Project Management Test #2

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The ____ is a time-phased budget that will be used to measure and monitor performance in the project a.Cash flow b.S-curve c.Critical path d.Cost baseline e.Cost budget

An example of scope verification is: a.The customer reviewing the performance of an installed software module b.Managing changes to the project schedule c.Developing a present value analysis for a project d.Decomposing the WBS to a work package level e.Performing a benefit-cost analysis to determine if we should proceed

All technical work is completed on the project. Which of the following is the next thing to do? a.Scope verification b.Scope definition c.Risk response plan d.Staffing management plan e.Lessons learned

A project manager decides that for this point in the project life cycle she will use an analogous estimate. One of the things that the project manager will not have to worry about in preparing this estimate is: a.Activity listings b.Scaling the estimate c.Past data on similar projects d.Quantifying the estimate e.Historical support for the figures used

A project manager looks at her schedule and sees that there has been a delay in completing an activity. It seems practical to move a person from another activity that is an expert on the work that is behind. There is a choice of using three different individuals that are working on three different activities. One person is working on an activity that has five days of free float, a second individual is working on an activity that has negative 2 days of total float, and a third individual is working on an activity that has eight days of total float and no free float. Which person should be used to help out? a.The person working on the activity with free float of five days. b.The person working on the activity with total float of eight days. c.The individual working on the activity with negative two days of total float. d.Based on the information provided, there would be no preference between the individuals. e.A person should be brought in from outside the project.

A project team develops an intitial schedule that has a 75-day completion date. After securing inputs from all stakeholders, the team crashes the project to obtain a 60-day schedule and receives permission to start the project with the 60 day schedule. The team starts the project and holds a project update (control) meeting after 10 days. The team collects activity status reports from the activity managers, updates the project schedule and realizes that the projected completion date for the project is now 65 days. During this same project control meeting, the team then uses fast-tracking and crashing to reduce the scheduled completion date back to 62 days, but is unable to find an alternative to return the project to a 60-day schedule. The team woks another 10 days on the project and holds a second project control meeting at the end of 20 working days. Again the team collects activity status information from team members, updates the project schedule, and finds the projected completion date is now 61 days. The team sees no possible way to obtain a lower project completion date and continues to work on the project. At this point, what is the baseline scheduled completion date for the project? a.60 days b.62 days c.61 days d.65 days e.75 days

Activities with the least total activity float (slack) in the network a. Must be on a critical path b. Must be activities with the maximum free float in the project c. Will have the greatest schedule flexibility d. Will be the highest risk activities in the project e. Will collectively form a path that has the minimum duration of any path in the project

Activity A has a planned five-day duration with an earliest possible start time at the end of day 10. Activity B has planned four-day duration. There is a finish-to-finish ( FF) relationship from Activity A to Activity B with a 2-day lag. What is the planned early start time for Activity B assuming that no other activities or precedence relationships are involved? a. 13 b. 14 c. 15 d. 16 e. 17

In the first attempt in resource leveling the project schedule, what would you expect to occur? a.The number of required resources will increase during certain time periods of the project b.The number of required resources will stay constant over the duration of the project c.The number of total resource hours in the project will increase d.The overall project duration will decrease e.The number of total resource hours in the project will decrease

Life cycle costing: a.Is a method of including all of the cost associated with the project over its entire life b.Is a federal government accounting method c.Is a method of predicting the life of a project d.Is a method of predicting the "life" of the project payback period e.Is a method of evaluating projects when they are complete

The cost baseline for the planned project expenditures is sometimes depicted as an "S" curve because: a.there are fewer costs at project initiation until the project is fully staffed b.there are contractors and workers who have not been paid, so the expense is not shown on the chart c.there are considerably more expenses to get a project started than are required on a normal operating basis d.the S curve is just a traditional (historical) method of plotting project costs and typically has no relationship to the actual project expenditures e.the cost accounting system for most organizations tend to be on a reporting lag (i.e., is in arrears).

The cost of equipment being installed as part of a work package in a renovation project would normally be classified as: a.A fixed direct cost b.A variable indirect cost c.A variable direct cost d.A fixed indirect cost e.Not part of the cost of the project

The document authorizing you to start a package of work and therefore to charge resources against it are the: a.Work authorization notice b.Project charter c.WBS d.Project plan e.Responsibility assignment matrix

Which of the following is an example of a parametric estimate? a.Dollars per module b.Learning curve c.Panel of experts, based on total costs from prior projects d.Bottom-up e.CPM

A cost estimating technique that compares the project being estimated to other previous projects is called __________ estimating and is a __________ approach. a.Definitive, bottom up b.Analogous, top down c.Parametric, bottom up d.Contingency, bottom up e.Parametric, top down

A key advantage of using a formal work authorization system: a.Provides a more accurate cost estimate for activities b.Provides an audit trail of the work authorized in a project c.Provides a basis of constructing lessons learned to show when work was completed in a project d.Authorizes the project manager to start the project e.Provides a key communication tool among the project sponsor, senior management and the project manager

A project consists of 30 activities, and an early start schedule is being followed. In this project, Activity X precedes Activity Y (finish-to-start relationships). No other activities precede activity Y. The early start for activity X is 20 and the early finish for activity X is 25. The early start for Activity Y is 25 and the early finish is 35. Activity X is underway and a project control meeting is held at the end of day 23. At the project control meeting, the activity manager for activity X reports that the activity is projected to end in four more business days. What will be the computed finish date for activity Y? a.33 days b.37 days c.38 days d.40 days e.Cannot be determined from the data provided

A project consists of 6 activities. Activity A (1 day duration) must be completed before the start of Activity B (1 day duration) and Activity C (2 day duration). Activity D (2 day duration) cannot be started before Activity C and Activity B have been completed, while Activity E (2 day duration) can be started after Activity B has been completed. Activity D and Activity E must be completed before Activity F (1 day duration) can be started. Activities B, D and F are each performed by the same person, Juan. Activities A and E are each performed by the same person Kim, and Activity C is performed by Sam. What is the minimum project duration assuming that no team member can work on two or more activities at the same time (i.e., the duration estimates are based on an individual working full time on the activity)? a.5 b.6 c.7 d.8 e.9

A project team receives an approved change request from the customer. The team has previously estimated that the cost to implement this change is $50,000. The customer has agreed to pay this amount for the additional work and the change has been approved. The customer realizes that there is a 50 percent chance that this change will not work and will later be removed. What change, if any, should be made in the budget? a.The project budget should not be increased b.The project budget should be increased at this time by $50,000 c.The project budget should be increased at this time by $25,000 d.The project budget should not be increased until the actual cost of the change is realized e.The project budget should be increased at this time by $100,000

All are true of the critical chain scheduling technique except: a.The critical chain technique starts with a normal critical path schedule without resource considerations b.Lead relationships are added between non-critical chain activities to protect the project from uncertainty c.The resource constrained critical path is known as the critical chain d.Resource availability information is added after the critical path is determined e.The critical chain technique adds time durations buffers to manage uncertainty

An activity manager needs to develop a budget estimate for an activity involving the acquisition of leased space in Paris. The manager knows the cost the firm has paid for two previous sites that were leased in Paris. The space needed by the activity manager for this project is 25% greater that the space previously leased. From this information, the activity manager calculates the estimated cost of leased space by multiplying the cost of the previously leased space by 1.25. This approach is representative of what kind of estimating technique a.Definitive b.Analogous c.Earned value d.Parametric e.Quantitative

An output from the cost budgeting process: a.Activity cost estimates b.The cost baseline c.Actual cost performance d.The cost management plan e.Corrective cost actions

As a control tool, the bar chart (Gantt) method is most beneficial for: a.Rearranging conflicting activities b.Depicting actual versus planned activity times c.Showing the dependencies among activities d.Showing the organization of the project activities into major deliverables e.Both a and c

Project managers have the most control over direct costs such as: a.Bonuses, fees, awards b.Labor, materials, equipment c.Labor, supervision, fees d.Overhead, fees e.General & administration supervision, fees

The Critical Chain technique is: a.The same as the PDM (Activity-on-Node) method of generating project networks b.A scheduling method making use of float "buffers" that is based on the premise that crucial resources may create a chain of activities that determines project duration c.A technique for project crashing that recognizes a critical chain of crashing steps d.A type of bar (Gantt) chart that allows the depiction of a critical chain of activities based on quality and risk e.Another name for the critical path method that specifically employs the tracking bar (gantt) chart

The contingency budget will: a.Reduce the probability of scope changes b.Reduce the probability of cost overruns c.Be designed to cover "unknown unknowns". d.Increase the probability of cost overrun e.Increase the probability of scope changes

The following are normally used techniques in project cost estimating, except: a.Analogous b.Critical Path Method (CPM) c.Bottom up d.Learning curve e.Vendor bids

Using project management software, a "baseline" schedule is maintained. As project activities are completed and the project schedule gets updated to reflect actual data, the baseline schedule: a.Becomes the current schedule b.Is maintained as the original baseline for post-project evaluations c.Is deleted as being unstable because it is more confusing than helpful to the manager and team (it no longer reflects reality) d.Changed after each project control meeting for only the critical path activities e.Is amended to reflect actual progress, and maintained for post-project evaluations

What are "sunk costs" in project?" a.Costs that were not spent efficiently b.Costs previously expended c.Budgeted costs d.Expenses that occur that were not in the budget e.PV

Which best describes the suitability of using "percent complete" as a measure of activity progress?" a.Percent complete is appropriate for measuring activity progress because it provides a commitment of the activity manager b.Percent compete is not appropriate for measuring activity progress as it is more "backward looking" c.Percent compete is typically appropriate for measuring activity progress as it provides a common and consistent measure across activities. d.Percent compete is typically appropriate for measuring activity progress as it provides a more concrete (and somewhat quantifiable) measure. e.Percent compete is not appropriate for measuring activity progress as it typically understates actual progress on the activity.

Which of the following is the least "forward looking" in terms of project control? a.Update the plan b.Track project resource consumption c.Find and solve problems d.Maintain team member commitment to the project e.Developing a revised project schedule

Which of the following ranks project cost estimating methods in order of increasing accuracy? a.Analogous, Bottom-up, Parametric b.Analogous, Parametric, Bottom-up c.Parametric, Analogous, Bottom-up d.Bottom-up, Parametric, Analogous e.Parametric. Bottom-up, Analogous

You are required to "fast-track" your project schedule. Therefore you should be prepared to: a.Eliminate some items of scope, with appropriate stakeholder approval b.Increase resources if they become over-allocated c.Communicate a time extension d.Shorten the duration of critical path activities e.Change the project sponsor

"Tracking", as used in project management, refers to: a.the development of the network diagram b.Writing the charter c.The project control process d.Locating the critical path e.Calculating the later start and late finish activities during the backward pass calculations

A "first-pass", early start schedule has been generated for a project. The projected completion date for this schedule is December 1 of next year. The maximum number of electricians used on any day in this project schedule is 15, the average number of electricians used per day is 9, and no more than 4 electricians are used on any activity in the project. The project manager is interested in generating a revised schedule in which the maximum number of electricians used on any day is 12. Which is the best description of what will happen as the project manager attempts to limit the number of electricians used on any given day to 12? a.The project duration will most likely decrease b.The project duration will not be impacted as this process involves resources, and as such, should not involve project duration c.The project duration may increase, but it is possible that the completion date of December 1 can be maintained while limiting the number of electricians to 12 per day. d.The project duration will not be impacted as the project manager will not be able to accomplish a schedule limited to only 12 electricians per day e.The project duration will certainly increase

A "first-pass", early start schedule has been generated for a project. The projected completion date for this schedule is March 1 of next year. The maximum number of electricians used on any day in this project schedule is 14, the average number of electricians used per day is 10, and no more than 4 electricians are used on any activity in the project. The project manager is interested in generating a revised schedule with the same project completion date, in which the maximum number of electricians used on any day is 11. Which is the best description of what will happen as the project manager attempts to limit the number of electricians used on any given day to 11? a.The project duration will most likely decrease b.The project duration will not be impacted as this process involves resources, and as such, should not involve project duration c.The project duration may increase, but it is possible that the completion date of March 1 can be maintained while limiting the number of electricians to 11 per day. d.The project manager will not be able to accomplish a schedule limited to only 11 electricians per day e.The project duration will certainly increase

A bottom up estimate compared to a top down estimate would be: a.Less accurate. b.Both have about the same accuracy. c.More accurate. d.Easier to generate than the top down estimate e.No different to generate than the top down estimate.

A project manager is describing the expected cost to complete the project. The project is scheduled to start next week. Which term would the project manager use to reflect "what do I think the total project is going to cost?" a.Estimate At Completion b.Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled c.Budget At Completion d.Actual Cost of Work Performed e.Estimate To Completion

A project manager is in the middle of the executing phase of a very large software project when he discovers that the time needed to complete the project is longer than the time available. What is the best thing to do? a.Contact the customer and tell them that their required date cannot be met b.Meet with management and tell them that their required date cannot be met c.Crash or fast track the project d.Do nothing but continue to work on the project and see what happens - the project may not be delayed after all. e.Plan to crash or fast track the project and present options to management for a decision

Gold plating is: a.Precisely meeting project specifications for time, cost, and quality b.Exceeding industry standards c.Exceeding customer expectations by giving the customer more than what was agreed upon d.Electing prevention over correction as a quality approach e.Specifying the highest grade available in product specifications

Not likely to be described of the project cost management plan: a.Cost reporting formats used on the project b.Policy regarding the availability/use of contingency funds c.The project's actual cost performance at a key milestone point d.Cost control thresholds e.Cost measurement units employed in the project

One of the project reports that is frequently used is a progress report or "project update report". Which of the following is true about progress reports? a.They are generally considered to be overkill on very small projects b.They require the use of earned value reports c.They allow stakeholders to judge the performance of the project according to its plan d.They must be produced by the project manager e.They are limited to reporting schedule information

The "data date" is the same as the : a.The scheduled project completion date b.The projected project completion date c.The "as-of" date d.The current date e.The project start date

The costs that are already invested in a project to date. a.Indirect costs b.Life cycle costs c.Sunk costs d.Opportunity costs e.Marginal costs

The most precise and accurate technique for determining project costs is the __________ technique: a.Parametric b.Analogy c.Bottom-up d.Budget contingency e.USA standard

The planned cost for the total project at its inception is called the: a. Estimate at completion (EAC) b. Latest revised estimate (LRE) c. Budget at Completion (BAC) d. Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS) e.Estimate to Completion (ETC)

There are two types of reserves used on projects. The __________ is to allow for future situations, which may be planned for only in part, whereas the ______________ is for future situations, which are impossible to predict. a.Management reserve, unplanned allowance fund b.Management reserve, contingency fund c.Contingency fund, management reserve d.Unplanned reserve, planned reserve e.Analogous, parametric

Which best describes the relationship among project control investment and project performance results: a.Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control (more oversight shows more management involvement and interest in the project, thus motivating project team members). b.Project performance return generally decreases with increased investment in project control (too much micromanagement) c.Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control, but only up to a point, then increased investment results actually results in a decrease in project performance return. d.Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control only for more complex projects, not simple projects. e.Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control, but only up to a point, then project performance return is essentially constant as more investment is made in project control.

You are an activity manager who has been asked to provide an estimate of your activity duration for planning the project schedule. You estimate that the activity will require two systems analysts working half-time (4 hours per day each) over a 6 day period. The analysts will work Monday through Friday only, starting on a Monday. What are the activity duration, the activity elapsed time, and the required effort on the activity? a.6 working days, 8 calendar days, 96 staff hours b.12 working days, 12 calendar days, 96 staff hours c.6 working days, 8 calendar days, 48 staff hours d.12 working days, 8 calendar days, 48 staff hours e.6 working days, 6 calendar days, 48 staff hours

You are preparing a project budget. What is the cost baseline for the project given the following project cost components: Indirect variable costs: $ 250,000 Direct variable costs: $ 750,000 Indirect fixed costs: $ 100,000 Direct fixed costs: $ 400,000 Contingency budget: $ 100,000 Management reserve: $ 75,000 Projected profit: $ 325,000. a.$ 1,150,000 b.$ 1,500,000 c.$ 1,600,000 d.$ 1,675,000 e.$ 2,000,000

You are the project manager who has just completed a project for an external customer. The customer has accepted the deliverables from the project and written a very complementary email to your senior manager praising the results of the project. The customer was delighted that you were able to add a couple of significant features beyond what was specified on the requirements and still bring the budget in on schedule and under budget. You are particularly pleased that several of the team's junior members were able to develop new skills during project planning and execution. Your senior manager notes that your firm will make over $1,000,000 on this $8,000,000 project since no contingency funds or management reserves were used, although they had been set aside. The original profit was estimated at only $850,000, so as project manager, you will receive a bonus equal to 20% of the difference between the original estimated profit and actual profit. What does this mean in terms of project management success? a.Project management was successful because customer satisfaction was achieved b.Project management was not a success because team learning was not a project objective c.Project management was not a success because it was gold plated d.Project management was successful based on team learning and customer satisfaction e.Project management was successful based on profitability - that is the bottom line

You complete a preliminary project schedule and determine that Sue, a key data base designer, Sue is over allocated during parts of the project. Which of the following is most likely what you will attempt to do? a.Crash the project to remove the over allocation b.Overlap activities to remove the over allocation c.Undertake resource leveling d.Fast track the project using parallel activities e.Use earned value analysis to remove the over allocation, and if that does not work, then extend the project completion date

A 100-working day project has eight different paths from project start to project finish. Two of the paths are critical with zero float, while the float on the other paths is 8, 10, 7, 13, 11, and 7. All measures are in working days. You desire to reduce project duration by 6 days (to 94 working days). You must: a.Compress each critical path by 3 days b.Eliminate 6 days of float from both critical paths c.Compress the path that is cheapest to crash by 6 days d.Compress each of the two critical paths by 6 days e.None of the above will necessarily work, since the critical path may shift before you get to 94 working days when compressing activities

A key advantage in using progress reporting rules like the 80/20 rule: a.They are typically more accurate than other approaches such as percent complete. b.They are usually more aligned with organizational objectives c.They are "forward looking" and compatible with good project control practices d.They reduce the overhead associated with collecting activity progress information e.They are very helpful in terms of forecasting total project expenditures

A project activity is priced out at a burdened functional labor rate of $80/hour, multiplied times the number of labor hours required for the activity. The functional manager assigns senior people to the activity whose burdened salary is $100/hour. The functional manger argues that the budget for this activity must be increased. You, as the project manager, suggest that the budget should not be increased for this activity. Your best argument or approach: a.We should slightly reduce functionality/scope b.We will use lower-salaried employees for downstream activities to recover c.We should look for opportunities to crash downstream activities d.We should expect the employees to complete the work in less time than planned e.We should overlap as many remaining activities as possible

A project consists of 3 parallel paths. Each of the three paths has five activities, and each activity has a planned duration of 5 days. The projected completion date for the project is thus 25 days. The project starts and you are at the end of day 8. The first activity on each of the 5 paths path has been completed. The second activity on each path is now underway. The three activity managers for each of the three activities underway give you estimated days remaining until completion. Those three estimates are 1, 3 and 5. What is the new estimated project completion date that you will get using project management software (no projection of current slippage)? a.24 days b.25 days c.26 days d.28 days e.30 days

A project has ten different paths from project start to project finish. Two of the paths are critical with zero float, while the float on the other paths is 12, 23, 17, 11, 17, 14, 22, and 28. All measures are in working days. You desire to reduce project duration by 8 days. You must: a.Compress each critical path by 4 days b.Eliminate 8 days of float from both critical paths c.Compress all paths by 8 days d.Compress both critical paths by 8 days e.None of the above will necessarily work, since the critical path may shift when a critical path is shortened

A project is formed to produce a product that will be used for making paper in a (corrugated) boxboard plant. Costs that are associated with the project that occur after the delivery of the product to the boxboard plant are considered to be what kind of cost? a.Prorated costs b.Expenses c.Sunk costs d.Life cycle cost e.Expected value

An activity manager needs to develop a budget estimate for an activity involving the acquisition of leased space in Paris. The activity manager knows approximately how many square meters of space are required, and the average cost of rental space per square meter in Paris. From this information, the activity manager can calculate the estimated cost of leased space. This approach is representative of what kind of estimating technique? a.Definitive b.Analogous c.Earned value d.Parametric e.Quantitative

Consider the following data for a project: 150 activities, $1 million budget, 15 different employees involved in the project, project completion planned for 13 months, 30 of 150 activities subcontracted, average activity duration is 10 working days, 70% of project costs are in labor. Not knowing any more about the project, what would be your best guess in terms of how often you would need to have control meetings? a.Daily b.Twice a week c.Weekly. d.Every two weeks e.Once a month.

During project execution, a project is plagued by changes to the project charter. Who has the primary responsibility to decide if these changes are necessary? a.Project manager b.Project team c.Sponsor d.Management e.Stakeholder

The following WBS elements are provided for estimating the cost of a given project with the corresponding coding structure: 1.3 Research & Development, 1.3.1 Testing ($1,500), 1.3.2 Reporting ($600), 1.2.1 Graphics ($350), 1.2.2 Printing ($1,000). What is the cost estimate for Research & Development? a.$2,450 b.$1,850 c.$1,500 d.$2,100 e.$600

The lost benefits of an alternative project that must be forgone in order to pursue a project that is being undertaken. a.Fixed costs b.Variable costs c.Sunk costs d.Opportunity costs e.Marginal costs

The project kickoff meeting is held: a.At the start of project initiation b.When the first draft of the project charter is being reviewed c.At the start of project planning d.At the start of project execution e.At the time of the first formal project monitoring and control meeting

The project manager is allocating overall cost estimates to individual activities or work packages to establish a baseline for measuring project performance. What step is this? a.Cost management b.Cost estimating c.Cost verification d.Cost budgeting e.Cost control

Three cost estimates are provided for an activity: Most likely cost estimate ($2000), Optimistic cost estimate ($1000) and Pessimistic cost estimate ($6000). Using the PERT approach, what cost estimate should be used for this activity? a.$1000 b.$1500 c.$2000 d.$2500 e.$6000

When a contractor tells you that the construction cost estimate is based upon $85 per square foot, she is giving you a(n) ________estimate: a.Bottom-up b.Rough c.Analogous d.Parametric e.Top down

Which best describes the Tracking Gantt Chart? a.A Gantt chart that includes precedence relationships among all activities. b.There is no "tracking Gantt chart". The term is a misnomer - the tracking Gantt chart is simply a Gantt chart. c.A Gantt chart that shows resources assigned to each activity. d.A Gantt chart showing when activities are actually performed compared to the baseline schedule. e.A type of Gantt chart that also reflects the critical path in the project via a different color on the Gantt bars (including multiple critical paths if more than one exists).

Which best describes the relationship among project control investment and project performance results: a.Increased investment in project control typically results in improved project performance b.Increased investment in project control typically results in decreased project performance c.There is no known relationship between investment in project control and project performance d.Increased investment in project control results in improved project performance, but only up to a point, then increased investment results actually results in decreased project performance e.Increased investment in project control results in improved project performance, but only up to a point, then increased investment results actually results in neither increased nor decreased project performance, but rather stable project performance

Which best describes the suitability of using "percent complete" as a measure of activity progress?" a.Percent complete is usually appropriate for measuring activity progress when the activity manager provides the assessment of percent complete. b.Percent compete is typically appropriate for measuring activity progress as it provides a commitment on the part of the individual making the assessment. c.Percent compete is typically appropriate for measuring activity progress as it provides a more concrete (and somewhat quantifiable) measure. d.Percent compete is not appropriate for measuring activity progress as it is more "backward looking" e.Percent compete is not appropriate for measuring activity progress as it typically understates actual progress on the activity.

Which of the following best describes project management "critical chain" analysis? a.A method to analyze project duration when activity durations are uncertain b.A method to analyze project duration when there are multiple critical paths c.A method to analyze project duration when there is probabilistic branching from an activity (e.g., until you complete an activity, it is not certain, which of 2 alternative activities will be undertaken) d.A method to analyze project duration when the same resource is required on several different activities e.A method to analyze project cost when activity costs are uncertain

Which of the following is a benefit of an analogous project cost estimate? a.Estimates will be closer to what the work will actually require b.It is based on a detailed understanding of what the work requires c.It is based on an analysis of the WBS elements d.It gives the project team an understanding of management's expectations e.It helps the project manager determine if the project will meet the schedule

Which of the following represents the best source for preparing estimates of dollars or work hours for project activities: a.Purchased manuals of estimating standards based on a database of project records b.Intuitive estimates c.To guess and see what happens d.Detailed historical records from previous projects in the company e.Top-down project estimates prepared by analogous or parametric modeling

You are the project manager for a $350,000 new product development project that has an 8 month baseline schedule. You have worked five months on the project and find that you are projected to go over budget. Assuming that you need to find a way to reduce project costs at this point in the project, you will most likely be looking at: a.Direct costs and indirect costs b.Fixed costs and variable costs c.Indirect costs and variable costs d.Direct costs and variable costs e.Direct costs and fixed costs

You are the project manager for a $750,000 new product development project that has a 9 month baseline schedule. You quickly realize that there is a strong chance that you'll need to reduce project costs or else you will go over budget. Assuming that you need to find a way to reduce project costs, you will most likely be looking at: a.Direct costs and indirect costs b.Fixed costs and variable costs c.Indirect costs and variable costs d.Direct costs and variable costs e.Direct costs and fixed costs

You are the project manager of a new product development project for a consumer products company. The project is scheduled to start on the first week of the year, and the project plan calls for a project duration of 50 weeks. The project starts as scheduled and you hold formal project control meetings every two weeks to monitor the project. After the first two weeks, you estimate that the project will be completed at the end of 51 weeks. At the next meeting, four weeks into the project, you estimate that the project will be completed at the end of 52 weeks. Based on the assumption of typical past performance, and based on projection of the current trend, which is closest to the number of weeks that will actually be required for project completion? a.25 weeks b.52 weeks c.67 weeks d.100 weeks e.125 weeks

You are the project manager of a new product development project for a consumer products company. The project is scheduled to start on the first week of the year, and the project plan calls for project duration of 100 weeks. The project starts as scheduled and you hold formal project control meetings every four weeks to monitor the project. At the first meeting, you estimate that the project will be completed at the end of 101 weeks. At the next meeting, eight weeks into the project, you estimate that the project will be completed at the end of 102 weeks. Based on the projection of the current trend, which is closest to the number of weeks that will actually be required for project completion? a.100 weeks b.102 weeks c.125 weeks d.133 weeks e.150 weeks

You are the sponsor for a construction project. A 100 foot "trenching" work package is involved in the project (i.e., digging a 100 foot trench for a pipe installation). The work package is underway. Which of the following normally would be the least accurate method to estimate the progress of the trenching work package: a.Number of linear completed compared to the number of feet to be completed. b.The earned value of the work completed c.An independent inspection of the portion of the trenching work completed. d.Labor hours expended compared to budgeted labor hours for the work package e.(Budgeted labor hours for the work package minus labor hours estimated to completion) divided by budgeted labor hours

A "first-pass", early start schedule has been generated for a project. The projected completion date for this schedule is December 1 of next year. The maximum number of electricians used on any day in this project schedule is 15, the average number of electricians used per day is 12, and no more than 4 electricians are used on any activity in the project. The project manager is interested in generating a revised schedule in which the maximum number of electricians used on any day is 10. Which is the best description of what will happen as the project manager attempts to limit the number of electricians used on any given day to 10? a.The project duration will most likely decrease b.The project duration will not be impacted as this process involves resources, and as such, should not involve project duration c.The project duration may increase, but it is possible that the completion date of December 1 can be maintained while limiting the number of electricians to 10 per day. d.The issue of project duration is not relevant since the project manager will not be able to accomplish a schedule limited to only 10 electricians per day e.The project duration will certainly increase

A "first-pass", early start schedule has been generated for a project. The projected completion date for this schedule is March 1 of next year. The maximum number of electricians used on any day in this project schedule is 14, the average number of electricians used per day is 10, and no more than 4 electricians are used on any activity in the project. The project manager is interested in generating a revised schedule with the same project completion date, in which the maximum number of electricians used on any day is 9. Which is the best description of what will happen as the project manager attempts to limit the number of electricians used on any given day to 9? a.The project duration will most likely decrease b.The project duration will not be impacted as this process involves resources, and as such, should not involve project duration c.The project duration may increase, but it is possible that the completion date of March 1 can be maintained while limiting the number of electricians to 9 per day. d.The project manager will not be able to accomplish a schedule limited to only 9 electricians per day e.The project duration will certainly increase

A 100-working day project has seven different paths from project start to project finish. Two of the paths are critical with zero float, while the float on the other paths is 8, 10, 5, 11, and 5. All measures are in working days. You desire to reduce project duration by 6 days (to 94 working days). You must: a.Compress each of the two critical path by 3 days each b.Eliminate 6 days of float from both critical paths c.Compress the path that is cheapest to crash by 6 days d.Compress each of the two critical paths by 6 days e.None of the above will work, since the critical path will certainly shift before you get to 94 working days when compressing critical path activities

A WBS is more critical for which type of project cost estimate: a.Analogous b.Top down c.Parametric d.Factored e.Bottom-up

A project consists of 6 activities. Activity A (1 day duration) must be completed before the start of Activity B (1 day duration) and Activity C (2 day duration). Activity D (2 day duration) cannot be started before Activity C and Activity B have been completed, while Activity E (2 day duration) can be started after Activity B has been completed. Activity D and Activity E must be completed before Activity F (1 day duration) can be started. Each activity is undertaken by the exact same person, Bob. What is the minimum project duration assuming that Bob can work on no more than one activity at a time? a.5 b.6 c.7 d.8 e.9

A project manager (PM) has just received a change request from the customer. The project manager determines that the change request does not impact the schedule or the budget and is easy to complete. The PM prepares a change request and passes the request along to the project change control board for the project, and two weeks later, receives authorization to make the change. Which of the following best describes this situation? a.The PM properly executed the project change process by involving the change control board. b.The PM should have been more proactive - i.e., simply make the change happen - this is a "no brainer." c.The PM should have sought the approval of the project team in making the change decision, not the change control board. d.The PM should have contacted senior management for authorization to make the change, not the Change Control Board. e.The PM should have more fully evaluated and assessed change impacts on all aspects of the project.

During the full life cycle of the project, a plot of the project's expected expenditures will usually follow a characteristic "S" shape. This indicates that: a.There is a cyclic nature to all projects b.Problems will always occur in the execution phase c.There are high expenditures during closeout d.Expenditures are typically low during the execution phase e.The bulk of the project budget will be spent in the execution phase

Key purpose(s) of project control include: a.Update the plan and plan ahead for uncertainties b.Track project resource consumption c.Find and solve problems d.Maintain team member commitment to the project e.All of the above

The main focus of life cycle costing is to: a.Estimate installation cost b.Use a discounted cash flow analysis approach to improve accuracy c.Estimate the cost of project management overhead d.Consider installation costs when planning the project costs e.Consider operation and maintenance costs in making project decisions

The project manager receives a change request from the customer that has no impact whatsoever on the project budget, and is easy to complete. What should the project manager do first? a.Move forward with the change as soon as reasonable - be proactive b.Contact the project sponsor for approval c.Obtain permission from the change control board for the change d.Ask the customer if the change can be made after the project is complete e.Investigate the impact of the change on other aspects of the project

The senior manager was not happy as he walked to the Halloween Day office party with the project manager. He tells the project manager, "You started this project on Independence Day, and you are just finishing up work that should have been done by Labor Day. Instead of completing by this project according to the baseline plan by Christmas, if you keep going at the same rate of progress as you have so far, I expect we won't be done until....." a.New Year's Day b.St. Patrick's Day c.Easter d.Mother's Day e.The 4th of July

When should you generate a new "baseline" schedule: a.At the conclusion of each project control meeting (assuming that the current status of the project does not reflect the current baseline) b.Only when you receive a new project charter c.When you are reasonably "confident" that you are behind schedule, and that you do not have a plan to catch up d.About once per month e.When an approved scope, time, quality or technical change has been received

Which is most characteristic of the "analogous estimating" process used to estimate project costs? a.A bottom-up estimating technique b.A technique used most frequently during the executing phase of the project c.An estimating technique based on cost estimates for each work package in the WBS d.A technique using historical costs that provides the most precise type of estimating e.A top down cost estimating technique

Which of the following represents the best way to measure progress of an activity that has started, but has not been completed? Actual start time, plus: a.Percent complete b.Estimated days to complete c.Estimated completion date d.Actual time worked so far e.Either b or c above

You have been asked to prepare a detailed cost budget for your project. Understanding that this budget must reflect the overall project cost estimates and that it must establish a baseline throughout project execution for measuring project performance, which of the following are you least likely to use to prepare your budget? a.Project schedule b.Work breakdown structure c.Chart of accounts d.Overhead rates for team members e.Analogous cost estimates

Activity A has planned five-day duration with an earliest possible start time of 10. Activity B has a planned four-day duration, while Activity C has a planned five-day duration. There is a Start-to-Start (SS) relationship from A to B with a lead of 2 days. There is a Finish-to-Start (FS) relationship from Activity B to Activity C with a lag of 3 days. Which of the following is closest to the planned early finish time for Activity C assuming that no other activities or precedence relationships are involved? a. 20 b. 21 c. 22 d. 23 e. 24

Gantt (bar) charts are most appropriate for: a. Showing relative activity durations and activity schedules b. Showing total float (slack) time c. Showing critical path dependencies and the critical path d. Showing which activities can likely be rearranged in parallel e. Showing who is responsible for each scheduled task

In attempting to reduce the project duration, the project manager looks at the cost associated with crashing each activity. The best approach to crashing would also include looking at the: a.Risk impact of crashing each activity b.Customer's opinion of what activities to crash c.Project charter d.Boss's opinion of what activities to crash and in which order e.Project phase in which the activity is due to occur

In terms of activity progress reporting, the 80/20 rule means that: a.In terms of activity progress reporting, the activity is considered 80% complete at the start of the activity, and 100% complete at the completion of the activity. b.In terms of activity progress reporting, the activity is considered 0% complete until 80% of the work is completed, the other 20% is allocated when the entire activity is complete. c.In terms of activity progress reporting, the activity is considered 20% complete once the activity is started and 100% complete when the activity is actually completed. d.In terms of activity progress reporting, the activity is considered 80% complete before the activity starts and 100% complete once it can be verified that the activity is actually started e.In terms of activity progress reporting, the activity is considered 80% complete when the activity manager reports activity completion and 100% complete upon verification of activity completion.

The cost of general supervision on a project, e.g., the cost of the project manager, would normally be classified as: a.A variable direct cost b.A fixed indirect cost c.A fixed direct cost d.A variable indirect cost e.Not part of the cost of the project

The most effective means of determining the project budget is usually to cost out the: a. Work breakdown structure b. Linear responsibility chart c. Project charter d. Scope statement e. Management plan

The reason that cost management is so difficult in project management is that: a.Projects by their definition and nature are non-recurring and are therefore difficult to predict b.There are no tools for identifying project risks c.Project managers do not focus on tracking costs, as only schedules are important to them d.Project management software has not yet properly focused on project costs and budgeting e.B and C

Which of the following is (are) true about a bar (Gantt) chart? a. It can be particularly effective in showing project progress b. It is particularly effective in showing logical relationships between project activities c. It is mainly used for locating the critical path d. It has become obsolete with the availability of large-scale computer programs for time management e. All of the above

You are managing a construction project for a new city water system. The contract requires you to use special titanium piping equipment that is guaranteed not to corrode. It also requires the use of specialty bolts to assemble the piping system. Because of the weight involved, the pipe must be resting in the ground a total of 6 days before the bolts can be installed. In this example, the 6-day period can be defined as: a.A lag between two activities b.A lead between two activities c.Free float d.A milestone e.Total float

You are managing a project to build and install a large steam turbine for a power company. Costs that are associated with the operation and maintenance of the turbine once it is delivered and installed are considered to be: a.Life cycle cost b.Prorated costs c.Indirect project costs d.Sunk costs e.Expected value

A project has only one critical path and no advanced relationships. You must increase the duration of an activity on that critical path by 2 days. Which of the following is (are) true? a. The project's scheduled completion date will be reduced by 1 day b. The available total float on the non-critical paths will increase c. The location of the critical path will likely change d. The available float on the non-critical paths will not change as they are unaffected by the change in a critical path activity. e. The project's scheduled completion date will be reduced by 2 days

A summary task in a project is a.A milestone b.A header task c.A sub task d.The project baseline e.A partially completed task

An activity manager needs to develop a budget estimate for an activity involving the acquisition of leased space in New York. The manager knows the cost the firm has paid for several other sites that were recently leased in New York. The space needed by the activity manager for this project is 15% greater that the space previously leased. From this information, the activity manager calculates the estimated cost of leased space by multiplying the cost of the previously leased space by 1.15. This approach is representative of what kind of estimating technique a.Definitive b.Analogous c.Life cycle costing d.Parametric e.Qualitative

Assume you are about to compress your project duration by applying resources to specific project activities. Your "rules of thumb" for selecting activities to crash might include all of the following except: a.An activity that is relatively cheaper to crash b.An activity not under management control c.An activity that is relatively early in the project d.An activity on multiple critical paths e.An activity involving relatively inexpensive labor

Assume you are about to compress your project duration by applying resources to specific project activities. Your "rules of thumb" for selecting activities to crash might include: a.An activity that is relatively expensive to crash b.An activity with a relatively longer duration c.An activity that is relatively later in the project d.An activity likely to cause quality problems e.An activity involving relatively expensive labor

Consider the 5-activity project described in Table 2 above, in which activities A, B, and D are to be performed seqentially on one path and and activities C and E are to be performed parallel to that path. Partial crashing options are not allowed. Assuming cost is per day to crash is important, and activities are crashed in order to achieve minimium project duration for the least cost. The additional activity cost of this project after crashing it is: a. $4,900 b. $4,000 c. $3,100 d. $2,800 e. $3,500

Consider the following data for a project: 250 activities, $5 million budget, a Monday through Friday work week, 20 different employees within 5 different functional groups involved in the project, completion planned for 13 months, 30 of 250 activities subcontracted to 4 different subcontractors, average activity duration is 5 working days, 70% of project costs are in labor. Not knowing any more about the project, what would be your best guess in terms of how often you would need to have control meetings? a.Twice a week b.Weekly. c.Every two weeks d.Every three weeks e.Once a month (or every 4 weeks)

Consider the following project in answering the next two questions: Activity A and B can both immediately follow the start activity in the project. Activity A and Activity B must both be complete before Activity C can start. Activity D and Activity E both have Activity B as a direct predecessor. Activities C, D, and E are all predecessors to activity F. Each activity in the project has a 2-day normal duration. It costs $1,000 to crash each of the activities by one day, with the exception of activity F which cannot be crashed. What is the fewest number of activities one can crash to get the project duration to 5 days? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5

Starting one activity before its predecessor is completed is an example of: a.Inducing project float b.Fast-tracking c.Leveling d.Crashing e.Critical chain analysis

The BEST example of "fast tracking" a project is: a.Start the procurement activity in a new product development project one week after the completion of the product design (overlapping). b.Exchange a sequential relationship between "Market research" and "Product design", both of which are on the critical path, with a parallel relationship c.Conduct a "focus group analysis" as a "market research" activity instead of a full questionnaire based research effort in order to save time on the critical path d.Reduce the number of activities if possible to get the project completed faster e.Applying two more engineers to a critical path activity to complete the project faster

The Critical Chain technique is: a.A technique that identifies the critical path of the project by linking together the activities with zero free float values b.A scheduling method making use of float "buffers" that is based on the premise that crucial resources may create a chain of activities that determines project duration c.A technique for project crashing that recognizes a critical chain of crashing steps d.A type of bar (Gantt) chart that allows the depiction of a critical chain of activities based on quality and risk e.A technique that identifies the critical path of the project by linking to together the activities with zero total float values

The project costs that are most likely to be within the control of the project manager (in terms of cost savings opportunities): a.Direct costs and indirect costs b.Direct costs and variable costs c.Fixed costs and variable costs d.Indirect costs and variable costs e.Direct costs and fixed costs

The scheduled early finish time for the last activity in the project is 100 and the late finish time for the same activity is 110. An activity in the project, activity C, has 0 days of free float and 15 days of total float. The project float for this project is: a.Minus ten days b.Ten days c.Five days d.Minus five days e.Fifteen days

Which best describes a "direct variable cost" in a project budget analysis? a.Overhead costs or administrative costs associated with the overall project that are allocated to each individual work package b.Costs such as labor that vary with the work package duration and are directly linked to the performance of the work package c.Any costs for the project other than fixed costs d.Costs that do not vary with a work package duration, but are directly linked to the performance of the work package e.Cost to purchase items such as piece of equipment for a work package

Which best describes the "Tracking Gantt Chart?" a.A gantt chart that depicts (or tracks) changes made to the baseline schedule b.A gantt chart showing when activities are actually performed compared to the baseline schedule c.Any gantt chart that does include precedence relationships among activities d.A gantt chart that depicts the type and number of resources assigned to each activity e.A type of gantt chart that also reflects the critical path via a different color on the gantt bars (including multiple critical paths if more than one exists)

Which best describes the suitability of using "percent complete" as a measure of activity progress?" a. Percent complete is appropriate for measuring activity progress because it provides a commitment of the activity manager b. Percent compete is not appropriate for measuring activity progress as it is more "backward looking" c. Percent compete is typically appropriate for measuring activity progress as it provides a common and consistent measure across activities. d. Percent compete is typically appropriate for measuring activity progress as it provides a more concrete (and quantifiable) measure. e. Percent compete is not appropriate for measuring activity progress as it typically understates actual progress on the activity.

You conduct a network calculation for the forward pass and the backward pass and determine the total float (slack) for parallel paths 1, 2, and 3 to be 5, 0, and 3 days respectively. You set this as your "baseline schedule". Problems with resources on Path 3 then occur and cause a loss of 2 days from the total float (slack) on that path. If a loss of another day takes place on Path 3, then in order for you to shorten the baseline project duration by a day, you should: a. Shorten Path 1 by one day b. Shorten both Paths 2 and 3 by one day each c. Shorten Path 2 by one day d. Shorten Path 3 by two days e. Shorten all paths by one day

You note that the critical path in your project does not run through your project, but starts about half way through the project and runs to the end of the project. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this phenomenon? a. There is more than one critical path in the project b. A date constraint on the activity where the critical path starts c. An excessive number of SS precedence relationships prior to the activity where the critical path starts d. The duration of the activity where the critical path starts is very large compared to the durations of activities prior to the activity where the critical path starts e. The program has encountered a computation error

You've just completed the initiating phase of a small project and are moving into the planning phase. A project stakeholder asks you for the project's budget and cost baseline. How should you respond? a.Refer the stakeholder to the project's charter to look at the budget since it has just been completed b.The project budget and baseline will not be finalized and accepted until the planning phase is completed c.Refer the stakeholder to the sponsor since that it typically provided by the person providing the funding for the project d.The project plan will not contain the project's budget and baseline; this is a small project e.It is impossible to complete any estimates until after the project plan is created

Your customer wants your project to be completed 6 months earlier than the currently planned completion date. You believe you can meet this target by overlapping project activities or by conducting activities in parallel that are currently in the schedule as being performed sequentially. The approach you plan to use is known as: a.Critical chain scheduling b.Fast-tracking c.Leveling d.Crashing e.Increasing float

Activity A has a duration of 4 days and begins on the morning of Monday the 4th. There is a finish-to-start relationship from activity A to Activity B. The finish-to-start relationship has a 2 day lead, and activity B has a duration of 5 days. Saturday is a working day in the project, Sunday is a non-workday. What can be determined from these data? a.The total duration (in working days) of both activities is 8 days b.Calendar time between the start of A to the finish of B is 7 days c.The finish date of B is Monday the 11th d.Calendar time between the finish of A to the finish of B is 5 days e.Three calendar days will elapse between the finish of A and the start of B.

Activity A has a duration of 5 days and begins on the morning of Monday the 4th. There is a finish-to-start relationship from activity A to Activity B. The finish-to-start relationship has a 1 day lead, and activity B has a duration of 5 days. Saturday is a working day in the project, Sunday is a non-workday. What can be determined from these data? a.Calendar time between the finish of A to the finish of B is 4 days b.The total duration (in working days) of both activities is 8 days c.There are 10 calendar days from the start of A and the finish of B d.The finish date of B is Thursday the 14th e.There are 2 days when both A and B are underway at the same time.

Assume you are about to compress your project duration by applying resources to specific project activities. Your "rules of thumb" for selecting activities to crash might include all of the following except: a.An activity that is relatively cheaper to crash b.An activity with a relatively longer duration c.An activity that is relatively later in the project d.An activity on multiple critical paths e.An activity involving relatively inexpensive labor

Consider the following data for a project: 150 activities, $1 million budget, 15 different employees involved in the project, project completion planned for 13 months, 30 of 150 activities subcontracted, average activity duration is 10 working days, 70% of project costs are in labor. Not knowing any more about the project, what would be your best guess in terms of how often you would need to have control meetings? a.Twice a week b.Weekly c.Every two weeks d.Every three weeks e.Once a month (or every four weeks).

Consider the project depicted in the figure above. Before the project starts, in an attempt to reduce project duration, you increase resources for activity B such that the new planned duration for activity is 6 days. Which of the following is true as a result of this new planning information? a.The project duration reamins the same and Activity G is no longert on the critical path b.The free float for activity D will increase c.The free float for activity F will increase and the project duration is reduced by one day d.The project will have two critical paths e.The project duration remains the same and the free float for activity D remains the same

Crashing the schedule means: a.Executing non-critical path activities on Saturday and Sunday b.Overlapping one successor activity with a predecessor activity (use of leads and lags). c.Reducing the project duration by applying additional resources to critical path activities d.Doing activities that were in sequence in parallel e.Eliminating significant scope elements from the project

Gold plating in project management means: a.Precisely meeting project specifications for time, cost, and quality b.Exceeding industry standards c.Exceeding customer expectations by giving the customer more than what was agreed upon d.Electing prevention over correction as a quality approach e.Specifying the highest grade available in product specifications (assuming that higher grade products will provide more value).

In the question above, a better way to handle the 6-day waiting period is to: a.Split the predecessor activity into two activities b.Use a start-to-start relationship c.Identify the 6-day waiting period as a activity d.Do not include the waiting period in the project plan - handle it manually e.Use a finish-to-finish relationship

Management has decided to compress project duration in order to avoid a penalty payment for late delivery of the project output. The project team is about to compress the project duration by applying resources to specific project activities. Your "rules of thumb" for selecting activities to crash might include all of the following except: a.An activity that is relatively cheaper to crash b.An activity with a relatively longer duration c.An activity that is relatively later in the project d.An activity on multiple critical paths e.An activity that is under management control

Management has decided to compress project duration in order to avoid penalty payments for late deliveries. Additional costs are expected. To crash the project, either overtime or additional resources should be assigned to: a. As many activities as possible b. Activities with the longest time durations c. Only activities on the critical path d. Those activities with the greatest degree of risk e. Those activities with the greatest free float values

Not likely to be included in the project time management plan: a.Time progress reporting formats to be used on the project b.Policy regarding the activity duration estimating process c.The project's actual schedule performance at a key milestone point d.Schedule performance control thresholds e.Description of schedule measurement units employed in the project

The cost of labor applied to specific work packages would normally be classified as: a.A fixed direct cost b.A variable indirect cost c.A variable direct cost d.A fixed indirect cost e.Not part of the cost of the project

The most accurate type of project budget is developed via: a.Parametric cost estimating b.Analogous cost estimating c.A bottom up estimate using the Work Breakdown Structure d.A top down estimate that starts with the big picture of the project e.An intuitive estimate from the customer (or a key stakeholder) that has knowledge of the end product to be produced via the project

The most significant disadvantage of a normal bar (gantt) chart is that it: a. Lacks time-phasing b. Is difficult to relate to calendar dates c. Does not easily show activity interrelationships d. Cannot be related to manpower planning e. Is difficult to customize

The project manager receives a change request from the customer. The project manager writes a note to the change control board supporting the customer's change request since it has no impact on the project schedule or the project budget, and is easy to complete. Which best describes this situation? a. This is a win-win situation. The project manager is following correct project management procedures in sending the request to the change control board, and if approved, should move forward with implementing the change as soon as practical - be proactive. The PM should subsequently send notification of the change to stakeholders. b. The project manager erred and should have just instituted the change directly since it did not increase costs or alter the project schedule - this was a "no brainer." The project manager simply delayed the change and is expending needless time and effort. c. This situation describes the execution of a poor project change control process. d. The senior manager, not the project manager, should be working on this change request. The senior manager negotiated with the customer to initiate the original project so the senior manager should analyze all change requests. e. The project manager should have been more proactive in involving the project team to make the change decision. If changes are to be implemented, they should have team buy-in. Since the PM has already made the decision regarding the change request, the PM should have sent information to the team so they can analyze alternatives to implementing the change.

The total budget and bid estimate for a project is $1,000,000, including all reserves but not including a fee (profit) since this is an internal project. The Direct fixed costs for the project are $ 200,000, the Contingency fund is $50,000, the Management Reserve is $25,000, and the direct variable costs is $150,000. What is the cost baseline for the project? a.$ 950,000 b.$ 1,150,000 c.$ 975,000 d.$ 775,000 e.$ 575,000

There are three activities in a project, Activity A, Activity B and Activity C. Activity A has a duration of 5 days and begins on the morning of Monday, May 4th. There is a start-to-start relationship from Activity A to Activity B. The start-to-start relationship from Activity A to Activity B has a 3 day lag, and Activity B has a duration of 8 days. Activity C has a duration of 3 days. There is a finish-to-start relationship between Activity B and Activity C with a 1 day lead. Saturday is a working day in the project, while Sunday is a non-workday. Assume that all activities start in the morning and all activities finish in the afternoon. What can be determined from these data assuming that no other activities are involved in the schedule? a.The total duration in calendar days of all activities is 14 calendar days b.The number of working days between the start of Activity A to the finish of Activity B is 10 working days c.The finish date of Activity B is Thursday afternoon, May 14th d.The calendar time between the finish of Activity A to the finish of Activity C is 10 calendar days e.There will be three days on which both Activity A and Activity B are underway.

There is a FS relationship from Activity A to Activity B with a six-day lag. In general, we would like to avoid "lags" in planning a project. What is the best way to avoid the lag relationship and employ only finish-to-start relationships? a.Use a lag and a lead relationship together b.Increase the duration of Activity B by 6 days c.Add a new activity between A and B with a duration of 6 days d.Split Activity A into two parts, A1 and A2, with the duration of A2 being 6 days e.Replace the lead relationship with a lag relationship

There is a FS relationship from Activity A to Activity B with a two-day lag. In general, we would like to avoid "lags" in planning a project. What is the best way to avoid the lag relationship and employ only finish-to-start relationships? a.Use a lag and a lead relationship together b.Increase the duration of Activity B by 2 days c.Add a new activity between A and B with a duration of 2 days. d.Split Activity A into two parts, A1 and A2, with the duration of A1 being 4 days and the duration of A2 being 2 days, with Activity B starting a fter activity A1. e.Replace the lead relationship with a lag relationship

Which best describes a "direct fixed cost" in a project budget analysis? a.Costs associated with each individual work package that are deemed to be "overhead costs" or administrative costs. b.Any costs for the project other than direct labor. c.Costs that do not vary with a work package duration, but are directly linked to the performance of the work package. d.Supervisory and administrative costs associated with the overall project, but that are assigned to each work package. e.Costs that vary with the work package duration, but are directly linked to the performance of the work package.

Which best describes the relationship between project control investment and project performance results: a. Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control (more oversight shows more management involvement and interest in the project, thus motivating project team members). b. Project performance return generally decreases with increased investment in project control (too much micromanagement) c. Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control, but only up to a point, then increased investment results in diminishing returns. d. Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control only for more complex projects, not simple projects. e. Project performance return generally increases with increased investment in project control, but only up to a point, then project performance return is essentially constant as more investment is made in project control.

You crash a critical path activity by 3 days. Which of the following is (are) true? a. The project's scheduled completion date will be reduced by at least 2 days b. The available float on the non-critical paths will increase c. The critical path may change d. All of the above e. A and C

Your project plan results in a project schedule that is too long. If the project network diagram cannot change but you have extra personnel resources, what is the best thing to do? a.Fast track the project b.Monte Carlo analysis c.Crash the project d.Resource Leveling e.Perform a value activities

Activities with zero time duration are referred to as: a. Critical path activities b. Non-critical path activities c. Float time activities d. Milestones e. Work packages

Activity A has a duration of 5 days and begins on the morning of Monday the 4th. There is a finish-to-start relationship from activity A to Activity B. The finish-to-start relationship has a 1 day lead, and activity B has a duration of 6 days. There is a start-to-finish relationship from activity B to activity C and Activity C has a duration of 2 days. Saturday is a working day in the project, Sunday is a non-workday. What can be determined from these data? a.Calendar time between the finish of A to the finish of B is 4 days b.The total duration (in working days) to complete all three activities is 9 days c.The three activities will be completed on May 15th d.Activity C will start on May 6th e.There are 2 days when multiple activities are underway at the same time

As a project manager, you are just about to walk into a meeting with as senior manager to discuss schedule progress on a major project. Which of these is likely to provide the best communication tool to bring with you? a.The detailed bar chart with progress indicated (i.e., a tracking bar chart). b.The project network diagram with comleted activities marked c.The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and WBS Dictionary with completed work packages marked. d.The milestone chart with progress indicated. e.The budget (broken out by major cost categories), along with actual cost expended.

As discussed in class, each project has an indirect project based cost curve as well as an activity based cost curve. What is the relationship between these two curves? a.The organization must seek the point at which the indirect project based cost curve crosses the activity based cost curve for a project b.The organization must seek the point at which the slope of the indirect project based cost curve is at a minimum c.The organization must seek the point at which the slope of the activity based cost curve is at a minimum d.The organization must seek the point at which the sum of the indirect project based costs and the activity based costs are at a minimum e.The organization must work to make sure that these two cost curves do not cross since that implies that the project will not prove to be profitable (i.e., costs will exceed the revenue at the end of the project).

Assume you are about to compress your project duration by applying resources to specific project activities. Your "rules of thumb" for selecting activities to crash might normally include all of the following except: a.An activity that is relatively cheaper to crash b.An activity that is under management control c.An activity that is relatively early in the project d.Giving preference to an activity appearing on only one of several critical paths in the project, rather than choosing an activity appearing on multiple critical paths e.An activity involving relatively inexpensive labor

Consider the 5-activity project described in Table 2 above, in which activities A, B, and D are to be performed seqentially on one path and and activities C and E are to be performed parallel to that path. Partial crashing options are not allowed. Assuming cost is per day to crash is important, and activities are crashed in order to achieve minimium project duration for the least cost. If all appropriate crashing options are taken, the crash duration of this project is: a. 6 days b. 8 days c. 9 days d. 10 days e. 12 days

Consider the following project in answering the next two questions: Activity A and B can both immediately follow the start activity in the project. Activity A and Activity B must both be complete before Activity C can start. Activity D and Activity E both have Activity B as a direct predecessor. Activities C, D, and E are all predecessors to activity F. Each activity in the project has a 2-day normal duration. It costs $1,000 to crash each of the activities by one day, with the exception of activity F which cannot be crashed. How many critical paths are there in this project? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5

In project management, "crashing": a.Means the same as "fast-tracking" b.Is caused by hardware or software problems c.Means adding duration to non-critical path activities to achieve scheduling balance d.Will typically lead to an increase in project activity costs e.Means adding duration to critical path activities to achieve scheduling balance

Project float is: a.The same as the maximum total float value for any single activity in the project b.The sum of all total float values for all activities in the project c.The same as the maximum free float value for any single activity in the project d.The latest finish time minus the earliest finish time for the last activity in the project e.The total of all free float values for all activities in the project

There are many ways that costs can be categorized in a project budget. Usually, the most effective in terms of good cost management practices is: a. By functional department, since each department will have it own budget that can be controlled b. By fiscal period (usually by week, month or quarter) c. By resource type d. By activity (or work package), plus project based indirect costs e. Either A or B above is usually most effective

There is a FS relationship from Activity A (8 day duration) to Activity B (6 day duration) with a two-day lead. In general, we would like to avoid "leads" in planning a project. What is the best way to avoid the lead relationship and employ only finish-to-start relationships? a.Split Activity A into two parts, A1 and A2, with the duration of A1 being 2 days and the duration of A2 being 6 days, with Activity B starting after activity A1. b.Decrease the duration of Activity A by 2 days c.Add a new activity between A and B with a duration of 2 days. d.Split Activity A into two parts, A1 and A2, with the duration of A1 being 6 days and the duration of A2 being 2 days, with Activity B starting after activity A1. e.Add a new activity between A and B with a duration of 2 days.

There is a FS relationship from Activity A to Activity B with a six-day lead. In general, we would like to avoid "leads" in planning a project. What is the best way to avoid the lead relationship and employ only finish-to-start relationships? a. Use a lag and a lead relationship together b. Increase the duration of activity A by 6 days c. Add a new activity between A and B with a duration of 6 days d. Split Activity A into two parts, A1 and A2, with the duration of A2 being 6 days e. Replace the lead relationship with a lag relationship

There is a precedence relationship from Activity A to Activity B. Activity B has no other predecessor relationships. You note that the project critical path goes through Activity B, but not through Activity A, only the start of A. Which of the following is most likely the cause of this anomaly? a. The precedence relationship is finish-to-start (FS) b. The precedence relationship is finish-to-finish (FF) c. The duration for Activity A exceeds the duration for Activity B d. The precedence relationship is start-to-start (SS) e. There is an alternate critical path in the project

Which best describes a reason that "percent complete" is not typically suitable for measuring activity progress? a.Although suitable for small projects, percent complete cannot be used on more reasonable sized projects because project management software (e.g., MS Project does not accept it). b.The use of percent compete tends to be too confrontational and adversarial for use in project management. c.Percent compete typically provides an activity status picture that is too pessimistic and therefore unrealistic. d.Percent compete does not provide a true commitment by the activity manager. e.Percent complete is inappropriate as it is more "forward looking"

Which best describes the optimum point in terms of the tradeoff between indirect project based costs and activity based costs in a project: a.The organization must seek the point at which the indirect project based cost curve crosses the activity based cost curve for a project b.The organization must seek the point at which the slope of the indirect project based cost curve is at a minimum c.The organization must seek the point at which the slope of the activity based cost curve is at a minimum d.The organization must seek the point at which the sum of the indirect project based costs and the activity based costs are at a minimum e.The organization must seek the point at which the indirect project based cost curve is at a minimum

Which is correct with respect to the project contingency fund and the management reserve? a.The management reserve is typically under the control of the project manager b.The management reserve is for specific known risks c.The contingency fund is not part of the project cost baseline d.The contingency fund is typically under the control of the project manager e.The contingency fund and the management reserve should ideally be the same amount

Which of the following methods for shortening the critical path is least likely to cause the project costs to increase? a. "Crashing" an activity by using overtime b. Outsourcing rather than performing work internally c. Increasing the scope of work d. Performing work in parallel rather than in series e. Either a or c above

You are managing a hardware installation project. The hardware components that you will purchase have a one week delivery lead time. Ater the hardware components are received (at the end of the delivery period) the hardware components must be assembled and tested. In this example, the one week delivery period for the hardware components should be best included in the schedule as: a.A one-week lag b.A one-week lead c.A one-week milestone d.A one-week activity e.A "start-no-earlier" date for the activity following the delivery of the hardware

You are managing a marketing project that involves (among other tasks) the analysis of a data base and the generation of a report from that data analysis. Your team estimates that each of these two tasks will require 5 days. Your team also determines that there should be finish to start relationship from the finsh of the data analysis task to the start of the report generation task, with the provision that the report generation task can start 2 days before the end of the data analysis task (i.e., the report writing task can overlap the data analysis task by 2 days). In this example, the 2-day overlap period can be addressed in the plan as: a.A lag between two activities b.Free float c.A milestone d.A lead between two activities e.Total float

You are the manager of one of 20 construction projects that your company has underway. When you are given your project budget, you note that there is a $3,000 weekly charge to your budget for operation of the home office. You learn that all projects in the company have a similar type of charge. This $3,000 per week is best classified as: a.A variable direct cost b.A fixed indirect cost c.A fixed direct cost d.A variable indirect cost e.Part of either the the contingency budget or management reserve for the project

You are the project manager for a new product introduction project. You note that one functional manager has several non-critical path activities in your project that are being completed a bit late. Overall, however, your project is on schedule and you should complete the project on budget. In meeting with the functional manager, you quickly learn that she has determined that an additional minor feature that was not identified in the original project plan must be added to match the rest of the product design, and the design of other company products. She indicates that she has checked the schedule several times to make sure she is not holding up the project and reminds you that she is the design department manager and the subject matter expert (SME). As such, she feels that she should make the call on whether the feature is necessary - that is her job. She also reminds you that you do not have subject matter expertise in the area of product design since you are from the marketing department. Finally, she indicates that she will cover the required expense from her budget, not the project budget. Which is the best statement regarding the position you should take? a.This is a case where you might be "right," but it is best to let it drop. The project will be completed on time, at budget, the customer will be happy. Equally important, the departmental manager will be happy with the feature added, and your long-term working relationship with the functional manager will be enhanced. b.The functional manager must make this call - she is the SME. c.Both you and the functional manager should meet together with senior management to resolve this issue. d.You should insist that the functional manager generate a change request or cease and desist from adding the feature at this time. e.Since the department manager is going to pay for the additional testing, let her do the testing. This will also maintain compatibility of this product with the company's other products.

You are the project manager of a new product development project for a consumer products company. The project is scheduled to start on the first week of the year, and the project plan calls for a project duration of 50 weeks. The project starts as scheduled and you hold formal project control meetings every two weeks to monitor the project. After the first two weeks, you estimate that the project will be completed at the end of 51 weeks. At the next meeting, four weeks into the project, you estimate that the project will be completed at the end of 52 weeks. Based on the assumption of typical past performance, and based on projection of the current trend, which is closest to the number of weeks that will actually be required for project completion? a. 25 weeks b. 52 weeks c. 67 weeks d. 100 weeks e. 125 weeks

A builder uses a technique of "cost-per-square foot" of floor space to estimate the construction costs of a new home. This estimating technique is called __________ estimating and is a (an) __________ approach. a.Definitive, bottom up b.Analogous, top down c.Parametric, bottom up d.Contingency, bottom up e.Parametric, top down

A project manager (PM) has just received a change request from a key stakeholder - the customer. The project manager determines that the change request does not affect the schedule or the budget and is easy to complete. The PM prepares a change request and passes the request along to the project Change Control Board for the project, and a week later, receives authorization to make the change. Which of the following best describes this situation? a.The PM properly executed the project change process by involving the change control board. b.The PM should have been more proactive - i.e., simply make the change happen - this is a "no brainer," and should have not taken a week to implement c.The PM should have first sought the approval of the project team in making the change decision, i.e., there should have been team involvement and buy-in for the change d.The PM should have contacted senior management for approval to make the change, not the Change Control Board e.The PM failed to have the proposed change properly assessed

Activity A has a planned five-day duration with an earliest possible start time at the end of day 10. Activity C has planned three-day duration. There is a finish-to-finish (FF) relationship from Activity A to Activity C with a 4-day lag. Activity B has a planned four-day duration with an earliest possible start time at the end of day 13. There is a finish-to-start relatioship from Activity B to Activity C. What is the planned early start time for Activity C assuming that no other activities or precedence relationships are involved. a.13 days b.14 days c.15 days d.16 days e.17 days

Activity B has one activity predecessor, Activiy A. Activity B has only one successor activity, Activity C. These relationships are finish-to-start. Assume that no other activity relationships affect activity A, B or C. You note that the project critical path goes through Activity B and Activity C, but not through any part of Activity A. Which of the following is most likely the cause of this anomaly? a. The precedence relationship between A and B is a finish-to-start (FS) relationship with a lead of at least one day. b. The precedence relationship is between Activity B and Activity C is a finish-to-start (FS) with a lag of more than one day. c. There is an alternate critical path in the project d. The precedence relationship between Activity B and C is start-to-start (SS) e. There is a constraint date on the start of Activity B.

Consider the following information for the question below. A project has seven activities: Activity A takes 5 weeks and has no predecessors; Activity B takes 3 weeks and has activity A as a predecessor. Activity C takes 5 weeks and has activity A as a predecessor with a one week lead relationship. Activity D takes 3 weeks and has activity A as a predecessor. Activity E takes 6 weeks and has activity B and activity C as predecessors. Activity F takes 6 weeks and has activity C and activity D as predecessors. Activity G takes 2 weeks and has activity E and activity F as predecessors. You need to complete this project in 16 weeks. Which of the following options would you choose to reduce project duration to 16 weeks? a.Compress activity D duration by 2 weeks b.Start activity F two weeks before the completion of activity C c.Remove the precedence relationship from activity C to activity E d.Change the precedence relationship from activity F to activity G to a start-to-start relationship e.None of the choices above will reduce the schedule for this project to 16 weeks

Life cycle costs include a focus on: a.Reserves to allow for future situations, which may be planned for b.Reserves for future situations, which are impossible to predict c.Analogous or parametric cost estimates d.Actual expenditures incurred during project execution, both direct and indirect costs e.Post project implementation costs

Management has set a targeted project completion date of December 15 (Thursday). The scheduled early finish time for the last activity in the project is currently December 14 (Wednesday) based on the project control meeting just completed. There is only one critical path in the project. Which of the following is certain to be true? a.The project float for this project is negative b.Activities on the critical path will have zero total float c.Activities on the critical path will have negative total float. d.Activities on the critical path will have negative free float. e.Activities on the critical path will have positive total float.

The project manager decided to improve the predicted project completion date by doing several of the activities in parallel that were scheduled to be done sequentially. This is called: a.Crashing b.Rolling wave planning c.Increasing priorities d.Resource leveling e.Fast tracking

There are three paths in a project network (I, II, and III). The activities on each path are: Path I - A, B, and C; path II - D, E, and F; and Path III - G, H, and I. The activities on each path are in series. The following facts are known: The project duration is 25 days; Activity E has 2 units of total float and Activity I has 1 unit of free float. Which of the following options are viable for reducing the project duration to 23 days (NOTE: Cost is critical)? I.Overlap the start of Activity F with the finish of Activity E by 2 days (cost of $1,000) II.Crash Activity G by 1 day (cost of $10,000) III.Overlap the start of Activity B with the finish of Activity A by 2 days (cost of $16,000). a.Insufficient information is provided to evaluate the options above. b.Options I & II c.Option III d.Options III & I e.Options II and III

There is a Finish-to-Start (FS) relationship from Activity A to Activity B with a four-day lead. This means that: a. The duration of Activity B will be four days longer than the duration for Activity A b. Activity B must start 4 days after Activity A ends c. Activity B will have four days of float d. Activity B must start four days before Activity A starts e. Activity B can start four days before Activity A ends

Why would a project manager want to crash a project? a.Improve quality b.Derive a schedule in which resource usage does not exceed a specific limit in any given time period c.To do as much work in parallel as possible d.To locate the critical path e.To reduce project duration

Project Management Test #2

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