Deck 15: Project Management Online

Question 1

The longest path through a network is comprised of the ____ activities.

A) longest
B) essential
C) mandatory
D) critical

Answer 1

D

Question 2

If we are employing Activity-On-Arc (AOA) network design, the arcs in the network diagram represent

A) significance relationships.
B) precedence relationships.
C) tasks to complete.
D) task times.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

How many paths are there in the following project precedence network?

A) 6
B) 7
C) 8
D) 9

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is the latest finish time for activity D in the following diagram?

A) 6
B) 13
C) 14
D) 15

Question 5

What is the earliest start time for activity D in the following diagram?

A) 3
B) 4
C) 6
D) 7

Question 6

Which of the following correctly describes the focus of the Critical Path Method (CPM)?

A) To order activities in a project in terms of their completion time to facilitate scheduling of the activities.
B) To determine when a project should be completed and to schedule when each activity in the project must begin in order to keep the project on schedule.
C) To estimate the probability of completing a project by a given deadline when the time required to perform the activity is essentially a random variable.
D) To structure the activities of a project in order to eliminate or reduce critical dependencies among the activities.

Question 7

Non-critical activities are distinguished by the presence of

A) positive slack.
B) idle resources.
C) wasted time.
D) zero slack.

Question 8

If we are employing Activity-On-Node (AON) network design, the arcs in the network diagram represent

A) significance relationships.
B) precedence relationships.
C) tasks to complete.
D) task times.

Question 9

There are various similarities between the CPM and PERT methods. Which of the following is not one of those similarities?

A) Any project can be broken down into component activities that require different amounts of time.
B) Any project can be broken down into component activities that must be accomplished in a specific order.
C) Both techniques use the same method to calculate the time element of the activities in the project.
D) Both require a detailed network of the project that clearly indicates each of the main activities and the precedence relationship among the activities.

Question 10

What are the immediate successors of activity D in this network?

A) A, B, C
B) B, C
C) E, F
D) E

Question 11

What are the immediate predecessors of activity D in this network?

A) A, B, C
B) B, C
C) E, F
D) E, G, H

Question 12

Slack for activity I is computed as

A) LFT_i  EST_i
B) LST_i  EST_i
C) EST_i  LST_i
D) EFT_i  LFT_i

Question 13

Which of the following correctly describes the focus of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)?

A) To order activities in a project in terms of their completion time to facilitate scheduling of the activities.
B) To determine when a project should be completed and to schedule when each activity in the project must begin in order to keep the project on schedule.
C) To estimate the probability of completing a project by a given deadline when the time required to perform the activity is essentially a random variable.
D) To structure the activities of a project in order to eliminate or reduce critical dependencies among the activities.

Question 14

Which of the following definitions correctly defines the acronym, PERT?

A) Program Evaluation and Review Technique.
B) Process Evaluation and Review Technique.
C) Program Evaluation and Reduction Technique.
D) Program Explanation and Reduction Technique.

Question 15

The critical path is the ____ path throughout the network.

A) longest
B) most expensive
C) shortest
D) least expensive

Question 16

Activity-on-Arc (AOA) networks do not allow multiple arcs with common start and finish nodes. If this must be represented, how is an AOA network modified?

A) The network is redrawn into an Activity-on-Node network.
B) Connect the arcs to the node using an IFERROR() function.
C) Phantom (dummy) activity arcs are added.
D) Zero duration activity arcs are added.

Question 17

Critical activities are distinguished by the presence of

A) slack.
B) idle resources.
C) wasted time.
D) zero slack.

Question 18

What is the formula for the earliest finish time for activity i?

A) EFT_i = EST_i + t_i
B) EFT_i = EFT_j + t_j
C) EFT_i = EFT_i1 + t_i
D) EFT_i = EST_i  t_i

Question 19

Which of the following is true regarding projects?

A) Projects can have a unique start activity and a unique finish activity.
B) Projects can have multiple start activities and a unique finish activity.
C) Projects can have multiple start and finish activities.
D) All of these are true regarding projects.

Question 20

The term "time zero" identifies

A) the start time for each activity.
B) the start time for the project.
C) midnight on each work day.
D) days with not wasted effort.

Question 21

Exhibit 15.1
The following questions employ the AON network and partial spreadsheet below.
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}\hline & \text { A } & \text { B } & \text { C } & \mathrm{D} & \mathrm{E} & \mathrm{F} & \mathrm{G} & \mathrm{H} & \mathrm{I} \\\hline 1 & \text { Activity } & \text { Description } & \text { Predecessor } & \text { Time } & \text { EST } & \text { EFT } & \text { LST } & \text { LFT } & \text { Slack } \\\hline 2 & \text { A } & \text { Activity A } & & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 & 4 & \\\hline 3 & \text { B } & \text { Activity B } & \text { A } & 3 & 4 & 7 & 4 & 7 & \\\hline 4 & \text { C } & \text { Activity C } & \text { A } & 2 & 4 & 6 & 5 & 7 & \\\hline 5 & \text { D } & \text { Activity D } & ? & 7 & ? & ? & ? & ? & \\\hline 6 & \text { E } & \text { Activity E } & \text { D } & 1 & 14 & 15 & 15 & 16 & \\\hline 7 & \text { F } & \text { Activity F } & \text { D } & 2 & 14 & 16 & 14 & 16 & \\\hline 8 & \text { G } & \text { Activity G } & \text { E,F } & 3 & 16 & 19 & 16 & 19 & \\\hline\end{array}$


-Refer to Exhibit 15.1. What values are placed in cell C5 of the spreadsheet?

A) E, F
B) B
C) C
D) B, C

Question 22

One of PERT's bold assumptions is that

A) individual activity times are independent of each other.
B) individual activity times are dependent of each other.
C) individual activity times are constant.
D) individual activity times can be added together.

Question 23

Exhibit 15.1
The following questions employ the AON network and partial spreadsheet below.
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}\hline & \text { A } & \text { B } & \text { C } & \mathrm{D} & \mathrm{E} & \mathrm{F} & \mathrm{G} & \mathrm{H} & \mathrm{I} \\\hline 1 & \text { Activity } & \text { Description } & \text { Predecessor } & \text { Time } & \text { EST } & \text { EFT } & \text { LST } & \text { LFT } & \text { Slack } \\\hline 2 & \text { A } & \text { Activity A } & & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 & 4 & \\\hline 3 & \text { B } & \text { Activity B } & \text { A } & 3 & 4 & 7 & 4 & 7 & \\\hline 4 & \text { C } & \text { Activity C } & \text { A } & 2 & 4 & 6 & 5 & 7 & \\\hline 5 & \text { D } & \text { Activity D } & ? & 7 & ? & ? & ? & ? & \\\hline 6 & \text { E } & \text { Activity E } & \text { D } & 1 & 14 & 15 & 15 & 16 & \\\hline 7 & \text { F } & \text { Activity F } & \text { D } & 2 & 14 & 16 & 14 & 16 & \\\hline 8 & \text { G } & \text { Activity G } & \text { E,F } & 3 & 16 & 19 & 16 & 19 & \\\hline\end{array}$


-Refer to Exhibit 15.1. What array formula is placed in cell E5 to calculate the Earliest Start Time?

A) E2 + D2
B) MAX(IF(ISERR(FIND($A$5:$A$17,C5)),0,$F$5:$F$17))
C) H2 ? D2
D) MIN(IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(A5,$C$2:$C$8)),$G$2:$G$8))

Question 24

The purpose of the backward pass in the Critical Path Method (CPM) technique is to

A) review each of the precedence relationships in the activity network.
B) calculate the slack time within each node on the activity network.
C) determine the earliest time each activity can start and finish.
D) determine the latest time each activity can start and finish.

Question 25

If the following project must be completed by day 18 at minimum cost how do we change the LP model?

A) Enter 18 in cell E14.
B) Add a constraint that E14  18.
C) Make cell E14 the target cell.
D) Add a constraint that E14 = 18.

Question 26

Slack represents the amount of time by which an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project, assuming that

A) all successor activities start at their earliest start times.
B) all predecessor activities start at their earliest start times.
C) immediate predecessor activities start at their earliest start times.
D) all predecessor activities start at their latest start times.

Question 27

Exhibit 15.1
The following questions employ the AON network and partial spreadsheet below.
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}\hline & \text { A } & \text { B } & \text { C } & \mathrm{D} & \mathrm{E} & \mathrm{F} & \mathrm{G} & \mathrm{H} & \mathrm{I} \\\hline 1 & \text { Activity } & \text { Description } & \text { Predecessor } & \text { Time } & \text { EST } & \text { EFT } & \text { LST } & \text { LFT } & \text { Slack } \\\hline 2 & \text { A } & \text { Activity A } & & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 & 4 & \\\hline 3 & \text { B } & \text { Activity B } & \text { A } & 3 & 4 & 7 & 4 & 7 & \\\hline 4 & \text { C } & \text { Activity C } & \text { A } & 2 & 4 & 6 & 5 & 7 & \\\hline 5 & \text { D } & \text { Activity D } & ? & 7 & ? & ? & ? & ? & \\\hline 6 & \text { E } & \text { Activity E } & \text { D } & 1 & 14 & 15 & 15 & 16 & \\\hline 7 & \text { F } & \text { Activity F } & \text { D } & 2 & 14 & 16 & 14 & 16 & \\\hline 8 & \text { G } & \text { Activity G } & \text { E,F } & 3 & 16 & 19 & 16 & 19 & \\\hline\end{array}$


-Refer to Exhibit 15.1. What array formula is placed in cell H5 to calculate the Latest Finish Time?

A) E2 + D2
B) MAX(IF(ISNUMBER(FIND($A$2:$A$8,C5)),$F$2:$F$8))
C) H2 ? D2
D) MIN(IF(ISERR(FIND(A5,$C$5:$C$17)),MAX($F$5:$F$17),$G$5:$G$17))

Question 28

Which activities are critical in the following diagram?

A) A, C, D, F
B) B, D, E
C) A, C, D, E
D) A, B, D, E, F

Question 29

A strength of Gantt charts is that they

A) clearly portray precedence relationships.
B) model uncertainty in activity duration times.
C) provide a timeline-based, graphical view of when activities can begin and end.
D) clearly identifies the critical path.

Question 30

What formula should go in cell I5 of the following spreadsheet to compute Actual Time Between Starts?

A) =VLOOKUP(H5,$B$5:$D$11,3)-VLOOKUP(G5,$B$5:$D$11,3)
B) =VLOOKUP(H5,$B$5:$D$11,2)-VLOOKUP(G5,$B$5:$D$11,2)
C) =VLOOKUP(G5,$B$5:$D$11,3)-VLOOKUP(H5,$B$5:$D$11,3)
D) =VLOOKUP(H5,$B$5:$D$11,3)-VLOOKUP(G5,$B$5:$D$11,3)

Question 31

Which activities have slack in the following diagram?

A) A, C, D, F
B) B, E
C) A, C, D, E
D) B, D, E

Question 32

A company wants to use PERT to manage a project. They have developed the following spreadsheet for the problem. If The Risk Solver Platform (RSP) is used, what formula should go in cell F3 of the spreadsheet to compute the Activity Time when simulating a PERT analysis?

A) =IF(E3(C3-E3)/(D3-B3),D3-SQRT((D3-B3)*(D3-C3)*(1-E3)),B3+SQRT((D3-E3)*(C3-B3)*E3))
B) =IF(E3(D3-B3)/(C3-E3),B3+SQRT((D3-E3)*(C3-B3)*E3),D3-SQRT((D3-B3)*(D3-C3)*(1-E3)))
C) =IF(E3(C3-E3)/(D3-B3),B3-SQRT((D3-E3)*(C3-B3)*E3),D3+SQRT((D3-B3)*(D3-C3)*(1-E3)))
D) =PsiTriangular(B3,C3,D3)

Question 33

Exhibit 15.2
The following questions employ the AON network and completed spreadsheet below.
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}\hline & \text { A } & \text { B } & \text { C } & \mathrm{D} & \mathrm{E} & \mathrm{F} & \mathrm{G} & \mathrm{H} & \mathrm{I} \\\hline 1 & \text { Activity } & \text { Description } & \text { Predecessor } & \text { Time } & \text { EST } & \text { EFT } & \text { LST } & \text { LFT } & \text { Slack } \\\hline 2 & \text { A } & \text { Activity A } & & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 \\\hline 3 & \text { B } & \text { Activity B } & \text { A } & 3 & 4 & 7 & 4 & 7 & 0 \\\hline 4 & \text { C } & \text { Activity C } & \text { A } & 2 & 4 & 6 & 5 & 7 & 1 \\\hline 5 & \text { D } & \text { Activity D } & \text { B,C } & 7 & 7 & 14 & 7 & 14 & 0 \\\hline 6 & \text { E } & \text { Activity E } & \text { D } & 1 & 14 & 15 & 15 & 16 & 1 \\\hline 7 & \text { F } & \text { Activity F } & \text { D } & 2 & 14 & 16 & 14 & 16 & 0 \\\hline 8 & \text { G } & \text { Activity G } & \text { E,F } & 3 & 16 & 19 & 16 & 19 & 0 \\\hline\end{array}$


-Refer to Exhibit 15.2. Which of the following activities is not on the critical path for the network?

A) Activity A
B) Activity C
C) Activity D
D) Activity G

Question 34

Shortening the activity completion time is called

A) expediting
B) speeding
C) accelerating
D) crashing

Question 35

What formula should go in cell H3 of the following spreadsheet to compute Crash Cost Per Day?

A) =(C3-E3)/(F3-D3)
B) =(F3-D3)/(C3-E3)
C) =(F3)/(C3-E3)
D) =(F3-D3)/(E3)

Question 36

Exhibit 15.2
The following questions employ the AON network and completed spreadsheet below.
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}\hline & \text { A } & \text { B } & \text { C } & \mathrm{D} & \mathrm{E} & \mathrm{F} & \mathrm{G} & \mathrm{H} & \mathrm{I} \\\hline 1 & \text { Activity } & \text { Description } & \text { Predecessor } & \text { Time } & \text { EST } & \text { EFT } & \text { LST } & \text { LFT } & \text { Slack } \\\hline 2 & \text { A } & \text { Activity A } & & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 & 4 & 0 \\\hline 3 & \text { B } & \text { Activity B } & \text { A } & 3 & 4 & 7 & 4 & 7 & 0 \\\hline 4 & \text { C } & \text { Activity C } & \text { A } & 2 & 4 & 6 & 5 & 7 & 1 \\\hline 5 & \text { D } & \text { Activity D } & \text { B,C } & 7 & 7 & 14 & 7 & 14 & 0 \\\hline 6 & \text { E } & \text { Activity E } & \text { D } & 1 & 14 & 15 & 15 & 16 & 1 \\\hline 7 & \text { F } & \text { Activity F } & \text { D } & 2 & 14 & 16 & 14 & 16 & 0 \\\hline 8 & \text { G } & \text { Activity G } & \text { E,F } & 3 & 16 & 19 & 16 & 19 & 0 \\\hline\end{array}$


-Refer to Exhibit 15.2. What formula is placed in cell G5 to calculate the Latest Start Time?

A) H5 ? G5
B) F5 ? G5
C) H5 ? D5
D) F5 ? D5

Question 37

The purpose of the forward pass in the Critical Path Method (CPM) technique is to

A) review each of the precedence relationships in the activity network.
B) calculate the slack time within each node on the activity network.
C) determine the earliest time each activity can start and finish.
D) determine the latest time each activity can start and finish.

Question 38

A weakness of Gantt charts is that they do not explicitly

A) indicate activity times.
B) show precedence relationships.
C) show activity start times.
D) show activity finish times.

Question 39

In a PERT network the time required to complete a path is a(n)

A) constant
B) random variable
C) Poisson distributed variable
D) exponentially distributed variable

Question 40

The critical path in PERT analysis is the path with the

A) smallest variance.
B) longest expected completion time.
C) smallest number of tasks.
D) smallest variance and longest expected completion time.

Question 41

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. Based on the data in the spreadsheet, which activities are on the critical path?

Question 42

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. What formulas should go into cells E2:E8 to calculate Earliest Start Times?

Question 43

A company wants to use PERT to manage a project. They have developed the following spreadsheet for the problem. What formula should go in cell F3 of the spreadsheet to compute the Activity Time when simulating a PERT analysis?

Question 44

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. Manually determine the earliest and latest start and finish times for each activity and the amount of slack for each activity. What is the critical path for the project and how long should it take to complete it?

Question 45

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. Draw the CPM network for this problem. Use AON notation.

Question 46

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. What formulas should go into cells H2:H8 to calculate Latest Finish Times?

Question 47

Exhibit 15.5
The following questions use the information below.
A company wants to crash a project and reduce the time required to complete it. They have developed the following table of activity costs and times and a spreadsheet to compute starting time for each activity.

Refer to Exhibit 15.5. What formula should go in cell H3 of the Costs spreadsheet to compute Crash Cost Per Day?

Question 48

Exhibit 15.5
The following questions use the information below.
A company wants to crash a project and reduce the time required to complete it. They have developed the following table of activity costs and times and a spreadsheet to compute starting time for each activity.

Refer to Exhibit 15.5. What formula should go in cell I5 of the Model spreadsheet to compute Actual Time Between Starts?

Question 49

Exhibit 15.6
The following questions use the information below.
Consider the CPM network for the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.6. Is it necessary to draw an arc from the node for activity F to the node for activity I?

Question 50

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. What formulas should go into cells E2:E8 to calculate Earliest Start Times?

Question 51

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. What formulas should go into cells F2:F8 to calculate Earliest Finish Times, G2:G8 to calculate Latest Start Times, and cells I2:I8 to calculate the Slack?

Question 52

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. Identify each path through the network and its expected length.

Question 53

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. Identify each path through the network and its expected length.

Question 54

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. Draw the CPM network for this problem. Use AON notation.

Question 55

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. What formulas should go into cells F2:F8 to calculate Earliest Finish Times, G2:G8 to calculate Latest Start Times, and cells I2:I8 to calculate the Slack?

Question 56

Exhibit 15.3
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.3. Manually determine the earliest and latest start and finish times for each activity and the amount of slack for each activity. What is the critical path for the project and how long should it take to complete it?

Question 57

Exhibit 15.6
The following questions use the information below.
Consider the CPM network for the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.6. Is it necessary to draw an arc from the node for activity A to the node for activity C?

Question 58

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. Based on the data in the spreadsheet, which activities are on the critical path?

Question 59

Exhibit 15.4
The following questions are based on the information below.
A company needs to manage a project which consists of the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.4. The following spreadsheet was developed to determine the earliest start times and latest start times for the project. What formulas should go into cells H2:H8 to calculate Latest Finish Times?

Question 60

Exhibit 15.5
The following questions use the information below.
A company wants to crash a project and reduce the time required to complete it. They have developed the following table of activity costs and times and a spreadsheet to compute starting time for each activity.

Refer to Exhibit 15.5. If the following project must be completed by day 18 at minimum cost how do we change the LP model?

Question 61

Exhibit 15.6
The following questions use the information below.
Consider the CPM network for the following set of activities:

Refer to Exhibit 15.6. Modify the table above by completing the following table. For column 3, list only the immediate predecessors for each activity.