Project Management Exercise #1 – Case Study

A marketing firm is planning to conduct a survey of a segment of the potential product

audience for one of its customers. The planning process for preparing to conduct the
survey consists of six activities, with procedure relationships and activity time estimates
as follows:

Activity Description Activity Duration

Predecessor (Days)
A Determine survey objectives - 3
B Select & hire personnel A 5
C Design questionnaire B 3
D Train personnel B, C 6
E Select target audience C 4
F Make personnel assignments D, E 3

a. Determine all paths through the network from node A to node F and the duration
of each, and indicate the critical path
b. Determine the earliest and latest activity start and finish
c. Determine the slack for each activity

Source: Roberta Russel & Bernard Taylor, Operations Management; Creating Value
Along the Supply Chain, 7th Edition