Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains, 12e (Krajewski)
Chapter 7 Project Management
1) A project is an interrelated set of activities that has a definite starting and ending point.
2) Projects often cut across organizational lines.
3) Projects, and the application of project management, facilitate the implementation of operations
strategy.
4) Project managers should be able to organize a set of disparate activities.
5) A pure project organizational structure houses the project in a specific functional area.
6) Scope creep is one of the primary causes of project failure.
7) The project’s objective statement should contain:
A) slack time and activities.
B) scope, time frame, and allocated resources.
C) strengths and weaknesses of subcontractors.
D) activities, completion times, and incentives.
8) A project organization structure where team members are assigned to the project and work exclusively
for the project manager is called:
A) a matrix structure.
B) a fixed structure.
C) a pure project structure.
D) a functional structure.
9) A(n) ________ is an interrelated set of activities that has a definite starting and ending point and that
results in a unique outcome for a specific allocation of resources.
10) Heidi was part of a project team that retained their roles within the organization and was on loan to
the project due to her technical expertise. In effect, she reported to two bosses, one in her functional area
and also to the project manager. Heidi is operating within a(n) ________ organizational structure.
11) What are the primary responsibilities of a Project Manager? Briefly describe these responsibilities for a
project manager whose team is purchasing a new machine and installing it in a manufacturing process.
12) What characteristics should be considered when selecting project team members? Briefly describe
these characteristics for members of a project team assigned to improve a teller’s job in a bank.
1) The work breakdown structure is a statement of all work that has to be completed.
2) The network diagram is a planning method that is designed to depict the relationships between
activities.
3) A relationship that determines the sequence for undertaking activities is a precedence relationship.
4) In a network diagram, an activity:
A) is the largest unit of work effort consuming both time and resources that a project manager can
schedule and control.
B) is the smallest unit of work effort consuming both time and resources that a project manager can
schedule and control.
C) should always be something the company has had experience with.
D) must always have a single, precise estimate for the time duration.
5) Activity times for a project are estimated by all except which of the following methods?
A) the use of dowsing rods
B) managerial opinions based on similar prior experiences
C) statistical methods based on actual past experience
D) estimates using learning curve models to improve replications and estimate accuracy
6) The ________ is a statement of all work that has to be completed.
7) ________ determines the sequence for undertaking activities.
8) Following the project defining and organizing phase, project planning involves five steps. List and
briefly describe these five planning steps as applied to writing a term paper for an Operations
Management class.
Answer: The following points should be included in the best answers: 1. Define the work breakdown
structure: develop a list of all work to be completed on the project; 2. Diagram the network: develop a
7.3 Developing the Project Schedule
1) A critical path is any sequence of activities between a project’s start and finish.
2) The earliest start time is never the same as the latest start time.
3) To obtain the latest start and latest finish time in a network diagram, we must work forward through
the network.
4) A Gantt chart is a project schedule that superimposes project activities on a time line.
5) A project has three paths. A–B-C has a length of 25 days. A–D-C has a length of 15 days. Finally, A–E-C
has a length of 20 days. Which one of the following statements is true?
A) A-D-C is the critical path.
B) A-B-C has the most slack.
C) The expected duration of this project is 25 days.
D) The expected duration of this project is 25 + 15 + 20 = 60 days.
6) The earliest start time for an activity is equal to the:
A) smallest earliest finish time of all of its immediate predecessors.
B) largest earliest finish time of all of its immediate predecessors.
C) smallest late start time of any of its immediate predecessors.
D) largest late finish time of all of its immediate predecessors.
7) Assume that activity G has the following times:
Early start time = 7 days
Early finish time = 13 days
Late start time = 15 days
Late finish time = 21 days
Which of the following statements is true about activity G?
A) Activity G takes 14 days to complete.
B) Activity G has a slack time of 8 days.
C) Activity G is on the critical path.
D) Activity G takes 2 days to complete.
8) Activity slack is defined as:
A) latest start time minus earliest start time.
B) earliest start time minus latest start time.
C) earliest finish time minus latest finish time.
D) latest finish time minus earliest start time.
9) Which one of the following best describes the critical path of a PERT/CPM network?
A) the sequence of activities between a project’s start and finish that takes the longest time to complete
B) the sequence of activities between a project’s start and finish that has the maximum amount of activity
slack
C) the set of activities that has no precedence relationships
D) the sequence of activities that has the lowest normal activity cost
Figure 7.1
10) For the network shown in Fig. 7.1, which of the following is the critical path?
A) ABCDEF
B) ABEF
C) ACDF
D) ACEF
11) For the network shown in Fig. 7.1, what is the project duration?
A) 6
B) 15
C) 13
D) 14
Figure to accompany Table 7.1
Table 7.1
Activity
Activity
Time
Earliest
Start
Earliest
Finish
Latest Start
Latest
Finish
Slack
A
2
0
0
2
0
B
1
2
3
3
4
1
C
3
2
5
2
5
0
D
7
3
10
4
11
E
3
5
8
11
3
F
5
11
5
11
0
G
4
11
15
11
15
0
12) Using the information shown in Table 7.1, what is the slack time for activity D?
A) 1
B) 4
C) 6
D) 7
13) Using the information shown in Table 7.1, what is the earliest finish time for activity A?
A) 0
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
14) Using the information shown in Table 7.1, what is the latest start time for activity E?
A) 2
B) 3
C) 5
D) 8
15) Using the information shown in Table 7.1, what is the activity time for activity F?
A) 5
B) 11
C) 6
D) 1
16) Refer to the Figure to accompany Table 7.1. Which one of the following is the critical path?
A) ABDG
B) ABEG
C) ACEG
D) ACFG
17) Using the information shown in Table 7.1, what is the project duration?
A) 15
B) 14
C) 12
D) 10
Figure 7.2
18) Which one of the following statements regarding Figure 7.2 is true?
A) Activity S cannot finish until activity T finishes.
B) Activity T cannot begin until activity U is completed.
C) Activity U cannot begin until activities S and T have been completed.
D) Activity V cannot begin until activity S has been completed.
19) Which one of the following conditions violates the assumptions of PERT/CPM networks?
A) Some activities can have zero variance.
B) Costs increase linearly as activity time is reduced below its normal time.
C) Two activities tied together by an arc are overlapping and can be worked on simultaneously.
D) There can be more than one critical path in a network.
20) The ________ is the sequence of activities between a project’s start and finish that takes the longest
time to complete.
21) ________ is the maximum length of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire
project.
22) Explain the importance of the critical path in project management.
23) Why do managers want to know the slack of activities?
13
24) Draw the network corresponding to the following information. Also, complete the table, identify the
critical path, and specify project completion time.
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor(s)
Time
(Weeks)
A
—
3
B
—
4
C
A
6
D
B
9
E
B
6
F
C, D
6
G
D, E
8
H
G, F
9
Activity
Earliest
Start
Earliest
Finish
Latest
Start
Latest
Finish
Slack
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
14
Answer:
Activity
Earliest
Start
Earliest
Finish
Latest
Start
Latest
Finish
Slack
A
0
3
6
9
6
B
0
4
0
4
0
C
3
9
9
15
6
D
4
13
4
13
0
E
4
10
7
13
3
F
13
19
15
21
2
G
13
21
13
21
0
H
21
30
21
30
0
15
25) Phoebe B. Beebee is constructing a canal for the annual canoe races and has identified eleven activities
that are required to complete this important project. She calculated early and late start times and early
and late finish times but spilled coffee all over her printout. Use the remaining information to reconstruct
the table for Phoebe B. Beebee and her new canoe canal.
Activity
Predecessor
Length
Early Start
Late Start
Early Finish
Late Finish
A
—
12
B
A
20
C
A
D
B, E
42
E
C
28
42
F
E
42
50
G
D
53
53
H
G
70
I
G
72
J
F
4
K
H, I, J
81
91
Answer: The completed table appears below:
Activity
Predecessor
Length
Early Start
Late Start
Early Finish
Late Finish
A
—
12
0
0
12
12
B
A
20
12
22
32
42
C
A
16
12
12
28
28
D
B, E
11
42
42
53
53
E
C
14
28
28
42
42
F
E
8
42
69
50
77
G
D
17
53
53
70
70
H
G
11
70
70
81
81
I
G
9
70
72
79
81
J
F
4
50
77
54
81
K
H, I, J
10
81
81
91
91
7.4 Analyzing Cost-Time Trade-Offs
1) The normal cost is the amount of money it normally takes to complete an activity faster than its normal
time.
2) A project manager should stop crashing a project if the time budget has been met or if the crash costs
have exceeded the savings in indirect and penalty costs.
Table 7.4
Activity
Predecessor
Time(weeks)
A
—
8
B
A
6
C
—
4
D
C
9
E
A
11
F
B
3
G
D, E, F
1
3) Using Table 7.4, what is the earliest completion time for this project?
A) 18 weeks
B) 19 weeks
C) 20 weeks
D) 21 weeks
4) Using Table 7.4, what is the largest amount of slack that any activity in the project has?
A) zero weeks
B) two weeks
C) four weeks
D) six weeks
5) Using Table 7.4, what is the minimum number of activities that would have to be delayed to cause an
increase in the project’s earliest completion date?
A) one activity
B) two activities
C) three activities
D) four or more activities
6) Using Table 7.4, what is the minimum number of activities that would have to be crashed to cause a
decrease in the project’s earliest completion date?
A) one activity
B) two activities
C) three activities
D) four or more activities
7) Using Table 7.4, what is the early start time for activity D?
A) week 9
B) week 4
C) week 7
D) week 0
8) Using Table 7.4, what is the latest finish time for activity C?
A) week 4
B) week 6
C) week 8
D) week 10
9) Using Table 7.4, what is the slack associated with activity B?
A) 1 week
B) 2 weeks
C) 3 weeks
D) None of these is the correct activity slack for B.
Table 7.5
Activity
Predecessor
Time (days)
A
—
8
B
—
6
C
—
3
D
A,B
10
E
C
8
F
A
5
G
D,E
3
H
G
4
10) Using Table 7.5, what is the earliest completion time of this project?
A) 23 days
B) 25 days
C) 27 days
D) 29 days
11) Using Table 7.5, what is the latest start time for activity E?
A) day 8
B) day 10
C) day 12
D) day 14
12) Using Table 7.5, what is the earliest that activity D can be finished?
A) 18 days
B) 8 days
C) 13 days
D) 25 days
13) Disaster strikes and activity F takes 20 days instead of the anticipated 5 days. Using Table 7.5, how
much longer will the project last than initially estimated?
A) 15 days
B) 0 days
C) 7 days
D) 3 days
14) Using Table 7.5, every day the construction crew is on-site costs $1000. What activities would you
consider crashing to reduce the project completion cost?
A) Activity E
B) Activity F
C) Activity G
D) All of these activities would be candidates for crashing.
15) Using Table 7.5, how many days can activity C be delayed without changing the whole project’s
earliest completion time?
A) 0 days
B) 2 days
C) 5 days
D) 7 days
Table 7.6
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor(s)
Time (weeks)
A
—
3
B
—
4
C
—
2
D
A
4
E
A, B
5
F
A, B, C
2
G
D, E
1
H
E
6
I
E, F
2
J
G, H, I
4
K
H, I
3
L
I
6
16) Using Table 7.6, what is the critical path for this project?
A) B–E–H–K
B) B–E–H–J
C) A–E–G–J
D) C–F–I–L