Developing a Project Plan Answer Key Part 1

Developing a Project Plan Answer Key Multiple Choice Questions 1. Information to develop a project network is collected from the A. Organization breakdown structure. B. Work breakdown structure. C. Budget. D. Project proposal. E. Responsibility matrix. The project network is developed from the information collected for the work breakdown structure (WBS) and is a graphic flow chart of the project job plan. 2. Which of the following represents an activity on an activity-on-node (AON) project network? A. An arrow B. A line C. A node D. Both an arrow and a line E. An arrow, a line and a node all represent activities The two approaches used to develop project networks are known as activity-on-node (AON) and activity-on-arrow (AOA). Both methods use two building blocks-the arrow and the node. Their names derive from the fact that the former uses a node to depict an activity. 3. Arrows on an activity-on-node (AON) project network represent A. An activity. B. Project flow. C. Dependency. D. Project flow and dependency. E. An activity and dependency. The node depicts an activity, and the arrow shows dependency and project flow. 4. When translated into a project network, a work package will become A. A single activity. B. One or more activities. C. A milestone. D. A critical path. E. An arrow. Work packages from the work breakdown structure (WBS) are used to build the activities found in the project network. An activity can include one or more work packages. The activities are placed in a sequence that provides for orderly completion of the project. 5. Which of the following is provided by both the project network and the work breakdown structure? A. Dependencies B. Sequencing C. Interrelationships D. Activity duration E. Timing Project networks are developed from the work breakdown structure (WBS). The project network is a visual flow diagram of the sequence, interrelationships, dependencies and timing of all the activities that must be accomplished to complete the project. Both the WBS and the work packages will include the duration of the activity. 6. On a project network, the activity times are derived from the A. Organization breakdown structure. B. Work packages. C. Budget. D. Project proposal. E. Responsibility matrix. Work packages from the work breakdown structure (WBS) are used to build the activities found in the project network. An activity is an element in the project that consumes time-for example, work or waiting. 7. Which of the following does NOT help describe a project network? A. A graphic display of the flow and sequence of work through the project B. Provides the basis for scheduling labor and equipment C. Gives the times when activities can start and finish and when they can be delayed D. Highlights major deliverables and identifies their completion dates E. Identifies critical activities The work breakdown structure (WBS) will highlight major deliverables. Since major deliverables are a summary of the tasks below them, they do not directly consume time or resources; therefore, they are not included in the network. 8. An activity that has more than one dependency arrow flowing into it is termed a(n) A. Parallel activity. B. Critical path. C. Burst activity. D. Merge activity. E. Independent activity. Merge activity is an activity that has more than one activity immediately preceding it (more than one dependency arrow flowing to it). 9. The critical path in a project network is the A. Shortest path through the network. B. Longest path through the network. C. Network path with the most difficult activities. D. Network path using the most resources. E. Network path with the most merge activities. When the critical path term is used, it means the path(s) with the longest duration through the network. If an activity on the critical path is delayed, the project is delayed the same amount of time. 10. A(n) _________ activity has more than one dependency arrow flowing from it. A. Parallel B. Critical path C. Burst D. Merge E. Independent Burst activity is an activity that has more than one activity immediately following it (more than one dependency arrow flowing from it). 11. Which of the following can be used without coordinating with managers of succeeding activities? A. Total slack B. Free slack C. Critical float D. Float pad E. Slip pad Free slack is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying any succeeding activity. It only occurs at the end of a chain of activities where you have a merge activity and requires no coordination with managers of succeeding activities unless all the available free slack is used. 12. Activities which can take place at the same time are termed A. Parallel activity. B. Critical path. C. Burst activity. D. Merge activity. E. Independent activity. Parallel activities are activities that can take place at the same time, if the manager wishes. However, the manager may choose to have parallel activities not occur simultaneously. 13. A sequence of connected, dependent activities is termed a(n) A. Path of events. B. Parallel path. C. Activity chain. D. Path. E. Dependent chain. A path is a sequence of connected, dependent activities. 14. Bill is building a project network that involves testing a prototype. He must design the prototype (activity 1), build the prototype (activity 2), and test the prototype (activity 3). Activity 1 is the predecessor for activity 2 and activity 2 is the predecessor for activity 3. If the prototype fails testing, Bill must redesign the prototype; therefore, activity 3 is a predecessor for activity 1. This is an example of A. Conditional statements. B. Looping. C. Having more than one start node. D. Good network development. E. Natural network flow. This is an example of looping or recycling through a set of activities and cannot take place within a well-structured project network. One important reason is that it inhibits its ability to establish a completion date. 15. Which of the following is NOT one of the basic rules to follow when developing project networks? A. An activity cannot begin until all preceding activities have been completed. B. Each activity must have a unique identification number. C. Conditional statements are allowed but looping statements are not allowed. D. An activity identification number must be larger than that of any preceding activities. E. Networks flow from left to right. Conditional statements are not allowed (that is, this type of statement should not appear: If successful, do something; if not, do nothing). 16. ________ activities must be completed immediately before a particular activity. A. Merge B. Burst C. Predecessor D. Successor E. Parallel Which activities must be completed immediately before this activity? These activities are called predecessor activities. 17. ________ activities are to be completed immediately following a particular activity. A. Merge B. Burst C. Predecessor D. Successor E. Parallel Which activities must immediately follow this activity? These activities are called successor activities. 18. The forward pass in project network calculations determines all of the following EXCEPT A. Earliest time an activity can begin. B. Earliest time an activity can finish. C. Duration of the project. D. The critical path. E. How soon the project can finish. The forward pass starts with the first project activity(ies) and traces each path (chain of sequential activities) through the network to the last project activity(ies). It calculates how soon an activity can start, how soon it can finish and the project duration or how soon the project will be finished. 19. The backward pass in project network calculations determines all of the following EXCEPT A. Latest time an activity can begin. B. Earliest time an activity can finish. C. The critical path. D. How long an activity can be delayed. E. Latest time an activity can finish. The backward pass calculates how late an activity can start, how late it can finish, the critical path or longest path through the network and how long an activity can be delayed without delaying the project. 20. Which of the following correctly calculates the early finish for an activity? A. LS + DUR B. ES + DUR C. LF + DUR D. ES + SL E. LF + SL The early finish for activity = ES + DUR. 21. Which of the following correctly calculates the late start for an activity? A. EF - DUR B. ES - DUR C. LF - DUR D. ES - SL E. LF - SL You subtract activity times along each path starting with the project end activity (LF - DUR = LS). 22. The amount of time an activity can be delayed and yet not delay the project is termed A. Total slack. B. Free slack. C. Critical float. D. Float pad. E. Slip pad. Total slack tells us the amount of time an activity can be delayed and yet not delay the project. Stated differently, total slack is the amount of time an activity can exceed its early finish date without affecting the project end date or an imposed completion date. 23. Which of the following will correctly calculate the total slack in an activity? A. LS - ES B. LF - EF C. LS - LF D. LF - ES E. Either LS - ES or LF - EF Total slack or float for an activity is simply the difference between the LS and ES (LS - ES = SL) or between LF and EF (LF - EF = SL). 24. The likelihood the original critical path(s) will change once the project is initiated is referred to as A. Flexibility. B. Resilience. C. Sensitivity. D. Concurrent engineering. E. Rigidity. We use the term sensitivity to reflect the likelihood the original critical path(s) will change once the project is initiated. Sensitivity is the function of the number of critical paths and the level of slack for noncritical activities. 25. Which of the following is true about hammock activities? A. They are used to identify the use of fixed resources or costs over a segment of a project. B. They are a combination of Start to Start and Start to Finish lags. C. They are activities in which the costs are not subject to change. D. They are an alternative description for the critical path. E. They are highly sensitive. Hammock activities are frequently used to identify the use of fixed resources or costs over a segment of the project. Typical examples of hammock activities are inspection services, consultants, or construction management services. A hammock activity derives its duration from the time span between other activities. For example, a special color copy machine is needed for a segment of a tradeshow publication project. A hammock activity can be used to indicate the need for this resource and to apply costs over this segment of the project. 26. If, for some reason, the project must be expedited to meet an earlier date, which of the following actions would the project manager take first? A. Check to see which activities cost the least. B. Check to see which activities have the longest duration. C. Check to see which activities are on the critical path. D. Check to see which activities have the most slack. E. Check to see which activities have the highest risk. If for some reason the project must be expedited to meet an earlier date, it is possible to select those activities, or combination of activities, that will cost the least to shorten the project. Similarly, if the critical path is delayed and the time must be made up by shortening some activity or activities on the critical path to make up any negative slack, it is possible to identify the activities on the critical path that cost the least to shorten. If there are other paths with very little slack, it may be necessary to shorten activities on those paths also. 27. The assumption that all immediate preceding activities must be 100% complete is too restrictive in some situations. When an activity is broken down into smaller segments in order to start the succeeding activity sooner, this is called A. Hammock activities. B. Concurrent engineering. C. A forward pass. D. Dissecting. E. Laddering. Under the finish-to-start relationship, when an activity has a long duration and will delay the start of an activity immediately following it, the activity can be broken into segments and the network drawn as a laddering approach so the following activity can begin sooner and not delay the work.