Project Management Exam 2

An activity in a network has the following characteristics: ES = 10, EF = 18 and LS = 12. The duration of the activity is:

8

An activity in a network has the following characteristics: ES = 5, EF = 9 and LF = 12. LS = _____.

8

The probability-impact matrix is a technique used as part of:

Risk assessment

The process that identifies, evaluates, selects and implements one of more strategies to set risk at an acceptable level is:

Risk handling

Brainstorming, assumption analysis and WBS decomposition are techniques used for:

Risk identification

Nominal work groups and the Delphi Techniques are used as part of which risk management process?

Risk identification

What is included in risk management?

Risk planning, risk assessment, risk handling

When a project is completed, which of the following must be true?

SV = 0

What are the escalation factors are usually paid for with funds from the management reserve?

Salaries, Overhead rates, and Material Costs

The person or group with greatest ability to influence cost at project initiation is:

The customer / owner

Which of the following cannot be determined after performing a forward pass and a backward pass on a network diagram?

The effort in each activity

Negative slack is the result of:

The forward pass going beyond the customer's end date and the backward pass is measured from the customer's end date

The two primary components of a risk are:

The probability and the impact

If the optimistic time for an activity is 6 weeks, the pessimistic time is 24 weeks and the most likely time is 12 weeks, then the expected duration is:

13 weeks

If the slack in a 12 week activity is 6 weeks and ES = 4, then LF = _____.

22

Consider the following: BAC = $1000, VAC = , and AC = $400. Therefore EV = _____.

$ 480

If BAC = $20,000 and the project is 40 percent complete, then the earned value is:

$8,000

An employee earning $40/hour works in a department where the overhead is 125%. A billable or charge back hour to this department would be:

$90

The best source of revenue for a customer-requested scope change is:

A customer-funded contract amendment

Which of the following activity-on-arrow network diagramming methods does not require three estimates for durations?

ADM

If a project manager believes in a reactive rather than proactive risk management approach, he / she is using:

Acceptance / Assumption

The best method to price out a work package is to use the:

Actual salary of the workers assuming they are known

When a functional manager tells you that your project is 10% more difficult than the standard project, the functional manager is providing you with a _____ estimate.

Analogy

Which of the following standard project estimating techniques is usually accomplished in weeks?

Analogy

Which risk handling mode is a project manager using if he / she throws out one of three designs for a new product?

Avoidance

Which of the following scheduling techniques is most appropriate today for reporting project status to a customer during an interchange meeting?

BAR charts

There are several purposes for the 50-50 rule, but the primary purpose of the 50-50 rule is to calculate?

BCWP

Material provided in a proposal to justify one's estimates are called:

Back up data

Which of the following network diagramming methods allows for branching and looping?

GERT

Which of the following terms is used to determine the trend on cost? (CV, EAC, CPI, or AC):

CPI

Consider the following: BAC = $1000, VAC = <$200>, and AC = $400. Therefore, SV = _____.

Cannot be determined

In which life cycle phase is the total project risk generally the least?

Closure

In which lift cycle phase does the project manager have the greatest financial risk?

Closure

The establishment of all of the charge numbers for a project is called the:

Code of accounts

What projects would most likely have reasonably good estimating techniques?

Construction

If a project manager believes in a proactive rather than reactive risk management approach, he/ she is using:

Control / Mitigation

Which of the following schedule compression techniques usually requires adding more resources to each work package that is being compressed?

Crashing

An S-Curve plots:

Cumulative cost as a function of time

Which of the following schedule compression techniques is often the lowest risk and with the added benefit of lowering the cost?

Descoping

What are considered to be insurable risks?

Direct property damage, indirect consequential loss and legal liability

The major disadvantage of using a bar chart on large projects is that bar charts:

Do not show dependencies between activities

Activities with zero time durations are called:

Dummy activities

The 50-50 rule is a technique used to determine:

EV

The EVMS term that represents the value of work actually accomplished is:

EV

The weakness in all of earned value measurement is the way we calculate:

EV

Proper risk management is reactive rather than proactive (T/F)

False

The critical path is the path in the network with the greatest amount of risk. (T/F)

False

The measurement of lag is made within an activity whereas slack is measured between activities. (T/F)

False

PERT network reflect what type of precedence diagram?

Finish to start

Which of the following is false concerning the critical path in a network?

It is the path that contains the greatest number of activities

What are the maximum number of inputs and outputs that can exist in a node in the precedence diagramming method?

It is unlimited

An objective source for risk identification is:

Lessons learned files, program documentation evaluations, and current performance data

Work that does not lend itself to subdivision into discrete scheduled increments of work, such as project support, is called:

Level of effort

The difference between the cost baseline and the contracted cost is the:

Management reserve

At project initiation:

Many cost reduction opportunities exist and the cost of each change is low

What are cost estimating relationships?

Mathematical equations based upon regression analysis, Cost-quantity relationships, Cost-Cost relationships

Earned value measurement systems must be capable of: (3 things)

Measuring resources consumed, Measuring status and accomplishment, and Provide a basis for diagnosis and replanning

What is an estimating pitfall?

Misinterpretation of the statement of work, Inaccurate work breakdown structure, and failure to use correct estimating techniques

A technique that uses a series of probability distributions and then transforms them into various risks is called:

Monte Carlo simulation

Monte Carlo simulation is a technique used as part of:

Risk assessment

Variance envelopes are usually established because:

Not all cost variances must be explained even though they exist

Risk constitutes a lack of knowledge_____:

Of future events

What components of life cycle costing incurs the largest cost?

Operational and Support

If BCWS = 1000, BCWP = 1200, and ACWP = 1300, the project is:

Over budget and ahead of schedule

If PV = $100, EV = $200 and AC = $300, the status is:

Over budget and ahead of schedule

If SPI = 1.05 and CPI = 0.96, the project's trend is:

Over budget and ahead of schedule

Which of the following is an activity-on-node network diagramming method?

PDM

Which of the following network diagramming methods do not use dummy activities?

PDM

What are the four network diagramming techniques?

PERT, GERT, ADM, PDM

Pricing out the construction cost of a home by a cost per square foot would be representative of a _____ estimate.

Parametric

In which of the following schedule compression techniques is the cost of rework usually the greatest?

Performing series work in parallel

Which of the following scheduling techniques is most appropriate today for managing a project?

Precedence charts

Assigning high, medium or low to a potential risk is part of:

Qualitative risk assessment

Laying out a network diagram when you know before-hand the size of the available resource pool is called:

Resource allocation or resource limited planning

Smoothing out project resources from period to period is called:

Resource leveling

A common cause for a favorable CV but unfavorable SV might be:

Too few workers on the project

If a project manager awards a firm-fixed price contract to a supplier, he/she is using:

Transfer

During risk monitoring and control, we focus first on the risk's trigger rather than the risk itself. (T/F):

True

Earned value measurement is a technique suitable for risk monitoring and control. (T/F):

True

If PV > AC, then we are spending less than the plan called for but we do not know if that's good or bad without having a value for EV. (T/F)

True

Risk and Knowledge are inversely related. (T/F):

True

Risk mitigation or control does not eliminate a risk but seeks to reduce it without altering the requirements (T/F):

True

If the schedule variance is positive and the cost variance is negative, the project's status is:

Under budget and ahead of schedule

A common cause for a favorable SV but unfavorable CV might be:

Using overtime

The form that is used to establish charge numbers is the:

Work authorization form

An activity on the critical path of a project was scheduled to be completed within 12 weeks, with a budget of $8,000. During a performance review, which took place 7 weeks after the activity was initiated, it was found that 50% of the work had already been completed and that the actual cost was $4,500. a) Calculate the EV of the activity b) Calculate the CPI & SPI

a) The earned value of the activity is 50% of $8,000 or $4,000 b) BCWS = PV = 'How much work should be done' = $8,000 (7/12) = $4,666; BCWP = EV = 'How much work is done' = $4,000; ACWP = AC = 'How much did "is done" work cost' = $4,500; CPI = $4,000/$4,500 = .889; SPI = $4,000/$4,666 = .869

If CPI = 1.1 and SPI = 0.95, then the trend for the project is:

under budget and behind schedule