Operations Management

Earned value management, when properly applied, provides:

a method for evaluating the success of a project.

In the _____ process of a project, the duration of an activity is reduced.

crashing

The time-cost model attempts to

develop a minimum-cost schedule. control expenditures.

One advantage of the ______ project structure is that team members can work on several projects without having to report to multiple project managers.

functional

The benefits of using project management software are

producing presentation ready reports and graphs. scheduling tasks and allocating resources. controlling costs.

When there is some leeway regarding when an activity can start, this is referred to as _____.

slack time

An activity has the following costs and durations. Calculate the crash cost per day. Normal Cost - $1,000 Crash Cost - $1,200 Normal Duration - 5 days Crash Duration - 3 days

$100 per day

The crash-cost per day (or other time unit) is calculated using which of the following formulas?

(CC - NC) / (NT - CT)

You have estimated the following times for an activity a (optimistic time) = 2 days b (pessimistic time) = 12 days m (most likely time) = 4 days What is the expected time (ET) for this activity?

5 days

Which of the following are features of an earned value management (EVM) implementation?

A valuation of each activity Predefined metrics that quantify the accomplishment of work A project plan that identifies activities to be accomplished

A schedule that lists all activities by their early start times is a(n)?

Early start schedule

Activities that need to be completed immediately before an activity are?

Immediate predecessors

The ___ project structure minimizes the duplication of resources?

Matrix

Which of the following is not a direct activity cost?

Penalty fees

Which of the following is needed to calculate the expected time (ET) of an activity?

Pessimistic time (b) Optimistic time (a) Most likely time (m)

Rank the steps in the critical path method (CPM) from first to last.

identify each activity and its duration. construct a network showing the precedence relationships among activities. Determine the critical path. Determine the start/early finish and late start/late finish schedule.

Rank the following terms in regards to a project from the highest level down to the lowest

Program - Managerial Level1 Project - Managerial Level 2 Task - Managerial Level 3 Subtask - Technical Level 1 Work Package - Technical Level 2

Which of the following is a disadvantage of the matrix project structure?

Project managers may "hoard" resources for their own project.

True or false: The process change area of projects accommodates activities such as new equipment purchases or upgrading current process.

TRUE

Which of the following are advantages of the matrix project structure?

Team members are less concerned about their future employment after the project is completed. There is enhanced communication between functional areas. Resource duplication is minimized.

When calculating the slack time of an activity, it is the difference between an activity's

late and early start times.

The hierarchy of project tasks, subtasks and work packages is known as a work breakdown structure.

True

True or false: One advantage of the pure project structure is that the project manager has full authority over the project.

True

If the desired completion time for a project (D) is less than the expected completion time (Te), the value of Z will be

negative.

When crashing a project, the first activity you choose as a candidate for crashing should be

on the critical path with the lowest crash cost per day.

The variance of an activity's completion time requires knowledge of

the pessimistic time (b). the optimistic time (a).

Activity A is a predecessor for Activities B and C. When determining the late finish time for Activity A, you select

the smaller of the late starts for activities B and C.

Extending the critical path model to consider the trade-off between activity time and activity cost is known as the

time-cost model.

Identify the type of project that primarily involves fundamental improvements to existing products.

Platform project

When there is some leeway regarding when an activity can start, this is referred to as _____.

Slack Time

When calculating the probability of project completion, you use the sum of variances of ___________ in the denominator.

all activities on the critical path