Questions from General Project Management

Q: The chapter describes the problems of budgeting projects with S-shaped

The chapter describes the problems of budgeting projects with S-shaped and J-shaped life cycle curves. What might be the budget problems if the life cycle of a project was just a straight diagonal lin...

Q: If a firm uses program budgeting for its projects, is an

If a firm uses program budgeting for its projects, is an activity budget not needed? If it is, then of what value is the program budget?

Q: As a senior manager, you oversee a project with a total

As a senior manager, you oversee a project with a total estimated cost of 245 engineer-months of effort. Three months ago, however, the project had fallen behind by about 25 engineer-months so you aut...

Q: So what went wrong with the assistant purchasing manager’s solution to the

So what went wrong with the assistant purchasing manager’s solution to the problem of having an inadequate supply of hard-to-obtain parts?

Q: Contrast simulation to other risk analysis tools discussed in Chapter 3 such

Contrast simulation to other risk analysis tools discussed in Chapter 3 such as decision tables, FMEA, logic charts, and contingency planning. What are its advantages and disadvantages? If you were to...

Q: Should a PM manage critical path tasks differently than noncritical path tasks

Should a PM manage critical path tasks differently than noncritical path tasks?

Q: Why do you think scheduling has been the major focus of effort

Why do you think scheduling has been the major focus of effort throughout the history of project management rather than performance or budgeting?

Q: How might you use the network approach to help prepare cost estimates

How might you use the network approach to help prepare cost estimates?

Q: When would it be accurate to determine the probability of project completion

When would it be accurate to determine the probability of project completion by multiplying the probabilities of all the paths through the network together? When would it not be accurate?

Q: If this approach is not accurate, would the probability of completion

If this approach is not accurate, would the probability of completion considering the critical path alone be more accurate? How might you estimate the correct probability without resorting to simulati...