Deck 5: Scheduling the Project

Question 1

The shortest time to complete a network is equal to the duration of the longest path through the network.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The difference between the LST and EST is called slack.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Critical path tasks always have zero slack.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The actual project duration will be known with certainty after the project is completed.

Question 5

Milestones cannot be identified on a Gantt Chart.

Question 6

A disadvantage of Gantt charts is that they are hard to draw.

Question 7

A Gantt chart can not depict a critical path, only a PERT/CPM chart can.

Question 8

To manage a project successfully, the project manager need only pay close attention to tasks on the critical path.

Question 9

The formula for the expected time of an activity in a network assumes that the optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely time estimates have a Beta distribution.

Question 10

Technical dependencies are often harder to see on a Gantt chart than on a PERT/CPM network.

Question 11

AON and AOA networks can both be used to depict any project network.

Question 12

The difference between LST and LFT is called slack.

Question 13

It is easiest to see lead and lag time in a project task on a PERT/CPM networks.

Question 14

When it was originally developed, PERT used certain (deterministic) methods to estimate activity duration.

Question 15

A project schedule is a project action plan converted into a timetable.

Question 16

If task duration estimates are carefully made, the project manager needs to only examine the critical path when conducting a risk analysis.

Question 17

The difference between EST and LFT is called slack.

Question 18

Standard Pert/CPM networks can be use to resolve probabilistic concerns.

Question 19

"Merger" is a term used to describe the situation in which two or more paths in a network join together.

Question 20

A start-to-finish linkage is the most common way of linking to successive task.

Question 21

Events in a project consume no resources or time.

Question 22

A situation where two or more activities have the same starting and finishing nodes or where a single activity connects to two or more nodes is called a dummy task

Question 23

The movement from left to right through the network beginning with the start node that calculates the LS and LF for each activity is known as "FORWARD PASS"

Question 24

Another name for total slack is free slack.

Question 25

Technical dependencies are generally easier to see on a Gantt chart than on PERT/CPM networks.

Question 26

A big advantage of AON networks is that they are easier to draw.

Question 27

The start-to-finish linkage is used in situations where is it desirable for two or more activities to finish at the same time.

Question 28

Float refers to the amount of time a noncritical task can be delayed without causing a delay in the entire project.

Question 29

Networks are usually drawn with a "Start" node to the right and a "Finish" node to the left.

Question 30

A disadvantage of using beta distribution to approximate activity times is that it is generally less flexible than the normal distribution.

Question 31

A diagram of nodes connected by directional arcs that defines the project and illustrates the technical of all activities is referred to as a network.

Question 32

The amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the start time of any successor activity is known as free slack.

Question 33

The tasks of project planning, project budgeting, and project scheduling are largely separable from one another.

Question 34

The simulation approach is generally preferred over the statistical method.

Question 35

An event is a series of connected activities.

Question 36

What is project slack?

A) The amount of time a non-critical task can be delayed without making the project late.
B) The amount of time the critical path of a project can be delayed without making the project late.
C) The amount of time an activity on the critical path can be delayed without making the project late.
D) The difference between how long the project would take if all tasks were completed based on their pessimistic versus optimistic time estimates.
E) None of the above.

Question 37

Milestones are not depended upon the predecessor activities in the project plan.

Question 38

For which purpose is simulation NOT used with regard to project scheduling?

A) to overcome the limitations associated with statistical techniques used to develop probability of completion time estimates
B) to investigate the range of project completion times
C) to investigate the distribution of project completion times
D) to verify the accuracy of the optimistic, pessimistic and most likely time estimates
E) all of the above

Question 39

What is it a milestone?

A) a significant event in the project
B) a mark on a chart that depicts project progress
C) an activity on the critical path
D) an activity with an uncertain completion time
E) all of the above

Question 40

The difference between LFT and EFT is called slack.

Question 41

Why should we only draw the Gantt chart after we have draw the network for the project?

Question 42

Define the term Critical Path.

Question 43

What is activity slack?

Question 44

Contrast the traditional statistical approach to calculating the probability of completing a project by a specified time with the simulation approach.

Question 45

PERT was originally used for what type of project?

A) construction
B) R & D
C) military
D) computer software development
E) advertising

Question 46

What is a Gantt chart?

Question 47

Which of the following terms is most closely associated with a task required by the project?

A) activity
B) event
C) milestone
D) network
E) path

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT an element of the Gantt chart?

A) actual progress
B) variance of the critical path
C) the current date
D) scheduled milestones
E) all of the above are elements

Question 49

What assumptions are made about the probabilities of the optimistic and pessimistic times in the standard formula for calculating the variance of a particular activity? Explain how the formula can be modified to accommodate different assumptions.

Question 50

What is the standard deviation of a task with optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic times of 3, 4, and 7 days respectively assuming the estimates were made at the 99% plus level?

A) )444
B) )667
C) 1.212
D) 1.469
E) 1.540

Question 51

An identifiable state resulting from the completion of one or more activities is called?

A) an event
B) an activity
C) a milestone
D) a path
E) the critical path

Question 52

What are the four methods of linking steps in a project using precedence diagramming?

Question 53

A Term not used in the discussion of PERT/CPM analysis is

A) Activity
B) Events
C) Critical Path
D) Sensitivity path
E) network s

Question 54

Which of the following is typically used as the best estimate of task duration?

A) expected time
B) pessimistic time
C) optimistic time
D) most likely time
E) none of the above

Question 55

Technical dependencies on a project plan are easiest to see on a:

A) Gantt chart
B) Cost chart
C) PERT/CPM chart
D) Work Breakdown Structure
E) RACI Matrix

Question 56

What is the expected time to complete a task with an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic times of 3, 4, and 7 days respectively?

A) 3
B) 4
C) 4.3
D) 4.7
E) 7

Question 57

The amount of time a noncritical task can be delayed without delaying the project is called?

A) surplus
B) flop
C) slack
D) critical time
E) safety

Question 58

Which of the following linkages is used to start two or more activities at the same time?

A) finish-to-start
B) start-to-start
C) finish-to-finish
D) start-to-finish
E) They can all be used to start two or more activities at the same time.

Question 59

Contrast "total slack" and "free slack"

Question 60

Slack is calculated as?

A) LFT - EST
B) LFT - LST
C) LST - LFT
D) LFT - EFT
E) EFT - EST

Question 61

Explain why the term "critical path" has less meaning in cases where the activity times are not known with certainty.

Question 62

Why is it necessary for the PM to be aware and to manage the slack in the project?

Question 63

What is a merger and what problems do mergers create?