Deck 12: Project Management

Question 1

In PERT, the earliest start time for an activity is equal to the latest of the earliest finish times of all of its immediate predecessors.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Given the variability of the activity completion times, the original critical path we identify in our PERT analysis may not always be the actual critical path as the project takes place.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The expected completion time and variance of an activity is approximated by the normal distribution in a PERT analysis.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

PERT and CPM are quantitative analysis tools designed to schedule and control large projects.

Question 5

CPM is a probabilistic analysis of managing a project.

Question 6

The first step in planning and scheduling a project is to develop the work breakdown structure.

Question 7

PERT had its beginnings in a military department of the United States.

Question 8

PERT is a deterministic analysis tool allowing for precise times of activities within a project.

Question 9

CPM was developed for use in managing projects about which we have good information about activity or task completion times.

Question 10

In PERT, the most likely completion time of an activity is used to represent that activity's time within a project.

Question 11

The identification of the project activities and their time, cost, resource requirements, predecessors, and person(s) responsible is called PERT planning.

Question 12

The optimistic time is the greatest amount of time that could be required to complete an activity.

Question 13

Before drawing a PERT or CPM network, we must identify all activities and their predecessors.

Question 14

Both PERT and CPM networks show activities and activity sequences.

Question 15

With CPM, we are able to calculate the probability of finishing the project within a specified time.

Question 16

With PERT, we are able to calculate the probability of finishing the project within a specified time.

Question 17

A PERT/CPM network is a graphical display of a project that connects activities.

Question 18

PERT was developed for a project for which activity or task times were uncertain.

Question 19

The three time estimates employed in PERT are optimistic time, average time, and pessimistic time.

Question 20

PERT is a network technique similar to CPM, but PERT allows for project crashing, whereas CPM does not.

Question 21

In PERT, we assume that the project completion time can be modeled by the normal distribution.

Question 22

The longest time path through a PERT/CPM network is called the critical path.

Question 23

Gantt charts and PERT diagrams provide the same information, just in different formats.

Question 24

One PERT/COST assumption is that money is spent at a constant rate over the time taken to complete an activity.

Question 25

The variance of the project completion time is equal to the sum of the variances of all the activities.

Question 26

In CPM, crashing an activity that is not on the critical path increases the cost of the project.

Question 27

Through the use of PERT/CPM, astute managers can derive flexibility by identifying noncritical activities and replanning, rescheduling, and reallocating resources such as personnel and finances.

Question 28

The critical path of a network is the

A) shortest time path through the network.
B) path with the fewest activities.
C) path with the most activities.
D) longest time path through the network.
E) None of the above

Question 29

Slack time in a network is the

A) amount of time that an activity would take assuming very unfavorable conditions.
B) shortest amount of time that could be required to complete the activity.
C) amount of time that you would expect it would take to complete the activity.
D) difference between the expected completion time of the project using pessimistic times and the expected completion time of the project using optimistic times.
E) amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project.

Question 30

The first step in planning and scheduling a project is to develop the ________.

A) employee scheduling plan
B) PERT/CPM network diagram
C) critical path
D) work breakdown structure
E) variance calculations for each activity

Question 31

Which of the following is not a concept associated with CPM?

A) normal time
B) probability
C) normal cost
D) crash cost
E) deterministic network

Question 32

Gantt charts contain information about the time taken by each activity, but not about the sequential dependencies of the activities.

Question 33

PERT

A) assumes that we do not know ahead of time what activities must be completed.
B) assumes that activity time estimates follow the normal probability distribution.
C) is a network technique that uses three time estimates for each activity in a project.
D) is a deterministic network technique that allows for project crashing.
E) None of the above

Question 34

In PERT, the variance in completion time is equal to the variance of the most time consuming activity on the critical path.

Question 35

One of the most significant benefits of PERT is that it forces the project manager to sit down and plan the project in great detail-and thus come to an understanding of relationships between the activities.

Question 36

In a PERT network, the earliest (activity) start time is the

A) earliest time that an activity can be finished without delaying the entire project.
B) latest time that an activity can be started without delaying the entire project.
C) earliest time that an activity can start without violation of precedence requirements.
D) latest time that an activity can be finished without delaying the entire project.
E) None of the above

Question 37

Slack is the time an activity can be delayed without impacting the completion time of the project.

Question 38

PERT stands for Probabilistic Evaluation and Review Technique.

Question 39

CPM stands for Comprehensive Project Method.

Question 40

Given the assumptions in PERT, the probability that a project will be completed in less time than required by the activities on the critical path is approximately 50%.

Question 41

Table 12-1
The following represents a project with know activity times. All times are in weeks.
According to Table 12-1, compute the slack time for activity D.

A) 0
B) 5
C) 3
D) 6
E) None of the above

Question 42

Table 12-1
The following represents a project with know activity times. All times are in weeks.
Using the data in Table 12-1, compute the latest finish time for activity E.

A) 4
B) 10
C) 14
D) 25
E) None of the above

Question 43

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 3, 5, and 15 days, respectively, compute the PERT standard deviation for this activity.

A) 2
B) 4
C) 5
D) 15
E) None of the above

Question 44

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 4, 6, and 14 days respectively, compute the PERT expected activity time for this activity.

A) 8
B) 6
C) 7
D) 9
E) None of the above

Question 45

Table 12-2
The following represents a project with four activities. All times are in weeks.
According to the data in Table 12-2, what is the minimum expected completion time for the project?

A) 18
B) 19
C) 37
D) 11
E) None of the above

Question 46

Table 12-2
The following represents a project with four activities. All times are in weeks.
According to Table 12-2, there are four activities in the project. Assume the normal distribution is appropriate to use to determine the probability of finishing by a particular time. If you wished to find the probability of finishing the project in 20 weeks or fewer, it would be necessary to find the variance and then the standard deviation to be used with the normal distribution. What variance would be used?

A) 2
B) 4
C) 8
D) 12
E) None of the above

Question 47

Given the following small project, the critical path is ________ days.

A) 4
B) 10
C) 12
D) 22
E) None of the above

Question 48

Table 12-1
The following represents a project with know activity times. All times are in weeks.
Using the data in Table 12-1, what is the latest possible time that C may be started without delaying completion of the project?

A) 0
B) 4
C) 8
D) 10
E) None of the above

Question 49

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 4, 14, and 18 days respectively, compute the PERT expected activity time for this activity.

A) 14
B) 12
C) 11
D) 13
E) None of the above

Question 50

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 2, 5, and 14 days respectively, compute the PERT expected activity time for this activity.

A) 6
B) 7
C) 9
D) 5
E) None of the above

Question 51

Table 12-1
The following represents a project with know activity times. All times are in weeks.
Using the data in Table 12-1, what is the minimum possible time required for completing the project?

A) 8
B) 14
C) 25
D) 10
E) None of the above

Question 52

CPM

A) assumes we do not know ahead of time what activities must be completed.
B) assumes that activity time estimates follow the normal probability distribution.
C) is a deterministic network technique that allows for project crashing.
D) is a network technique that allows three time estimates for each activity in a project.
E) None of the above

Question 53

Table 12-2
The following represents a project with four activities. All times are in weeks.
According to the data in Table 12-2, what is the critical path?

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

Question 54

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 4, 12, and 18 days respectively, compute the PERT variance for this activity.

A) 2.33
B) 5.44
C) 8.00
D) 64.00
E) None of the above

Question 55

Managers use the network analysis of PERT and CPM to help them

A) derive flexibility by identifying noncritical activities.
B) replan, reschedule, and reallocate resources such as manpower and finances.
C) plan, schedule, monitor, and control large and complex projects.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 56

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 2, 10, and 20 days respectively, compute the PERT variance for this activity.

A) 3
B) 6
C) 9
D) 18
E) None of the above

Question 57

Consider a project that has an expected completion time of 60 weeks and a standard deviation of five weeks. What is the probability that the project is finished in 70 weeks or fewer? (Round to two decimals.)

A) 0.98
B) 0.48
C) 0.50
D) 0.02
E) 0.63

Question 58

Table 12-2
The following represents a project with four activities. All times are in weeks.
According to Table 12-2, there are four activities in the project. Assume the normal distribution is appropriate to use to determine the probability of finishing by a particular time. What is the probability that the project is finished in 16 weeks or fewer? (Round to two decimals.)

A) 0.07
B) 0.93
C) 0.43
D) 0.77
E) None of the above

Question 59

The expected time in PERT is

A) a weighted average of the most optimistic time, most pessimistic time, and four times the most likely time.
B) the modal time of a beta distribution.
C) a simple average of the most optimistic, most likely, and most pessimistic times.
D) the square root of the sum of the variances of the activities on the critical path.
E) None of the above

Question 60

Given the following small project, the critical path is ________ days.

A) 10
B) 14
C) 16
D) 20
E) None of the above

Question 61

The critical path of a network is the

A) path with the least variance.
B) path with zero slack.
C) path with the most activities.
D) path with the largest variance.
E) None of the above

Question 62

Which of the following questions can be answered by PERT?

A) When will the entire project be completed?
B) What is the probability that the project will be completed by a specific date?
C) What are the critical activities?
D) What are the noncritical activities?
E) All of the above

Question 63

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 3, 5, and 13 days respectively, compute the expected time for this activity.

A) 3
B) 4
C) 5
D) 6
E) None of the above

Question 64

The expected time in PERT is

A) greater than the most likely time.
B) equal to the most likely time.
C) less than the most likely time.
D) any of the above
E) None of the above

Question 65

CPM stands for ________.

A) critical path management
B) critical project management
C) critical project method
D) critical path method
E) centralized project management

Question 66

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 3, 7, and 11 days respectively, compute the expected time for this activity.

A) 5
B) 6
C) 7
D) 12
E) None of the above

Question 67

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 3, 6, and 9 days respectively, compute the PERT variance for this activity.

A) 3
B) 1
C) 9
D) 6
E) None of the above

Question 68

In a PERT network, the latest (activity) start time is the

A) earliest time that an activity can be finished without delaying the entire project.
B) latest time that an activity can be started without delaying the entire project.
C) earliest time that an activity can start without violation of precedence requirements.
D) latest time that an activity can be finished without delaying the entire project.
E) None of the above

Question 69

In PERT analysis, the probability of the optimistic time occurring should be on the order of ________.

A) 1/2
B) 1/3
C) 1/6
D) 1/10
E) 1/100

Question 70

Table 12-3
According to Table 12-3, there are five activities in a PERT project. If the normal distribution were used to find the probability of finishing this project in 24 weeks or fewer, what mean and variance would be used?

A) 20 and 4.222
B) 30 and 5.222
C) 20 and 5.222
D) 30 and 4.222
E) 22.667 and 1.111

Question 71

In PERT, we assume that

A) the times to complete individual activities are known with certainty.
B) all activities are carried out by staff from our own organization.
C) the total cost of a project is independent of the time to complete the project.
D) the total time to complete all activities on the critical path is described by a normal distribution.
E) None of the above

Question 72

The two common techniques for drawing PERT networks are ________.

A) NOA and NRA
B) AON and AOA
C) GANTT and NOA
D) ONA and OAO
E) CAN and CAA

Question 73

Table 12-3
According to Table 12-3, there are five activities in a PERT project. What is the variance of the critical path?

A) 5.222
B) 4.222
C) 1.222
D) 0
E) 1.111

Question 74

Your company is considering submitting a bid on a major project. You determine that the expected completion time is 100 weeks and the standard deviation is 10 weeks. It is assumed that the normal distribution applies. You wish to set the due date for the project such that there is an 85 percent chance that the project will be finished by this time. What due date should be set?

A) 108.0
B) 110.4
C) 89.6
D) 85.0
E) 100

Question 75

The project described by: is best represented by which of the following networks?

A)
B)
C)
D)
E) None of the above

Question 76

The work breakdown structure involves identifying the ________ for each activity.

A) time
B) cost
C) resource requirements
D) predecessors
E) All of the above

Question 77

The project described by: has a critical path of length of ________.

A) 21 days
B) 14 days
C) 23 days
D) 32 days
E) None of the above

Question 78

Table 12-3
According to Table 12-3, there are five activities in a PERT project. Which activities are on the critical path?

A) A-B-C-D-E
B) A-C-E
C) B-D
D) A-B-C-D
E) B-E

Question 79

PERT stands for ________.

A) probabilistic evaluation and review technique
B) program evaluation and review technique
C) probability of expected run times
D) program of expected run times
E) project evaluation and review technique

Question 80

Given an activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates of 1, 9, and 23 days respectively, compute the PERT expected activity time for this activity.

A) 10
B) 12
C) 9
D) 11
E) None of the above