Project Management l CHAPTER 13
TRUE/FALSE
13.1 PERT and CPM are quantitative analysis tools designed to schedule and control large projects.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.2 PERT is a deterministic analysis tool allowing for precise times of activities within a project.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.3 PERT had its beginnings in a military department of the United States.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.4 CPM is a probabilistic analysis of managing a project.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.5 An event is a point in time that marks the beginning or ending of an activity.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.6 A network is a graphical display of a project that contains both activities and events.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.7 The optimistic time is the greatest amount of time that could be required to complete an activity.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.8 PERT is a network technique similar to CPM, but PERT allows for project crashing.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.9 The most likely completion time of an activity is used to represent that activity’s time within a
project.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.10 The expected completion time and variance of an activity is approximated by the normal
distribution in a PERT analysis.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.11 PERT was developed for a project for which activity or task times were uncertain.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.12 CPM was developed for use in managing projects which are repeated and about which we have
good information as to activity or task completion times.
ANSWER: TRUE
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13.13 With PERT, we are able to calculate the probability of finishing the project on a particular day.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.14 With CPM, we are able to calculate the probability of finishing the project on a particular day.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.15 A PERT or CPM network shows activities and activity sequences.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.16 One of the most difficult aspects of using PERT is defining the activities so that they have
measurable/observable starts and finishes.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.17 Before drawing a PERT or CPM network, we must identify each activity and their predecessors.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.18 The three time estimates employed in PERT are: optimistic time, average time, and pessimistic
time.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.19 In the PERT process, if an activity has zero variance it must be on the critical path.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.20 Given the variability of the activity completion time, the original critical path we identify in our
PERT analysis may not always be the actual critical path as the project takes place.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.21 In PERT, the activity completion times are modeled using the beta distribution.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.22 In PERT, the earliest finish time in one activity will always be the earliest start time of the
following activity.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.23 In PERT, the earliest start time for an activity is equal to the latest of the earliest finish times of
all of its immediate predecessors.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.24 One of the limiting assumptions of PERT is that for any activity to start, all of its immediate
predecessors must be complete.
ANSWER: TRUE
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13.25 One of the limiting assumptions of PERT is that all activities must be completed at some time
during the project.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.26 One of the most significant benefits of PERT is that it forces the project manager to sit down and
plan the project in great detail – and thus come to an understanding of relationships between the
activities.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.27 Slack is the time an activity can be delayed without impacting the completion time of the project.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.28 It is never possible to delay an activity without impacting the project completion time.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.29 The variance of the project completion time is equal to the sum of the variances of all the
activities.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.30 In PERT, we assume that the project completion time can be modeled by the normal distribution.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.31 One PERT/COST assumption is that money is spent at a constant rate over the time taken to
complete an activity.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.32 PERT helps the project manager understand both which activities must take place and which
funds must be expended.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.33 A limitation of PERT/COST is the assumption that money is spent at a constant rate over the
time taken to complete the project.
ANSWER: FALSE
13.34 In CPM, we assume that the cost to complete the task is a linear function of the time to complete
the task.
ANSWER: TRUE
13.35 In CPM, crashing an activity which is not on the critical path increases the cost of the project.
ANSWER: TRUE
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13.36 In CPM, if we are going to crash an activity, we should crash it to the maximum extent possible.
ANSWER: FALSE
*13.37 In CPM, crashing an activity which is not on the critical path reduces the cost of the project just
as much as crashing one on the critical path.
ANSWER: FALSE
*13.38 One of the drawbacks to using either CPM or PERT to manage an actual project is the amount of
data that must be collected over the life of the project to implement either method.
ANSWER: TRUE
*13.39 In PERT, the variance in completion time is equal to the variance of the most time consuming
activity on the critical path.
ANSWER: FALSE
*13.40 Given the assumptions in PERT, the probability that a project will be completed in less time than
required by the activities on the critical path is approximately 50%.
ANSWER: TRUE
*13.41 One should always wait until an activity’s latest start time before commencing the activity.
ANSWER: FALSE
*13.42 Using PERT/COST, one is able to complete the project for less money than using PERT alone.
ANSWER: FALSE
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*13.43 If an activity has 4 days of slack, and we delay it 2 days, the project will also be delayed two
days.
ANSWER: FALSE
*13.44 Gantt and PERT charts provide the same information, just in different formats.
ANSWER: FALSE
*13.45 Gantt charts contain information as to the time taken by each activity, but not the sequential
dependencies of the activities.
ANSWER: TRUE
*13.46 Using PERT/COST as a management tool, it is always possible to bring a project in under
budget.
ANSWER: FALSE
MULTIPLE CHOICE
13.47 The critical path of a network is the
(a) shortest time path through the network.
(b) path with the fewest activities.
(c) path with the most activities.
(d) longest time path through the network.
(e) none of the above
ANSWER: d
13.48 In a PERT network, the earliest (activity) start time is the
(a) earliest time that an activity can be finished without delaying the entire project.
(b) latest time that an activity can be started without delaying the entire project.
(c) earliest time that an activity can start without violation of precedence requirements.
(d) latest time that an activity can be finished without delaying the entire project.
(e) none of the above
ANSWER: c
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13.49 Slack time in a network is the
(a) time consuming job or task that is a key subpart of the total project.
(b) shortest amount of time that could be required to complete the activity.
(c) amount of time that you would expect it would take to complete the activity.
(d) amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project.
(e) none of the above
ANSWER: d
13.50 A network activity is a
(a) point in time that marks the beginning or ending of an activity.
(b) time consuming job that is a subpart of the total project.
(c) graphical display of a project.
(d) network technique that allows three time estimates for each activity in a project.
(e) the longest time path through the network.
ANSWER: b
13.51 Which of the following is not a concept associated with CPM?
(a) normal time
(b) probability
(c) normal cost
(d) crash cost
(e) deterministic network
ANSWER: b
13.52 PERT
(a) assumes we do not know ahead of time what activities must be completed.
(b) allows computation of the program’s evaluation.
(c) is a network technique that uses three time estimates for each activity in a project.
(d) is a deterministic network technique that allows for project crashing.
(e) none of the above
ANSWER: c
13.53 CPM
(a) assumes we do not know ahead of time what activities must be completed.
(b) is opposite to that of PERT, as it does not consider the network activities.
(c) is a network technique that allows three time estimates for each activity in a project.
(d) is a deterministic network technique that allows for project crashing.
(e) none of the above
ANSWER: d
13.54 Managers use the network analysis of PERT and CPM to help them
(a) derive flexibility by identifying noncritical activities.
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(b) replan, reschedule, and reallocate resources such as manpower and finances.
(c) plan, schedule, monitor, and control large and complex projects.
(d) all of the above
ANSWER: d
13.55 In contrast to PERT or PERT/cost, CPM
(a) is a deterministic network model.
(b) uses crash times and costs.
(c) allows for calculating the least additional cost for shortening the project time.
(d) assumes that the activity times and costs are known with certainty.
(e) all of the above
ANSWER: e
13.56 The expected time in PERT is
(a) a weighted average of the most optimistic time, most pessimistic time, and four times the
