UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
SBU 405: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
TUTORIALS ON PROJECT SCHEDULING
MCQS
1. A building contractor is working on a vacation home and is looking over his schedule.
He notices that the schedule calls for the foundation footers to be poured and then the
rough floor decking to be installed. In this plan, the decking would be an example of
what type of activity?
a. Successor task
b. Predecessor task
c. Lag activity
d. Crashed activity
2. Your project team is working on a brand-new project with leading-edge technology. As
a result, it is very difficult for your team to give reasonably accurate estimates for how
long their activities are going to take in order to be completed. Because of this
uncertainty, would it be appropriate for you to require team members to use it when
estimating durations?
a. Normal distribution
b. Beta distribution
c. Deterministic estimates
d. Experience
3. Suppose a project plan had three distinct paths through the network.
The first path consisted of activities A (3 days), B (4 days), and C (2 days).
The second path consisted of activities D (4 days), E (5 days), and F (5 days).
The third path consisted of activities G (2 days), H (3 days), and I (10 days).
Which is the critical path?
a. ABC
b. DEF
c. GHI
d. ADG
4. Activity slack (also known as float) can be calculated through which of the following
means?
a. Early finish (EF) – late finish (LF)
b. Early finish (EF) – early start (ES)
c. Late finish (LF) – late start (LS)
d. Late start (LS) – early start (ES)
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5. Your project team is working from a network diagram. This type of tool will show the
team:
a. Activity precedence
b. Duration estimates for the activities and overall schedule
c. The dates activities are expected to begin
d. The network diagram will show none of the above
6. BCom Management 2023/24 is holding a fundraising event and will be hiring a brass
band to entertain spectators. As the event’s project manager, you have created a work
breakdown structure and duration estimates for the activities involved in site
preparation for the event.
Activity Description Predecessors Duration
A Site selection - 5
B Buy concessions A 4
C Rent facilities A 5
D Build stands A 6
E Generator & wiring installation B, C 6
F Security D 6
G Lighting installation E 4
H Sound system installation E 7
I Stage construction E 5
J Tear down F 3
K Photographing H, I, J 5
L DJ G 4
M Item 13 K, L 2
a. Construct a complete network activity diagram for the project.
b. Identify all paths through the network. Which is the critical path?
c. Which activities have slack time?
d. Identify all burst activities and merge activities.
e. What would be the impact on the project should Activity G be delayed by 3 days?
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7. An advertising project manager has developed a program for a new advertising
campaign. In addition, the manager has gathered the time information for each activity,
as shown in the following table.
Activity Optimistic Most Likely Pessimistic Immediate
Predecessor
(Days)
A 1 4 4 -
B 2 6 4 -
C 3 3 2 B
D 6 13 5 A
E 4 6 2 A, C
F 6 8 4 B
G 2 5 2 D, E, F
a. Calculate the expected activity times (round to the nearest integer).
b. Calculate the activity slacks. What is the total project length?
c. Identify the critical path.
d. Identify the burst activities and the merge activities.
8. Consider a project with the following information:
Activity duration Predecessors
A 3 -
B 5 A
C 7 A
D 3 B, C
E 5 B
F 4 D
G 2 C
H 5 E, F, G
Activity duration ES EF LS LF Slack
A 3 0 3 0 3 -
B 5 3 8 8 13 5
C 7 3 10 3 10 -
D 3 10 13 10 13 -
E 5 8 12 13 17 5
F 4 13 17 13 17 -
G 2 10 12 15 17 5
H 5 17 22 17 22 -
a. Construct the project activity network using AON methodology and label each node.
b. Identify the critical path and other paths through the network.
9. Your university is holding a fund-raiser and will be hiring a band to entertain spectators.
You have been selected to serve as the event project manager and have created a Work
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Breakdown Structure and duration estimates for the activities involved in site
preparation for the event.
Activity Description Predecessors Duration
(Days)
A Site selection None 4
B Buy concessions A 4
C Rent facilities A 2
D Build stands A 5
E Generator & wiring installation C 2
F Security B 4
G Lighting installation E 2
H Sound system installation E, F 2
I Stage construction D 3
J Tear down G, H, I 4
a. Construct a network activity diagram based on the information provided. (2 marks)
b. Conduct both a forward and backward pass using AON notation. What is the estimated
total duration for the project? (6 marks)
c. Identify all paths through the network. Which is the critical path? (6 marks)
d. Which activities have slack time? (2 marks)
e. Identify all burst activities and merge activities. (2 marks)
f. What would be the impact on the project should activity G be delayed by 3 days? (2
marks)
10. Use the following information to determine the probability of this project finishing within 34
weeks of its scheduled completion date. Assume activities A – B – D – F – G are the project’s
critical path.
Activity Optimistic Likely Pessimistic Expected Variance
Time
A 1 4 8
B 3 5 9
C 4 6 10
D 3 7 15
E 5 10 16
F 3 6 15
G 4 7 12
a. Calculate the expected durations for each activity.
b. Calculate individual task variances and overall project variance.
c. The company must file a permit request with the local government within a narrow time
frame after the project is expected to be completed. What is the likelihood that the
project will be finished by week 34?
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11. An advertising project manager has developed a program for a new advertising
campaign. In addition, the manager has gathered the time information for each activity,
as shown in the following table.
Activity Optimistic Most Likely Pessimistic Immediate
Predecessor
(Days)
A 1 4 7 -
B 2 6 10 -
C 3 3 9 B
D 6 13 14 A
E 4 6 14 A, C
F 6 8 16 B
G 2 5 8 D, E, F
a. Calculate the expected activity times (round to the nearest integer).
b. Calculate the activity slacks. What is the total project length? Make sure you fully label
all nodes in the network.
c. Identify the critical path. What are the alternative paths and how much slack time is
associated with each non-critical path?
d. Identify the burst activities and the merge activities.
e. Given the activity variances, what is the likelihood of the project finishing on week 24?
f. Suppose you wanted to have a 99% confidence in the project finishing on time. How
many additional weeks would your project team need to negotiate for in order to gain
this 99% likelihood
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