Assignment
1. Develop a project network consisting of at least 20 steps that should be done to complete the project. As the case suggests, keep the level of detail for these activities general, rather than specific. Be sure to indicate some degree of precedence relationship among the activities.
2. Suppose you now wanted to calculate duration estimates for these activities. How would you make use of the following approaches? Are some more useful than others?
i. Expert opinion
ii. Past history
iii. Mathematical derivation
3. Joe was trying to decide which scheduling format to employ for his planning: AON or AOA. What are some of the issues that Joe should first consider prior to choosing between these methods?
Your answers should be well-documented and include detailed references to the readings and other sources of information.
4. Define each of the following terms: (a) path, (b) activity, (c) early start, (d) early finish, (e) late start, (f) late finish, (g) forward pass (h) backward pass, (i) node, (j) AON, (k) float, (l) critical path, (m) PERT [MO5.1]
5. Distinguish between serial activities and concurrent activities. Why do we seek to use concurrent activities as a way to shorten the project's length? [MO5.1, 5.2]
6. List three methods of deriving duration estimates for project activities. What are the strengths and weaknesses associated with each method? [MO5.2]
7. What are the advantages in the use of Gantt charts over PERT diagrams?In what ways might PERT diagrams be advantageous? [MO5.3]
8. Under what circumstances might you wish to crash a project?