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project management

Questions and Answers of Project Management

a. Activities with the smallest slack
12.6 When resource-leveling a project, several heuristics can help us prioritize those activities that should receive resources first. Explain how each of the following heuristics works and give an
12.5 Discuss the nature of “time/cost trade-offs” on projects.What does this concept imply for our project management practices?
12.4 It has been argued that a project schedule that has not been resource-leveled is useless. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why or why not?
12.3 What is the philosophy underlying resource loading? What does it do for our project? Why is it a critical element in effectively managing the project plan?
12.2 For many projects, the key resources to be managed are the project team personnel. Explain in what sense and how project team personnel are often the project’s critical resource.
12.1 Consider a project to build a bridge over a river gorge.What are some of the resource constraints that would make this project challenging?
6. Use your judgment to interpret and improve activity leveling by moving activities with extra slack to “smooth” the resource chart across the project (see Figure 12.18).
5. Rearrange the activities within their slack to create a profile that is as level as possible within the guidelines of not changing the duration of activities or their dependence.
4. Draw an initial resource-loading chart with each activity scheduled at its earliest start time, building it up following the order shown in step 3. This process creates a loading chart with the
3. List the activities in order of increasing slack (or in order of latest finish time for activities with the same slack).
2. Produce a table for each activity, the resource requirements, the duration, early start time, slack, and late finish time (see Table 12.7).
1. Create the activity network diagram (see Figure 12.17).
5. Repeat step 4 as often as necessary to eliminate the source of resource conflicts. Use your judgment to interpret and improve the loading features of the table. Consider alternative means to
4. Identify any resource conflicts and begin to “smooth” the loading table using one or more of the heuristics for prioritizing resource assignments across activities (Figure 12.15).
3. Develop a time-phased resource-loading table that shows the resources required to complete each activity, the activity early starts, and the late finish times (Figure 12.13).
2. From this diagram, create a table showing the resources required for each activity, the activity durations, and the total float available (see Table 12.5).
1. Create a project activity network diagram (see Figure 12.10).
9 Activity K cannot be loaded until completion of predecessors H, I, and J. K begins on February 6 and completes on February 12. Total project delay = 3 days
8 Because of resource constraints, Activity J cannot begin until February 1. Even with slack time, J is delayed 3 days, completing on February 5.
7 Because of resource constraints, Activity I cannot begin until January 29. I is loaded five days late.Total delay for Activity I is 2 days (new finish date = February 2).
6 Load Activity H on January 23, following completion of Activities E and F. H is completed on January 31, so overall critical path schedule is not affected. Total project delay to date = 0.
5 Because of resource constraints, Activity G cannot begin until January 23. G had 3 days slack and is loaded five days late, finishing on January 26. Total delay for Activity G is 2 days.
4 On January 15, load Activities E and F (following completion of B and C). Prioritize F first (critical activity), and then add E. Both activities finish on January 22, so overall critical path
3 On January 12, load Activity D. D had 3 days slack and is loaded four days late. Total delay for Activity D is 1 day.
2 In selecting among Activities B, C, and D, employ the selection heuristic and prioritize C (critical activity)and then B (smallest amount of slack). Load C and B into the resource table. Delay
1 Assign Activity A to the resource table.
5. Activities requiring the most resources. It is common to first apply resources to those activities requiring the most support, and then analyze the remaining tasks based on the availability of
4. Activities with the most successor tasks. We select for resource priority those tasks that have the most tasks following behind them.
3. Activities with the lowest activity identification number. (e.g., those that start earliest in the WBS). This heuristic suggests that, when in doubt, it is better to apply resources to earlier
2. Activities with the smallest duration. Tasks are ordered from smallest duration to largest, and resources are prioritized accordingly.
1. Activities with the smallest amount of slack. The decision rule is to select for resource priority those activities with the smallest amount of slack time. Some have argued that this decision rule
11.20 Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRMDCRPGYBE for a brief overview of Critical Chain Project Management.What does the presenter suggest are the benefits and biggest challenges of implementing CCPM?
3. How could the drum buffer concepts from Critical Chain Portfolio Management be applied to this problem?
2. How is multitasking contributing to systemic delays in project development at Ramstein?
1. Applying Goldratt’s ideas of critical resources, what is the system constraint within the Special Projects Division that is causing bottlenecks and delaying the projects?
4. Using the terms “Scrum,” “Sprint,” and “User stories,”create an alternative development cycle for a hypothetical software development process at Northwest Regional Hospital.
3. Why are “user stories” and system “features” critical components of an effective IT software development process?
2. How would an Agile methodology correct some of these problems? What new development cycle would you propose?
1. Why does the classic waterfall project planning model fail in this situation? What is it about the IT department’s processes that leads to their finished systems being rejected constantly?
11.23. You are required to manage resources to accommodate the company’s current project portfolio.One resource area, comprising Carol, Kathy, and Tom, is responsible for all program debugging as
11.19 Consider the project portfolio problem shown in Figure
11.18 Assume the network in Figure 11.22 with resource conflicts.How would you redraw the network using a critical chain to eliminate the resource conflicts? Where should feeder buffers be applied?
11.17 Reconfigure the network in Figure 11.21 using the critical chain approach. Remember to reconfigure the activities to late start where appropriate. What is the original critical path? What is
b. How much slack is available in the noncritical path?
a. What is the critical path?
11.16 Consider the following activities and their durations.The original project schedule, using early activity starts, is shown in Figure 11.20. Reconfigure the network using critical chain project
11.14 What is a drum resource? Why is the concept important to understand to better control resource requirements for project portfolios?
11.13 What key steps are necessary to employ CCPM as a method for controlling a firm’s portfolio of projects?
11.12 What are the steps that CCPM employs to resolve resource conflicts on a project? How does the concept of activity late starts aid this approach?
11.10 Distinguish between project buffers and feeder buffers.What is each buffer type used to accomplish?
11.8 What would be the difficulties in using Extreme Programming(XP) to develop projects? What types of projects would be best suited to employing XP?
11.7 Why is a focus on project features and user stories important when developing requirements?
11.6 How are the duties of the Scrum Master like a project manager?How do they differ?
11.5 What are the advantages and disadvantages of Agile PM?
11.4 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the waterfall planning model for project development?
11.3 Why are traditional project planning methods insufficient when project deliverables are subject to changing requirements or continuous input from the project client?
11.1 What are the practical implications internally (in terms of team motivation) and externally (for the customer) of making overly optimistic project delivery promises?
3. Are there some clear milestones we can identify along the precedence diagram?
2. Is our logic correct for identifying preceding and subsequent activities?
1. Have we identified opportunities to create parallel paths, or are we placing too many activities directly in a serial path?
10.33. Leads and lags are evaluated and, if necessary, modified as part of which process?a. Scope developmentb. Duration estimatingc. Analogous cost estimatingd. Schedule development
10.32. Schedule constraints would usually include all of the following EXCEPT:a. Lead times and lag timesb. Key eventsc. Major milestonesd. Imposed dates
d. Go to top management to adjudicate the disagreement
c. Agree to the boss’s wishes and find cheaper resources to do the work
b. Agree to the boss’s wishes and recalculate the schedule with shorter durations
a. Show the boss that these are almost always opposing goals by demonstrating a “Cost vs. Days Saved” diagram to explain the implications of crashing project activities on schedule and costs
10.30. You have been directed by your boss to find ways to shrink the project schedule. The boss is also insisting on lowering project costs at the same time. What would be an appropriate response to
10.29. The goal of project crashing is to:a. Reduce the schedule by minimizing project risksb. Reduce the schedule without changing the project scopec. Reduce project costsd. Expand the schedule to
d. A project can have more than one critical path, although having multiple critical paths is actually likely to decrease the overall risk of the project.
c. The critical path is the shortest path through the network, so having more than one is not a significant problem.
b. Your coworker is correct: a project can have only one critical path. You need to return to the network and determine where you erred in developing the network logic and diagram.
a. A project can have more than one critical path, although having multiple critical paths is also likely to increase the risk of the project falling behind.
10.27. Suppose you created your activity network and discovered that you had two critical paths in your project. You share this information with another project manager, who strongly argues that a
10.25. Dummy variables are used in what kind of network diagramming method?a. AONb. Gantt chartsc. AOAd. OBS
2. Suppose you were the site supervisor for this project.How would you advise Joe to proceed? Before deciding whether or not to crash the project, what questions should you consider and how should
1. What are some of the issues that weigh in favor of and against crashing the project?
e. If there were no penalty payments accruing to the project, would it make sense to crash any project activities?Show your work.
d. Assume that a project penalty clause kicks in after 19 weeks. The penalty charged is $5,000 per week. When the penalty charges are added, what does the total project cost curve look like? Develop
c. Suppose project overhead costs accrued at a fixed rate of $500 per week. Chart the decline in direct costs over the project life relative to the increase in overhead expenses.
b. What is the project’s critical path? After four iterations involving crashing project activities, what has the critical path shrunk to? (Assume all noncritical paths are ≤a fully crashed
a. Identify the sequencing of the activities to be crashed in the first four steps. Which of the critical activities should be crashed first? Why?
a project manager was faced with the following information.Activities on the critical path are highlighted with an asterisk:Normal Crashed Activity Cost Duration Extra Cost Duration A $5,000 4 weeks
10.18 Suppose you are trying to decide whether or not it makes sense to crash your project. You know that normal project duration and direct costs are 60 days and $125,000.You are worried because you
d. What will the cost of the fully crashed project be?B CD F EA G Project Activities and Costs (Normal vs. Crashed)Normal Crashed Activity Duration Cost(in U.S.dollars) Duration Cost(in U.S.dollars)A
c. What is the expected duration of the project once it has been fully crashed?
b. Which activities are the best candidates for crashing?
a. What is the cost of the project?
10.17 Suppose you are considering crashing a project. The project’s network is as follows, along with a table identifying its critical activities and the crash costs for all tasks.
b. Which are the most attractive candidates for crashing?Why?
a. Calculate the per day costs for crashing each activity.
10.16 You are considering the decision of whether or not to crash your project. After asking your operations manager to conduct an analysis, you have determined the“precrash” and “postcrash”
10.15 Consider a project with the following information. Construct the project activity network using AOA methodology and label each node and arrow appropriately. Identify all dummy activities
c. Suppose you now added a start-to-start relationship between activities F and G to the new Gantt chart.How does this additional relationship change the expected completion date for the project?
b. For activity F, add a lag of 3 days to its predecessor relationship with activity D. By adding the 3-day lag to F, what is the new expected duration for the project?
a. Assume that activities B and C are linked with a“Finish to Finish” relationship. Does that change the expected completion date for the project?
10.14 Reconfigure the Gantt chart in Problem 10.13 to include some different predecessor relationships. Optional: Solve this problem with Microsoft Project.
Project Scheduling
10.13 Develop a Gantt chart for the following activities. Identify all paths through the network. What is the critical path?Optional: Solve this problem with Microsoft Project. How does clicking on
10.12 Develop the network activity chart and identify the critical path for a project based on the following information.Redraw the activity network as a Gantt chart. What is the expected duration of

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