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COURSEHERO - Managing Service Projects

This chapter discusses managing service projects. It covers selecting a project manager, building a project team, using techniques like Gantt charts and critical path methods to plan and schedule projects, addressing resource constraints and uncertainty, monitoring project progress, and ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget. Microsoft Project software can assist with project planning and management by automatically generating charts and tracking schedules and budgets.

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ayush modi
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
370 views26 pages

COURSEHERO - Managing Service Projects

This chapter discusses managing service projects. It covers selecting a project manager, building a project team, using techniques like Gantt charts and critical path methods to plan and schedule projects, addressing resource constraints and uncertainty, monitoring project progress, and ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget. Microsoft Project software can assist with project planning and management by automatically generating charts and tracking schedules and budgets.

Uploaded by

ayush modi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

CHAPTER 16
MANAGING SERVICE PROJECTS

TEACHING NOTE
With the emphasis on teamwork in organizations, project management skills will be expected of future
leaders. Once a project manager has been selected and a team formed, management activities involve
planning, scheduling, and controlling. Computer software such as Microsoft Project make these activities
easier. Using this software, visual displays such as Gantt charts and PERT charts can be produced and
revised with ease. Performing critical path analysis no longer is a tedious process. Project managers are
freed to focus on completing the project on time and within budget.
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Case: Paymor Shopping Center (Stanford University case)
The owner of a shopping center is preparing for the construction of a tire store on his property. He is
interested in learning how long the project will take and what activities could be expedited to complete the
construction in 58 days at minimum additional cost.
Software: Microsoft Project
This commercial software program automatically constructs Gantt charts and project network diagrams
(both using color to highlight the critical path) based on inputs of project activity times and precedence
requirements. Other features include managing resources, workloads, and calendars. Controlling the project
cost, scheduling task constraints, and tracking project progress are made easy.

LECTURE OUTLINE
1. The Nature of Project Management

Characteristics of Projects

Project Management Process (Figure 16.1)

Selecting the Project Manager

Building the Project Team

Principles of Effective Project Management

2. Techniques for Project Management

Gantt Project Charts (Figure 16.2)

A Critique of Gantt Charts

Constructing a Project Network (Table 16.1)

Critical Path Method (Figures 16.3, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, 16.7, and Table 16.2)

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

Microsoft Project Analysis (Figures 16.8 and 16.9)

3. Resource Constraints (Figures 16.10 and 16.11)

4. Activity Crashing (Figures 16.12, 16.13 and Tables 16.3, 16.4, 16.5)

5. Incorporating Uncertainty in Activity Times

Estimating Activity Duration Distribution (Figure 16.14)

Project Completion Time Distribution (Table 16.6 and Figures 16.15)

A Critique of the Project Completion Time Analysis (Figure 16.16)

6. Problems With Implementing Critical Path Analysis

7. Monitoring Projects (Table 16.7)

Earned Value Chart (Figure 16.17)

Project Termination

Project History Report

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION


1. Give an example that demonstrates the trade-off inherent in projects among cost, time, and
performance.
The development of a military fighter best illustrates the trade-off found in projects. The government is
interested in a fighter that will not exceed budget allocations but the military desires a plane that will push
the performance envelope. Achieving outstanding performance requires the use of exotic materials and
results in additional expenses. Both the military and the government are interested in having the final
product yesterday but accelerated development requires additional manpower and associated cost. Engineers
know that with additional time the design can be improved and meet higher levels of performance.
2. Illustrate the four stages of team building from your own experience.
As a young boy I played shortstop on a school baseball team. The forming stage began the first day we all
showed up for tryouts with the expected excitement and anticipation, and some anxiety. After the team
members were selected, positions were assigned and we took to the field for the first time; this storming stage
began with the reality that we did not work well together. Fly balls were dropped, throws to first base were
off the bag, and the shortstop did not cover second base when needed or flubbed an opportunity for a double
play. After more practice and a few competitive games we began to relate to one another. As we entered the
norming stage of our activity, we learned to anticipate each other’s moves and trust each other to field the
ball. Finally, the team began to perform and play well enough that we took pride in our performance and
actually won some games with appropriate celebration.

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3. Are Gantt charts still viable project management tools? Explain.


A Gantt chart is a useful visual representation of project activities against a time schedule with progress
easily displayed. For small-scale and repetitive projects (e.g., airplane turn-around between flights), a posted
Gantt chart describes for everyone what needs to be accomplished and the expected time for each activity.
Gantt charts also can be used for training new personnel.
4. Explain why the PERT estimate of expected project duration always is optimistic. Can we get any feel
for the magnitude of this bias?
Analysis of projects with uncertain activity times proceeds with the assumption that the critical path
activities based on expected activity durations actually determine the expected project completion time.
However, the completion times of every path in the network are random variables. Paths whose expected
durations are close to that of the critical path can, in fact, determine the project completion time owing to
excessive variance in some activities. By focusing on only the critical path and ignoring other paths, the
calculation of project completion time becomes an optimistic estimate. A better estimate of the project
completion time distribution can be obtained using Monte Carlo simulation of the network by taking a
sample of each activity time from its Beta distribution and determining the critical path. Repeated sampling
will result in realizations of project durations that can be displayed as a completion time distribution. The
mean of this empirical distribution then can be compared to the expected project duration (using only the
critical path activities) to arrive at a measure of the bias.
5. Discuss the difference between time variance, cost variance, and schedule variance.
Variance represents a measure of deviation of actual performance from planned performance. Time variance
looks at work performed and compares actual with scheduled times to identify whether the project is behind
or ahead of schedule. Cost variance is concerned with a comparison of the accumulation of expenses to date
with budgeted cost to signal the potential of a project cost overrun in time to make adjustments, if necessary.
Schedule variance is another measure of cost performance but relates budgeted cost (baseline) to budgeted
cost of work performed to date. Cost variance and schedule variance will be identical only when the actual
cost equals the baseline cost. However, in this case the project could still be in trouble because the value
completed could be less than budgeted cost.
6. Go to http://www.people.hbs.edu/besty/projfinportal/index.htm and find employment opportunities in
project finance. What role does finance play in projects?

Finance plays at lease three roles in projects: (1) arranges for project financing using debt, partnerships,
and/or government financing, (2) challenges the project plan for possible financial risks, and (3) challenges
host government, joint venture, and supplier contracts for possible schedule and performance risks during
project execution and keeps track of the costs against budget (cost variance) to avoid cost overruns.

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INTERACTIVE EXERCISE
Prepare a work breakdown structure (WBS) for a homecoming dance.

The following is a possible WBS for the homecoming dance project plan. Using WORD, the outline is
numbered automatically.

1.0 Homecoming Dance


1.1 Ballroom
1.1.1 Find an available ballroom
1.1.2 Sign a contract for a date
1.2 Band
1.2.1 Decide on the type of band
1.2.2 Find an available band
1.2.3 Sign a contract for a date
1.3 Food service
1.3.1 Find a caterer
1.3.2 Sign a contract for a date
1.4 Decorations
1.4.1 Purchase balloons and streamers
1.5 Announcement
1.5.1 Print flyer
1.5.2 Post announcement in school paper
1.6 Dance day
1.6.1 Have committee show up early
1.6.2 Identify cleanup crew

EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
16.1 (a)

A4 D6 G4

E3 I2
B3

C4 F5 H6

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(b)

Activity ES LS EF LF TS
A 0 1 4 5 1
B 0 6 3 9 6
C 0 0 4 4 0
D 4 5 10 11 1
E 4 12 7 15 8
F 4 4 9 9 0
G 10 11 14 15 1
H 9 9 15 15 0
I 15 15 17 17 0

(c) Critical path activities: C, F, H, I

Expected Project Completion Time: 17 days

(d) A maximum of three workers is required in the resource-leveled schedule below:

ID Days Days of Project Schedule


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
A 4    
B 3   
C 4    
D 6      
E 3   
F 5     
G 4    
H 6      
I 2  
Required 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 1 1

Critical Path Activities 

Activities with Slack 

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

16.2 (a)

B2 D2 G4

A1 E4 H8

C2 F1

(b)

Activity ES LS EF LF TS
A 0 1 1 2 1
B 0 0 2 2 0
C 0 2 2 4 2
D 2 2 4 4 0
E 2 4 6 8 2
F 2 7 3 8 5
G 4 4 8 8 0
H 8 8 16 16 0

(c) Critical Path Activities: B, D, G, H

Expected Project Completion Time: 16 days

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(d) Three workers are required for one day only as shown on the schedule below:

ID Days Day of Project Schedule


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
A 1 
B 2  
C 2  
D 2  
E 4    
F 1 
G 4    
H 8        
Required 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Critical Path Activities 

Activities with Slack 

16.3 (a)

A3 B5 E5 F 10

D3 I2 J3

C 10 G8 H3

(b)

Activity ES LS EF LF TS
A 0 2 3 5 2
B 3 5 8 10 2
C 0 0 10 10 0
D 10 20 13 23 10
E 10 10 15 15 0
F 15 15 25 25 0
G 10 12 18 20 2
H 18 20 21 23 2
I 21 23 23 25 2
J 25 25 28 28 0

Critical Path Activities: C, E, F, J


Expected Project Completion Time: 28 days

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(c) Begin team selection 28 days  3 days for tournament = 25 days before December 27. Thus, begin team
selection on the morning of December 2, but no later than December 4 (2 days TS). Arranging
accommodations must begin no later than December 2.
16.4 (a)

Step 1 reduce C by 5 weeks, critical paths AC and ABD, T= 35

AC = 35 weeks ABD = 35 weeks

Step 2 reduce A by 5 weeks, critical paths AC and ABD, T = 30

AC = 30 weeks ABD = 30 weeks

Step 3 reduce by 5 weeks each, activities B and C, critical paths AC and ABD, T = 25

AC = 25 weeks ABD = 25 weeks

Step 4 reduce by 5 weeks each, activities D and C, critical paths AC and ABD, T = 20

AC = 20 weeks ABD = 20 weeks

The minimum cost of completing the project in 20 weeks is $295,000.

Activity Time Cost


A 5 85,000
B 5 90,000
C 15 70,000
D 10 50,000
$295,000

(b) Using the same methodology as in part (a), we can crash the completion time of the project to 33 weeks.
The actual activity time and corresponding cost is as follows:

Activity Time Cost


A 8 76,000
B 10 80,000
C 25 50,000
D 15 25,000
$231,000

Bid price should be (1.2) (231,000) = $277,200

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16.5

Normal Normal Crash Crash Slope


Activity Time (wk.) Cost Time (wk.) Cost ($/week)
A 4 2,500 2 6,000 1,750
B 5 4,000 4 5,000 1,000
C 2 3,000 1 5,000 2,000
D 2 2,000 1 3,000 1,000
E 6 3,000 4 4,000 500
F 3 2,000 1 5,000 1,500
G 1 2,000 1 2,000 -

Project Duration Activity Crashed Project Cost


10 Normal 18,500
9 E 19,000
8 A 20,750
7 E, F 22,750
6 A, B 25,500

Maximum crash limit achieved because critical path A - E cannot be reduced further (i.e. all
activities crashed to their limit)

Project Duration after


Paths Normal Duration Crashing Activity
E A E,*F A,*B
A- E 10 9 8 7 6
A- D - G 7 7 6 6 5
A- C - F 9 9 8 7 6
B-F 8 8 8 7 6

* Activity crashed to limit

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16.6 (a)

E2 J5 M2
D1

C2 Q1
L6
F 30 O4 R1

A 10 I6
P1
G 45 N1

K1

B 28 H1

(b), (c)

Activity Time
Activity (days) ES EF LS LF TS
*A 10 0 10 0 10 0
B 28 0 28 16 44 16
*C 2 10 12 10 12 0
*D 1 12 13 12 13 0
E 2 13 15 43 45 30
F 30 13 43 16 46 3
*G 45 13 58 13 58 0
H 1 28 29 44 45 16
I 6 29 35 45 51 16
J 5 43 48 46 51 3
*K 1 58 59 58 59 0
L 6 48 54 51 57 3
M 2 54 56 57 59 3
N 1 59 60 62 63 3
*O 4 59 63 59 63 0
P 1 60 61 63 64 3
*Q 1 63 64 63 64 0
*R 1 64 65 64 65 0
*Critical Path Activities Project Duration = 65 days

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

(d)

1. NO, activity B not on critical path


2. Crash activity G by one day yields savings of $100,000 - $50,000 = $50,000
3. Crash activity O by 2 days yields savings of $100,000(2) - $150,000 = $50,000 making N and P
critical
4. Crash activity O by 2 days by drawing resources from activity N extending it by 2 days yields savings
of $100,000 or one day resulting in N and P becoming critical and O non critical
16.7 (a)

C4
G2
A6

D5
H3.5
E 10.5

I4

B2 F9

(b)

Activity Time (mos.) ES LS TS  2 for CP


A 6 0 .5 .5
B* 2 0 0 0 4/36
C 4 6 6.5 .5
D 5 6 7.5 1.5
E* 10.5 2 2 0 81/36
F 9 2 3 1
G 2 10 10.5 .5
H* 3.5 12.5 12.5 0 25/36
I __4__ 11 12 1 _____
T = 16  T2 = 110/36

Critical Path Activities: B, E, H

Expected Project Completion Time: 16 months

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

x  24  16 8
(c) z   4.57
2 110 / 36 3.055
P(Completion Time  24) = 100%

16.8 (a)

C 14 E11
A7 H4

D5
F7
J1
I18
B6 G11

(b)

Activity Time (days)  2


ES LS TS
A 7 4 0 0 0
B 6 4 0 1 1
C 14 16 7 7 0
D 5 1 7 20 13
E 11 4 21 21 0
F 7 4 12 25 13
G 11 16 6 7 1
H 4 1 32 32 0
I 18 16 17 18 1
J 1 0 36  0

Critical Path Activities: A,C, E, H, J

Expected Project Completion Time: 37 days

(c)

Critical Path Time  2

A 7 4
C 14 16
E 11 4
H 4 1
J 1 0
 = 37  T2 = 25

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

x  41  37
z   0.8
2 25
P(Completion Time  41) = .5 + .2881 = .7881

16.9 (a)

Activity ES LS TS
A 0 1 1
B 5 8 3
C 5 6 1
D 0 0 0
E 10 11 1
F 10 10 0
G 12 13 1
H 7 7 0
I 7 8 1
J 18 18 0
K 16 17 1

Critical Path Activities: D, H, F, J

Expected Project Completion Time: 25 weeks

(b)

Critical Path Duration 2


D 7 1
H 3 1
F 8 1
J 7 2
 = 25 2
T = 5

x  24  25
z   .45
 2
5
P(Completion Time  24) = .5  .1736 = .3264

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

16.10 (a)

C6 F7
B3

G11
D7 I2
A2

E9 H5

(b)

Activity Time (Wk.) 2 ES LS TS


A 2 1/9 0 0 0
B 3 0 2 4 2
C 6 4/9 5 7 2
D 7 1 2 2 0
E 9 1 2 6 4
F 7 1 11 13 2
G 11 1 9 9 0
H 5 1/9 11 15 4
I 2 0 20 20 0

(c)

Critical Path Activities: A, D, G, I

Expected Project Completion Time: 22 weeks

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

(d)

Critical Path Duration 2


A 2 1/9
D 7 1
G 1 1
I 2 0
 = 22 2
 T = 2.11

x  25  22
z  2.06
 2
2.11
P(Completion Time  25) = .5  .4803 = .0197

CASE: INFO-SYSTEMS INC.


[This analysis provided by Jennifer White, Ben Harrington, Hugh Ramsey, and Monica Prihoda]
1. Using Microsoft Projects, prepare a network and identify the critical path activities, the expected
project duration, and scheduling times for all activities.
As shown below, the critical path consists of the following activities: 2-5-6-8-9-14-20-24-28-29-30-31 with
duration of 293 days.

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

2. The elapsed time for delivery of the hardware is estimated at 90 days. Would the project completion
time be affected if delivery of the hardware were delayed by 30 days? Would the critical path change?
If the delivery of hardware were delayed by an estimated 30 days, the project completion would be postponed
by 25 days. This delay can be attributed to a change in the revised critical path, as shown below, with
activity 4 now taking 130 days. The critical path changes to 2-4-13-20-24-28-29-30-31, which moves the
finish date forward to October 22, 1997.

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3. Using the original network and critical path, what strategies could management consider to complete
the project on time if activity B were delayed by several weeks?
Two major types of strategies are available to complete the project on time if activity 2, “Develop batch
processing system requirements,” were delayed. The first is to work weekends on the critical path activities.
Returning to Microsoft Project and changing the specifications to allow work on weekends results in
finishing the project in 177 days. This allows activity 2 to be delayed (293-177) or 116 days and still finish
the project on time.
The second option is to crash certain activities on the critical path. We can look at the end of the
critical path (20-24-28-29-30-31) for opportunities. An example is to crash activity 29, “Operate system in
parallel and train,” by using longer and more intense training sessions. Crashing early activities on the
critical path might result in changes in the critical path. As an example of a two-part crashing strategy, we
first crash activities 8 and 9 by 10 and 15 days, respectively. Crashing could be accomplished by having
employees work overtime, outsourcing, or diverting employees from non-critical activities. Once these are
crashed, a new critical path that includes activity 4 develops. We then crash activity 4. This can be done by
paying more money to complete software earlier and by using overnight shipping. Other possibilities could
be considered, but working weekends and crashing selected critical path activities should be the focus for
reducing project duration.
CASE: WHITTIER COUNTY HOSPITAL
[This analysis provided by Jason Cain, Lydia Radnik, and Suzanne Schmidtz]
1. Assume that you are part of the management staff whose task is to develop this sketch plan. Using
Microsoft Project for Windows, develop the PERT network as outlined above, identify the critical path, and
determine the expected time to reach basic operational status at the new facility.

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

Critical Path Analysis


Activity Expected
Number Description A M B Duration Variance Predecessors
1 Construction 40 50 60 50.00 11.111 -
2 Plan of action 10 15 20 15.00 2.778 -
3 Newsletter 3 4 7 4.33 0.444 2
4 Media 2 2 3 2.17 0.028 2
5 EMS 10 14 20 14.33 2.778 2
6 Moving 4 5 8 5.33 0.444 2
7 Police 3 5 10 5.50 1.361 2
8 Admissions 2 3 5 3.17 0.250 2
9 Cleaning 2 3 5 3.17 0.250 1
10 Orientation 4 5 7 5.17 0.250 1,3
11 Trial run 3 3 5 3.33 0.111 4,5,6,7,8,10
12 Coordination 2 2 3 2.17 0.028 11
13 Schedule 1 1 1 1.00 0.000 12
14 Accounting 0.25 0.5 1 0.54 0.016 9,13
15 Library 0.25 0.5 0.75 0.50 0.007 9,13
16 Laboratory 0.3 0.8 1 0.75 0.014 9,13
17 Housekeeping 0.5 0.75 1.3 0.80 0.018 9,13
18 Supplies 0.8 1 1.2 1.00 0.004 9,13
19 Patients 0.4 1 1 0.90 0.010 9,13
20 Basic status 0 0 0 0.00 0.000 14,15,16,17,18,19
21 Equipment 1 2 2.5 1.92 0.063 19,20
Critical Path in BOLD Totals 62.67 11.504

Expected time to reach basic operational status at the new facility is 62.67 days.
2. The board of directors has said that it would like to try to move on a Sunday to minimize interference
with weekday traffic. If there are Sundays that fall 46, 53, 60, 67, and 74 days from now, determine the
probability (using a normal distribution) of reaching basic operational status at the new location on the
two Sundays that are closest to the expected time you calculated previously.
Assuming that Whittier County Hospital starts its move planning at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, June 16, 1997,
and work continues during the weekends, then the project will take an expected duration of 60.55 days
finishing at approximately noon on Friday, August 15, 1997. The non-critical equipment move has been
excluded from the critical path because we are interested only in the time to reach basic operational status at
the new facility. If there are Sundays falling on the 60th and 67th days from now, then the probabilities of
reaching basic operational status at the new location on one of these two Sundays is the following:
Scenario A: Probability of finishing before Sunday, the 60th day from now
x  60  62.67
z   0.79
 2
11 .504

P(Project Duration  60) = 0.5000 - 0.2852 = 0.2148 or approximately 21 percent.

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Chapter 16 - Managing Service Projects

Scenario B: Probability of finishing before Sunday, the 67th day from now

x  67  62.67
z  1.28
 2
11 .504
P(Project Duration  67) = 0.5000 + 0.4713 = 0.9713 or approximately 97 percent.
3. Briefly assess the potential problems you see in applying critical path analysis to the sketch plan for
moving Whittier County Hospital.
Activity 2, Completion of Construction, accounts for 64 percent (50/78) of the expected project duration.
This activity has a range of 40 to 60 days that accounts for 78 percent (11.11/14.29) of the variance in
project duration. Thus, the project is dominated by one very time-consuming activity that requires close
scrutiny. Activity 19, Move the Patients, could have unforeseen problems, because this final activity is very
delicate and could involve critically ill patients admitted to the hospital during the approximately 2 ½ month
project.

CHAPTER QUIZ QUESTIONS


True/False
1. The critical path for a project with uncertain activity times is not known for certain until after the
project is completed. (T)
2. A project can be defined as a set of complex interrelated tasks with different requirements regarding
activity time and resources, but with a high degree of repetitiveness. (F)
3. Gantt charts fail to indicate the interdependence among project activities. (T)
4. The critical path refers to the sequence of activities that represent the longest time path through a
project network. (T)
5. The term total slack refers to the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the start
of a subsequent activity. (F)
6. It is possible to delay the start of a non-critical activity and, in the process, make a following activity
critical. (T)
7. Total slack for an activity can be shared with following activities. (T)
8. The term Late Finish refers to the latest time an activity can begin without delaying the completion
of the project. (F)
9. A major flaw in critical path analysis with uncertain activity times is the conservative nature of the
expected project completion time. (F)
10. Before calculating a Late Start time for an activity, the Late Finish time must be known. (T)
11. The single important attribute of a project manager is leadership ability. (F)
12. Schedule variance is the difference between budgeted cost for work performed and actual cost of
work performed. (F)
13. The term calendar is used in project management to keep track of the days and hours required for
completion of projects. (F)

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14. Time variance is calculated by subtracting actual time used for work performed from scheduled time
for work performed. (T)
15. When delays occur owing to technical difficulties, performance becomes the source of unexpected
project management problems. (F)
16. Developing a project network is the only major concern for implementing critical path analysis. (F)
17. Merge node bias occurs where the project network contains non-critical paths with small total slack
times. (T)
18. Estimates of project expected completion time and variance usually are not biased when based on the
single critical path. (F)
19. When crashing activities for construction projects, the contractor’s minimum cost duration might not
coincide with the client’s target completion date. (T)
20. A major assumption in project network analysis is that sufficient resources are available to perform
many activities concurrently. (T)
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is not true about a critical path in a project network with certain activity times?
a. Activities on the critical path have the least slack.
b. The longest activity in the project must lie on the critical path.*
c. There can be several critical paths in a project network.
d. The first activity in the network is always on the critical path.
2. For a project with uncertain activity times, the probability of project completion exceeding the expected
time calculated for the critical path is: the mean
a. 25 percent.
b. 50 percent.*
c. 75 percent.
d. none of the above.
3. A key assumption underlying project networks is:
a. dummy activities take up no time.
b. the critical path is known with certainty.
c. an activity begins only after all predecessors are completed.*
d. a project network is cyclic.

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4. The Beta distribution is useful in network analysis because it:


a. provides formulas for calculating the activity mean and variance.*
b. can be approximated by a normal distribution.
c. provides probability estimates for project completion time.
d. requires only three time estimates to describe uncertain activity duration.
5. A major weakness with project completion time analysis with uncertain activity times is the:
a. possibility that more than one critical path might exist.
b. need to solicit three time estimates for each activity.
c. assumption that the project completion time is normally distributed.
d. bias associated with the expected project completion time.*
6. Monte Carlo simulation of project networks is not recommended when:
a. activity times are deterministic.*
b. more than one critical path exists.
c. bias in project completion time is important.
d. activity time distributions are Beta.
7. Gantt project charts are useful for all but one of the following reasons:
a. visual presentation is appealing.
b. they show interdependence of activities.*
c. they are easy to understand.
d. they assist in planning construction forces.
8. Which one of the following is not an objective of activity crashing?
a. reduce the total cost of completing a project.
b. complete a project in less time than normally expected.
c. create multiple critical paths.*
d. prepare a contract bid.

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9. A resource-leveled schedule would have all but one of the following characteristics:
a. the project duration could be longer than normal.
b. slack time is used to begin some activities later than their early start time.
c. the critical path may be changed.*
d. a more balanced use of labor resources would be exhibited.
10. Implementing critical path analysis is faced with all but one of the following problems:
a. availability of project management software.*
b. agreement on the project network.
c. eliciting time estimates for activities.
d. introduction of bias in activity time estimates.
11. Which one of the following attributes is not considered in the selection of a project manager?
a. credibility.
b.originality.*
c. sensitivity.
d.ability to handle stress.
12. The four sequential stages of team development include all but one of the following:
a. forming.
b. storming.
c. coalescing.*
d. performing.
13. Which one of the following is not considered a source of unexpected project management problems?
a. cost.
b. time.
c. economy.*
d. performance.

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14. Projects are terminated for all but one of the following reasons:
a. subtraction.*
b. addition.
c. integration.
d. starvation.
15. A project history report should include all but one of the following items:
a. project performance.
b. organization structure.
c. project success and failures.*
d. project and administrative team.
16. Which one of the following is not considered a source of variance on the earned value chart?
a. time.
b. cost.
c. schedule.
d. none of the above.*
17. Which one of the following makes performance a source of unexpected project management problem?
a. delays owing to technical difficulties.
b. unexpected technical problems.*
c. unforeseen government regulations.
d. increase in the scope of work.
18. Which one of the following is not a critical time estimate for a Beta distribution?
a. optimistic time.
b. pessimistic time.
c. most likely time.
d. expected time.*

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19. Which one of the following allows the manager to make probability statements with regard to meeting
project objectives?
a. Gantt chart.
b. CPM.
c. PERT.*program evaluation and review technique
d. earned-value chart.
20. The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the completion of the project is referred
to as:
a. total slack.*
b. late finish.
c. late start.
d. free slack.

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