Deck 14: Managing Projects

Question 1

A project is a temporary undertaking designed to achieve a particular organizational goal.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

One of the primary characteristics of projects as a form of work is the movement of personnel from project to project.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

There are more resources required during the performance phase of a project than the project definition phase.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The actual work gets done during the ________ phase of a project.

Question 5

The budget estimates made during the concept phase are usually accurate to within:

A) 20 percent.
B) 30 percent.
C) 40 percent.
D) 50 percent.

Question 6

In what way are projects and typical business activities similar?

A) For most companies, projects and typical business activities can be described as routine.
B) Both projects and typical business activities have a defined ending point at which time they are complete.
C) Projects and routine business activities require significant levels of cross-functional and interorganizational coordination.
D) The successful completion of projects and business activities is essential to a firm's competitive position.

Question 7

Performance or time targets for each major group of activities in a project are set during the planning phase of a project.

Question 8

What are the phases of a project and the activities within each?

Question 9

Work on a project's constituent activities begins in the project's:

A) planning phase.
B) concept phase.
C) post-completion phase.
D) performance phase.

Question 10

Program evaluation and review technique,PERT,is a network-based technique in which there are multiple time estimates for each activity.

Question 11

Key points in a project,such as when a major activity or phase should be completed,are referred to as lodestones.

Question 12

A performance or time target for each major group of activities in a project is a(n)________.

Question 13

In what ways are projects distinct from typical business activities?

Question 14

During the ________,project planners identify how to accomplish the work,how to organize for the project,and the key personnel and resources needed.

Question 15

Project planners develop a broad definition of what the project is and what its scope will be during the:

A) concept phase.
B) project definition phase.
C) planning phase.
D) performance phase.

Question 16

Discuss the recent business trends that have increased the attention and interest in project management skills.

Question 17

An expectation that a new building's foundation would be poured and cured by the end of the year is an example of a(n):

A) activity.
B) scope.
C) milestone.
D) precedence.

Question 18

In the project definition phase,project planners identify,among other tasks,how to accomplish the work and how to organize for the project.

Question 19

A critical path is composed entirely of critical activities.

Question 20

The best use of a Gantt chart is used to show precedence requirements for a project's constituent activities.

Question 21

What is the latest that activity D can start if A lasts 5 days,B lasts 7 days,C lasts 4 days,D lasts 5 days,E lasts 7 days,and F is 6 days long?

A) 14
B) 15
C) 16
D) 17

Question 22

This Gantt chart can be used to show:

A) activity D must come before activity C.
B) activity F can be done at the same time as D.
C) activity E can begin as soon as activity A is complete.
D) activities D and B can be done simultaneously.

Question 23

A project is composed of 6 activities that have durations and precedence requirements shown in the table.Which of these activities is NOT on the critical path?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D

Question 24

The tablet unearthed by the archaeologist revealed an ancient culture's project plan. However, the sands of time had erased much of the information that the table once contained. Use this fragmentary record to unlock the ancient project's secrets and answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.What is the latest start time for activity K?

A) Week 20
B) Week 19
C) Week 18
D) Week 17

Question 25

The earliest start time of an activity is dependent on the earliest finish time of its immediate predecessors.

Question 26

The earliest finish time is calculated by adding the activity's duration to the predecessor's earliest finish time.

Question 27

Construction of the cattery could be distilled to eight distinct steps, from the official groundbreaking ceremony to the cutting of the litterbox ribbon. The activities, their durations and predecessors are shown in the table below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.What is the slack for activity G?

A) 4 weeks.
B) 3 weeks.
C) 2 weeks.
D) 1 week.

Question 28

Crashing a project refers to the technique that minimizes completion time of the project.

Question 29

PERT is an acronym meaning:

A) Project Evaluation and Review Technique.
B) Project Execution and Review Technique.
C) Program Evaluation and Review Technique.
D) Plan Estimation and Review Technique.

Question 30

The tablet unearthed by the archaeologist revealed an ancient culture's project plan. However, the sands of time had erased much of the information that the table once contained. Use this fragmentary record to unlock the ancient project's secrets and answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.What is the duration of activity H?

A) 7 weeks
B) 8 weeks
C) 9 weeks
D) 10 weeks

Question 31

Construction of the cattery could be distilled to eight distinct steps, from the official groundbreaking ceremony to the cutting of the litterbox ribbon. The activities, their durations and predecessors are shown in the table below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.Suppose the duration of only one activity could be halved.Which activity should be halved to have the greatest impact on project completion time?

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

Question 32

The tablet unearthed by the archaeologist revealed an ancient culture's project plan. However, the sands of time had erased much of the information that the table once contained. Use this fragmentary record to unlock the ancient project's secrets and answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.What is the earliest start time for activity H?

A) Week 14
B) Week 15
C) Week 16
D) Week 17

Question 33

The earliest finish time of an activity is always later than its latest start time.

Question 34

What is the fastest completion time of the project with activity lengths (in days)and precedence requirements as shown in the table?

A) 22
B) 25
C) 27
D) 30

Question 35

The tablet unearthed by the archaeologist revealed an ancient culture's project plan. However, the sands of time had erased much of the information that the table once contained. Use this fragmentary record to unlock the ancient project's secrets and answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.The project's duration is:

A) 32 weeks.
B) 33 weeks.
C) 36 weeks.
D) 38 weeks.

Question 36

Activities on the critical path may have positive or negative slack as long as the overall slack time of the critical path is zero.

Question 37

The tablet unearthed by the archaeologist revealed an ancient culture's project plan. However, the sands of time had erased much of the information that the table once contained. Use this fragmentary record to unlock the ancient project's secrets and answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.What is the earliest finish time for activity G?

A) Week 21
B) Week 22
C) Week 23
D) Week 24

Question 38

A forward pass through a network is used to determine the earliest start times and earliest finish times for each project activity.

Question 39

Construction of the cattery could be distilled to eight distinct steps, from the official groundbreaking ceremony to the cutting of the litterbox ribbon. The activities, their durations and predecessors are shown in the table below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.The fastest the project can be completed is:

A) 49 weeks.
B) 46 weeks.
C) 38 weeks.
D) 35 weeks.

Question 40

What is the latest that activity B can start if A lasts 35 days,B lasts 5,days C lasts 6 days,and D lasts 7 days?

A) 35
B) 36
C) 40
D) 41

Question 41

________ is a technique to shorten the overall length of the project that usually involves a trade-off between time and cost.

Question 42

A seven activity project has the activity durations (in weeks)and costs shown in the table.The project manager has an overall budget of $20,000,what is the fastest completion time possible?

A) 29 weeks
B) 28 weeks
C) 27 weeks
D) 26 weeks

Question 43

The longest path in a network from the start of a project to the end of a project is the ________.

Question 44

How many days can this project be shortened if money is no object,i.e.,there is an unlimited budget?

A) 6 days
B) 9 days
C) 10 days
D) 13 days

Question 45

Construction of the cattery could be distilled to eight distinct steps, from the official groundbreaking ceremony to the cutting of the litterbox ribbon. The activities, their durations and predecessors are shown in the table below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.Which of these activities has the least slack?

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

Question 46

For critical path activities,slack is equal to ________.

Question 47

The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table.What is the cheapest crash cost for the project if the contractor must complete all work in 45 days?

A) $550
B) $950
C) $1150
D) $1450

Question 48

A project is composed of the twelve activities shown in the table.What are the earliest and latest start times for each of these activities?

Question 49

A seven activity project has the activity durations (in weeks)and costs shown in the table.It is possible to speed up every one of the activities by paying a little more.What is the least expensive 30-week project?

A) $18,900
B) $19,200
C) $19,500
D) $19,800

Question 50

A seven activity project has the activity durations (in weeks)and costs shown in the table.In addition to the activity costs shown in the table,there is an additional daily fixed cost of $450.What is the least expensive project completion cost?

A) $31,450
B) $31,900
C) $32,350
D) $32,700

Question 51

A hatmaker, fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year. He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop. For the sake of simplicity, and to avoid giving away any trade secrets, the activities have been identified by letters A-G. The activities, their time estimates, and the precedence requirements are listed in the table immediately below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.Which of these statements is BEST?

A) Only four of these activities have zero slack.
B) The late finish of D minus the late finish of C is less than the slack of B.
C) B's latest start plus its slack equals F's late finish.
D) The sum of the latest start times for activities A through E is less than the sum of the latest start times for F and G.

Question 52

Which of the activities in this project has the greatest amount of slack?

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

Question 53

Construction of the cattery could be distilled to eight distinct steps, from the official groundbreaking ceremony to the cutting of the litterbox ribbon. The activities, their durations and predecessors are shown in the table below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.One activity has identical earliest finish and latest start times.What is the common number for this unusual activity?

A) 17
B) 18
C) 21
D) 29

Question 54

A hatmaker, fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year. He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop. For the sake of simplicity, and to avoid giving away any trade secrets, the activities have been identified by letters A-G. The activities, their time estimates, and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below. Use this table to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.Develop a Gantt chart for this project and indicate the finish times for each activity.

Question 55

A hatmaker, fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year. He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop. For the sake of simplicity, and to avoid giving away any trade secrets, the activities have been identified by letters A-G. The activities, their time estimates, and the precedence requirements are listed in the table immediately below. Use this scenario to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.Which of these activities has slack?

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

Question 56

A hatmaker, fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year. He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop. For the sake of simplicity, and to avoid giving away any trade secrets, the activities have been identified by letters A-G. The activities, their time estimates, and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below. Use this table to answer the following questions.

Refer to the scenario above.What are the earliest and latest start and finish times for all of these activities?

Question 57

The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table.The fixed cost for being on site is $450.What is the lowest total completion cost for the project?

A) $10,600
B) $11,000
C) $11,400
D) $12,000

Question 58

What is the total cost to complete this project as quickly as possible if each day on site costs $1,000?

A) $43,100
B) $40,300
C) $39,300
D) $41,900

Question 59

A(n)________ is a graphical tool used to show a project's progress as time elapses.

Question 60

An activity's duration added to its earliest start time yields the ________.

Question 61

The tablet unearthed by the archaeologist revealed an ancient culture's project plan,however the sands of time had erased much of the information that the table once contained.Unlock the ancient project's secrets by completing all of the information missing from this fragmentary record.

Question 62

Given the earliest and latest finish times for each of these activities,what are the activity lengths?

Question 63

Construction of the cattery could be distilled to eight distinct steps,from the official groundbreaking ceremony to the cutting of the litterbox ribbon.The activities,their durations and predecessors are shown in the table below.Determine earliest and latest start and finish times for all of the activities.

Question 64

The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table.You have been given a budget of $2,500 and instructed to complete the project as quickly as you can using that amount.Which activities do you expedite and what is the final cost of crashing and project duration?

Question 65

Complete this table containing earliest and latest start times and activity lengths.

Question 66

Most project management software represents a project in AON format.

Question 67

A seven activity project has the activity durations (in weeks)and costs shown in the table.It is possible to speed up every one of the activities by paying a little more; for example,activity A has a regular duration of 7 weeks and regular cost of $2000,but for $3000 activity A can be finished in 5 weeks and for $2500 activity A can be finished in 6 weeks.In addition to the activity costs shown in the table,there is an additional daily fixed cost of $450.What is the least expensive project completion cost?

Question 68

The professional organization that serves the needs of project management professionals is ________.

Question 69

Which of these needs does the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge NOT serve?

A) It provides a common language for discussing project management issues.
B) It provides a blueprint for ISO certification of the project management process.
C) It identifies and disseminates generally accepted project management knowledge and practices.
D) It serves as a basic reference source for project management.

Question 70

The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®)is divided into two main parts,the various business processes that organizations follow in carrying out projects and the nine knowledge areas applicable to nearly all projects.

Question 71

The project shown below has crash costs as shown in the table.What is the minimum completion cost for this project that has a fixed cost of $1,000 per day?

Question 72

A project represented by the activities shown in this table must meet a deadline of 51 days.Sketch the network and determine the critical path.Using the crash costs and minimum activity lengths shown in the table,determine which activities to shorten and provide the total cost of finishing this project in 51 days.