Chapter 14
Project planners develop a broad definition of what the project is and what its scope will be during the: A) concept phase. B) project definition phase. C) planning phase. D) performance phase.
a
The project represented by this network diagram has activity lengths in days and crash costs as shown in the table. The fixed cost for being on site is $450. What is the lowest total completion cost for the project? A) $10,600 B) $11,000 C) $11,400 D) $12,000
a
What is the latest that activity D can start if A is 5 days, B is 7 days, C is 4 days, D is 5 days, E is 7 days, and F is 6 days long? A) 14 B) 15 C) 16 D) 17
a
What is the total cost to complete this project as quickly as possible if each day on site costs $1000? A) $43,100 B) $40,300 C) $39,300 D) $41,900
a
How many days can this project be shortened if money is no object? A) 6 days B) 9 days C) 10 days D) 13 days
b
The budget estimates made during the concept phase are usually accurate to within: A) 20 percent. B) 30 percent. C) 40 percent. D) 50 percent.
b
What is the latest that activity B can start if A is 35 days, B is 5 days, C is 6 days, and D is 7 days long? A) 35 B) 36 C) 40 D) 41
b
Which of these activities has slack? A) G B) E C) F D) D
b
A project is comprised of 6 activities that have durations and precedence requirements shown in the table. Which of these activities is not on the critical path? A) A B) B C) C D) D
c
An expectation that a new building's foundation would be poured and cured by the end of the year is an example of a(n): A) activity. B) scope. C) milestone. D) precedence.
c
PERT is an acronym meaning: A) Project Evaluation and Review Technique. B) Project Execution and Review Technique. C) Program Evaluation and Review Technique. D) Plan Estimation and Review Technique.
c
What is the cheapest completion cost for the project if the contractor must complete all work in 45 days? A) $550 B) $950 C) $1150 D) $1450
c
A hat maker, fresh off a very successful showing at Lidzapalooza is excited about the prospects of providing the finest chapeaus to meet the needs of his energized customer base in the coming year. He and his space designer have identified seven activities that are necessary to expand his small shop. For the sake of simplicity, and to avoid giving away any trade secrets, the activities have been identified by letters A-G. The activities, their time estimates, and the precedence requirements structure are listed in the table immediately below. Which of these statements is BEST? A) Only four of these activities have zero slack. B) The late finish of D minus the late finish of C is less than the slack of B. C) B's late start plus its slack equals F's late finish. D) The sum of the late start values for activities A through E is less than the sum of the late start values for F and G.
d
In what way are projects and typical business activities similar? A) For most companies, projects and typical business activities can be described as routine. B) Both projects and typical business activities have a defined ending point at which time they are complete. C) Projects and routine business activities require significant levels of cross-functional and inter-organizational coordination. D) The successful completion of projects and business activities is essential to a firm's competitive position.
d
This Gantt chart can be used to show: A) activity D must come before activity C. B) activity F can be done at the same time as D. C) activity E can begin as soon as activity A is complete. D) activities D and B can be done simultaneously.
d
What is the fastest completion time of the project with activity lengths (in days) and precedence requirements as shown in the table? A) 22 B) 25 C) 27 D) 30
d
Which of the activities in this project has the greatest amount of slack? Activity Length Predecessor A 7 -- B 4 A C 8 A D 3 B, C E 2 B F 8 D, E A) B B) C C) D D) E
d
Work on a project's constituent activities begins in the project's: A) planning phase. B) concept phase. C) post-completion phase. D) performance phase.
d
Activities on the critical path may have positive or negative slack as long as the overall slack time of the critical path is zero.
f
Crashing a project refers to the technique that minimizes completion cost of the project.
f
Key points in a project, such as when a major activity or phase is completed, are referred to as lodestones.
f
The BEST use of a Gantt chart is to show precedence requirements for a project's constituent activities.
f
The earliest finish time is calculated by adding the activity's duration to the predecessor's earliest finish time.
f
The earliest finish time of an activity is always later than its latest start time.
f
Your authors argue that the increasing numbers of middle management are attributable to their ability to manage projects.
f
A critical path is composed entirely of critical activities.
t
A forward pass through a network is used to determine the earliest start and finish times for each project activity.
t
A project is a one-time undertaking designed to achieve a particular organization goal.
t
In the project definition phase, project planners identify, among other tasks, how to accomplish the work and how to organize for the project.
t
Most project management software represents a project in AON format.
t
One of the primary characteristics of projects as a form of work is the movement of personnel from project to project.
t
Performance or time targets for each major group of activities in a project are set during the planning phase of a project.
t
Program evaluation and review technique, PERT, is a network-based technique in which there are multiple time estimates for each activity.
t
The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) is divided into two main parts, the various business processes that organizations follow in carrying out projects and the nine knowledge areas applicable to nearly all projects.
t
The earliest start time of an activity is dependent on the earliest finish time of its immediate predecessors.
t
There are more resources required during the performance phase of a project than the project definition phase.
t
