Deck 11: Project Management

Question 1

Which of the following project management tools is used to organize the work to be done in a project by decomposing the project into successively smaller units?

A)WBS
B)Gantt Chart
C)CPM networks
D)BCA
E)CN networks

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements correctly describes precedence among project management tools?

A)A Gantt Chart precedes WBS.
B)CPM networks precede WBS.
C)CN networks precede WBS.
D)WBS precedes a Gantt Chart.
E)WBS precedes BCA.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In crashing a project, what should be the first activities you chose to crash?

A)the ones that can be sped up most cheaply
B)the ones closest to the beginning of the project
C)the ones on the critical path
D)the ones closest to the end of the project
E)the ones with the greatest slack

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What is "crashing"?

A)time until a capital asset completely wears out
B)reducing overall project completion time through the application of additional resources
C)very low capitalized value of a business's cash flows
D)time associated with the minimum of the equivalent annual costs
E)when a project's costs exceed the project's benefits by more than 10 times

Question 5

Nodes and arcs are used in the following project management tool:

A)CPM
B)WBS
C)BCA
D)MARR
E)ERR

Question 6

What does `PERT' stand for?

A)Probable Engineering Return Tool
B)Projected Engineering Reaction Time
C)Professional Engineering Resource Tool
D)Profit Evaluation and Re-evaluation Tool
E)Project Evaluation and Review Technique

Question 7

A Gantt Chart is

A)a chart that depicts the timing and magnitude of a project's cash flows.
B)a graph or bar chart that depicts the timing and sequence of project activities.
C)a numbered list of a project's activities.
D)an organizational chart of a project's activities.
E)a bar graph of a project's costs.

Question 8

Finding ES, EF, LS, and LF requires

A)one pass through the network.
B)two passes through the network.
C)three passes though the network.
D)four passes through the network.
E)five passes through the network.

Question 9

The lifecycle of a project is given by the following sequence of stages

A)initiation-planning-execution-monitoring and control-closure.
B)planning-initiation-execution-monitoring and control-closure.
C)initiation-planning-monitoring and control-execution-closure.
D)initiation-evaluation-execution-monitoring and control-closure.
E)initiation-planning-execution-evaluation of cash flows-closure.

Question 10

Who is responsible for the detailed project plan?

A)the project's sponsor
B)the government
C)the Canadian Engineering Association
D)the project's manager
E)the financial institution who finances the project

Question 11

A fundamental advantage of the CPM networks project management tool is that it provides

A)a sequential representation of a project's activities.
B)a structural representation of a project's activities.
C)a representation that is able to capture the interdependence of a project's activities.
D)a graphical representation of a project's activities.
E)a three-dimensional representation of a project's activities.

Question 12

AON stands for

A)activity of a network.
B)activity on a node.
C)association of networks.
D)assembled and organized network.
E)activity of organized network.

Question 13

For an engineering project, the justification for the project is defined in the

A)initiation stage.
B)planning stage.
C)execution stage.
D)monitoring and control stage.
E)closure stage.

Question 14

What is the difference between a diagram representation of the WBS and indented list representation?

A)A diagram representation appears as a 2-dimensional graph while an indented list is a sequence of actions.
B)A diagram representation appears as an organizational chart while an indented list is associated with evaluation of costs and benefits of a project.
C)A diagram representation appears as an organizational chart while an indented list is a numbered list of a project's layers.
D)A diagram representation appears as a three-dimensional graph of a project's layers while an indented list is a two-dimensional list of the project's costs and benefits.
E)A diagram representation appears as a cash-flow diagram while an indented list is a numbered list of a project's layers.

Question 15

What does "WBS" stand for?

A)Weighted Brokerage System
B)Work Bill of Sale
C)Work Breakdown Structure
D)World Banking System
E)Whittaker's Bonding Scheme

Question 16

The required resources for an engineering project are defined in the

A)planning stage.
B)execution stage.
C)monitoring and control stage.
D)initiation stage.
E)closure stage.

Question 17

Project execution includes

A)economic evaluation of the project's cash flows.
B)carrying out the processes defined in the project plan so that the project's objectives are achieved.
C)estimation of the time, cost, and resources needed to complete the project.
D)identification of corrective actions.
E)review of the project's activities.

Question 18

The critical path is

A)a sequence of large cash outflows.
B)a sequence of large cash inflows.
C)the set of extremely large cash outflows at the very beginning of a project's lifecycle.
D)the set of activities that must be completed on time in order to keep the project on schedule.
E)the set of extremely large cash outflows at the very end of a project's lifecycle.

Question 19

The nature and scope of a project are defined in the

A)planning stage.
B)execution stage.
C)monitoring and control stage.
D)initiation stage.
E)closure stage.

Question 20

"CPM" stands for

A)Critical Path Method.
B)Company Profit Maximization.
C)Competitive Profit Methodology.
D)Complete Project Management.
E)Computer-Powered Management.

Question 21

What is a project charter?

Question 22

A feasibility study is associated with the ________ stage of a project lifecycle.

A)initiation
B)planning
C)monitoring and control
D)execution
E)closure

Question 23

Explain how and when a project's risk is addressed in the project management lifecycle.

Question 24

When resources such as overtime, extra equipment, and additional staff result in higher costs, what should a project manager do?

A)Hire additional staff and acquire additional resources.
B)Terminate the project.
C)Make a tradeoff between the extra costs associated with crashing and the benefits of a reduced project completion time.
D)Look for a new sponsor of the project.
E)Delay the project until economic conditions change.

Question 25

The AON diagram shown represents a project. Normal and crash times, and the associated costs, are shown for each activity in the accompanying table. The normal completion time for the project is 130 weeks. If it is worth $10 000 a week to reduce the project duration, what is the shortest economical crash time?

A)There is no economical way to reduce completion time.
B)10 weeks
C)15 weeks
D)20 weeks
E)25 weeks

Question 26

At what stage of a project's lifecycle can the project manager conclude that the project's goals have been met?

A)Initiation
B)Planning
C)Monitoring and control
D)Execution
E)Closure

Question 27

The AON diagram shown represents a project. If the estimated times for each activity are as shown in the accompanying table, what is the estimated completion time for the project?

A)16 days
B)20 days
C)26 days
D)30 days
E)32 days

Question 28

A new bridge project passed the feasibility study test, and is now in the planning stage. The project manager thinks that evaluation of people's willingness to pay for the use of the bridge was done under the assumption of low inflation. In this regard, at this stage the project manager should

A)initiate a public hearing.
B)perform sensitivity analysis with respect to variable levels of inflation.
C)terminate the project.
D)move on to the execution stage.
E)perform hedonic price evaluation.

Question 29

What are the five stages of a project's lifecycle?

Question 30

A construction company has just started building a new house. It was estimated that the project will take 12 months. However, the owner of the land asked the company to complete it in 10 months. What should the construction company do to accommodate the owner's request?

A)To deliver the project on time, one or several project activities should be crashed.
B)To deliver the project on time, the company should hire extra workers.
C)To deliver the project on time, the construction company should work overtime.
D)To deliver the project on time, the construction company should look for a new technology.
E)To deliver the project on time, the construction company should change the project.

Question 31

The AON diagram shown represents a project. If the estimated times for each activity are as shown in the accompanying table, how much slack is there in the completion of Activity 5?

A)There is no slack, because Activity 5 is on the critical path.
B)1 day
C)2 days
D)3 days
E)4 days

Question 32

Suppose that a feasibility study done for a project by a consulting company brought the following results: PW (Benefits)= $13 million
PW (Costs)= $10 million
It was mentioned in the feasibility study that there is a risk of the project's loss due to potential high inflation. How should the project manager react to these results?

A)Terminate the project right away.
B)Terminate the project at initiation stage.
C)Proceed with the project to the planning stage during which the risk of inflation should be addressed.
D)Use Monte Carlo simulation to address the risk.
E)Look for a second opinion on feasibility study.

Question 33

As a rule, each project includes a feasibility study. With reference to the five-stage project management lifecycle, where does this feasibility study belong?

Question 34

A 5-year project requires $10 million in initial investment and will bring $0.5 million in net annual revenue under a 10% annual interest rate. If you were a project manager, would you proceed with project or would you terminate the project and at which stage?

A)Proceed with the project.
B)Terminate the project at initiation stage.
C)Terminate the project at planning stage.
D)Terminate the project at execution stage.
E)Terminate the project at monitoring and control stage.

Question 35

Suppose that the crash cost is $10 million, normal cost is $8 million, normal project time is 10 years and crash time is 8 years, what is the project's crash cost per year?

A)$1 million
B)$2 million
C)$3 million
D)$4 million
E)$5 million

Question 36

In a single sentence, what is project management?

Question 37

Define the process of project management.

Question 38

The AON diagram shown represents a project. Normal and crash times, and the associated costs, are shown for each activity in the accompanying table. If it is worth $5 000 a day to reduce the project duration, which activity or activities should be crashed?

A)There is no economical way to reduce completion time.
B)Crash Activity 3 by 2 days.
C)Crash Activity 7 by 2 days.
D)Crash Activities 3 and 7 by one day each.
E)Crash Activities 2 and 3 by one day each.

Question 39

Explain what the closure stage of a project's lifecycle involves.

Question 40

In order to calculate the crash cost per unit of time, a project manager has to know

A)the project's costs, benefits and service life.
B)the project's normal and crash costs as well as normal and crash time.
C)the project's equivalent annual costs and crash time.
D)the project's economic life and its crash costs.
E)the project's crash and normal time as well as the project's costs and benefits.

Question 41

What is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?

Question 42

How do we find a project's critical path?

Question 43

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a Gantt Chart?

Question 44

What is a Gantt Chart?

Question 45

Identify some similarities and differences between the CPM and PERT project management tools.

Question 46

What is meant by "crashing a project"?

Question 47

Define the critical path and explain its importance

Question 48

What is the crash cost of an activity and what information is needed to define it?

Question 49

Developing a new electronics product involves two activities that can be carried out independently: software development and hardware development. These activities would normally take 18 weeks and 20 weeks respectively, and the product development project is complete when both have been completed. If software development can be sped up at a cost of $1 million per week, and hardware development can be sped up at a cost of $2 million per week, what is the cost of reducing the project completion time to a)19 weeks and b)17 weeks?

Question 50

Describe three "best practices" to observe when producing a WBS?