University of Houston, Downtown - MGT 3332. Chapter 17. Contains 137 Questions and Answers. Answer Key provided at the end of the document.

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17 Student: ___________________________________________________________________________ 1. Good project management is especially important with virtual teams. True False 2. One way that project ma... nagement differs from management of more traditional activities is because of the limited lifetime of projects. True False 3. 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. True False 4. Matrix organizations transfer control of workers to project managers for the duration of the project. True False 5. Some organizations use a matrix organization to integrate the activities of specialists within a functional framework. True False 6. The project computing algorithm requires both a forward and a backward pass. True False 7. A hierarchical (vertical) listing of what must be done during a project is called matrix. True False 8. An advantage of Gantt charts in project management is that they identify which activities can be delayed without delaying the overall project. True False 9. A Gantt chart is built using established precedence relationships. True False 10. The higher the node number, the longer the activity will take. True False 11. 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. True False 12. 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 False 13. Although PERT and CPM were originally developed for somewhat different types of projects, they are now nearly identical in terms of analysis and procedures. True False 14. The network diagram describes sequential relationships among major activities on a project. True False 15. The path in a network with the average length of time to completion is called the critical path. True False 16. The sum of times of the longest path in a network indicates expected project completion time, and the activities represent the critical activities. True False 17. Path probabilities are calculated by dividing path mean by path standard deviations. True False 18. The main function of dummy activities is to clarify relationships in network diagrams. True False 19. The earliest finish time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity time. True False 20. The latest starting time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity time. True False 21. The earliest finish time for an activity is equal to the latest finish time minus the activity slack. True False 22. Many activities have slack time; if we add these slack times together, this represents the potential improvement in early completion for the project. True False 23. 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. True False 24. The task of identifying risks should involve everyone associated with the project. True False 25. Most likely time generally is more than optimistic time. True False 26. Activities not on the critical path have a slack time equal to zero. True False 27. 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. True False 28. Deterministic networks use three time estimates—shortest, most likely, and longest—for each activity in order to best determine the activity's estimated time. True False 29. Slack time is equal to LS-ES or LF-EF. True False 30. Project management software eliminates conflicts when there are shared resources. True False 31. 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. True False 32. The total cost of crashing any one activity should never exceed 20 percent of the total cost of the original project. True False 33. 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. True False 34. In order to determine the probability of timely project completion, it is sometimes necessary to take into account paths other than the critical path. True False 35. 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. True False 36. A disadvantage of activity-on-node diagrams is the occasional need for dummy activities. True False 37. 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 38. 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 39. 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 40. 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. 41. 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 42. 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 43. 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 44. 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 45. 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. 46. 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 47. 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. 48. 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 49. 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. 50. 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. 51. 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. 52. To _____ an activity means to shorten the time it will take. A. speed B. fund C. crash D. aggregate E. matrix 53. 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. 54. 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. 55. 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. 56. 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. 57. Shortening activity durations is called: A. expediting. B. crashing. C. vendor management. D. null nodes. E. trade-off analysis. 58. Consider the portion of a project depicted by this graph: What is the earliest finish time for activity 10-11 (far right-hand side) if the earliest start time of 8-10 (upper left-hand side) is 12 and the earliest start time of 9-10 (lower left-hand side) is 13? A. 22 B. 23 C. 24 D. 25 E. 26 59. Activity 7-8 is directly preceded by two activities—activity 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. 60. 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 61. 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 62. 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 63. 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. 64. 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. 65. 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. 66. 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. 67. 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. 68. 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 69. 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. 70. 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. 71. 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. 72. 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. 73. 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. 74. 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. 75. At which point does crashing of a project cease? A. when the project is completed B. when no additional crashing is possible C. when the cost to crash equals or exceeds the benefit of crashing D. when the project is one-half completed E. when the team has been disbanded 76. Which of the following are advantages of PERT? (I) It is visual. (II) It is automatically updated. (III) Activities that need to be watched closely can be identified. A. I and II B. II and III C. III only D. I and III E. I, II, and III 77. Which of the following are limitations of PERT? (I) Time estimates may include a fudge factor. (II) Important activities may be overlooked. (III) It is an after-the-fact analysis. A. I and II B. I, II, and III C. I and III D. II and III E. I only 78. Which of the following is not a limitation of PERT and similar project-scheduling techniques? A. They force the manager to organize and quantify information. B. One or more important activities may be omitted from the network. C. Precedence relationships may not all be correct as shown. D. Time estimates may contain a "fudge factor." E. The use of a computer is essential for large projects. 79. Gantt charts are most closely associated with A. JIT. B. PERT. C. MRP. D. MRPII. E. Six Sigma. 80. A project is represented by the following diagram: The expected duration of this project is: A. 12. B. 17. C. 20. D. 36. E. 77. 81. A project is represented by the following diagram: The critical path for the network shown is: A. a-c-g. B. a-d-f-g. C. a-d-h-i. D. b-e-f-g. E. b-e-h-i. 82. A project is represented by the following diagram: The expected duration of this project is: A. 13. B. 15. C. 20. D. 52. E. 81. 83. A project is represented by the following diagram: The critical path for the network shown is: A. 1-3-6-7. B. 1-2-4-7. C. 1-4-7. D. 1-3-4-7. E. 1-2-5-7. 84. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for activity E? A. 91 days B. 99 days C. 100 days D. 101 days E. 115 days 85. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity E? A. 2 days B. 3 days C. 4 days D. 16 days E. 24 days 86. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for project completion? A. 100 days B. 140 days C. 199 days D. 200 days E. 440 days 87. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated slack time for activity A? A. 0 days B. 20 days C. 40 days D. 60 days E. 100 days 88. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the probability that this project will be completed within 205 days? A. 0.6826 B. 0.8413 C. 0.9544 D. 0.9772 E. 0.9987 89. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for activity D? A. 32 days B. 41 days C. 44 days D. 42 days E. 40 days 90. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity D? A. 0 days B. 2 days C. 3 days D. 4 days E. 12 days 91. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for project completion? A. 41 days B. 70 days C. 100 days D. 120 days E. 221 days 92. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated slack time for activity D? A. 0 days B. 19 days C. 20 days D. 79 days E. 80 days 93. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the probability that this project will be completed within 130 days? A. .8413 B. .90 C. .9544 D. .9772 E. .9987 94. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for activity E? A. 35 days B. 36 days C. 39 days D. 40 days E. 45 days 95. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity E? A. 1 days B. 2 days C. 3 days D. 4 days E. 5 days 96. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for project completion? A. 160 days B. 170 days C. 200 days D. 210 days E. 300 days 97. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated slack time for activity D? A. 0 days B. 30 days C. 40 days D. 50 days E. 100 days 98. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the probability that the critical path for this project will be completed within 210 days? A. 0.5000 B. 0.8413 C. 0.9544 D. 0.9772 E. 0.9987 99. Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for activity E? A. 31 weeks B. 38 weeks C. 39 weeks D. 40 weeks E. 43 weeks 100.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity E? A. 0 weeks B. 1 week C. 2 weeks D. 3 weeks E. 4 weeks 101.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for project completion? A. 35 weeks B. 39 weeks C. 50 weeks D. 104 weeks E. 105 weeks 102.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated slack time for activity E? A. 0 weeks B. 3 weeks C. 9 weeks D. 11 weeks E. 12 weeks 103.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the probability that the critical path for this project will be completed within 52 weeks? A. 0.1554 B. 0.3108 C. 0.3466 D. 0.6554 E. 0.8277 104.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for activity Y? A. 30 days B. 29 days C. 38 days D. 26 days E. 35 days 105.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated standard deviation in the time for activity Z? A. 3 days B. 2 days C. 4 days D. 8 days E. 5 days 106.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time for project completion? A. 135 days B. 145 days C. 170 days D. 180 days E. 255 days 107.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated slack time for activity W? A. 0 days B. 25 days C. 35 days D. 45 days E. 85 days 108.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the probability that the critical path for this project will be completed within 200 days? A. 0.8413 B. 0.9544 C. 0.9772 D. 0.9974 E. 0.9987 109.Which of the following is not characteristic of good risk management? A. estimating the likelihood of chance events occurring B. planning to eliminate chance events C. identifying potential chance events D. formulating contingency plans for chance events E. analyzing the consequences of chance events 110.Which of the following leads to simulation being a useful tool with uncertain activity times? A. paths that are not independent B. activity times that are not deterministic C. activity times that cannot be crashed D. noncritical paths that have no variability E. critical paths with activities with deterministic time estimates 111.Which of the following is not an element of the project management triangle? A. cost B. schedule C. resources D. quality E. performance objectives 112.If an activity is determined to be on the critical path, that means that it, and perhaps others, will affect project: A. direct costs. B. performance. C. quality. D. conflict. E. duration. 113.Activity J has a duration of 7 and an earliest finish time of 21. If J's latest start time is 16, this must mean that J's slack is: A. 7. B. 4. C. 3. D. 2. E. 1. 114.Consider the project depicted by the following A-O-A diagram: What is the probability that this project's duration will exceed 8.5 weeks? 115.Using the information given in the following table: (A) Identify the critical path. (B) Determine expected project duration. 116.In the project network presented below, numbers on each arrow refer to the expected time and standard deviation in weeks for that particular activity. For example, "8,2" indicates an activity with an expected time of 8 and a standard deviation of two weeks. For this project, determine each of the following: (A) the activities which are on the critical path (B) the expected project duration (C) the probability that the project will be completed in 29 weeks or less 117.Determine the amount of slack in each of a project's activities (presented below), and identify those that are on the critical path. 118.Given the network diagram below, determine the probability that the project will finish within 26 weeks of its start. Times on the diagram are in weeks. 119.A project consists of nine major activities, as shown below. There are three separate paths in the network: a-c-f, b-d-g, and e-h-i. (A) What is expected project duration time? (B) Determine the probability that the project will take more than 35 weeks to complete. (All times are in weeks.) 120.Activity E has an optimistic time of 9 days, a most likely time of 12 days, and a pessimistic time of 15 days. Estimate its expected time and standard deviation. 121.Prepare a crashing plan for the following project that will reduce the project duration by three weeks. 122.A project has the activities and activity times (days) listed below. Determine the probability that the project will require more than 15 days from start to finish. 123.Activity D has an optimistic time of three days, a pessimistic time of nine days, and a most likely time of four days. Determine its expected time and variance. 124.What is the probability that this project will take more than 10 weeks to complete if the activity means and standard deviations are as shown below? 125.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What are the estimated expected (mean) times (in weeks) for activities A-H? 126.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What are the estimated standard deviations (in weeks) in the times for activities A-H? 127.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated expected (mean) time (in weeks) for project completion? 128.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What are the estimated slack times (in weeks) for activities A-H? 129.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the critical path for this project network? 130.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the estimated standard deviation (in weeks) for the critical path completion time? 131.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the probability that the critical path for this project will be completed within 75 weeks? 80 weeks? 85 weeks? 90 weeks? 132.Consider the following work breakdown structure: Within what amount of time (in weeks) is there a 90 percent probability that the critical path for this project will be completed? 95 percent? 99 percent? 133.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What activities make up the critical path? 134.Consider the following work breakdown structure: In crashing this project, which activity should be the first to be reduced? 135.Consider the following work breakdown structure: In crashing this project to 18 weeks, which activities (in order of selection) will be reduced? 136.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the total cost of reducing this project by two weeks? 137.Consider the following work breakdown structure: What is the total cost of reducing the project to 18 weeks? 17 Summary Category # of Questions 65 AACSB: Analytic AACSB: Reflective Thinking 72 Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation 81 Blooms: Apply 65 Blooms: Remember 53 Blooms: Understand 19 Learning Objective: 17-01 Describe the project life cycle. 3 Learning Objective: 17- 02 Discuss the behavioral aspects of projects in terms of project personnel and the project manager. 12 Learning Objective: 17-03 Name the six key decisions in project management. 2 Learning Objective: 17-04 Explain the nature and importance of a work breakdown structure in project management. 5 Learning Objective: 17-05 Give a general description of PERT/CPM techniques. 15 Learning Objective: 17-06 Construct simple network diagrams. 9 Learning Objective: 17-07 Analyze networks with deterministic times. 17 Learning Objective: 17-08 Analyze networks with probabilistic times. 58 Learning Objective: 17-09 Describe activity "crashing" and solve typical problems. 11 Learning Objective: 17-10 Discuss the advantages of using PERT and potential sources of error. 3 Learning Objective: 17-11 Discuss the key steps in risk management. 2 Level of Difficulty: 1 Easy 23 Level of Difficulty: 2 Medium 92 Level of Difficulty: 3 Hard 22 Stevenson - Chapter 17 137 Topic: A Computing Algorithm 32 Topic: Behavioral Aspects of Project Management 5 Topic: Determining Path Probabilities 29 Topic: PERT and CPM 17 Topic: Planning and Scheduling with Gantt Charts 2 Topic: Probabilistic Time Estimates 20 Topic: Project Life Cycle 3 Topic: Project Management 5 Topic: Project Management Software 1 Topic: Risk Management 7 Topic: Simulation 1 Topic: Time-Cost Trade-Offs: Crashing 11 Topic: Work Breakdown Structure 4 [Show More]

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