Chapter 13

What is the best way to explain "a CPI of 0.70"?

$0.70 worth of planned work has been completed for each $1.00 actually spent.

What is the earned value (EV) of a work package that has not yet been started?

0% of planned value

Which of the following values is the "best" management reserve index from the project manager's perspective?

0.10

Which value for TCPI indicates the project is under budget?

0.78

What are the project control steps for measuring and evaluating project performance?

1. Set a baseline plan. 2. Measure progress and performance. 3. Compare the plan against actual performance. 4. Take appropriate action.

When measuring percent complete in the monitoring phase of the project, it is common to limit the amount earned to ______ percent complete until the work package is 100 percent complete.

80 to 90

Which of the following formulas will calculate the estimated total cost at completion for a project?

AC + ETCre

The percent complete index that looks at percent complete in terms of actual costs is calculated by which of the following?

AC/EAC

Which project stakeholders are affected by scope creep?

All stakeholders are affected.

What does a tracking Gantt chart use to show activity duration?

Bars

What is the meaning of an index of "<1.00" on SPI?

Behind schedule

The two indexes that measure performance efficiency are ___.

CPI and SPI

Which of the following is the formula for the management reserve index?

CV/MR

What is the second step in building a project monitoring information system?

Data collection and analysis

Which three of the following steps are accomplished in the planning stage to ensure integration of the cost/schedule system?

Define the work using a work breakdown structure (WBS). Develop work and resource schedules. Develop a time-phase budget using work packages.

Which method used to revise estimates of future project costs uses the actual costs to date plus an efficiency index applied to the remaining project work?

EACf

The following terms are used to calculate the revised estimate at completion. Match each term with its meaning. Instructions

EACre and EACf <--> Forecasted total cost at completion. ETC <--> Estimated cost to complete remaining work. AC <--> Cumulative actual cost of work completed to date. CPI <--> Cumulative cost index to date. BAC <--> Total budget of the baseline. EV <--> Cumulative budgeted cost of work completed to date.

The cost performance index (CPI) measures cost efficiency of the work accomplished to date; what is the formula for calculating CPI?

EV/AC

The percent complete index that looks at percent complete in terms of budgeted amounts is calculated by which of the following?

EV/BAC

The schedule performance index (SPI) measures time efficiency of the work accomplished to date; what is the formula for calculating SPI?

EV/PV

_____ _____ is the budgeted cost of the work performed.

Earned; Value

Which of the following are typically included in baselines?

Equipment Materials Labor

Baseline costs typically include labor, equipment, materials and direct overhead cost.

False

Overhead costs and profit are typically included in the project baseline.

False

The network diagram chart is the most favored, used, and understandable option for reporting project progress to upper management.

False

________ and ________ are typical tools used for communicating project schedule status.

Gantt charts, control charts

Which statement explains why it is possible to have a negative schedule variance, but the project is ahead on the critical path?

If delays in noncritical activities outweigh progress on the critical path, SV will be negative, but the project may finish on time.

Which of the following are true regarding scope creep?

It wears down team motivation and cohesiveness. It is often unnoticed until time delays or cost overruns are observed. It affects the project scope. It is common in new product development.

______ ______ are easy to understand and are often the way many time and cost estimates are developed.

Labor hours

Several project percent complete indexes are used, depending on your judgment of which one is most representative of your project. What are they?

PCIB PCIC

______ is the difference between EV and PV.

SV

What is the major goal of progress reporting?

To determine whether corrective action is necessary

The best defense against scope creep is:

a well-defined scope statement.

You earn the value of the work that has been

accomplished, completed, finished, or done

A PCIC of 0.75 would mean ___.

actual cost to date is 75% of the estimated total cost at completion.

The percent complete index actual costs assumes the ____________ is (are) the most reliable information for measuring percent complete.

actual costs-to-date and expected cost at completion

Periodic monitoring and measuring of the status of the project allow for comparisons of _________.

actual versus expected plans

In a project monitoring system, data collected from ______ activity duration, resource usage, and costs are compared against ______ activity duration, resource usage, and costs.

actual; planned

In a project control chart, several observations trending in one direction indicate a high probability of ___ .

an identifiable cause

If a scope change is necessary, the impact on the _____ should be clearly documented.

baseline

It is crucial to integrate the _______ with the performance measurement system.

baseline

The time-phased costs provides the project budget

baseline

A SPI value less than one indicates that the project is _________.

behind schedule

The key of managing scope creep is _____.

change management

The project __________ is a tool used to monitor past project schedule performance and to estimate future schedule trends.

control chart

If deviations from plans are significant, _____ will be needed to bring the project back in line with the original or revised plan.

corrective action

In more complex projects, the ______ of cost accounts by deliverables and organization units can be very revealing and more profound.

crosstabs

Although different stakeholders need different levels of detail, most project progress reports include ___.

current status of project schedule

Project managers use a ____ to manage and motivate the project team to achieve deliverables.

detailed milestone-driven schedule

Scope creep is common _____ in projects.

early

The status report uses ______ ______ to measure schedule and cost performance.

earned value

The best method for assigning costs to the baseline under the percent complete rule is to establish ___________ over the duration of the work package.

frequent checkpoints

In the cost/schedule system, when computing cost variance and schedule variance, ____ status reports are prepared for each level of management.

hierarchical

Earned value can be based on percent completion of ___.

hours of labor allocated to a work package budgeted cost of a work package

The baseline chart

is created during the project planning phase and lays out the logic and timing for major activities.

Usually status reports should take place every ____________.

one to four weeks

Although scope changes are usually viewed negatively, they can represent significant

opportunities or opportunity

The percent complete index budgeted costs, with regard to the first index, assumes the ____________ is (are) the most reliable information for measuring percent complete.

original budget of work complete

A CPI value less than one indicates that the project is:

over budget.

The ________ indexes compare the to-date progress to the end of the project.

percent complete

Earned value for a task is _______.

percent of the original budget that has been earned by actual work

CPI and SPI are two types of indexes that measure ________.

performance efficiency

The major reasons for creating a baseline are to monitor and report:

progress and estimate cash flow.

In measuring project progress, an index greater than 1.00 indicates ___.

progress is better than expected

In measuring project progress, an index less than 1.00 indicates ___.

progress is less than expected

The TCPI ratio measures the amount of value each ________ dollar in the budget must earn to stay within the budget.

remaining or unspent

Project managers use a ______ to keep distal stakeholders informed of project progress.

schedule of major project milestones

The earned value system uses time-phased costs to enable comparisons between actual and planned ____ and ____.

schedule; costs

Small, undocumented changes in a project's scope are known as ___.

scope creep

The first step in creating a project control system for measuring and evaluating project performance is to:

set up a baseline plan.

The tracking Gantt chart ___________.

shows progress against plan with a solid bar below the original schedule bar.

A ______ report is analogous to a camera snapshot of a project at a specific point in time.

status

The fourth step in the project control process of the measurement and evaluation of project performance is to ____________.

take necessary corrective actions

In project monitoring information systems, ___ determine(s) what data to collect.

the metrics used for project control

A PCIB of 0.75 would mean ___.

the work accomplished to date represents 75% of the total budgeted dollars for the project.

A major goal of progress reporting is to catch any negative variances from plan as early as possible to determine if corrective action is necessary. The project network schedule, derived from the ______, serves as the baseline to compare against actual performance.

work breakdown structure (WBS)/organization breakdown structure (OBS)

Cost variance of budget-to-actual alone does not measure how much ____ was accomplished for the money spent.

work or results