Chapter 9
An activity's completion time is to be estimated using the beta distribution. If the most likely time (m), the optimistic time (a), and the pessimistic time (b) for the activity are 11 days, 6 days, and 18 days, respectively, then the activity's expected time is estimated to be
11.33 days
The estimated mean time for an activity with a most likely time (m) of 12 weeks, an optimistic time (a) of 9 weeks, and a pessimistic time (b) of 18 weeks would be
12.5 weeks
The estimated variance for an activity with a most likely time (m) of 12 weeks, an optimistic time (a) of 9 weeks, and a pessimistic time (b) of 18 weeks would be
2.25
The variance of an activity's completion time is to be estimated using the beta distribution. If the most likely time (m), the optimistic time (a), and the pessimistic time (b) for the activity are 11 days, 6 days, and 18 days, respectively, then the activity's variance is estimated to be
4
Which of the following is not one of the time estimates for an activity in Probabilistic Time Estimates?
Least likely
A graph with a bar for each activity displaying when activities are scheduled to start, when they will be finished, and where extra time is available is known as a
Gantt chart
A Gantt chart provides a visual display of the project schedule, including scheduled start times, finish times, and slack times.
True
A graph or bar chart with a bar representing the passage of time for each activity in the project is known as a Gantt chart.
True
A project has a unique purpose, it is temporary, and it draws resources from various areas in the organization.
True
A project team is typically cross-functional in its make up.
True
A project's duration can only be reduced by crashing activities on the critical path.
True
A unique, one-time operational activity or effort is referred to as a project.
True
An activity that is inserted in the network diagram to show a precedence relationship, but does not represent any passage of time, is known as a dummy activity.
True
Earned value analysis is a standard procedure for numerically measuring a project's progress, forecasting its completion date and cost and measuring schedule and budget variation.
True
In recent years projects have become increasingly pervasive in companies.
True
PERT/CPM have been around at least fifty years.
True
Project crashing is a method for shortening a project's duration by reducing the time of one (or more) of the critical path activities to less than its normal time.
True
Slack is the amount of time by which an activity can be delayed without delaying any of the activities that follow it or the project as a whole.
True
The management and control of a companywide portfolio of projects is known as enterprise project management.
True
The use of a network to depict precedence relationships between activities is an advantage of CPM/PERT over the Gantt chart.
True
A tool used for project planning which breaks down a project into components, subcomponents, activities, and tasks is referred to as the
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
In project management the term slack refers to the
amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project
The _______________ probability distribution is typically used to describe uncertain activity times in a project.
beta
For activities on the critical path
earliest start time (ES) = latest start time (LS)
The slack time for an activity can be computed as
latest start time (LS) - earliest start time (ES)
The cost of reducing activity time is referred to as:
Crash cost
The longest path through the network, in terms of time, is referred to as the
Critical Path
One disadvantage of Gantt charts, especially for large projects, is that the Gantt Chart
Does not clearly show precedence relationships
A standard procedure for numerically measuring a project's progress, forecasting its completion date and cost and providing measures of schedule and budget variation as activities are completed is referred to as
Earned Value Analysis (EVA)
A document that provides a common understanding and justification for a project is known as a work breakdown structure.
False
Activities that are not on a project's critical path have zero slack.
False
Because projects are unique, the principles of total quality management (TQM) cannot be applied to the project management process.
False
Because they are temporary, projects are subject to less uncertainty than normal management processes.
False
Crashing costs increase as a project time increases.
False
In an activity-on-node (AON) network diagram the nodes indicate the precedence relationship and the arrows represent the activities of a project.
False
In general, crashing costs and indirect costs move in the same direction as a project's duration is shortened.
False
Indirect cost increase as project time decreases.
False
Issues of cultural diversity in project management should only be addressed if and when they arise.
False
One can mix AOA and AON in any given PERT/CPM network.
False
PERT stands for program enterprise and resource technique.
False
Probabilistic activity ties reflect certainty.
False
Quality management and control are not part of the project management process.
False
The critical path for a project is the shortest path through the project's network.
False
The earliest time an activity can start is always at time zero.
False
The objective of project crashing is to increase project duration while maximizing the cost of crashing.
False
The three major processes encompassed by project management are planning, scheduling, and product design.
False
To reduce a project's duration activities with a positive slack must be crashed.
False
The project management process encompasses
Planning, scheduling, and control
In general, the latest finish time for an activity is equal to
The minimum of the latest start times for immediate following activities
For the activity-on-node (AON) network diagram
The nodes represent activities and the arrows indicate precedence relationships
The document that provides a common understanding, justification, and expected result for a project is referred to as
The scope statement
A team structure sometimes used in projects where members are drawn from different functional areas or departments in the company, depending on the skills required, is known as
A matrix organization
Which of the following is not a general characteristic of a project?
A project is more certain than the normal management process
In general, the earliest finish time for an activity is equal to
The earliest start time + the activity time estimate
