SPM Chapter 6 and 7
Any new technology or business process is untested and has inherent risks.
True
Project management software does not have the capacity to automatically generate network diagrams and calculate the critical path(s) for the project.
False
A large percentage of total project costs are often labor costs.
True
Different cultures may have different perceptions of work ethic.
True
Every cost estimate is unique.
True
Fast tracking can end up lengthening the project schedule.
True
Individual work styles and cultural differences may cause schedule conflicts.
True
____ dependencies involve relationships between project and non-project activities. a. Mandatory c. External b. Discretionary d. Internal
External
There does not need to be a change control system to define procedures for changing the cost baseline.
False
When deciding what projects to invest in or continue, you should include sunk costs.
False
When developing an estimate for a large software project, estimates cannot be made before clear system requirements have been produced.
False
In a ____ relationship, the "from" activity cannot start until the "to" activity is started. a. start-to-start c. finish-to-finish b. finish-to-start d. start-to-finish
start-to-start
By using the PERT weighted average for each activity duration estimate, the total project duration estimate does not account for the risk or uncertainty in the individual activity estimates.
False
Databases are a common tool for cost estimating, cost budgeting, and cost control.
False
Direct costs cannot be directly attributed to a certain project.
False
It only takes one activity to complete a milestone.
False
Organizations have a history of spending too much money in the early phases of information technology projects.
False
Start-to-finish relationships are the most common type of relationships.
False
The main outputs of estimating activity resources includes the activity list and attributes, project scope statement, milestone list, and organizational process assets.
False
The outputs to schedule development include activity duration estimates and project document updates.
False
The people who develop software cost estimates often have a great deal of experience with cost estimation.
False
____ is the ratio of revenues to profits. a. Profit c. Cost structure b. Profit margin d. Cost margin
Profit margin
____ includes the processes required to ensure that a project team completes a project within an approved budget. a. Cost budgeting c. Cost control b. Cost estimating d. Project cost management
Project cost management
____, with assistance from financial experts in their organizations, should create estimates of the costs and benefits of the project for its entire life cycle. a. Financial mangers c. Budget managers b. Project managers d. System managers
Project managers
Most organizations have a well-established process for preparing budgets.
True
One of PERT's main disadvantages is that it involves more work than CPM.
True
Project managers must conduct cash flow analysis to determine net present value.
True
The cost management plan is part of the overall project management plan.
True
____ allow for future situations that are unpredictable. a. Contingency reserves c. Known unknowns b. Management reserves d. Indirect reserves
Management reserves
A Tracking Gantt chart is based on the percentage of work completed for project tasks or the actual start and finish dates.
True
The WBS is not a required input to the cost budgeting process.
False
The critical path always includes the most critical activities.
False
____ involves evaluating the reasons for dependencies and the different types of dependencies. a. Defining activities c. Estimating activity resources b. Sequencing activities d. Estimating activity duration
Sequencing activities
____ involves identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities. a. Defining activities c. Estimating activity resources b. Sequencing activities d. Estimating activity durations
Sequencing activities
On a network diagram, all arrowheads should face toward the ____. a. top c. right b. left d. bottom
right
A definitive estimate should be the least accurate of the three types of estimates.
False
Activity information is not a required input to the other time management processes.
False
Although information technology projects have a poor track record in meeting project goals, they have a good track record in meeting budget goals.
False
Duration only includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity.
False
____ involves developing an approximation or estimate of the costs of the resources needed to complete a project. a. Determining the budget c. Controlling costs b. Consolidation of costs d. Estimating costs
Estimating costs
When justifying investments in new information systems and technology, the focus should only be on revenues or expenses.
False
A ____ is used to allocate money into an organization's budget. a. budgetary estimate c. rough order of magnitude estimate b. definitive estimate d. final estimate
budgetary estimate
A ____ is done very early in a project or even before a project is officially started. a. budgetary estimate c. rough order of magnitude estimate b. definitive estimate d. final estimate
rough order of magnitude estimate
A ____ provides an estimate of what a project will cost. a. budgetary estimate c. rough order of magnitude estimate b. definitive estimate d. final estimate
rough order of magnitude estimate
If the cost performance index is less than one or less than 100 percent, the project is under budget.
False
In an earned value chart, when the actual cost line is right on or above the earned value line, costs are less than or equal to planned.
False
Many projects that are started never finish because of cost management problems.
True
Project managers should focus on ____, since they can control them. a. sunk costs c. direct costs b. indirect costs d. intangible costs
direct costs
Three separate surveys of software project cost overruns found that the average cost overrun for all of the projects in their survey samples (not just unsuccessful projects) were ____ percent. a. 13-14 c. 33-34 b. 23-24 d. 43-44
33-34
The Standish Group's CHAOS studies reported an average cost overrun for unsuccessful IT projects ranged from 180 percent in 1994 to ____ percent in 2004. a. 28 c. 56 b. 43 d. 73
56
____ involves allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance. a. Determining the budget c. Controlling costs b. Consolidation of costs d. Estimating costs
A
Every item on the WBS needs to be on the network diagram.
False
____ helps you develop an accurate projection of a project's financial costs and benefits. a. Profit cycle costing c. Life cycle costing b. Financial costing d. Profit margin costing
Life cycle costing
____ should be forgotten. a. Sunk costs c. Direct costs b. Indirect costs d. Intangible costs
Sunk costs
Preparing cost estimates is a job for accountants.
False
____ involves controlling and managing changes to the project schedule. a. Estimating activity durations c. Controlling the schedule b. Developing the schedule d. Estimating activity resources
Controlling the schedule
The ____ is a network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities. a. PDM c. ADM b. AOA d. POA
PDM
____ involves identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables. a. Defining activities c. Estimating activity resources b. Sequencing activities d. Estimating activity durations
Defining activities
If cost variance is a positive number, it means that performing the work cost more than planned.
False
____ are costs that are not directly related to the products or services of the project, but are indirectly related to performing the project. a. Intangible costs c. Direct costs b. Tangible costs d. Indirect costs
Indirect costs
____ dependencies are inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project. a. Mandatory c. External b. Discretionary d. Internal
Mandatory
____ are those costs that an organization can easily measure in dollars. a. Intangible costs c. Tangible costs b. Direct costs d. Indirect costs
Tangible costs
Many information technology projects are failures in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost projections.
True
Many projects, especially in information technology, have very unrealistic schedule expectations.
True
Many projects, particularly information technology projects, do not have good planning information, so tracking performance against a plan might produce misleading information.
True
Project schedules grow out of the basic documents that initiate a project.
True
ROM estimates can be referred to as a ballpark estimate, a guesstimate, a swag, or a broad gauge.
True
Schedule performance can be estimated by subtracting the original time estimate from how long it really took to complete the project.
True
The arrows in a network diagram represent the activity sequencing or relationships between tasks.
True
The formulas for variances and indexes start with EV, the earned value.
True
The ____ provide(s) schedule-related information about each activity, such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity. a. activity list c. activity descriptions b. milestones d. activity attributes
activity attributes
Outputs from ____ include performance measurements, organizational process assets updates, change requests, project management plan updates, and project document updates. a. estimating activity durations c. controlling the schedule b. developing schedules d. estimating activity resources
controlling the schedule
The goal of ____ is to ensure that the project team has complete understanding of all the work they must do as part of the project scope so they can start scheduling the work. a. defining activities c. estimating activity resources b. sequencing activities d. estimating activity durations
defining activities
In a ____ relationship, the "from" activity must finish before the "to" activity can start. a. start-to-start c. finish-to-finish b. finish-to-start d. start-to-finish
finish-to-start
There are ____ main processes involved in project time management. a. two c. six b. four d. ten
six
The main outputs of the ____ process are an activity list, activity attributes, milestone list, and requested changes. a. defining activities c. resource estimating activities b. sequencing activities d. duration estimating activities
defining activities
A ____ is used for making many purchasing decisions for which accurate estimates are required and for estimating final project costs. a. budgetary estimate c. rough order of magnitude estimate b. definitive estimate d. final estimate
definitive estimate
Since organizations depend on reliable information technology, there are also huge costs associated with ____. a. work time c. uptime b. technical planning d. downtime
downtime
____ results in supporting detail to document important product information as well as assumptions and constraints related to specific activities. a. Defining activities c. Estimating activity resources b. Sequencing activities d. Estimating activity duration
Defining activities
____ involves analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule. a. Estimating activity durations c. Controlling the schedule b. Developing the schedule d. Estimating activity resources
Developing the schedule
____ dependencies are sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care since they may limit later scheduling options. a. Mandatory c. External b. Discretionary d. Internal
Discretionary
Learning curve theory does not apply to the amount of time it takes to complete some tasks.
False
____ occur when two or more activities follow a single node. a. Combinations c. Merges b. Conflicts d. Bursts
Bursts
____ is a method for determining the estimated annual costs and benefits for a project and the resulting annual cash flow. a. Life cycle costing c. Cost estimating b. Profit margin analysis d. Cash flow analysis
Cash flow analysis
____ allow for future situations that may be partially planned for. a. Contingency reserves c. Unknown unknowns b. Management reserves d. Direct reserves
Contingency reserves
____ involves estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities. a. Defining activities c. Estimating activity resources b. Sequencing activities d. Estimating activity durations
Estimating activity durations
It is not necessary to complete all of the activities on the network diagram in order for the project to finish.
False
Managers often cite cost issues during the end phase of a project as one of their biggest challenges and the main cause of conflict.
False
Most projects have one path through a network diagram.
False
Network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity discretionary dependencies.
False
Parametric models are least reliable when historical information was used to create the model.
False
Most managers are unfamiliar with any forms of scheduling.
False
A fast and easy way to determine early and late start and finish dates and free and total slack amounts for activities is by using project management software.
True
After defining project activities, the next step in project time management is sequencing them or determining their dependencies.
True
Cost budgeting provides information for project funding requirements.
True
Estimates are usually done at various stages of a project and should become more accurate as time progresses.
True
Even though the delivery of new hardware may not be in the scope of a project, you should add an external dependency to it.
True
If a project manager gets sick for two weeks or an important supplier goes out of business, management reserve could be set aside to cover the resulting costs.
True
In a Gantt chart created in Microsoft Project, a black diamond symbol represents a milestone.
True
It is important that the people who help determine what resources are necessary include people who have experience and expertise in similar projects and with the organization performing the project.
True
