Jannaat

ulNai
ma

Chapt
er1
Answer
stoRev
iewQuest
ions

1.Uset
hechar
act
eri
sti
csofapr
ojectt
odi
ff
erent
iat
eitf
rom anonpr
oject
.

 Aproj
ectist
empor
ary(
speci
fi
cst
artandstop)
,unique(aone-
of-
a-ki
ndout
putor
del
i
ver
ableai
medatmeeti
ngaspecif
icneedofthecli
ent)
.

 Anon-
proj
ectr
efer
stot
her
out
ine,
repet
it
ivewor
koft
heor
gani
zat
ion.

2.Contr
astwi
n-l
osenegoti
ati
onswit
hwi
n-wi
nnegot
iat
ionsandexpl
ainwhyt
hel
att
eri
sso
i
mpor t
anti
nprojectmanagement
.

Win-
losenegot
iat
ioni
sli
keazero-
sum game.Anyt
hingonesidewinsi
salossf
ort
heothersi
de.
I
nwin-winnegoti
ati
on,t
heout
comeissuchthatbothpart
iesgai
nsomethi
ngfr
om t
he
i
nter
change.

Wi n-l
osenegoti
ati
ngi sdangerousforpr
ojectmanagerswhowil
l hav
etodealwit
hthesame
par t
iesoverandagain.Theprojectmanagerwhoforcesafunct
ionalmanagert
olosewil
lhav
e
createdaper manentenemy .

3.I
dent
if
ythet
hreegoalsofaprojectanddescri
behowthepr
ojectmanagerachi
evest
hem.
Whatdoesi
tmeanf oraproj
ecttobe“ over
deter
mined?
”

Thet
hreegoal
sofapr
ojectar
e:

 Ont
ime,

 Onbudget
,and

 speci
fi
cat
ion(
i.
e.,
incl
udi
ng“
qual
i
ty”and“
cli
entsat
isf
act
ion”
).

Theprojectmanagermeet sthegoalsbymaking“t
rade-off
s.”Forexampl
e,he/shecanshor ten
theproj
ectbyusingmor eresour
ces.Anover
determinedprojecti
sonethathasaf ixedbudget,
fi
xeddeliver
yti
me, andfixedspeci
fi
cati
ons(i
.e.
,al
lthreegoalsarefi
xed)
.Inreali
ty,
pr oj
ect
s
musthav esomeflexibil
i
tytoall
owforchanceevents.Int
hecaseofanov erdeterminedproj
ect,
ther
eisnoal l
owancef oranysuchevents.

4.Contr
astthet
wot ypesofproj
ectl
i
fecy
cleanddi
scusswhyi
tisi
mpor
tantt
oknowwhi
ch
ty
pethecurr
entproj
ectisfol
lowi
ng.
 Thet r
adit
ionalprojectli
fecy cl
e(t
heS-shapedcurve)i
sconcavetothebaselineduri
ngthelast
stagesintheprojectl i
fe(i
.e.,
thecurverunsparal
l
eltothex-
axi
s).Someprojects,however
,have
alif
ecy cl
ecurvet hatisconv extothebaseli
neattheendoftheproj
ectl
if
e(i.e.thecur
veruns
parall
eltothey-
axi s).Thi
si sknownasaJ- shapedcurve)
.

Themai
nreasononeshouldunderstandt
hedi
ffer
encei
sthatr
esour
ceal
l
ocat
ionf
ort
het
wo
ty
pesi
squit
ediff
erent
.(Cf
.Chapters4and6.)

5.Howdoest heweight
edscori
ngapproachav
oidthedrawbacksoft
heNPVappr oach?Can
thet
woappr oachesbecombined?How?Whatweightswouldbeappropr
iat
eift
heywer e
combined?

Theweightedscoringmodel al
lowst heint
roductionofnonmonet aryandevenquali
tat
ive
el
ement si
ntothesel ect
ioncri
ter
ia.Ital
soall
owsl ong-r
unbenef i
tsandriskstobeconsider
ed.
Thetwoappr oachescanbecombi nedbyincludingNPVasacr it
eri
oninthescori
ngmodel .
Cri
ter
iaweightsareal wayssel
ectedwi t
htheappr ov al
oft heorgani
zati
on’sseni
orpoli
cymakers,
butty
pical
l
yt hewei ghtonNPVwi llbequit
ehi ghifnott hehighest.

6.Whatadvantagesarelosti
fthesum ofthewei
ghtsinaweight
edscori
ngappr
oachdoes
notaddto1.0?Whyisitsuggestedthatf
actor
swithlesst
han2percentor3per
centi
mpact
notbeconsi
deredinthisapproach?

I
fthewei ghtsi
nascor i
ngmodel arenor
mal i
zedt osum to1.0,eachindivi
dualweightbecomes
thepercentcontr
ibut
ionthatcri
terionmakestot hescoreofwhat everisbeingconsidered.Thi
s
makesi tsi
mpleandqui cktoseet herel
ati
vev al
ueoft hatcri
ter
ionagainsttheothers.Deali
ng
withcri
teri
awithsuchsmal li
mpactont hefinalchoiceusesconsi der
ableamount softhe
decisi
onmaker s’t
imeandef f
ortandcont r
ibuteslit
tl
etot hechoice

7.Dr
awadi
sti
nct
ionbet
weenapr
ojectandapr
ogr
am.Whyi
sthedi
sti
nct
ioni
mpor
tant
?

Apr ogram i
salargegeneral
izedtaskmadeupofasetofproj
ects.Thedistincti
onisi
mpor t
ant
becauset oaccompli
shapr ogram,iti
scri
ti
calt
omanageit
sconstituentproject
ssothatthey
makeanopt i
mum contri
butiontotheover
allpr
ogr
am.Thi
sisthebasi cpri
ncipalbehi
ndthe
creati
onofa“ proj
ectpor
tfol
io.”

8.Whyi
siti
mpor
tantf
orapr
ojectt
ohav
e“f
lexi
bil
it
y”?

Fl
exi
bil
i
tyi
sneededinever
yprojectbecausepr
ojectsar
ecarr
iedouti
nanuncert
ainworl
d.Thi
s
i
smerelyadi
ff
erentwayofunderstandi
ngwhyproject
sshoul
dnotbe“over
deter
mined.
”

9.Whyar
eR&Dproj
ectsinacompany’sAggregat
eProj
ectPlansigni
fi
cant
lydi
ff
erenti
nty
pe
fr
om t
hefi
rm’
sDeri
vat
ive,Br
eakt
hrough,andPlat
for
m pr
ojects?

R&Dproj
ect
sseektodev
elopnewknowledgewhi
chhopeful
lywil
lbecomethebasi
sforoneor
moreoft
hefol
lowi
ngthr
eefol
lowi
ngtypesofpr
oject
s:br
eakthr
ough,pl
atf
orm,andder
ivat
ive.
Suggest
edAnswer
stoDi
scussi
onQuest
ions

10.Cont
rastt
hethr
eetypesofnonnumer i
cpr
ojectsel
ecti
onmet hods.Coul
danyspecif
ic
casetwoofthem,suchasthesacredcowandt heoperat
ingnecessi
ty,ort
hecomparati
ve
benef
it
sandthecompetit
ivenecessi
ty?

Thet hreet y
pesofnon-numer i
cselecti
onmodel sarequi tesimi l
arint hattheyhavesetasi ngl
e
cri
terionforchoice.Theydi
fferint
hatt hecrit
eri
aaredifferent.Anexampl eofusi
nga
combi nationofthesacredcowandt hecompet i
ti
venecessi tycrit
eriami ghtbeacasewher ea
projectissetupt ofi
ndanewandmor eef f
ecti
veadv er
tisingcampai gnt oimprovesalesfora
productsuggest edbytheCEO.Acombi nat
ionofcompar ati
vebenef itsandt hecompet i
ti
ve
necessi t
ymodel smightbeusedt ochooset heappr opr
iateext ensi
onsf oranapplicati
on
softwar eprogr
am thatseemst ooli
mi t
edi nit
scurrentl
ev elofdev elopmentt omaintai
nits
pl
acei nthemarket.

11.Whaterr
orsinafi
rm’spr
ojectpor
tfol
iomi
ghtt
heWheel
wri
ghtandCl
arkaggr
egat
e
pr
ojectpl
angraphi
cal
lyi
dent
if
y?

Themet hodwil
lall
owseniormanagementtoidenti
fytheabsenceorover/
underrepr
esent
ati
on
ofanyofthefourtypesofpr
oject
s;der
ivat
ive,
plat
form,br
eakt hr
ough,andR&D.Management
canthencontr
olthenumberanddi r
ect
ionofeachofthetypesaswel l
asthetypesasasetor
port
fol
io.

12.Youaretheproj
ectmanagerofateam ofsoft
war
especi al
istsworki
ngonapr oj
ectt
o
produceapieceofappl
icat
ionsof
twarei
nthefiel
dofprojectmanagement.Giv
esome
examplesofthi
ngsthatmightgowrongonsuchaprojectandt hesor
tsoftr
ade-off
syou
mighthavetomake.

Someoft
het
hingst
hatmi
ghtgowr
ongwoul
dincl
ude:

 Theproj
ectcoul
dbedel
ayed…andt
heproj
ectmanagercouldr
espondbycont
ract
ing
outsomeofthecodewr
it
ingt
oshor
tent
hedurat
ionofthatact
ivi
ty.

 Thepr oj
ectcouldexceedi
tsbudget…andt
heprojectmanagercouldrespondby
negot
iati
ngfortheremovalofsomeofthel
ess-
importantpr
ogram capabil
i
ties.

14.Gi
vesever
alexampl
esofpr
oject
sfoundi
nyourci
ty,
regi
on,
orcount
ry–av
oidi
ngt
hose
usedasexamples.

Somepr
oject
swhi
chmi
ghtbegi
venasexampl
esi
ncl
ude:

a) Const
ruct
ionofaspor
tsst
adi
um.

b) Bui
l
dingofal
argemal
lorshoppi
ngcent
er.

c) Repav
ingofst
reet
sandhi
ghway
s,.
 d) Or
gani
zi
ngt
hehomecomi
ngatal
ocal
col
l
ege.

e) Or
gani
zi
ngandconduct
ingami
l
itar
ytr
aini
ngexer
cise.

f
) Conduct
ingacensusoft
hepopul
ati
on.

Chapt
er3
Answer
stoRev
iewQuest
ions

1.Whatar
esomeoft
hebenef
it
sofset
ti
ngupapr
ojectpl
anf
orr
out
ine,
frequentpr
oject
s?

Onekeybenef itofsett
ingupapr oj
ectplanforrouti
ne,f
requentpr ojectsi
sthattheproj
ect
pl
ancanbeusedasat empl ateforsimil
arproj
ectsinthefuture.Havingsuchat emplatecan
great
lysimpli
fyfutur
epr oj
ects–j ustfi
ll
i
ngintheblanks,whileatt hesamet i
mecanensur ethat
i
mpor tantst
epsoract i
viti
esarenotov erl
ooked.Furt
hermore,thepr ojectpl
ancanbei mproved
andenhancedast heor ganizat
iongainsadditi
onalexper
iencewi ththeseproject
s.

2.Discussthereasonsf
ori
nvi
ti
ngt
hefunct
ionalmanager
stoapr
ojectl
aunchmeet
ingr
ather
thantheirsubor
dinat
eswhomaybeact
uall
ydoingthework?

Thereasonf orinviti
ngt hef unctionalmanager stothepr ojectlaunchmeet i
ngi st hati
ti s
i
mpor tanttogett heirbuy -
inandsuppor tfortheprojectandunder standi
ngt heloadon
subordinates.Thef unctionalmanager scanhav easi gnifi
canti mpactont hedegr eetowhi ch
theprojectsucceedsorf ail
sbasedont heirwil
l
ingnesst oassi gnkeysubor dinatestot he
proj
ect.Clear l
y,iftheyar econv incedup- fr
ontofthei mpor t
anceoft heprojectandper hapseven
haveinputi ntothepr oject’sscope, theircooperati
oni smor elikel
yinl at
erst agesoft he
proj
ect.Anot herimpor tantreasonf orincl
udingfunctionalmanager sinthepr oj
ectlaunch
meetingist ogett hei
rcommi t
mentt ohelpdevelopthei ni
tialplan.

3.Di
scusst
heprosandconsofi
dent
if
yingandi
ncl
udi
ngt
hepr
ojectt
eam att
hepr
oject
l
aunchmeeti
ng.

Someofmajoradv
antagest
oident
if
yingandi
ncl
udi
ngpr
ojectt
eam member
sint
hepr
oject
l
aunchmeet
ingwouldbe:

 Get
ti
ngt
hei
rsuppor
tear
lyon.

 Let
ti
ngthem hearfi
rsthandf
rom seni
ormanagementt
hei
mpor
tanceoft
hepr
ojectt
o
t
heorgani
zat
ion,and

 [Perhaps]get
ti
ngt
hei
rinputonmor
etechni
cal
issuesast
hepr
oject
’sscopei
sini
ti
all
y
defi
ned.
 Maj
ordi
sadv
ant
agesi
ncl
ude:

 Notbei
ngabl
etoi
dent
if
yal
lpr
ojectt
eam member
satt
hisear
lyst
age.

 Getti
ngt
ooboggeddowni
ntechni
cal
det
ail
stot
hedet
ri
mentofbi
ggerpi
ctur
eissues,
and

 [
Perhaps]l
essi
nvol
vementf
rom t
hef unct
ional
managersiftheyfeelt
heirdepart
menti
s
adequat
elyr
epr
esent
edbyproj
ectteam member sf
rom t
heirrespect
ivedepartment
s.

4.Whydo“sel
f-
dir
ect
edt
eams”per
for
m poor
ly?Whatcanbedonet
oimpr
ovet
hei
r
per
for
mance?

Oner easonwhysel f-
direct
edt eamsmayper f
orm poorl
yisbecausetheymaynothav eagood
understandingofhowt heiref f
or t
sar emeanttosupportoveral
lor
ganizati
onalobject
ives.Inthe
absenceoft hisunderstanding, t
heteam willl
ikel
ycreat
eitsownobjectiv
eswhi chwillprobably
l
eadt osubopt i
mizati
oni fthet eam’sobjecti
vesareonlyloosel
yrel
atedtobr oader
organizat
ionalobject
ives.Thesol ut
iontothi
spr obl
em i
stoensurethattheteam hasasol i
d
understandingofhowi tsobj ectiv
esandi t
swor karemeanttosupportbroaderorganizational
objecti
ves.

5.Whyi
spar
ti
cipat
orymanagementbenef
ici
alt
opr
ojectpl
anni
ng?Howdoest
hepr
ocess

ofpar
ti
cipat
orymanagementact
ual
lywor
kinpl
anni
ng?

Par
ti
cipat
orymanagement(
i.
e.,
incl
udi
ngpr
ojectt
eam member
sint
hepl
anni
ngpr
ocess)i
s

benef
ici
ali
nthati
thel
psensur
ethat
:

 I
mpor
tanti
ssuesar
enotov
erl
ooked,
and

 Team member
sar
ecommi
tt
edt
othepr
oject
.

Fur
ther
mor
e:

 Team memberscanbeaskedtoi
dent
if
ythetasksrequi
redtocompl
etet
hepr
oject
al
ongwit
hthei
resti
matesoft
imeandotherr
esourcerequi
rement
s.

6.Whati
st hedif
fer
encebetweentheResour
cecolumnontheact
ionpl
an(
thatwoul
dincl
ude
per
sonnelneededbytheproj
ect)andt
heAssignedtocol
umn?

TheResour
cescol
umni smoregener
alandsi
mpl
yli
stst
het
ypeofhuman,
mat
eri
al,
and
machi
neresour
cesneeded.

The“ Assignedto”col
umni smorespecif
icandi
dent
if
iest
hepar
ti
cul
arper
sonwhohas
responsibil
it
yforcomplet
ingtheact
ivi
ty.

7.Underwhatci
rcumst
ancesi
sitsensi
blet
odowi
thoutapr
ojectl
aunchmeet
ing?
Whil
ehol
dingapr
ojectl
aunchmeetingi
sal
way
sasensi
blest
ep,
itmaynotbeessent
ial
or
r
equi
redi
ncaseswherethepr
ojecti
s:

 Quit
erout
ineandf
requent
.Int
hesecasesthescopei sli
kel
ywel
lunder
stoodandt
he
f
uncti
onal
managershavewell
defi
nedresponsi
bil
i
ties,and

 Tobecompl etedent
ir
elywi
thi
nonefuncti
onaldepart
ment.I
nthiscase,
thefunct
ional
managerinv
olvedcanensur
etheappropr
iater
esourcesar
eassignedtotheproj
ectas
wel
lasclearl
ydefi
neandart
icul
atet
heproject
'sscope.

8.Whatli
mit
ationsassociat
edwit
htradit
ionalpr
ojectmanagementt
echni
quesl
ikeGant
t
char
tsandprecedencediagramsdoestheDesignMat r
ixStr
uct
ureover
come?

Alimitat
ionoft radit
ionalproj
ectmanagementpl anni ngtool
sistheyfocuspr imaril
yont ask
precedencer el
ationships.I
nsomepr oj
ects( part
icularl
ynewpr oductdevelopmentpr oject
s)
anotherimpor t
antaspecti swhati nformationdoesat askneedfrom pr
ecedi ngtasks.The
DesignSt r
uctureMat r
ixaddressest heissueofi nformat i
onfl
owswi thi
napr oject.Whent he
mat r
ixiscompl ete,allt
hetaskst hatprovidei nf
ormat ionneededtocompl eteagi ventaskcan
bedet er
mi nedbyl ookingacrosst hat’
spar t
iculartask’srow.

Suggest
edAnswer
stoDi
scussi
onQuest
ions

9.Foreachoftheni
necomponentsofaproj
ectmast
erpl
an,
discusst
hepr
obl
emst
hatmi
ght
berai
sediftheel
ementwasincomplet
e.

Theel
ement
srequi
redi
napr
ojectpl
anf
all
int
othef
oll
owi
ngni
necat
egor
ies:

1. Ov
er v
iew:Ani ncompleteov erv
iewofthepr oj
ectcouldleadtooverl
ooki
ngkey
mil
estones.Ty pical
l
y ,
milestonescorr
espondt oimportantevent
sofapr oj
ectandi
tis
par
ticular
lyappropriat
etoassesst heproject’
sperf
ormanceatt heseti
mes.Ifi
mportant
mil
estonesar enotidenti
fied,opport
unit
iestoidenti
fyproblemsearl
yonmaybemi ssed.

2. Obj
ect
ives:I
nadequat
elydef
ini
ngtheproj
ect
’sobj
ect
ivescoul
dleadt
osubopt
imzat
ion
andmissingimport
antspeci
fi
cati
ons.

3. GeneralApproach:Notthoroughl
ydiscussi
ngtheGeneral
approachcouldincreasethe
numberofad- hocdecisionsthathavetobemadeast heproj
ectiscompletedandcould
alsoresulti
ninconsist
enciesasdi f
fer
entteam membersemploydiff
erentapproaches
toaddr esssi
milari
ssues.

4. Contr
act
ualAspects:
Theconsequencesofi
ncompl
etel
ydefi
ningcontr
act
ual aspect
s
incl
udescopecreepandmajordisput
esbetweent
hecli
entandtheproj
ectteam.

5. Schedul
es:
Anincomplet
eschedul
etypical
l
yresult
sinoverl
ookedacti
vit
ieswhi
ch
subsequent
lyt
ransl
atesi
ntol
atepr
ojectcomplet
ionsand/orcostov
erruns.

6. Resour
ceRequi
rement
s:Si
mil
arl
y,ani
ncompl
eter
esour
cer
equi
rement
ssect
ioncan
 resul
tinfai
lur
etohaverequi
redr
esour
cesav
ail
abl
ewhenneededoromi
tt
edcost
elementssuchasoverhead.

7. Personnel
:Ani
ncompleteper
sonnel
sect
ioncoul
dresul
tinov
erl
ooki
ngi
mpor
tantski
l
l
requirement
sortheneedtoprov
idet
henecessar
ytr
aini
ng.

8. Ev
aluationMet
hods:Notadequat
elyspeci
fyi
ngev
aluat
ionmet
hodscoul
dleadtonot
captur
ingimport
antproj
ectper
for
mancedat awhi
chcouldi
mpactt
heti
melydiscov
ery
ofproblems.

9. Potent
ialPr
oblems:Fi
nally,notadequat
elyconsi der
ingpot
ent
ial
problemsmeanst
hat
proacti
veconti
ngencyplansf orprobl
emst hatcouldhavebeenanti
cipat
edar
enot
avail
able,
forci
ngtheprojectteam int
oamor ereacti
vemode.

10.Giv
eseveralexamplesofat
ypeofpr
ojectt
hatwoul
dbenef
itf
rom at
empl
atepr
oject
acti
onplanbei
ngdev el
oped.

Proj
ectst
hatarecomplet
edrouti
nel
ywouldbenefi
tfr
om at
emplateprojectacti
onplan.I
n
addi
ti
ontorout
inesy
stem maint
enancepr
oject
s,exampl
esofsuchprojectsincl
ude:

 Const
ruct
ingahouse.

 Taki
ngadr
ugt
hroughcl
i
nical
tri
als,
and

 Install
i
ngt
hesamecomput
ersy
stem i
nal
lofanor
gani
zat
ion’
smanuf
act
uri
ng
plants.

11.Whyi sthehier
archicalplanni
ngprocessusefulf
orpr
ojectpl
anni
ng?Howmi
ghti
t
i
nfluencetheplanifthehierarchi
cal
planningpr
ocesswasnotused?

Thehi
erar
chi
cal
planni
ngpr
ocessi
susef
ulf
orpr
ojectpl
anni
ngf
oranumberofr
easons:

 Bystart
ingver
ybr
oadl
yandgr
adual
l
yaddi
ngmor
edet
ail
iti
sal
ogi
cal
andsy
stemat
ic
pr
ocess,and

 Itf
it
swellwit
htypi
calor
gani
zati
onal
hierarchi
esinthesensethatseni
orandmi ddl
e-
l
evelmanager
scanfocusonthetopl
evel i
temsandt hendel
egatethespecif
icat
ionof
t
hesedetai
lst
othepeoplet
hatwil
lberesponsibl
eforcompleti
ngthesetasks.

Akeypr
obl
em wi
thnotusi
nghi
erarchi
calpl
anni
ngisthati
mport
antt
asksmaybeov
erl
ooked
whi
chmayul
ti
matel
ydel
aythepr
ojectand/orr
esul
tincostov
err
uns.

12.Whatcausessomuchconfli
ctonmul
ti
disci
pli
nar
yteams?AsaPM whatwoul
dyout
ryt
o
dotoprev
entorreducesuchconfl
ict
?

Probabl
yt heleadi
ngsourceofconf l
i
ctonmult
idi
sci
plinaryteamsoccursisthefactt
hatteam
member st endtovi
ewpr oblemsonlyfr
om t
hei
rownf unctionalper
specti
ve.Onewayt oavoi
d
thi
sproblem istorecr
uitprojectt
eam member
sthathav eanor i
entat
iontoprobl
em solv
ing
r
athert
hanapar
ti
cul
arsol
uti
onappr
oach.

13.Ofwhathel
pisa“
mapofi
nter
dependenci
es”t
oaPM whoi
smanagi
ngat
ransdi
sci
pli
nar
y
team?

Amapofi nt
erdependenciesshowst heinterr
elati
onshipsbetweenvari
ousmember softhe
proj
ectteam acrossvariousfuncti
onalareas.Sincet herel
ati
onshi
psbetweenfunctionalar
eas
arel
ikel
ytochangeast heprojectprogr
esses, expl
icitl
ymappingoutt
heser el
ati
onshipsfor
eachphaseoft heprojectcanhelpensuret hatthev ari
ousareasar
ewor ki
ngtogetheratthe
appropr
iateti
mes.

16.Whatarethepot
enti
alr
amif
icat
ionsofnotut
il
izi
ngint
egr
ati
onmanagementt
echni
quesor
concur
rentengi
neer
ingwhi
lepl
anni
ngandi mpl
ementingapr
oject
?

I
mportantr
elat
ionshi
psacrossfuncti
onalar
easwilll
ikel
ybeover
lookedi
fint
egr
ati
on
managementisnotuti
li
zed.Notident
ify
ingtheser
elati
onshi
pswil
l:

 Reduceoppor
tuni
ti
esf
orconcur
rentengi
neer
ing,
aswel
las

 Leadt
odi
sconnect
sbet
weent
hesef
unct
ional
areas.

I
nbot
hcasest
hepr
ojectschedul
eandbudgetar
eli
kel
ytosuf
fer
.

17.Li
stt
headvantagesofusi
ngan“
empower
edt
eam”f
orpl
anni
ng.Whatcondi
ti
onsmustbe
metfort
heseadvantagest
oaccr
ue?

Adv
ant
agesofempower
edt
eamsi
ncl
ude:

 Hi
ghqual
i
tysol
uti
ons.

 Av
oidi
ngmi
cromanagement
.

 Mor
eaccount
abi
l
ity
.

 Agr
eat
erl
i
kel
i
hoodofobt
aini
ngasy
ner
gist
icsol
uti
on,
and

 Theav
ail
abi
l
ityofat
ool
fort
imel
yteam ev
aluat
ionandf
eedback.

Themosti
mport
antconditi
onist
hatseni
ormanagementmustcl
ear
lyspel
lout(a)t
hepr
oject
’s
goal
sand(
b)beclearaboutther
angeofthet
eam’saut
hor
it
yandresponsi
bil
i
ty.

18Pursui
ngadegreeorcer
ti
fi
cat
eisamaj orproj
ect
.Constr
uctabr
ief“
proj
ectpl
an”f
ort
his
pr
ojectt
hati
ncl
udesall9el
ementsdescr
ibedinthechapt
er.

Fol
l
owi
ng,
asanexampl
e,i
sapr
ojectpl
anf
orast
udentai
mingt
oear
nhi
s/herMBA:

1. Over
view:
Thepurposeofthi
sprojecti
stoearnanMBA.Themajormi
lest
ones
incl
udecompl
eti
ngthefir
styearofcorecour
sework,
obtai
ningasummerint
ernshi
p,
 compl
eti
ngthesecondyearofcour
sewor
k,andobt
aini
ngaf
ull
timeposi
ti
onata
l
eadi
ngconsul
ti
ngorganizat
ion.

2. Obj
ecti
ves:Mygoal i
stoi
ncr
easemysal ar
yby70per centbyobtaini
ngful
lti
me
employmentwi t
haleadi
ngconsul
ti
ngorganizat
ionuponcompletingatwo-yearMBA.
Long-t
erm, mygoali
stomakepartnerofaconsult
ingorgani
zat
ionwi t
hinseven
year
sofgr aduat
ion.

3. GeneralAppr oach:Iwil
lappl
yt othetoppubli
cMBApr ogramsintheOhio,I
ndi
ana,
andMi chiganar eas.Iwil
lvi
siteachthatIam acceptedtoassesstheschool
’scul
tur
e.
Iwill
alsor esearchthem toevaluatet
heirsuccessinplaci
nggraduatesi
ntop
consulti
ngor ganizati
ons.

4. Cont
ract
ualAspect
s:Imayber
equir
edtomakeafinanci
alcommitmentt
oone
schoolwhil
esti
ll
bei
ngonthewait
ingli
stofmor
edesir
ableschool
.

5. Schedul
e:

 December2005:
takeGMATExam

 Januar
y2006:
resear
chschool
s

 Febr
uar
y2006:
fil
loutadmi
ssi
onsappl
i
cat
ions

 May2006:
Visi
tschool
s

 June2006:
Makedeci
sion

 Jul
y2006:
Househunt
ingt
ri
p

 August2006:
Mov
e

 August2006–May2007:
compl
etecor
e

 June–August2007:
Summeri
nter
nshi
p

 August2007–May2008:
Compl
etesecondy
earandi
nter
viewf
orf
ull

t
imeconsul
ti
ngposi
ti
on

6.Resour
ceRequir
ements:
Iwi
l
luse$50,
000f
rom mysav
ingsandt
akeoutanest
imat
ed
$25,
000i
nstudentl
oans.

7.Per
sonnel
:Mybr
other
swi
l
lhel
pmemov
e.

8.
Eval
uati
onMet
hod:
Keyper
for
mancemet
ri
csi
ncl
udemyGPAandst
art
ingsal
aryupon
gr
aduati
on.

9.Pot
ent
ial
Probl
ems:
Ithasbeensixy
earssinceIhavebeeninschoolandther
eforemy
adj
ust
mentperi
odmaybelongert
hanIexpect.Imayalsoencount
erint
erper
sonalconf
li
cts
wit
hteammates.Fi
nal
l
y,t
hecostofhousi
ngortui
ti
onmaybehigherthanIexpectand/
ormy
summerint
ernshi
pmaypayl
essthanIexpectwhi
chwoul
dcreatetheneedtoborrowmore
money.

Chapt
er5
Answer
stoRev
iewQuest
ions

1.Howwoul
daPM managercr
it
ical
pat
htasksdi
ff
erent
lyt
hannoncr
it
ical
tasks?

Bydefini
tion,cri
ti
cal t
asksaret hosetaskst
hati
fdelayedwil
l delaythecompleti
onoft heentir
e
proj
ect.Therefore,thesetasksshouldbemanagedmor ecl
osel ythannon-cr
it
icaltasks.I
n
caseswher etheact ivi
tyti
mesar enotknownwithcertai
nty
,thet asksassumedt obecr it
ical
at
thebeginningoft heprojectmayt ur
noutnottobesocr i
ti
cal.Ther ef
ore,
whent askst i
mesar e
uncert
ain,allt
askst hatmayr easonablydel
aypr
ojectcompletionmustbecar efull
ymanaged.

2.Howi
ssl
ackdet
ermi
ned?

Sl
ackf
orapar
ti
cul
art
aski
scal
cul
atedby
:

 Subt
ract
ingt
heear
li
estt
imet
het
askcanst
artf
rom t
hel
atestt
imet
het
askcanst
art
,

 Subt
ract
ingt
heear
li
estt
imet
het
askcanf
ini
shf
rom t
hel
atestt
imet
het
askcanf
ini
sh.

Bothcalcul
ati
onsresul
tinthesameslackandi
ndicateawindowi
nwhi
cht
het
askcan
bestar
tedandfini
shedwithoutdel
ayi
ngtheent
ir
epr oj
ect
.

Theslackforaparti
cul
arpat
hiscalcul
atedbysubt
ract
ingt
hepat
h’sdurat
ionf
rom t
he
cr
it
icalpat
h’sdur
ati
onandprovidesanindi
cat
ionofhowmuchthepathcanbedel
ayed
wi
thoutdelayi
ngthecomplet
ionoftheproj
ect
.

3.Howdoyoudet
erminetheESTforanacti
vi
tywi
tht
wopr
edecessor
s?Howdoy
oudet
ermi
ne
theLFTf
oranact
ivi
tywi
thtwosuccessor
s?

Theear l
i
eststartti
mef oranact i
vi
tywit
ht wopredecessorsisequaltothel
aterearl
iestfi
nish
ti
meoft hetwopr edecessorssincebothpredecessorsmustbecompl et
edforthetasktobegi n.
Thelatestfi
nishti
mef oranact i
vit
ywithtwosuccessorsisequal t
ot hesmall
erlat
eststartti
me
ofthetwosuccessor s.Ifthelar
gerwereused,thentheprecedingtaskwouldbeper mit
tedt o
fi
nishaftert
helateststartti
meoft heothersuccessor
.

4.Wi
l
lal
lact
ivi
ti
esonanoncr
it
ical
pat
hhav
ethesamesl
ack?Whyorwhynot
?

No, al
lact
ivi
ti
esont hesamenon-
cri
ti
cal
pathwill
notnecessar
il
yhavethesamesl
ack.Thi
sis
becauseapar t
icul
aracti
vit
ymaybeonmulti
plepaths.Whenanact
ivi
tyisonmor
ethanone
path,i
tssl
ackisdeterminedbyt
hepathwit
htheleastamountofsl
ack.

6.Whati
sadummyact
ivi
ty?
Whent woacti
vi
tieshav ethesamebegi nni
ngandendingnodestheydonothav
eaunique
i
dentit
yint
hepr ojectnetwork.Tosolv
et hi
spr
oblem anewendingorstar
ti
ngnodeiscreat
ed
foroneoftheactivi
ti
estopr ovi
dethem wit
hauniqueident
it
y.Thenadummyact i
vi
tyoran
acti
vi
tywit
hnodur at
ionisaddedtopreservet
heprecedencerel
ati
onshi
p.

8.Whati
smeantby“
proj
ectsl
ack”
?

I
ft hepromiseddeli
ver
ydateforaprojectisgreatert
hant
heti
mer equi
redtocompl
etethe
project
,theproj
ecti
ssaidtohave“projectsl
ack.”Theamountoft
heprojectsl
acki
sequalto
thedeli
veryti
memi nusthepr
ojectcompl eti
ontime.

9.“
Notuncommonl
y,t
heGant
tchar
tisdecept
ivei
nit
sappar
entsi
mpl
i
cit
y.”Br
ief
lyexpl
ain.

BecausetheGant tcharti
ssoeasytoconstructandr
ead,peoplemayusethist
oolwi
thli
tt
le
proj
ectmanagementt r
aini
ngandnotechnicalknowl
edgeabouttheproj
ect
.Onedangeri
s
drawingconclusi
onsandmaki ngdeci
sionsbasedontherelat
ivel
ysi
mpleinf
ormat
ion
di
splayedinthechart.

12.Whenacti
vi
tyti
mesareknownwi t
hcertai
nty,
thecrit
icalpat
hisdefinedast hesetof
acti
vi
ti
esonapathfrom t
heproj
ect’
sstar
teventtoit
sf i
nisheventthat
,ifdel
ayed,wil
ldelayt
he
complet
iondat
eoftheproj
ect
.Whymustt hisdefi
nit
ionbemodi fi
edinsituat
ionswherethe
acti
vi
tyti
mesarenotknownwithcer
tai
nty?

Incaseswher etheacti
vi
tyt
imesar enotknownwi thcertai
nt y
, i
tisnotpossibletodet ermine
theact ualdurat
ionofeachpath.Theref
ore,i
tisnotpossiblet odeterminethecrit
icalpat ha
priori
.Apat hthatisdet
erminedtobecr i
ti
calatthebeginni
ngoft heprojectbasedonexpect ed
activi
tydurati
onsmayt urnoutnottobecr i
ti
calwhent hepr oj
ectishalfcompl et
ed,per hapsas
ar esul
toft heextr
amanagementat tenti
onthispathreceived.Indeed,i
tiscommonf ort he
statusofv ari
ouspathstoalter
natebetweenbeingcrit
icalandnotbei ngcr i
ti
calasthepr ojecti
s
compl eted.

Ar
ether
edanger
sassoci
atedwi
thnotmodi
fyi
ngt
hedef
ini
ti
on?

Onedangeristhatwhatisthoughttobet hecri
ti
calpathatthebeginni
ngofthepr
oject
consumesallofmanagement ’
sat t
enti
ononlytohav eotherpat
hsf al
lbehi
ndandactual
l
yend
updelayi
ngtheproj
ect.Theimplicat
ionisthatal
lpathsthathavethepotent
ial
todelayt
he
proj
ectshoul
dbeappropriatel
ymanaged.

Suggest
edAnswer
stoDi
scussi
onQuest
ions

13.Howmi
ghty
ouuset
henet
wor
kappr
oacht
ohel
ppr
epar
ecostest
imat
e?

Onewayt ousethenetwor
kapproachtoprepar
ecostest
imateswoul
dbetosimplyesti
mate
thecostofeachtaski
nthedi
agram andthensum t
hesecost
sup.Theti
meestimatesfort
he
acti
vi
ti
eswouldli
kelybeofsi
gni
ficanthel
pinest
imati
ngsomeofthecost
s(part
icul
arl
ywhen
humanl
abori
srequi
red)
,anddev
elopi
ngacashf
lowschedul
e.

14.Whenwouldi
tbeaccurat
etodeter
minet
heprobabi
li
tyofproj
ectcompl
eti
onbymul
ti
ply
ing
thepr
obabi
l
iti
esofal
lthepat
hsthr
oughthenet
worktogether
?

Itwoul
dbeaccur
atet
omul
ti
plyt
hepr
obabi
l
iti
est
oget
herwhent
hepat
hsar
eindependentof
oneanot
her
.

Whenwoul ditnotbeaccur ate?r eali

ty,t
hepat hsarenotl ikel
yt obet rul
yindependentbecause
thepat hshav eact ivi
tiesi ncommonandcommonr esour cesar esharedacr osspaths.Thi s
l
at t
erpoi ntispar ti
cularlynot ewor t
hyast henet workdiagr am onlyshowst echnological
precedencer elati
onshi psandmostof tendoesnoti ncludei nformat i
onabouthowt her esources
willbeal l
ocat ed.Inmanyt extbooksi tiscommont oar guet hatwhi l
et r
uei ndependenceacr oss
thepat hsisr arelymet ,statisticali
ndependencei sachiev edf orlargenetwor kdiagramswi th
onlyaf ewv i
olations.Ofcour se, t
het y
picalhomewor k-typepr oblemsassi gnedar enotl arge
enought ojust i
fytheindependenceassumpt ionandt hecal culati
onsr equiredforrealisti
call
y-
sizednet workdi agramswoul dbef artootediousformostmanager s.Thati swhysi mul at
ioni s
ther ecommendedappr oachi nthistext.Howev er
,iti
si mpor tanttonot ethatunder standingt he
stati
st i
calappr oachf aci l
i
tatesunder standingthesimul ationappr oach.

7.Whi
choft
hel
i
nkagesi
npr
ecedencedi
agr
ammi
ngdoy
out
hinki
smostcommonl
yused?Why
?

Asnot edint hechapt er

,thef
ini
sh-to-
startist
hemostcommonl yusedli
nkagebecausetypi
call
y
certainactivit
iesmustbecompl et
edbef oreotheracti
vi
tiescanstart
.Thestar
t-
to-st
artand
fi
nish-to-fi
nishl i
nkagesareoccasi
onall
yappl i
cable.I
nthesecasescer t
ainact
ivi
ti
esmusteither
best artedorf ini
shedatthesamet ime.Thest art
-to-
fi
nishli
nkageisprobabl
yusedtheleast
fr
equent l
y.

9.Gi
venal
ltheest
imat
ingdonet
odeter
minethedur
ati
onofpr
ojectact
ivi
ti
es,whatdoesit
meantosaythat“
onl
yaftert
hef
actdoweknowwhichpathwasactual
lythecri
ti
calpat
h”?

Whenacti
vit
yti
mesareuncertai
n,wecanonlyestimatehowl ongtheywi
llact
ual
lytake.This
meansthatwecanonlyesti
matethedur
ati
onoft hepathsalso.Si
ncetheseareonlyestimates,
wewil
lnotknowforcert
ainwhichpat
hactual
lytookthelongesttocompleteunti
ltheprojecti
s
compl
ete.

20.I
twasnot
edt
hat“
thePM mustmanaget
hepr
ojectt
eam aswel
last
hepr
oject
.”Expl
ain
why.

Thereareactuall
ytwosetsoftr
ade-of
fsprojectmanagersmustmake.Mostcommonly,
we
tal
kaboutmaki ngtrade-
off
sbetweencost
, schedul
e,andper
formance.Howev
er,
ther
eisof
ten
setoftr
ade-off
st heproj
ectmanagermustdeal wit
h.

Pr
ojectmanagersmustoft
enmaketrade-
off
sbetweenachi
evi
ngthepr
ojectgoal
sandt
he
pr
ojectt
eam vi
abil
i
ty.Managi
ngt
hissecondsetoft
rade-
off
siswhati
smeantbymanagingt
he
pr
ojectt
eam whi
l
ethef
ir
stsetofgoal
sref
erst
omanagi
ngt
hepr
oject
.

21.
Whydoy
out
hinkschedul
i
nghasbeent
hemaj
orf
ocusofef
for
tthr
oughoutt
hehi
stor
yof

pr
ojectmanagementr
athert
hanper
for
manceorbudget
ing?

Perfor
mance…t heperf
ormanceofaprojectismeasuredbyt hr
eecri
ter
ia:
isitont
ime?Isiton?
Anddoesi tmeettheagreed-
uponspeci
fi
cations?Theseareoutcomeswhichdepend,toa
l
argeextent,
ont heef
fecti
venessoft
heplanningprocesswhich,i
ntur
n,dependsonthequali
ty
ofthescheduli
ng?

Budgeti
ng…aspoi nt
edoutatt hebeginningoft
hechapter
,onecannotpr
epareabudget
wit
houtknowi ngthespecif
icsofeacht askandthet
imeperiod(
s)duri
ngwhicht
hetaskmust
beundertaken.Theeffect
ivenessofthebudgeti
ngprocessther
efor
edependsontheaccur
acy
ofthescheduling.

Thus,
bot
hperfor
manceandbudgeti
ngrel
yontheschedul
ing…andthemor
eef
fect
ivet
hati
s,
t
hemorel
ikel
ythelat
erst
ages(
i.
e.,
perf
ormanceandbudgeti
ng)wi
l
lbe.

Chapt
er6
Answer
stoRev
iewQuest
ions

1.Giv
enthefactt
hatapr
oject
’sr
esourcer
equi
rement
sareclear
lyspel
l
edouti
nthepr
oject
’s
act
ionpl
an,whyarePMssoconcernedwit
hresour
ceall
ocat
ion?

Ther
ecanbeavari
etyofr
easonswhyr
esourceal
locat
ioni
sofconcer
ntot
hePM despi
te
havi
ngapr
oper
lycomplet
edacti
onpl
an.Forexample:

 Theacti
onpl anonlyl
ist
sgeneralcategor
iesofresourcerequi
rementssuchas
engi
neer
ing,purchasi
ng,market
ing,andproduct
ion.Inthesecases,
theproj
ectmanager
muststi
l
l ar
rangetogetthespecif
icresources(
e.g.,
personnel
)needed.

 Theact i
onplanmayonl
yspecifyhowmuchoftheresourcei
sneededandprecedence
betweentheacti
vi
ti
esr
elat
ionshi
ps,i
tmaynotspeci
fyexactl
ywhenthePM wil
lneed
theseresour
ces.

 Al t
hought heacti
onplanspecif
iest
heamountofaresourceneededforaparticul
ar
project
,theremaynotbeamechani sm i
nusethatbal
ancestheloadofresources
acrossmul t
ipl
eproj
ects.Thi
scanleadt
oconfl
ict
sandthecr eat
ionofbott
leneck
resources.

2.Expl
ainthedi
ff
erencebet
weenapr
ojectt
hathasaf
ixeddel
i
ver
ydayandonet
hathasaf
ixed
l
imitonresour
ceusage.

Apr
ojectwi
thaf
ixeddel
i
ver
ydat
ecanv
aryt
hel
evel
ofr
esour
cesusedt
omeetaf
ir
m pr
oject
completi
ondate.Apr
ojectwi
thaf
ixedl
imitonr
esour
ceusagecannotobt
ainaddi
ti
onal
resour
cesbutcanpossibl
ydel
ayt
heproj
ectcompl
eti
ondate.

Whymi
ghtaPM bei
nter
est
edi
nthi
sdi
ff
erence?

Thereasont hi
sdist
inct
ionisimportanti
sthati
tspeci
fi
eswhichoft
hefundamentaltr
ade-of
fs
theprojectmanagercanexercise.I
nthecaseofproj
ectswi
thfi
xeddel
i
verydates,
only
perf
ormanceandcost( resourceusage)canbevari
ed.I
nproj
ectswi
thfi
xedresourceusage
l
evels,onlyschedul
eandper f
ormancecanbev ari
ed.

3.Whatdoesi
tmeant
o“f
astt
rack”apr
oject
?

Fast-
tr
ackingisatechniquewher ebykeyst agesoftheproj
ectareover
lapped.Int
he
constr
uctioni
ndustr
y,thismightent ai
lbeginningconst
ruct
ionbefor
ethedesignandplanni
ng
arefi
nished.I
nthepharmaceut icali
ndustrythismayentail
devel
opingtheproduct
ionpr
ocess
asthenewdr ugsarebeingdev elopedandt ested.

4.Li
stasmanyt
hingsasy
oucant
hinkoft
hatshoul
dbeent
eredi
ntoaspeci
fi
cresour
ce’
s
cal
endar
.

I
nfor
mat
iont
hatshoul
dbeent
eredi
ntoar
esour
ce’
scal
endari
ncl
ude:

 Theresour
ce’
savai
labi
l
ity(e.
g.,
day
sinweekav
ail
abl
e,t
otal
hour
sav
ail
abl
eperweek,
hour
savail
abl
eeachday).

 Timestheresourcewill
notbeav
ail
abl
e(e.
g.,
lunch,
weekends,
hol
i
day
s,v
acat
ions,
schedul
edmaintenance),and

 Resourcecost(
e.g.,costperuni
tofusage,
costf
orov
ert
imeandov
eruse,
known
changesi
nfutur
er esourcecost)
.

5.Expl
ainwhypr
oject
-or
ient
edf
ir
msr
equi
reexcessr
esour
cecapaci
ty.

Inpr ojectori
entedfi
rmst hereismuchmor euncer t
aint
yaboutt
heti
mingofresour
ceneeds
sincet heresourcesprimaril
ymov ebetweenpr oj
ectsrat
hert
hanmov i
ngbet
weenpr oj
ectsand
af unct i
onaldepart
ment .Theref
ore,ext
raresourcecapaci
tyi
sneededasabuf f
ergi
venthe
great erlev
elofuncertai
ntypresent.

6.Thear
ri
valanddepar
tur
eti
mesofcommer ci
alai
rcr
aftar
ecareful
l
yschedul
ed.Why
,then,
isi
t
soimpor
tanttohav
eexcesscapaci
tyi
ntheai
rpor
tcontr
oltower
?

Althought hearri
valanddepart
uretimesmaybecar ef
ullyscheduled,
weal lknowt hatactual
arr
ivalsanddepar t
uresoft
endev i
atesigni
fi
cantlyf
rom theseschedules.Therefore,a
si
gnificantamountofuncertai
ntyispresentandgreatl
ycompl icat
estheabilit
yoft heairport
controlsystem t
ohandlearri
val
sanddepar tures.I
ndeedunplannedev ent
s(e. g.
,weatherdelays,
equi
pmentmal funct
ions,l
atefli
ghtcrews,andsoon)oftencascadet
hroughthesystem f
urther
compoundingtheproblem.Theref or
e,excesscapaci
tyi
ncontrolt
ower
sisneededasabuf fer
gi
venthisl
evelofuncertai
nty.Clearl
y,t
hecostofnothavi
ngthi
scapaci
tygreatl
yexceedsthe
costofsomeidlecapacity
.

7.Expl
aint
hedi
ff
erenceintheprobl
emsf
acedbyaPM whoi
sshor
tofsecr
etar
ial
resour
ces
andonewhoisshortofa“Walt
.”

ThePM t hati
sshor tofsecret
ari
alresourcesdoesnotf acethatgreatofapr oblem asthi
stype
ofresourceisrel
ati
v el
yabundantandnotusual lycr
it
icaltotheproject’
sulti
mat esuccessor
fai
lure.ThePM thatisshortofa“Wal t”(
i.
e.,
anindivi
dual wit
hexper t
iseandknowl edgeinan
area)facesamuchmor edaunti
ngproblem becauseaWal ti
sascar cer esour cethati
s
i
mpor t
anttotheproject
’ssuccessf
ul completi
onandt herearenor eadil
yav ail
ablesubsti
tut
es
foraWal t.

9.Listanddescri
bet
hethr
eemostcommoncr
it
eri
abywhi
cht
oev
aluat
edi
ff
erentr
esour
ce
al
locati
onprior
it
yrul
es.

Thet
hreecr
it
eri
aar
e:

1. Schedul
esl
ippage…ameasureoft
hedelaysuff
eredbypr
oject
sasar
esul
toft
he
appli
cati
onofaresour
ceal
l
ocati
onpri
ori
tyrul
e.

2. Resour
ceutil
i
zation…ameasureofthetot
alr
esour
cecost( i
ncl
udi
ngcostssuchasthe
costofhir
ing,
fir
ing,andmai
ntai
ningr
esour
ceinv
entor
ies)underdi
ff
erental
l
ocat
ion
rul
es.

3. I
n-pr
ocessi
nvent
ory…ameasur
eoft
hecostofunf
ini
shedwor
kint
hesy
stem.

10.Whyistheprobl
em ofal
l
ocati
ngscar
cer
esour
cest
oasetofpr
oject
ssi
mil
art
othe
probl
em ofschedul
i
ngajobshop?

I
naj obshopall
ocati
ngresources(equi
pmentandworkers)t
oj obsoror
der
sisrequi
red.In
proj
ects,asimi
l
arall
ocati
onisrequir
edwherespeci
fi
cresourcesmustbeall
ocatedt
ot asks
andactiv
iti
eswhichr
epresentthej
obs.

11.Whati
smeantbyt
he“
studentsy
ndr
ome”
?

The“st
udentsyndrome”ref
erstosi
tuati
onsi
nwhichpeoplewaitunti
lthelastpossi
blemi
nut
e
tobegi
natask.It
snamei sderi
vedfrom t
hebel
i
efthatst
udentsoftendelaythestar
tofan
assi
gnmentunti
ljustbef
oreiti
sdue.

12.Descr
ibet
hef
undament
alt
rade-
off
swhendeci
dingwhet
herornott
ocr
ashapr
oject
.

Thef
undament
alt
rade-
offi
ncr
ashi
ngapr
ojecti
sbet
weenschedul
eandbudget
.Speci
fi
cal
l
y,
crashi
ngent
ail
semploy
ingaddit
ional
resour
ces(cost)i
nordert
oreducetheproj
ect
’s
completi
ont
ime.I
fthedeci
sioni
smadet ocrash,whataddi
ti
onalt
rade-
offsmustbemade?

Ifi
tisdecidedtocrashaproj
ectot
hertr
ade-of
fsmaybenecessaryi
ntermsofthecompl
eti
on
t
imeofot herpr
ojectsandper
hapstheperf
ormanceoft
hisandotherpr
oject
s.

13.Di
scusst
headv
ant
agesof“
laborpool
s”i
napr
oject–or
ient
edcompany
.

Themai
nadv
ant
agesof“
laborpool
s”v
ersusdedi
cat
ingwor
ker
stospeci
fi
cpr
oject
sar
e:

 Lesswai
ti
ngt
imef
orkeyr
esour
ces.

 Theabi
l
ityt
olev
elr
esour
ceusage,
and

 Theabi
l
ityt
osubst
it
uteonewor
kerf
oranot
hershoul
donebecomeunav
ail
abl
e.

Ar
ether
eanypot
ent
ial
disadv
ant
ageswi
tht
heuseofpool
s?

Pot
ent
ial
drawbacksi
ncl
ude:

 Wor
ker
swhodonoti
dent
if
ywi
thapar
ti
cul
arpr
oject
.

 Per
sonnel
whomaynotbewel
ltr
ainedi
nspeci
fi
ctasksr
equi
redbyt
heassi
gnment
.

 Feweroppor
tuni
ti
esf
orj
obenl
argement
.

Al
loft
hesemayl
eadt
olowerl
evel
sofj
obsat
isf
act
ion,
aswel
lasl
owermor
aleandmot
ivat
ion.

14.Whatpurpose(s)mi
ghtbeser
vedbyusi
ngeachoft
hef
oll
owi
ngpr
ior
it
yrul
esf
oral
l
ocat
ing
scar
ceresources?

a.Asl
ateaspossi
ble.

b.Shor
testt
askdur
ati
ont
imef
ir
st.

c.Mi
nimum sl
ackf
ir
st.

a.Start
ingat
askasl
ateaspossi
ble…pr
eser
vesr
esour
cesanddel
ayscashf
lowsasl
ongas
possibl
e.

b.All
ocatingr
esour
cest
ot askswit
htheshor
testdur
ati
ons…f
ir
stmaxi
mizest
henumberof
tasksthatcanbecompl
etedwithi
nacert
ainti
meperiod.

c.Themi
nimum sl
ackpr
ior
it
yrul
e…i
susedt
omi
nimi
zet
henumberofl
ateact
ivi
ti
es.

15.Li
nki
ngagroupofpr
oject
stogetherwi
thpseudoact
ivi
ti
escr
eat
esasor
tofsuper
proj
ect
.
doesthi
smean,andwhywouldanyonewanttodoit?
Justasapr oj
ectconsi stsoft asksandactivi
ti
eswithpr ecedencer elati
onships,asuper proj
ect
canbet houghtofasconsi sti
ngofagr oupofpr oj
ect
swi t
hpr ecedencer elati
onshi
ps.I nthe
superproj
ect,psuedoactivit
iesareusedt oshowt heprecedencer el
ationshipsamongt he
proj
ects.Thesepr ecedencer elati
onshi
psmaybeact ualt echnologicalconstrai
nts(e.g.,t
he
productdevel
opmentpr ojectmustbecompl etedbef
or ethepr ocessdev elopmentpr oject)or
si
mpl yarefl
ectionofmanagement ’spr
iori
ti
es.

Ther easonforcr
eati
ngasuper pr
ojecti
stohel
pident
if
yimpor
tantrel
ati
onshi
psand
dependenciesacrossthepr
ojectsandusethi
sinf
ormati
ontobett
erplantheusageofkey
resources.

16.Descr
ibei
nyourownwor
dswhati
smeantbyGol
drat
t’
scr
it
ical
chai
n.

Tradi
ti
onal
ly,
inproj
ectmanagementtheconceptofthecr
it
icalpat
hisused.Morespeci
fi
cal
ly,
thecri
ti
cal
pathisdefi
nedasthepat
h(s)thati
fdelay
edwilldel
aythecomplet
ionoft
heenti
re
proj
ect.

Oneshor tcomingofthecri
ti
calpathappr oachisthatitonlyconsi
derstaskpr ecedence
i
nf or
mat i
onanddoesnotconsi derissuesr el
atedtoresourceusage.Thecr i
ti
calchai
n
addressest hi
sconcernandconsider sbothtechnicalpr
ecedencerelat
ionshipsaswel last
he
resourcesthatwil
lbeusedt ocompl etethetasks.Therefor
e,thecri
ti
cal chainref
erstothe
l
ongestchai nofconsecuti
velydependentev entsincl
udingbothtechnologicalaswellas
resourcedependencies.

Howdoesi
twor
k?

Thecri
ti
calchai
nwor ksbydef i
ningtwosour cesthatcandelaythecompleti
onofthepr oj
ect.
Onesourceofdelayisuncertaintyinthetasksthatcomprisethecri
ti
calchai
n.Aprojectbuffer
i
saddedt oguar
dagai nsttheseuncer tai
nti
es.Thesecondsour ceofdel
ayisuncertai
ntyinthe
ext
ernalt
othecri
ticalchai
n.Af eedi
ngbuf f
erisaddedt ot
hesepat hstohelpensuretheydonot
del
aythetasksont hecri
ti
cal chain.

19.Descr
ibeasmanytypesofresour
ceal
l
ocat
ionpr
obl
emsasy
oucan,
basedont
he
si
tuat
ionsdescr
ibedi
nthischapt
er.

Thechapt
eri
dent
if
iest
hreet
ypesofr
esour
ceal
l
ocat
ionpr
obl
ems:

 Av
ail
abl
eresour
ces(
resour
cel
oadi
ng)
.

 Scar
cer
esour
ces–si
ngl
epr
oject
s.

 Scar
cer
esour
ces–mul
ti
plepr
oject
s.

Resourceloadi
ngrecogni
zestheexi
stenceofneededresour
cesandensuresthatt
heyare
al
locat
edtot heproj
ectwhenneeded.Anexampl ewoul
dbeaconst r
uct
ionsit
ewher et
he
el
ectri
calworkissubcont
ract
edtoanext er
nalsuppl
i
er.Themaintaski
stodeterminet
hatthe
externalf
ir
m canhav ethenecessar yskil
l
edwor kfor
ceonsit
eattheappropriat
etime.Scarce
resourcesarethosewi t
hlimitedavail
abil
it
yandthekeyelementsoftheproj
ecthavetobe
scheduledaroundt hatavai
labil
i
tyoftheresource-eveni
fafir
m hasjustasingl
eproject.An
exampl eofthi
ssituati
onwoul dbet herel
ianceofaconst
ruct
ionsit
eonaspeci fi
cpieceof
equipmentsuchasacr ane.

Theallocat
ionofscareresourcesbecomesfarmor ecompl exwhent hesameresourcesare
needonmor ethanoneproject.I
nthi
scase,theuti
li
zat i
onoftheresourceonproj
ectAwi l
lal
so
haveani mpactonprojectB(and,possi
bly
,otherprojects)
.Asindicat
edinthechapt
er,the
companywi llneedt
oappl yoneofthesixpri
ori
tyrulestodeterminewhichproj
ectshall
havethe
fi
rstuseofthescarceresource.

Chapt
er7
Answer
stoRev
iewQuest
ions

1.Whycan’tt
hePM uset
heor
gani
zat
ion’
scur
renti
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem f
orpr
ojectmoni
tor
ing
andrepor
ti
ng?

Therear
etwomai nr
easonswhythePM can’
tuset
heor
gani
zat
ion’
scur
renti
nfor
mat
ion
sy
stem f
orpr
ojectmoni
tor
ingandrepor
ti
ng:

 Thesesystemsareoft
ensetuptoreporti
nfor
mat
ionatcer
tai
nspeci
fi
cperiods(
e.g.
,
theendofthemonthorquart
er)
.Theinf
ormati
onr
equir
edtocont
rolaproj
ectoft
en
doesnotconfor
mtosuchrigi
dtimet
ables.

 Theorganizat
ion’
ssyst
em isusual
lyst
ructur
edtodeal
witht
heorganizat
ion’
sst
andar
d
di
vi
sions,
anddepar t
ments.Pr
oject
srarel
yconfor
mt ot
heseboundar
ies.

2.Whatdoesitmeantosayt
hatpr
ojectmoni
tor
ingandcont
rol
areont
heopposi
tesi
desof
proj
ectsel
ect
ionandpl
anni
ng?

1.Pr
ojectsel
ecti
onandpl
anni
ngspeci
fythegoal
sfort
heproj
ect.Thepl
analsodet
ail
swhat
acti
vi
tiesandschedul
emustbemet;t
hingst
heproj
ectmanagermustcont
rol.

2.Pr
ojectmoni
tori
ngandcontr
olseekt
oensur
ethatt
hepr
ojecti
smaki
ngpr
ogr
esst
owar
dthe
achi
evementofthesegoal
s.

3.Themoni
tor
ingsy
stem i
sthedi
rectconnect
ionbet
weenpr
ojectpl
anni
ngandcont
rol
.

Whyi
sthi
str
ue?

Proj
ectplanningspeci
fiestheacti
vit
ies,
resour
ceusage,andt hegoalsfortheproj
ectwhil
e
contr
olseekst oensurethatthepr
ojectismakingpr
ogresstowardt heachievementofthese
goal
s.Moni tori
ngisconcernedwithcoll
ecti
ngandreport
inginfor
mat i
on.Assuch, moni
tori
ng
connect
spl anningandcontroli
nthattheplanspeci
fi
esthetypesofdat athatneedtobe
col
l
ect
edandt
her
epor
ti
ngbecomest
hebasi
sofcont
rol
.

4.Whyisitpr
obabl
yagoodideatoavoi
dperi
odicrepor
ts,
excepti
nspeci
fi
ccasessuchas
repor
tst
iedtotheor
gani
zat
ion’
saccount
ingsyst
em?

I
tispr
obabl
yagoodi
deaf
ort
wor
easons:

1. I
tismoreappr
opri
atet
oletschedul
es,
mi l
est
ones,scopechanges,pr
obl
ems,
andt
he
proj
ectt
eam’sgener
alneedfori
nfor
mationdi
ctat
ethetimingofrepor
ts.

2. Ther
eisat
endencyf
orr
eci
pient
stoi
gnor
eper
iodi
crepor
ts.

5.Asi
defrom theobviousbenef
it
sforpr
ojectcont
rol
,whatot
herbenef
it
smi
ghtr
esul
tfr
om a
goodproj
ectreport
ingsystem?

Ot
herbenef
it
sfr
om agoodpr
ojectr
epor
ti
ngsy
stem i
ncl
ude:

 Lesswast
edt
imer
epor
ti
ngi
nfor
mat
iont
hati
snotused.

 Bet
teri
nfor
medt
eam member
sandst
akehol
der
s,and

 Abet
terr
ecor
doft
hepr
ojectt
hatcanbeusedt
ofaci
l
itat
efut
urepr
ojectpl
anni
ng.

6.I
fthecal
endarshoul
dnotdi
ctat
erepor
ti
ngf
requency
,whatshoul
d?

Theneedforinf
ormati
onshoulddict
atethereportf
requency.Forproject
s,i
tismore
appr
opri
atetoletmil
est
ones,scopechanges,probl
ems, andtheprojectt
eam’sgeneral
needf
or
i
nfor
mationdictat
etheti
mingofreport
s.

7.Usi
ngearnedv
alueanal
ysi
s,expl
ainhowt
het
otal
costofapar
ti
all
ycompl
etedcanbe
est
imated.

Thetotal
costofapar
ti
all
ycompletedproj
ectcanbeesti
matedbydivi
dingtheamounttodat
e
bytheest
imat
eoftheproj
ect
’spercent
agecompleti
on.However,
ingeneral
,thi
sisnotan
ef
fecti
vewaytoest
imat
ethecostofapar t
ial
l
ycompletedpr
oject
.

Aconsider
abl
ymoreaccur
ateappr
oachi
sapttobethatofsummingthecost
sofcompl
eted
act
ivi
ti
esandaknowl
edgeabl
eguessonthecosti
ncur
redonact
ivi
ti
esunderway
.

Suggest
edAnswer
stoDi
scussi
onQuest
ions
8.Whenmaki nganestimatefort
hetimeandcostt oexecuteaproj
ect,shoul
dtheti
meand
costrequi
redtodev
eloptheplanni
ng,monitor
ing,andcontr
oll
ingsyst
emsbei ncl
udedaswel
l?
Shouldtheacti
onsrequi
redtomonitorandcontrolapr
ojectbeincl
udedinthe proj
ect
’s
acti
onplanorWBS?

Yes,
thet
imeandcostr
equi
redt
odev
elopt
hepl
anni
ng,
moni
tor
ing,
andcont
rol
l
ingsy
stems
shoul
dbei ncl
udedi
ntheproj
ect’
sbudget
.Simil
arl
y,t
heacti
onsrequi
redtomonit
orandcont
rol
thepr
ojectshoul
dbeincl
udedintheWBS.Theseareessent
ial
tasksf
orthesuccessf
ul
complet
ionofthepr
oject
.

9.Thechapterincl
udesanexampl
eofaf ir
m wherethePM dispensedwithallt
heplanni
ng
formal
itybecausenooneeverl
ookedatitanyway.WhatdidthePM thinkthepurposeofsuch
planni
ngwasi nthi
sfir
m?Whatshouldthefir
m dointhefutur
etocorrectthi
sproblem?

I
tappearsthePM inthi
scasebelievedthatprojectplanningwasnoti
mport
antsincenoone
l
ookedatit
.Therefor
e,thePM l
ikelybeli
evedthatpr ojectpl
anni
ngwasawasteoft i
met hat
di
str
actedhim/herfr
om moreimpor tantwork.Ther esultwasamajorl
ossofbusiness.

Tocor
rectt
hissi
tuat
iont
hecompanyneedst
o:

 Emphasizetheimportanceofplanni
ngtotheul t
imat
esuccessoftheproject
.Thi
smay
r
equi
reformal t
rai
ningprograms,per
hapsincludi
ngcasestudi
esthatdemonstrat
ethe
t
ypesofproblemsencount er
edinproj
ect
st hatwerei
nadequat
elyplanned.

 Ensur
ethatmanagementbecomemor
einv
olv
edi
npr
ojectpl
anni
ngandr
evi
ewpr
oject
pl
ans.

 Modifythesy
stem usedt
orev
iewt
heper
for
manceofpr
ojectmanager
stoi
ncl
ude
pr
ojectpl
anni
ng.

11.Howmi
ghtonemeasur
eteam mor
ale?

Therear eawidevari
etyofinst
rumentsintheorganizat
ionalbehav
iorl
i
ter
atur
eavai
l
ablef
or
accessingteam morale.Agai
n,usi
nga5or7poi ntscal
e,team memberscoul
dbeaskedt
orat
e
theextentofthei
ragreement/di
sagreementtostatementssuchas:

 Ienj
oywor
kingwi
thmyf
ell
owt
eam member
s.

 Ihaveconf
idencet
hatourpr
ojectt
eam cansat
isf
act
ori
l
yresol
veanyi
ssuest
hatmay
ar
ise.

 Iwoul
dwel
comet
heoppor
tuni
tyt
obeassi
gnedt
oanot
herpr
ojectt
eam.

12.Howcant hePM cir

cumventt
heprobl
em t
hatt
hemonitori
ngsyst
em canonl
yrepor
ton
acti
vi
tiest
hathavepassed,
thust
ell
i
ngthePM whathasal
readygonewr
ongbutnotwhatwil
l
gowr ongi
nthefutur
e?

Onewayt heprojectmanagercanuset hemoni t

ori
ngsystem topredictfutureproblemsi sto
extrapol
atetrendsinthedatatothefutureandthencompar ethisproject
ionwi t
ht heplan.
Indeed,abetteruseofthemoni t
ori
ngsy stem woul
dbet ouset heinformationtoant i
cipate
futureprobl
emsr at
hert
hanreacti
ngt othem oncetheyoccur.Alongthesel i
nes,themoni tori
ng
system couldalsoincl
ude“l
eadindicators”assymptomsofpr oblems.
13.Howmi
ghtusi
ngel
ect
roni
cmedi
ator
epor
tpr
ojecti
nfor
mat
ionl
eadt
opr
obl
emswi
th
cont
rol
?

Ther
ear
etwomai
nway
stheuseofel
ect
roni
cmedi
acoul
dleadt
opr
obl
emswi
thcont
rol
:

 ThePM spendsmoreti
memanagingtheel
ectr
oni
cmedia(e.
g.,
thepr
oject
managementsof
twar
e)thanact
ual
lymanagi
ngthepr
oject
.

 Thespeedt hatinf
ormat
ioncanbetransmit
tedcancreat
eprobl
ems.Forexampl
e,an
i
naccurateentr
ycouldi
mmedi at
elyt
ri
ggeranexcept
ionrepor
tcausi
ngteam member
s
t
oshiftthei
rfocustoanerr
oneousorirr
elev
anti
ssue.

14.Expl
ainhowtheear
nedv
aluechar
tcapt
uresal
lthr
eeobj
ect
ivesofapr
oject
:per
for
mance,
cost,
andschedul
e.

Acostv ari
anceiscalculatedasthediff
erencebetweenBudget edCostofWor kPerformed
(BCWP)andt heActual CostofWor kPerformed(ACWP) .IftheACWPi slargerthant heBCWP,
thevari
anceisnegativeindicat
ingthatmorewasspentf ort heworkperfor
medt hanwas
budgeted.Theschedulev ari
anceiscalcul
atedast hedif
fer encebetweentheBCWP andt he
BudgetedCostofWor kScheduled(BCWS) .Anegat i
veschedul evari
anceindicatesabehind
schedulesit
uati
on.Intermsofper formance,theearnedv aluecharti
ndicat
eswhet herprogress
i
supt oexpectati
on,the“ basel
i
ne”plannedf ort
hispointint ime.

16.Whenwoul
dspendi
ngandschedul
evar
iancesbemor
einf
ormat
ivet
hanr
ati
os?When
wouldr
ati
osbebet
ter
?

 Spendi
ngandschedul
i
ngv ar
iancesaremor ei
nfor
mati
vewhentry
ingt
ounder
standt
he
i
n-pr
ocessper
for
manceforagivenprojectatapar
ti
cul
arpoi
nti
ntime.

 Ratiosar
emor einfor
mati
vewhentry
ingtocompar
etheper
for
manceacr
osspr
oject
s,
pr
ojectmanagers,ort
heprogr
essofaproj
ectov
erti
me

17.Howshoul
daPM reconcil
ethedualpur
posesofcont
rol
:conser
vingr
esour
cesand
regul
ati
ngr
esul
tst
hroughtheuseofresour
ces?

Thebottom l
inewi
thcont
rol
ist
haty
oudon’
twantt
hecost
soft
hecont
rol
syst
emst
oexceed
thebenefi
ts.

18.I
denti
fysi
tuat
ionswhereeachofthef
oll
owingcont
roltool
smightbeusef
ul:ear
nedval
ue
char
ts,
benchmarking,
cri
ti
calrat
ios,
cont
rol
chart
s,var
ianceanal
ysi
s,t
rendpr
ojecti
ons.

 Ear
nedv
aluechar
tsar
eusef
ulf
ormoni
tor
ingt
hepr
ogr
essofi
n-pr
ocesspr
oject
s.

 Benchmarkingi
susefuli
nt heproj
ectplanni
ngphaseinhel
pingdeter
mineproj
ectgoal
s
andresour
cerequi
rements.Benchmarkingcanalsobeusedtoaccessanorgani
zati
on’
s
proj
ectmanagementsyst
emsandpr ocedures.
  Cri
ti
calrat
ios,controlchar
ts,andvar
ianceanalysisareal
sousef ul
f ormoni
tori
ngthe
pr
ogressofin-processproj
ects.I
nparti
cular
,thecr i
ti
calr
ati
oi sasinglemeasuret
hat
i
ncl
udesper f
ormance, costandschedule.Pl
otti
ngt hecri
ti
calrat
ioonacont r
olchart
pr
ovi
desoppor tunit
iestospotpatt
ernsthatmayl eadtoproblems.

 Trendproject
ionscanbeperf
ormedonanyofthedat
acoll
ectedbyt
hemoni tor
ingand
contr
olsystem t
oesti
matefut
urevaluesoft
hedat
aandtakecorr
ect
iveact
ionsbefore
thesi
tuat
ionbecomesaseriousproblem.

19.Howmighttheexi
stenceofachangecont
rol
syst
em af
fectt
hebehav
iorofacl
i
ent
,ora
proj
ectt
eam member,whodesir
estomakeachangeintheproj
ect
?

Byaddinggreaterscr
uti
ny,achangecontrol
system mayr
educet
henumberofchange
request
s,part
icul
arl
ycasualr
equestsforchanges.

20.“
Inordertomanageforoveral
lproj
ectsuccess,
cont
rolmustbeexerci
sedatthedetai
l
ed
worklev
elforeachaspectofpr
ojectper
formanceornosigni
fi
cantchangewil
loccur
.”

Doesthismeant hatthePM shouldmicromanagetheproj

ect?Ifnot,whatdoesitmean?I
tdoes
notmeant hattheprojectmanagershoul
dmi cr
omanaget heproj
ect.Rat
her,i
tsuggest
sthat
eachprojectt
eam memberneedst omonitorandcont
rolhisorherownwor k.

21.Sel
ectahypotheti
cal
project(
e.g.designi
ngandbui
ldi
ngaWebsi te,
inst
all
i
nganew
machineinanassemblyli
ne,orconductingamajori
nspect
ionandrepai
rofapassenger
ai
rcraf
t),
andbri
efl
ydescri
beanexampl eofhoweachofthefol
lowi
ngt y
pesofcontr
oldata
mightbeusedforproj
ectcontrol
:

(
a)Fr
equencycount
s

(
b)Rawnumber
s

(
c)Subj
ect
ivenumer
icr
ati
ngs

(
d)I
ndi
cat
orandsur
rogat
emeasur
es

Desi
gni
ngandbui
l
dinganewWebsi
te,
gav
ethef
oll
owi
ngt
ypesofdat
acont
rol
:

(
a)Fr
equencycount
s:Spel
l
inger
ror
sperpage,
numberofi
ncor
rectl
i
nks,
pagest
hatt
akel
onger
t
han30secondstol
oad.

(
b)Rawnumber
s:Ti
mef
orpagest
odownl
oad,
sizeofgr
aphi
cfi
l
es,
numberofl
i
nesofcode.

(
c)Subj
ect
ivenumer
icr
ati
ngsQual
i
tyofwebpages,
easeofnav
igat
ion,
sear
chcapabi
l
iti
es.

(d)I
ndicatorandsur
rogat
eTi
mespentatasi
tecoul
dbeusedasasur
rogat
emeasur
esf
oruser
sati
sfact
ion.

22.Ofal
lther
ulesf
orconduct
ingmeet
ings,
themostdi
ff
icul
ttoenf
orcei
sthei
njunct
ion
agai
nsttheweekl
y(ordai
ly
)standar
dpr oj
ectpr
ogr
essrepor
t(t
he“
showandt el
l”meet
ing)
.
Whyisthis,
andunderwhatci
rcumstancesdoyouthi
nksuchmeet
ingsar
ejusti
fi
ed?

Oner easonitishardtonothavetheweekl
ypr
ogr essmeet ingisthatpeoplel
iketo(a)r
epor
ton
theaspect(s)oftheproj
ectwithwhicht
heyar
ef amiliarand(b)demonst r
atewhattheyhave
accompl i
shed.Theweeklyprogressmeeti
ngmightbeappr opriat
eear l
yintheproj
ectwhen
coordinat
ionisrequir
edbutteam membersar
est il
lgetti
ngt oknoweachot herandhavenot
hadanoppor t
unit
ytodevelopinf
ormalcommunicationchannels.

23.Ify
ourpr
ojectmanagementsoft
warecal
culat
esearnedvalue,
oranyotherst
andar
dit
em to
bereport
ed,
diff
erent
lyt
hantheProj
ectManagementInsti
tut
esuggest
s,shouldyoudeal
wit
h
thi
smat t
eri
nmanagementreport
s?Ifso,
how?

Thei mport
antt
hingaboutvar
iancesisthatyouunderstandwhatt
heymeanandi nterpr
etthem
corr
ectlyi
nreport
s.Whethert
hesi gnisposit
iveornegati
vewhenthecosti
soverbudgetor
behindschedul
eisnotthati
mpor t
antaslongasy ouunderst
andwhatthecalculat
ionistel
l
ing
you.Beingabl
etoproperl
yint
erpretthevari
anceandactaccordi
nglyi
sthecri
ti
caltask.

Theref
ore,maki
ngapoi ntinareportt
onotethatt
hesof
twar
epackagecalcul
atedaspeci
fi
c
i
tem di
ffer
entl
ythatthestandar
dssetbythePMIisnott
hati
mportant
,int
erpr
etingt
henumber
corr
ectl
yanddiscussingtheimpli
cati
onsar
e.

24.Logi
call
y,whenusingearnedval
uedatai
nthecr
it
icalr
ati
ofor
mula,
shouldt
he“budget
ed”
costbetheplannedvalueortheear
nedval
ue?Whatprobl
emsoccurwi
theachchoi
ce?

Thecr
it
ical
rat
io(
CR)i
sthepr
oductoft
heschedul
erat
iot
imest
hecostr
ati
o:

CR=(
act
ual
progr
ess/
schedul
edpr
ogr
ess)x(
budget
edcost
/act
ual
cost
).

Thebudgetedcostcanbeei
thertheplannedvalueortheear
nedv al
ue.I
fthepl
annedval
ue(i
.e.
,
thebudget
edcostoftheworkscheduled)isusedthenitmaybeidenti
calt
oactual
cost(
giv
ing
avalueof1)andthusmaysuggestthattheprojecti
sonbudget.

Howev er,i
ftheearnedval
ue(i
.e.
,thebudgetedcostoft
heworkperfor
med)i
susedthenitmay
beconsiderabl
ylessthan1showingthatconsi
derabl
eworkst
il
lneedstobedoneontheproj
ect
resul
ti
nginacostov err
un.

Chapt
er:
08
Answer
stoRev
iewQuest
ions

1.Iftheact
ual
ter
minat
ionofapr
ojecti
sapr
ojecti
nit
sel
f,howi
sitdi
ff
erentf
rom ot
her
project
s?

Thet
ermi
nat
ionpr
ojecti
ssi
mil
art
oanyot
herpr
ojectexceptt
hat
:
  Thereisonl
yoneper
sonconduct
ingt
het
ermi
nat
ioni
tsel
fandt
her
eisno"
proj
ect
sel
ecti
on"phase.

 I
tisapr
ocessofdi
str
ibut
ionofr
esour
cesandper
sonnel
rat
hert
hanacqui
sit
ionoft
hem.

 Thet
askst
obeconduct
edar
erel
ati
vel
yst
andar
dorel
sespeci
fi
edi
nadv
ance.

 I
tisbestconduct
edbysomeonewi
thoutanemot
ional
inv
est
menti
nthepr
oject
,and

 I
tisacompl
etel
yadmi
nist
rat
ivepr
ojectwi
thasi
ngl
epur
pose.

2.Whataresomer easonst hatafail

ingpr oj
ectmi ghtsti
l
lnotbet ermi
nated?
Thereareoft
enpolit
ical
,psy chol
ogical
,andot herreasonswhypr oject
sareconti
nuedwhen
theyshoul
dbeterminated.Att i
mes, pr
ojectsthatf ai
ltomeettheirobj
ecti
vesarcont
inued
becausetheyar
eaccompl ishingotherthingsofv aluetotheorganizat
ion.

3.Whatmi
ghtmakeapr
ojectunsuccessf
uldur
ingt
het
ermi
nat
ionpr
ocess?

Anyaspectoft
ermi
nat
ionmaycauseanot
her
wisesuccessf
ulpr
ojectt
obecomeaf
ail
uresuch
as:

 Ani
nabi
l
ityt
ocompl
etet
hewor
k.

 Notdel
i
ver
ingt
hedesi
redr
esul
t.

 Pr
ovi
dingpoorpr
oductsuppor
t,et
c.

4.Whowouldmakethebestaudit
ors:out
sideunbi
asedaudi
tor
sorinsi
deaudi
tor
swhoar
e
moref
amil
iarwi
ththeor
ganizat
ion,i
tsprocedur
es,andt
heproj
ect
?Why ?

Ther
ear
epr
osandconst
obot
hopt
ions.

Insi
deaudit
orswoul
dpr obabl
ybemor eeff
ici
entandl
essexpensi
ve.However
,theywoul
dnot
beasobjecti
veandtheymaynotbef amil
i
arwithhowotherf
irmsororgani
zat
ionsoper
ateand
couldnotmakeaccurat
ecomparisons.

Ext
ernalaudi
tor
swouldbemor
eexpensiv
e.However,t
heywoul
dpr
obablybeabl
etobet
ter
comparetheoutcomeoft
hepr
ojectwi
ththatofot
herfi
rmsi
nthei
ndust
ry.

Forexample,i
nter
nal
audit
orsmayposi
ti
vel
yevaluat
easi
tuat
ionthatappear
sfavor
abl
ewhen
outsi
deaudit
orswouldr
eportt
hatt
hesit
uat
ionisnotupt
omar ketst
andardsbasedonindust
ry
exper
ience.

5.Underwhatci
rcumst
anceswoul
dyouchangey
ouranswert
othepr
evi
ousquest
ion?

Student
swhoi nit
ial
l
yselect
edexter
nalauditor
sbasedonper hapshigherobj
ecti
vit
ymi ghtnote
thati
nsituat
ionswhencostorti
mei scri
ti
cal,i
nter
nalaudi
torsmightbeprefer
red.Students
whof av
oredinter
nalaudi
tor
smightrecognizetheneedforexter
nalaudit
orswhenobj ect
ivi
tyor
exper
ti
sei
sthekeyconcer
n.

6.Wouldf
requentbr
iefev
aluat
ionsbebest
,orwoul
dlessf
requentmaj
orev
aluat
ionsbe
pref
err
ed?

Fr
equent
,br
iefev
aluat
ionshav
eabet
terchanceoff
indi
ngpr
obl
emsast
heyar
edev
elopi
ng

andcant husbesol
vedeasi
erandquickl
y.Thefr
equent,
lowlev
eleval
uat
ionsarealsol
ess
disr
upti
vetothepr
ojectt
eam.Becauseofthei
rfr
equency,t
heywoul
dalsobett
erlend
themsel
vestouseasacontrol
device.

7.Shoul
dther
esul
tsofanev
aluat
ionoraudi
tbeshar
edwi
tht
hepr
ojectt
eam?

Exceptforanyconf
ident
ialper
sonnel
items,t
heproj
ectteam member
sshoul
dhav
eaccesst o
theful
lreport
.Wit
houtfeedback,
theteam membersar
el i
mit
edint
hei
rgrowt
hpossi
bil
i
ties.

8.Whatar
ethemaj
orpur
posesser
vedbyanaf
ter
-t
he-
factpr
ojectev
aluat
ion?

Themaj
orv
alueofapost
-pr
ojectaudi
tist
odi
scuss(
andi
nfor
m seni
ormanagement
):

 Poorpr
act
icest
hatshoul
dbeav
oidedi
nfut
urepr
oject
s,and

 Benef
ici
alpr
act
icest
hatshoul
dbeadopt
edbyf
utur
epr
oject
s.

Anaf t
er-
the-
facteval
uati
onmayber
equi
redbyacust
omerwhowi
shest
omanagef
utur
e
r
elat
ionshi
pswi t
hthefir
m.

9.Underwhatci
rcumst
ancesi
sadet
ail
edaudi
taptt
obeusef
ul?

Whenagener alaudi
texposesaseri
ousprobl
em int
heproj
ectori
nthemet
hodsbywhichthe
projectwasconducted,
adetail
edauditmayberequi
redt
ostudysuchpr
obl
emsindet
ailand
recommendsol uti
ons.

Suggest
edAnswer
stoDi
scussi
onQuest
ions

10.Howshoul
danaudi tt
eam handl
eanaudi
twher
eiti
sexpl
i
cit
lyr
est
ri
ctedf
rom accessi
ng
cert
ainmat
eri
alsand/
orpersonnel
?

Foraneffecti
veaudi
t,theteam musthaveaccesst oallpr
ojectr
ecor
dsandpersonnel
,aswel
l
asall
functi
onalandotherorgani
zat
ionalar
ear ecordsandpersonnel
.Onl
yaccesstothe
cust
omershoul dbel
imitedtorequi
repri
orclearancefr
om topmanagement.

I
faccessisdeni
edbyt eam member
s,t
heaudi
tteam mayhav
et oappealtothepr
oject
manager.I
fthepr
ojectmanageri
sthecausef
ortheprobl
em,t
heauditteam mayhaveto
appeal
toseni
ormanagement
.

I
ncaseswhereful
laccessi
snotpr
ovi
ded,
ther
esul
tsoft
heaudi
tmustbequal
i
fiednot
ingt
he
l
ackofaccess.

11.Whatmi
ghtbesomechar
act
eri
sti
csofagoodt
ermi
nat
ionmanager
?

Amongsomeoft
hedesi
rabl
echar
act
eri
sti
csar
e:

 Hav
ingf
ami
l
iar
it
ywi
tht
headmi
nist
rat
iver
equi
rement
sofpr
ojectt
ermi
nat
ions.

 Bei
ngobj
ect
iveandi
mpar
ti
al.

 Bei
ngcal
m underst
ress.

 Bei
ngt
askr
athert
hanf
unct
ional
l
yor
ient
ed,
and

 Hav
ingt
heabi
l
ityt
oef
fect
ivel
yandef
fi
cient
lyexecut
etheei
ghtt
ermi
nat
iont
asks.

12.Howshoul
dacommi
tt
eedet
ermi
newhi
cht
ermi
nat
ionmet
hodt
ouse?

Asi
ndi
cat
edi
nthet
ext
,ther
ear
efourt
ypesofpr
ojectt
ermi
nat
ions:

1. Pr
ojectext
inct
ion…whenthepr
ojecti
sei
thersuccessf
ull
ycompl
etedort
he
expectat
ionoffai
lur
eishi
gh.

2. Ter
minat
ion-
by-
addi
ti
on…wheniti
san“in-
house”proj
ectwhichi
ssuccessf
ull
y
complet
edandinst
it
uti
onal
i
zedasafor
mal par
toftheorgani
zati
on.

3. Ter
minati
on-by-
int
egrat
ion…whent heoutputoftheproj
ectbecomesast
andar
dpar
t
oftheoperat
ingsystemsofthesponsori
ngfirm orcl
i
ent.

4. Ter
mi nat
ion-
by-
star
vat
ion…whenitispol
i
tical
l
yunaccept
abl
etot
ermi
nat
ethepr
oject
soitislef
ttowit
herunt
ili
tisapr
ojecti
nnameonly.

Theterminat
ionmethodselect
edwi l
ldependprimar
il
yonwhati st
ohappenwi t
ht heproject.
Forexample,i
fiti
stobeanongoi ngenti
ty,addi
ti
onorint
egrati
oni
sbest
.Ifit
sjobi scompl et
e,
thenexti
ncti
onisbest
.Terminati
on-by-
star
vati
onisnotanidealmet
hodsinceitleavesthe
proj
ectonthebooks.

13.Whatst
epsmi
ghtbet
akent
oreducet
heanxi
etyofpr
ojectt
eam member
sfaci
nganaudi
t?

Thefocusoftheauditmustbeposit
ivewi
tht
herepor
tskeptconstr
ucti
ve,
unemotional
,and
prof
essi
onal.Pr
e-r
eleasedi
scussi
onsandaformal"
appeal
"proceduref
ordisagr
eementsare
al
sohelpful
.

14.Whatar
ethedanger
sofev
aluat
ingapr
ojectbasedont
her
eason(
s)i
twassel
ect
ed(
such
asbeingacompet
it
ivenecessi
ty)
,rat
hert
hant
hegoal
sandobj
ect
ivesi
nthepr
ojectpr
oposal
orcontr
act
?

Ther easonsf orproj ectsel

ectionar eoftenmor egeneral i
nnaturewhi l
et heproject’
sgoal sare
muchmor especi f
ic.Onedangerofev aluati
ngtheprojectbasedont hereasonitwassel ect
ed
i
st hatachangeorshi f
tinthepr oj
ect’
sspeci fi
cgoalscoul dgoundet ected.Thiscoul dr esul
tin
asituationwher epr oject’
sgoal sbecomeoutofsy ncwithbroaderor ganizat
ionalgoal s.Itmight
alsoleadt oprojectpr oposalswr it
teninsuchawayast omi ni
mizeexpect edprojectgoal s,
alway sconsistentwi thmaki ngthem hi ghenought oinsureselection.Inspiteoft hesedanger s,
thecr i
teri
aforpr ojectselecti
oni sagood, butnotsuffi
cient,
toolforevaluati
ngcompl et ed
projectsandf orhel pingtodetermi neifapr oj
ectshouldbet erminatedbef or
ecompl etion.

15.I
tisfr
equent
lysuggest
edthatit
emst hatwillbecomepot ent
ialpr
oblemslat
erinthe
proj
ectl
if
ebedecidedupfront
,suchashowt oallocat
erevenuesordisposeofproj
ectasset
s.
Howcant hi
swisdom beusedforproj
ectproblemst hatcannotbeforeseen?

Maj orri
sksassoci atedwit
htheprojectandt heirpotenti
al i
mpactont heproject
’sschedule,
cost ,
orper formanceshouldbeidentif
ied.Ifal
ternativecoursesofact ionexistt
hatmaychange
futurerisks,theyshouldal
sobeident i
fi
ed.Thepar entorganizationshouldalsoinsi
stonpr oper
ethicalstandardsofbehaviorf
rom thepr oj
ectmanager ,team, andallfunct
ionalmanager s
connect edwi ththeproj
ect
.Alargemaj orit
yoft hepr obl
emsr eferr
edtointhisquesti
onconcer n
credit-
for-successandblame-f
or-f
ailur
e.Ifapr ojectsucceedsorf ai
ls,t
hesuccessorf ai
lure
belongst ot heenti
reteam.

16.Canyouthinkofanyaccept
abl
ewaysofassi
gningcredi
tforprofi
ts(
orr
esponsi
bil
it
yfor
cost
s)resul
ti
ngf r
om aproj
ectonwhi
chsever
aldepart
mentswor ked?

Thereisnotheoret
icalcor
r ectwayofdeali
ngwit
hthesepr obl
ems.Anymet hodofshari
ng
cost
sand/ orpr
ofit
st hati
saccept abl
etothesev
eralfuncti
onalmanagersisacceptabl
e.The
methodofcost/profi
tsharingmustbeacceptedpriortoini
ti
ati
ngtheproject.At
temptstosol
ve
theprobl
em whent heprojectiscomplet
edaredoomed.

17.Howmi
ghtanaudi
tteam dealwi
thanat
temptt
oco-
optt
het
eam?

“Co-
opt”means“ t
oappr opri
ateasone’sown.”Thisisacommont act
icforpart
iesbei
ng
audi
ted.Passiv
eresistanceisadvi
sed.Theauditteam shoul
dli
steninterest
edl
ytoall
complai
nts,advi
ce,etc.,
andproceedasiftheco-opti
nghadnotoccur red.Noncommitt
ali
sthe
bestatt
it
udefortheaudi t
ors.