Chapter 06 - Developing a Project Plan Short Answer

Chapter 06 - Developing a Project Plan Short Answer Questions 83. Identify and discuss the two major reasons for the integration of work packages into the project network failing in actual practice. 1. different people are used to define work packages and the network, and 2. the WBS is poorly constructed and not deliverable/output oriented. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Developing the Project Network Level: Medium 84. What are the two approaches used to develop project networks and identify the differences between them? 1. activity-on-node; where nodes depict activities and the arrows show flow and dependencies and 2. activity-on-arrow; where nodes represent events and achievement of the activities is represented by the arrow connecting the nodes. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Constructing a Project Network Level: Medium 85. What are the eight rules to follow in developing project networks? 1. flow left to right, 2. activities cannot begin until all predecessors have been completed, 3. arrows indicate precedence and flow, 4. each activity should have a unique identification number, 5. activity ID numbers must be larger than preceding ID number, 6. looping is not permitted, 7. conditional statements are not permitted, and 8. create a common start node for multiple start activities. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Synthesis Learning Objective: Constructing a Project Network Level: Difficult 6-52 Chapter 06 - Developing a Project Plan 86. In the network computation process what is a forward pass and what three things does it determine? Starting with the first activity, each path is traced forward through the network, adding times until the end of the project. This determines 1. how soon each activity can start, 2. how soon each activity can finish, and 3. how soon the entire project can be completed. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Synthesis Learning Objective: Network Computation Process Level: Difficult 87. In the network computation process what is a backward pass and what four things does it determine? Starting with the last activity, each path is traced backward through the network, subtracting times until the beginning of the project. This determines 1. how late each activity can start, 2. how late each activity can finish, 3. the critical path, and 4. how long can each activity be delayed without changing the completion date. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Synthesis Learning Objective: Network Computation Process Level: Difficult 88. What is total slack and how do you determine it? Slack is the amount of time specific activities can be delayed without causing the project to miss its completion date. It is calculated by subtracting the Early Start date from the Late Start date (SL = LS-ES) or subtracting the Early Finish date from the Late Finish date (SL = LFEF). AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Network Computation Process Level: Medium 6-53 Chapter 06 - Developing a Project Plan 89. What is a Gantt chart and what advantages does it have over project networks? Gantt charts are bar charts where activities are displayed as bars on a horizontal time-scale. They are easy-to-read and provide a clear overview of the project schedule and progress against that schedule. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Practical Considerations Level: Medium 90. What is the laddering approach to project networks and why would you use this approach? In laddering, lengthy activities are segmented into small pieces so that successor activities can begin prior to the completion of the initial activity. This effectively reduces the overall project time. The text used a laying pipeline example to illustrate. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality Level: Medium 91. What is a lag and why would you need to use one? A lag is the minimum amount of time a dependent activity must be delayed to begin or end. They occur during laddering and avoid delays and they are also used to constraint the start and finish of an activity. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality Level: Medium 6-54 Chapter 06 - Developing a Project Plan 92. What is a hammock activity and give an example? A hammock activity identifies the use of a resource over a segment of the project. Thus its duration is determined by the duration of other activities. The example used in the text was for a color copier during specific phases of a project. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Comprehension Learning Objective: Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality Level: Medium 93. What is the Concurrent Engineering Approach and why should project managers be aware of it? The chainlike sequence of finish-to-start relationships is replaced by a series of start-to-start lag relationships as soon as meaningful work can be initiated for the next phase. The resulting overlap of tasks slightly increases risk but results in a much shorter schedule. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Synthesis Learning Objective: Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality Level: Difficult 94. Identify and briefly describe the four types of lags giving an example for each type. 1. Finish-to-Start, 2. Start-to-Start, 3. Finish-to-Finish, 4. Start-to-Finish. AACSB: Analytic Bloom's: Synthesis Learning Objective: Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality Level: Difficult 6-55