10.3 Crashing the project

Question 1

The IT implementation project is bogging down and
falling behind schedule. The department heads are
complaining that the project cannot help them if it is
not implemented in a reasonable time frame. Your project
manager is considering putting extra resources to
work on activities along the critical path to accelerate
the schedule. This is an example of what?
a. Rebaselining
b. Crashing
c. Fast-tracking the project
d. Identifying critical dependencies

Answer 1

b—Accelerating the project through adding resources to critical activities is referred to as “crashing” the project

Question 2

Dummy variables are used in what kind of network
diagramming method?
a. AON
b. Gantt charts
c. AOA
d. OBS

Answer 2

c - Dummy variables are employed in Activity-

on-Arrow (AOA) network diagrams

Question 3

Suppose you evaluated the best-case, most likely, and
worst-case duration estimates for an activity and determined that they were 3 days, 4 days, and 8 days, respectively. Using PERT estimation techniques, what
would be the expected duration for the activity?
a. 4 days
b. 8 days
c. 5 days
d. 4.5 days

Answer 3

d—PERT estimation would lead to the calculation (3 + (4 * 4) + 8)/6 = 27/6 or 4.5 days

Question 4

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 project can
have only one critical path; therefore, your calculations
are incorrect. What is the correct response to his
assertion?
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.
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.
c. The critical path is the shortest path through the
network, so having more than one is not a significant
problem
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.

Answer 4

a—Having more than one critical path
is possible; however, the more activities that exist on the
critical path(s), the greater the risk to the project’s schedule because delays in any critical activities will delay the completion of the project

Question 5

Which of the following circumstances would require
the creation of a lag relationship in a network
diagram?
a. The critical path
b. The insertion of a dummy variable into a network
diagram
c. A delay after painting a room to allow for the paint
to dry before beginning to carpet the room’s floor
d. An early finish relationship between two activities

Answer 5

c—Allowing for the paint to dry before beginning the next activity is an example of a lag relationship occurring between activities

Question 6

What are the four logical relationships between tasks?

Answer 6

Finish to Start
Finish to Finish
Start to Start
Start to Finish

Question 7

What is the aim of crashing projects?

Answer 7

accelerating development to reach an earlier completion date.

Question 8

How many primary methods of crashing are there?

Answer 8

five

Question 9

What are the primary methods of crashing projects?

Answer 9

1. Improving the productivity of existing resources
2. Changing work methods
3. Compromise quality and/or reduce project scope
4. Fast-track the project
5. Work overtime
6. Adding resources to the project team

Question 10

The decision of crashing is directly related to …

Answer 10

the cost implications for crashing, allowing project managers to make an informed decision based on time/cost trade-offs.