeks.

d) 31.00 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

70. Using Table 9.2, the expected time to complete the project is

a) 34.17 weeks.

b) 33.23 weeks.

c) 31.00 weeks.

d) 21.67 weeks.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

71. Using Table 9.2, the variance of the project’s total completion time is

a) 5.472.

b) 5.222.

c) 4.872.

d) 3.752.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

72. Using Table 9.2, the probability that the project could be completed in 34 weeks or less is approximately

a) 0.86.

b) 0.89.

c) 0.91.

d) 0.96.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

73. Using Table 9.2, the probability that the project will take longer than 33 weeks to complete is approximately

a) 0.19.

b) 0.32.

c) 0.68.

d) 0.81.

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

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

Table 9.3

Using Table 9.3, the earliest finish (EF) time for activity C is

a) 4 days.

b) 6 days.

c) 10 days.

d) 11 days.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

75. Using Table 9.3, the earliest start (ES) time for activity B is

a) 5 days.

b) 6 days.

c) 11 days.

d) 14 days.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

76. Using Table 9.3, the latest start (LS) time for activity D is

a) 8 days.

b) 11 days.

c) 19 days.

d) 12 days.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

77. Using Table 9.3, the critical path for this project is

a) A-B-C.

b) A-C-D.

c) A-B-D.

d) A-B-C-D.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

78. Using Table 9.3, the time to complete the entire project would be

a) 23 days.

b) 19 days.

c) 17 days.

d) 11 days.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

79. Using Table 9.3, the amount of slack associated with activity C is

a) 4 days.

b) 3 days.

c) 2 days.

d) 1 day.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

80. Which of the following statements is generally true regarding the relationship between project crashing costs and indirect costs?

a) Both crashing costs and indirect costs are highest when the project is shortened.

b) Only indirect costs increase when the project is shortened.

c) Both are unaffected by the length of the project.

d) Crashing costs increase when the project is shortened while indirect costs decrease when the project is shortened.

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Describe CPM/PERT networks and how they work.

Learning Objective: Explain project crashing and time–cost tradeoffs, including how they are determined.

Section Reference: 9.4 CPM/PERT

Section Reference: 9.7 Project Crashing and Time–Cost Tradeoff

81. Which of the following is the universal business language most often utilized managing global projects?

a) French

b) Spanish

c) English

d) Chinese

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the issues that can arise in a diverse project group.

Section Reference: 9.9 Global and Diversity Issues in Project Management

SHORT-ANSWER ESSAY QUESTIONS

82. Briefly discuss project management and what it involves.

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

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

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

84. What is a scope statement?

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss features of the project planning process, including planning tools, evaluation methods, and key elements of a plan.

Section Reference: 9.1 Project Planning

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

Difficulty: Medium

Learning Objective: Discuss the key elements of project control and define enterprise project management.

Section Reference: 9.3 Project Control

LEGAL NOTICE

Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. or related companies. All rights reserved.

The data contained in these files are protected by copyright. This manual is furnished under licence and may be used only in accordance with the terms of such licence.

The material provided herein may not be downloaded, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, modified, made available on a network, used to create derivative works, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without the prior written permission of John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.