Q&A Hero

Q: In "crashing" a project, a manager will generally focus on activities which: A. are not on the critical path. B. are the least costly to crash. C. are costly to crash and are on the critical path. D. are on the critical path and are the least costly to crash. E. are the easiest to crash.

Q: The project management strategy of injecting additional resources in order to reduce the length of the project is called: A. expediting. B. rushing. C. panicking. D. crashing. E. loading.

Q: 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. B. 4. C. 8. D. 16. E. 64.

Q: 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. B. 5. C. 9. D. 16. E. 25.

Q: Activity 4-5 in a network diagram has an optimistic time estimate of five days, a most likely time estimate of seven days, and a pessimistic time estimate of 10 days. Its expected time (in days) is approximately: A. 5. B. 6. C. 7. D. 8. E. 9.

Q: A PERT/CPM activity has an optimistic time estimate of three days, a most likely time estimate of eight days, and a pessimistic time estimate of 10 days. The expected time (in days) of this activity is: A. 7.0. B. 7.5. C. 8.0. D. 8.5. E. 10.0.

Q: When developing probabilistic estimates of project duration, it is necessary to know which of the following? A. the mean and variance of every activity B. the mean and variance of activities on the critical path C. the standard deviation of activities on the critical path D. each activity's probability of completion E. the distribution of activity times

Q: The basis for use of the beta distribution in PERT is: A. essentially theoretical. B. its adaptability. C. its symmetry. D. It is bimodal. E. It can easily be converted to a normal distribution.

Q: In the probabilistic approach to project network analysis, the time estimate annotated tm for any activity is the: A. mean time. B. median time. C. most likely time. D. mode time. E. marginal time.

Q: Given this information about activity 3-4: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: In project network analysis, "slack" refers to the difference between: A. observed and predicted times. B. optimistic and pessimistic times. C. mean and modal times. D. finish and start times. E. latest and earliest times.

Q: A node has one entering activity, a, and two leaving activities, b and c. Given the following information, determine the latest starting time for activity a: EFb = 15, EFc = 17, LFb = 24, LFc = 27; activity times are a = 4, b = 6, c = 8. A. 14 B. 15 C. 16 D. 17 E. 18

Q: Consider the portion of a project depicted by this graph: What is the latest start time of activity 6-7 if the latest finish of activity 7-8 is 26, and the latest finish of activity 7-9 is 23? A. 18 B. 17 C. 13 D. 12 E. 10

Q: Which of the following is determined as a direct result of computing the earliest starting and finishing times for the activities of a project network? A. expected project duration B. activity slack time C. which activities are on the critical path D. variance in project duration E. maximum project duration

Q: Activity 7-8 is directly preceded by two activitiesactivity 5-7 and activity 6-7. Activity 5-7 has an expected time of five and an ES time of six. Activity 6-7 has an expected time of seven and an ES time of seven. Activity 7-8 has an expected time of 10. The ES for activity 7-8 is: A. 11. B. 14. C. 21. D. 24. E. 25.

Q: Shortening activity durations is called: A. expediting. B. crashing. C. vendor management. D. null nodes. E. trade-off analysis.

Q: Which of the following is not true about the use of dummy activities in project networking? A. They preserve the separate identities of activities. B. They clarify precedence relationships among activities. C. They have an activity time equal to zero. D. They have an activity time variance equal to zero. E. They are used in activities-on-nodes (AON) network diagrams.

Q: In a project network, the critical path is the sequence of activities which has the: A. most activities. B. most nodes. C. most events. D. longest duration. E. greatest variance.

Q: The advantage a precedence diagram has over a Gantt chart is: A. its ability to reveal relationships among activities. B. its difficulty in depicting networks. C. its complexity. D. its simplicity. E. its lack of riskiness.

Q: 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; PERT focuses on the parallel paths. C. PERT gives a clearer indication of activity slack, while CPM gives a better picture of path slack. D. Because of its recent discovery, much less is known about CPM than PERT. E. CPM is useful for project manager selection; PERT is useful for project team selection.

Q: To _____ an activity means to shorten the time it will take. A. speed B. fund C. crash D. aggregate E. matrix

Q: A popular tool for planning and scheduling simple projects, and for initial planning on more complex projects, is the: A. activity-on-arrows network. B. activity-on-nodes network. C. Gantt chart. D. critical path method. E. program evaluation and review technique.

Q: A method used for establishing a logical framework for identifying the required activities for the project is called: A. work breakdown structure. B. PERT. C. planning matrix. D. crashing. E. critical path analysis.

Q: A hierarchical listing of what must be done in a project is called a: A. work breakdown structure (WBS). B. PERT. C. planning matrix. D. crashing plan. E. critical path.

Q: Which of the following is not typically treated as part of a project life cycle? A. feasibility analysis B. planning C. maturity D. incubation E. alternative generation

Q: A sequence of activities that leads from the starting node to the finishing node is called a: A. path. B. sequel. C. trail. D. critical sequence. E. time line.

Q: Which of the following is not a form of risk reduction in project management? A. backup system B. outsourcing C. risk sharing D. scenario analysis E. selection analysis

Q: Once a project is underway, the project manager usually is not responsible for effectively managing: A. the people. B. costs. C. resources. D. time. E. project priority.

Q: Which of the following would probably not involve the use of PERT? A. planning and constructing a new city hall B. developing an advertising campaign for a new product C. designing and constructing a subway system D. writing a poem E. preparing for the visit of a foreign dignitary

Q: Project management differs from management of more traditional activities mainly because of: (I) its limited time frame. (II) its unique, defined set of activities. (III) the requirement for use of the appropriate resources. (IV) the need for planning and execution. A. I B. II C. I and II D. I and III E. I, II, and IV

Q: Suppose a project is subject to the following risk events (each with a given probability of occurring and a cost associated with that occurrence): Given these, Event _____ should probably get the most attention and Event _____ should probably get the least. A. II; IV B. III; IV C. I; III D. I; II E. II; III

Q: Project risk events tend to be unlikely __________ a project, but that's also when they tend to be the __________. A. early in; most costly B. late in; least costly C. late in; most costly D. before the beginning of; most complex E. at the conclusion of; least complex

Q: One upside to terminating a project that is not going as well as planned is that: A. poorly performing project team members will be kept from causing trouble elsewhere. B. no additional costs will be incurred. C. poor project managers will be weeded out. D. resources can perhaps be put to better use elsewhere. E. project completion will be hastened.

Q: Which of the following is not one of the six key decisions in project management? (I) Selecting the project team (II) Deciding on the project manager's title (III) Managing and controlling project resources (IV) Deciding which projects to implement (V) Selecting the project manager A. I B. II C. III D. IV E. V

Q: In the execution phase of a project's life cycle, activities are guided by decisions that were made in the __________ phase. A. initiating B. planning C. monitoring/controlling D. closing E. assessment

Q: Which of the following stages is that one in which the project's expected costs, benefits, and risks are assessed? A. executing B. monitoring/controlling C. assessment D. planning E. initiating

Q: A disadvantage of activity-on-node diagrams is the occasional need for dummy activities.

Q: The probability that the project will go beyond the desired time is equal to one minus the joint probability that all paths will be completed within the desired time.

Q: In order to determine the probability of timely project completion, it is sometimes necessary to take into account paths other than the critical path.

Q: If the expected length of a path is more than 2.5 standard deviations less than a desired project completion time, the path will not be a factor in assessing the probability of finishing the project on time.

Q: The total cost of crashing any one activity should never exceed 20 percent of the total cost of the original project.

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

Q: Project management software eliminates conflicts when there are shared resources.

Q: Slack time is equal to LS-ES or LF-EF.

Q: Deterministic networks use three time estimatesshortest, most likely, and longestfor each activity in order to best determine the activity's estimated time.

Q: If two consecutive activities have shared slack, this means that each of them can use only half of the slack without delaying completion of the project.

Q: Activities not on the critical path have a slack time equal to zero.

Q: Most likely time generally is more than optimistic time.

Q: The task of identifying risks should involve everyone associated with the project.

Q: If two consecutive activities on the same path each have two days of activity slack, this means that each of them can be delayed by two days without delaying the project.

Q: Many activities have slack time; if we add these slack times together, this represents the potential improvement in early completion for the project.

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

Q: The latest starting time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity time.

Q: The earliest finish time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity time.

Q: The main function of dummy activities is to clarify relationships in network diagrams.

Q: Path probabilities are calculated by dividing path mean by path standard deviations.

Q: The sum of times of the longest path in a network indicates expected project completion time, and the activities represent the critical activities.

Q: The path in a network with the average length of time to completion is called the critical path.

Q: The network diagram describes sequential relationships among major activities on a project.

Q: Although PERT and CPM were originally developed for somewhat different types of projects, they are now nearly identical in terms of analysis and procedures.

Q: The costs associated with risk events tend to be lower near the beginning of a project and higher near the end of the project. TRUE

Q: The probability of occurrence of risk events is lower near the beginning of a project and higher near the end of the project since very few activities remain.

Q: The higher the node number, the longer the activity will take.

Q: A Gantt chart is built using established precedence relationships.

Q: An advantage of Gantt charts in project management is that they identify which activities can be delayed without delaying the overall project.

Q: A hierarchical (vertical) listing of what must be done during a project is called matrix.

Q: The project computing algorithm requires both a forward and a backward pass.

Q: Some organizations use a matrix organization to integrate the activities of specialists within a functional framework.

Q: Matrix organizations transfer control of workers to project managers for the duration of the project.

Q: Once a project is approved and underway, project managers are only responsible for effectively managing time and costs which, if done well, will assure project completion on time and on budget.

Q: One way that project management differs from management of more traditional activities is because of the limited lifetime of projects.

Q: Good project management is especially important with virtual teams.

Q: The following table contains information about five jobs waiting to be processed at work center number three. Using the EDD rule, the sequence of jobs would be: A. d-e-b-a-c. B. a-d-c-b-e. C. e-d-b-a-c. D. a-d-c-e-d. E. e-b-c-d-a.

Q: In an assignment model where there are fewer jobs than resources: A. dummy jobs are needed to solve the problem. B. dummy resources are needed to solve the problem. C. the problem cannot be solved using an assignment model. D. the problem will have multiple optimum solutions. E. the simplex method must be used to solve the problem.

Q: One disadvantage of appointment systems is: A. Capacity can be adjusted by varying hours. B. The customer's desired time may be already taken. C. People generally accept it as fair. D. It can reduce customer waiting time. E. Appointments do not have to be all the same length.

Q: Scheduling in service systems may involve scheduling: (I) the workforce. (II) the equipment. (III) customers. A. II only B. I and II only C. II and III only D. I and III only E. I, II, and III

Q: Scheduling in service systems often takes the form of: (I) appointment systems. (II) reservation systems. (III) makespan systems. A. I only B. II only C. I and II only D. III only E. I, II, and III

Q: A major difference between manufacturing and service systems in terms of scheduling is: A. variability in arrival and service rates. B. processing cost per unit. C. the number of units to be processed. D. length of processing time. E. output rate.

Q: What is the optimum job sequence for the jobs listed below using Johnson's rule? A. e-g-f-d B. d-g-f-e C. d-f-g-e D. e-d-f-g E. f-e-d-g