Ops. Mgmt. Ch. 3

33. A F. E is an immediate predecessor of F. The activity durations are D=4, E=3, F=8. a. The critical path is D-E-F, duration 15. b. The critical path is D-F, duration 12. c. Slack at D is 3 units d. Slack at E is 3 units e. Both a and c are true

a (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, difficult) {AACSB: Analytic Skills}

32. A of C. B is an immediate predecessor of C. The activity durations are A=4, B=3, C=8. a. The critical path is A-B-C, duration 15. b. The critical path is A-C, duration 12. c. The critical path is A-B-C, duration 13.5 d. The critical path cannot be determined without knowing PERT expected activity times. e. The network has no critical path.

a (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, difficult) {AACSB: Analytic Skills} simple CPM network has three activities, A, B, and C. A is an immediate predecessor of B and

Which of the following statements regarding PERT times is true? a. The optimistic time estimate is an estimate of the minimum time an activity will require. b. The optimistic time estimate is an estimate of the maximum time an activity will require. c. The probable time estimate is calculated as t = (a + 4m + b). d. Pessimistic time estimate is an estimate of the minimum time an activity will require. e. Most likely time estimate is an estimate of the maximum time an activity will require.

a (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

26. A a. has been established by the Project Management Institute b. has been formulated by the Federal government c. has been formulated by the World Trade Organization d. is inappropriate, since everyone should use the same guidance on ethical issues e. does not exist at this time

a (Project planning, moderate) {AACSB: Ethical Reasoning}

23. The phases of project management are a. planning, scheduling, and controlling b. planning, programming, and budgeting c. planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling d. different for manufacturing projects than for service projects e. GANTT, CPM, and PERT

a (The importance of project management, easy)

39. The time an activity will take assuming very unfavorable conditions is a. the optimistic time b. the pessimistic time c. the activity variance d. the minimum time e. exactly twice as long as the expected time

b (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

43. The expected activity time in PERT analysis is calculated as a. the simple average of the optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely times b. the weighted average of a, m, and b, with m weighted 4 times as heavily as a and b c. the sum of the optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely times d. the sum of the optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely times, divided by six e. the sum of the activity variances, divided by six

b (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

34. A simple CPM network has five activities, A, B, C, D, and E. A is an immediate predecessor of C and of D. B is also an immediate predecessor of C and of D. C and D are both immediate predecessors of E. a. There are two paths in this network. b. There are four paths in this network. c. There are five paths in this network. d. There are 25 paths through this network. e. None of these statements is true.

b (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate) {AACSB: Analytic Skills} simple CPM network has three activities, D, E, and F. D is an immediate predecessor of E and of

46. Which of the following statements regarding PERT times is true? a. Expected time is an estimate of the time an activity will require if everything goes as planned. b. The optimistic time estimate is an estimate of the maximum time an activity will require. c. The probable time estimate is calculated as t = (a + 4m + b)/6. d. Pessimistic time estimate is an estimate of the minimum time an activity will require. e. Most likely time estimate is an estimate of the maximum time an activity will require.

c (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

48. The Beta distribution is used in project management to a. determine which activity should be crashed b. calculate the probability that a project will be completed within its budget c. calculate expected activity times d. calculate slack for activities on the critical path e. none of the above

c (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

25. Which of the following statements regarding project management is false? a. Gantt charts give a timeline for each of a project's activities, but do not adequately show the interrelationships of activities. b. A project organization works best for a project that is temporary but critical to the organization. c. Project organization works well when the work contains simple, independent tasks. d. Gantt charts and PERT/CPM are never used together. e. None of the above is true.

c (Project planning, moderate)

29. Which of the following statements regarding Gantt charts is true? a. Gantt charts give a timeline and precedence relationships for each activity of a project. b. Gantt charts use the four standard spines of Methods, Materials, Manpower, and Machinery. c. Gantt charts are visual devices that show the duration of activities in a project. d. Gantt charts are expensive. e. All of the above are true.

c (Project scheduling, moderate) code of ethics especially for project managers

38. Which of the following statements concerning CPM activities is false? a. The early finish of an activity is the early start of that activity plus its duration. b. The late finish is the earliest of the late start times of all successor activities. c. The late start of an activity is its late finish less its duration. d. The late finish of an activity is the earliest late start of all preceding activities. e. The early start of an activity is the latest early finish of all preceding activities.

d (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, difficult)

35. simple CPM network has three activities, D, E, and F. D is an immediate predecessor of E and of Activity D on a CPM network has predecessors B and C, and has successor F. D has duration 6. B's earliest finish is 18, while C's is 20. F's late start is 26. Which of the following is true? a. B is a critical activity. b. C is completed before B. c. D has no slack but is not critical. d. D is critical, and has zero slack. e. All of the above are true.

d (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, difficult) {AACSB: Analytic Skills}

30. Which of the following statements regarding critical paths is true? a. The shortest of all paths through the network is the critical path. b. Some activities on the critical path may have slack. c. Every network has exactly one critical path. d. On a specific project, there can be multiple critical paths, all with exactly the same duration. e. The duration of the critical path is the average duration of all paths in the project network.

d (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

31. Which of the following statements regarding CPM is true? a. The critical path is the shortest of all paths through the network. b. The critical path is that set of activities that has positive slack. c. Some networks have no critical path. d. All activities on the critical path have their LS equal their predecessor's EF. e. All of the above are false.

d (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

36. Which of the following statements regarding CPM networks is true? a. There can be multiple critical paths on the same project, all with different durations. b. The early finish of an activity is the latest early start of all preceding activities. c. The late start of an activity is its late finish plus its duration. d. If a specific project has multiple critical paths, all of them will have the same duration. e. All of the above are true.

d (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

27. Divulging information to some bidders on a project to give them an unfair advantage a. is the same thing as altering a status report b. is bribery c. is permitted by NAFTA d. is known as bid rigging e. is acceptable for private corporations but not for government agencies

d (Project planning, moderate) {AACSB: Ethical Reasoning}

47. The Beta distribution is used in project management to a. calculate slack on activities not on the critical path b. calculate the probability that a project will be completed within its budget c. calculate pessimistic and optimistic activity times d. determine which activity should be crashed e. none of the above

e (Project management techniques: PERT and CPM, moderate)

28. Ethical issues that may arise in projects large and small include a. bid rigging b. expense account padding c. compromised safety or health standards d. bribery e. All of the above are true.

e (Project planning, easy) {AACSB: Ethical Reasoning}

24. A project organization a. is effective for companies with multiple large projects b. is appropriate only in construction firms c. often fails when the project cuts across organizational lines d. is formed to ensure that programs (projects) get proper management and attention e. a and d are both true

e (Project planning, moderate)

project planning

establishing objectives, defining project, creating work breakdown structure, determining resources forming organization

t/f A project organization works best for an organization when the project resides in only one of its functional areas.

false

t/f PERT, but not CPM, has the ability to consider the precedence relationships in a project.

false

t/f Shortening the project's duration by deleting unnecessary activities is called "project crashing."

false

t/f The PERT pessimistic time estimate is an estimate of the minimum time an activity will require.

false

t/f The critical path can be determined by use of either the "forward pass" or the "backward pass."

false

t/f The shortest of all paths through the network is the critical path.

false

t/f The standard deviation of project duration is the average of the standard deviation of all activities on the critical path.

false

t/f Work Breakdown Structure is a useful tool in project management because it addresses the timing of individual work elements.

false

t/f the fundamental difference between PERT and CPM is that PERT uses the beta distribution for crashing projects while CPM uses cost estimates.

false

planning

goal setting, defining the project, team organization

a project organization

is effective for companies with multiple large projects, is formed to ensure that programs (projects) get proper management and attention

controlling

monitor resources costs, quality, and budgets; revise plans and shift resources to meet time and cost demands

phases of project management

planning, scheduling, and controlling

scheduling

relate people, money, and supplies to specific activities and activities to each other

project characteristics

single unit, many related activities, difficult production planning and inventory control, general purpose equipment, high labor skills

t/f By their very nature, projects have a limited lifetime, and that sets project management apart from the management of more traditional activities.

true

t/f Ethical issues which can arise in projects include bid rigging, bribery, and "low balling."

true

t/f Every network has at least one critical path.

true

t/f Gantt charts give a timeline for each of a project's activities, but do not adequately show the interrelationships of activities.

true

t/f In PERT analysis, the identification of the critical path can be incorrect if a noncritical activity takes substantially more than its expected time.

true

t/f In project management, crashing an activity must consider the impact on all paths in the network.

true

t/f One phase of a large project is scheduling.

true

t/f One responsibility of a project manager is to make sure that the project meets its quality goals.

true

t/f Project managers have their own code of ethics, established by the Project Management Institute.

true

t/f Slack is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project.

true

t/f The ES of an activity that has only one predecessor is simply the EF of that predecessor.

true