Chapters 6 and 7

Which of the following is an output of the process of controlling costs? a. Project funding requirements b. Basis of estimates c. Cost forecasts d. Scope baselines

c. Cost forecasts Rationale: Outputs of the process of controlling costs are work performance information, cost forecasts, change requests, project management plan updates, project documents updates, and organizational process asset updates.

Which of the following is true of a finsih-to-finish dependency? a. It is a dependency in which in which the "from" activity must finish before the "to" activity or successor can start. b. It is a dependency in which the "from" activity cannot start until the "to" activity or successor is started. c. It is a dependency in which the "from" activity must be finished before the "to" activity can be finished. d. It is a dependency in which the "from" activity must start before the "to" activity can be finished.

c. It is a dependency in which the "from" activity must be finished before the "to" activity can be finished. Rationale: A finish-to-finish dependency is a relationship in which the "from" activity must be finished before the "to" activity can be finished. One task cannot finish before another finishes.

In an AOA network diagram, _____ occur when two or more activities follow a single node. a. combinations b. mergers c. bursts d. buffers

c. bursts

A(n) _____ on a project is a significant event that normally has no duration. a. activity sequence b. schedule baseline c. milestone d. activity attribute

c. milestone Rationale: It often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete a milestone, but the milestone itself is like a marker to help in identifying necessary activities.

In project time management, which of the following processes involve calculating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities? a. Estimating activity durations b. Planning schedule management c. Defining activities d. Sequencing activities

a. Estimating activity durations Rationale: Estimating activity durations involves estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities. Outputs include activity duration estimates and project documents updates

A cost estimation tool which is used to allocate money into an organization's budget is known as a _____ estimate. a. budgetary b. rough order of magnitude c. ballpark d. definitive

a. budgetary Rationale: A budgetary estimate is used to allocate money into an organization's budget. Budgetary estimates are made one to two years prior to project completion.

One of the main outputs of the _____ process is a cost baseline. a. cost budgeting b. cost controlling c. cost planning d. cost estimating

a. cost budgeting Rationale: Determining the budget involves allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance. The main outputs of the cost budgeting process are a cost baseline, project funding requirements, and project documents updates.

_____ is a method for determining the estimated annual costs and benefits for a project. a. Requirements analysis b. Cash flow analysis c. Present value analysis d. Critical path analysis

b. Cash flow analysis

_____ dependencies are sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care because they may limit later scheduling options. a. Inherent b. Discretionary c. Mandatory d. External

b. Discretionary Rationale: Discretionary dependencies are defined by the project team. They are sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care because they may limit later scheduling options.

Which of the following dependencies involve relationships between project and non-project activities? a. Discretionary b. External c. Mandatory d. Inherent

b. External

_____ are those costs that are difficult to measure in monetary terms. a. Tangible costs b. Intangible costs c. Direct costs d. Fixed costs

b. Intangible costs

Which of the following is true of the schedule performance index (SPI)? a. It is the ratio of planned value to actual costs. b. It can be used to estimate the projected time to complete the project. c. It means that a project is ahead of schedule if SPI is lesser than one or hundred percent. d. It means that a project is behind schedule if an SPI is greater than one.

b. It can be used to estimate the projected time to complete the project. Rationale: The schedule performance index (SPI) is the ratio of earned value to planned value; it can be used to estimate the projected time to complete the project.

A difference between the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and critical path method (CPM) is that: a. unlike CPM, PERT estimates only when there is no risk of uncertainty. b. PERT uses different duration estimates whereas CPM uses one specific duration estimate. c. CPM addresses the risk associated with duration estimates whereas PERT does not. d. CPM involves more work than PERT because it requires several duration estimates.

b. PERT uses different duration estimates whereas CPM uses one specific duration estimate. Rationale: PERT uses probabilistic time estimates -duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations -instead of one specific or discrete duration estimate, as CPM does.

In project time management, the next step after defining project activities is: a. planning schedule management. b. determining their dependencies. c. estimating activity duration. d. controlling the schedule.

b. determining their dependencies. Rationale: After defining project activities, the next step in project time management is sequencing them or determining their dependencies. The sequencing process involves evaluating the reasons for dependencies and the different types of dependencies.

The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following activities is known as a _____. a. backward pass b. free slack c. forward pass d. fast tracking

b. free slack Rationale: A technique that can help project managers make schedule trade-offs is determining the free slack and total slack for each project activity. Free slack or free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following activities.

Good Earth, a company manufacturing packaged food products, sets up its stores in Baltonia. However, a year later, the company closes the store down due to high operating costs. In such a scenario, the money spent in paying for the rent of the store in Baltonia would be an example of _____ costs. a. intangible b. recurring c. sunk d. direct

c. sunk Rationale: Sunk cost is money that has been spent in the past. When deciding what projects to invest in or continue, one should not include sunk costs.

Which of the following is a relationship in which the "from" activity cannot start until the "to" activity is started? a. Start-to-finish b. Finish-to-finish c. Finish-to-start d. Start-to-start

d. Start-to-start

Which of the following is true of bottom-up estimates? a. They are most accurate when they involve large, extensive work items. b. They are based on the actual cost of a previous, similar project. c. They are also known as parametric estimating. d. They are time-intensive and expensive to develop.

d. They are time-intensive and expensive to develop. Rationale: Bottom-up estimates involve estimating the costs of individual work items or activities and summing them to get a project total. The drawback with bottom-up estimates is that they are usually time-intensive and therefore expensive to develop.

The process of controlling costs primarily involves: a. determining a basis for estimates. b. determining the policies for project costs. c. finalizing the procedures for project costs. d. managing changes to the project budget.

d. managing changes to the project budget. Rationale: Controlling costs involves controlling changes to the project budget. The main outputs of the cost control process are work performance information, cost forecasts, change requests, project management plan updates, project documents updates, and organizational process assets updates.

The budget is one of the three values of earned value management and is also known as _____. a. indirect cost b. earned value c. actual cost d. planned value

d. planned value Rationale: The planned value (PV), also called the budget, is the portion of the approved total cost estimate planned to be spent on an activity during a given period.