What are the major types of costs? Which costs are controllable by the project manager?
> Ball Corporation’s owners recently offered to sell 100 percent of their ownership to Timber Corporation for $450,000. Timber’s business manager was told that Ball’s book value was $300,000, and she estimates the fair value of its net assets at approximat
> What conditions must exist for a negative differential to occur?
> What is the term differential used to indicate?
> Under what conditions is push-down accounting considered appropriate?
> When Ajax was preparing its consolidation worksheet, the differential was properly assigned to buildings and equipment. What additional entry generally must be made in the worksheet?
> Give a definition of consolidated net income.
> Select the correct answer for each of the following questions. 1. On January 1, 20X1, Prim Inc. acquired all of Scrap Inc.’s outstanding common shares for cash equal to the stock’s book value. The carrying amounts of Scrap’s assets and liabilities approx
> On April 1, 20X8, Plum Inc. paid $1,700,000 for all of Long Corp.’s issued and outstanding common stock. On that date, the costs and fair values of Long’s recorded assets and liabilities were as follows: In Plum&acir
> Consolidated financial statements are being prepared for a parent and its four wholly owned subsidiaries that have intercompany loans of $100,000 and intercompany profits of $300,000. How much of these intercompany loans and profits should be eliminated?
> The first examination of Rudd Corporation’s financial statements was made for the year ended December 31, 20X8. The auditor found that Rudd had acquired another company on January 1, 20X8, and had recorded goodwill of $100,000 in connec
> Nugget Company’s balance sheet on December 31, 20X6, was as follows: On December 31, 20X6, Gold Company acquired all of Nugget’s outstanding common stock for $1,500,000 cash. On that date, the fair (market) value of
> The reporting treatment for investments in common stock depends on the level of ownership and the ability to influence the investee’s policies. The reporting treatment may even change over time as ownership levels or other factors change. When investees
> The Global Tea and Organic Juice companies have merged. The following information has been collected for the “Consolidation Project.” 1. Compute the expected time for each activity. 2. Compute the variance for each
> Given the project information below, what is the probability of completing the National Holiday Toy project in 93 time units? Act. ID Doscription Prodocossor Optm. (a) Most likoly (m) Pess. (b) Act timo t, Varlance ((b– ay6 Critical Design package
> Why are lags used in developing project networks?
> Why is slack important to the project manager?
> The project information for the custom order project of the Air Control Company is presented here. Draw a project network for this project. Compute the early and late activity times and the slack times. Identify the critical path. ID Descriptlon Pre
> From the following information, develop an AON project network. Complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical path. How many days will the project take? ID Description Predecessor Time Survey site Excavate
> Draw a project network from the following information. What activity (ies) is a burst activity? What activity (ies) is a merge activity? ID Description Prodecessor Contract signed Survey designed Target market identified Data collection A None B B D
> Draw a project network from the following information. What activity (ies) is a burst activity? What activity (ies) is a merge activity? ID Description Prodecessor A Identify topic Research topic Draft paper Edit paper Create graphics None B A D E
> Given the network below, compute the early, late, and slack time for each activity. Clearly identify the critical path. Lag 1 E Build Cabinets Install Cabinets 7 A Lag 5 Design 3 Tear Down G Install Appliances Lag 2 Inspect 2 Lag 5 Order Ap
> Given the following information, compute the early, late, and slack times for the project network. Which activities on the critical path have only the start or finish of the activity on the critical path? Lahes Lag Pave Post Signs Signng
> You have prepared the following schedule for a project in which the key resource is a backhoe(s). This schedule is contingent on having 3 backhoes. You receive a call from your partner, Brooker, who desperately needs one of your backhoes. You tell Brooke
> You are creating a database for the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Basketball team. Given the project network that follows, complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical path. Use this information to create a Gant
> A large Southeast city is requesting federal funding for a park-and-ride project. One of the requirements in the request application is a network plan for the design phase of the project. Sophie Kim, the chief engineer, wants you to develop a project net
> K. Nelson, project manager of Print Software, Inc., wants you to prepare a project network; compute the early, late, and slack activity times; determine the planned project duration; and identify the critical path. His assistant has collected the followi
> You are creating a customer database for the Hillsboro Hops minor league baseball team. Draw a project network given the information in the table that follows. Complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical path
> You have signed a contract to build a garage for the Simpsons. You will receive a $500 bonus for completing the project within 17 working days. The contract also contains a penalty clause in which you will lose $100 for each day the project takes longer
> How does the WBS differ from the project network?
> What is a hammock activity, and when is it used?
> What is the difference between free slack and total slack?
> Why bother creating a WBS? Why not go straight to a project network and forget the WBS?
> How are WBS and project networks linked?
> Review the front page of your local newspaper, and try to identify all the projects contained in the articles. How many were you able to find?
> You are creating a customer database for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs minor league baseball team. Draw a project network given the information below. Complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical path. How lo
> Here is a partial work breakdown structure for a wedding. Use the method described in the Snapshot from Practice 6.1: The Yellow Sticky Approach to create a network for this project. Do not include summary tasks in the network (i.e., 1.3, Ceremony, is a
> The CyClon project team has started gathering information necessary to develop a project network—predecessor activities and activity time in days. The results of their meeting are found in the following table: Part A. Create a netwo
> The optical disk project team has started gathering the information necessary to develop the project network—predecessor activities and activity times in weeks. The results of their meeting are found in the following table The project
> Using Microsoft Project, set up the network and determine the critical path for Phase 1 of the Whistler Ski Resort project. The project workweek will be 5 days (M–F). Whistler Ski Resort Project Given the fact that the number of skiing visitors to Whis
> The planning department of an electronics firm has set up the activities for developing and production of a new MP3 Player. Given the information below, develop a project network using Microsoft Project. Assume a five-day workweek and the project starts
> You are managing a product upgrade project for Bangkokagogo. Given the project network that follows, complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical path. Use this information to create a Gantt chart for the proj
> The G&E Company is preparing a bid to build the new 47,000-seat Shoreline baseball stadium. The construction must start on July 3, 2017, and be completed in time for the start of the 2020 season. A penalty clause of $250,000 per day of delay beyond A
> Brian Smith, network administrator at Advanced Energy Technology (AET), has been given the responsibility of implementing the migration of a large data center to a new office location. Careful planning is needed because AET operates in the highly competi
> How does the culture of an organization influence the quality of estimates?
> Develop a resource schedule in the loading chart that follows. Use the parallel method and heuristics given. Be sure to update each period as the computer would do. Note: activities 2, 3, 5, and 6 use two of the resource skills. Three of the resource sk
> Exercise Figure 5.1 is a project WBS with cost apportioned by percentages. If the total project cost is estimated to be $600,000, what are the estimated costs for the following deliverables? a. Design b. Programming c. In-house testing. What weaknesse
> What are the differences between bottom-up and top-down estimating approaches? Under what conditions would you prefer one over the other?
> Why are accurate estimates critical to effective project management?
> Why is it difficult to estimate mega project (e.g., airports, stadiums, etc.) costs and benefits?
> Calculate the direct cost of labor for a project team member using the following data: Hourly rate: $40/hr Hours needed: 80 Overhead rate: 40%
> Firewall Project XT. Using the “complexity weighting” scheme shown in Table 5.3 and the function point complexity weight table shown below, estimate the total function point count. Assume historical data suggest five f
> Mrs. Tolstoy and her husband, Serge, are planning their dream house. The lot for the house sits high on a hill with a beautiful view of the Appalachian Mountains. The plans show the size of the house to be 2,900 square feet. The average price for a lot a
> Josh and Mike met each other as roommates during freshman year at MacAlister College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite a rocky start they became best friends. They are planning on going on a two-week adventure together to celebrate their graduation in June
> Check out the Project Management Institute’s home page at www.pmi.org. a. Review general information about PMI as well as membership information. b. See if there is a PMI chapter in your state. If not, where is the closest one? c. Use the search functi
> Three years ago the Sharp Printing (SP) strategic management group set a goal of having a color laser printer available for the consumer and small business market for less than $200. A few months later the senior management met off-site to discuss the ne
> NSDC has a contract to produce eight satellites to support a worldwide telephone system (for Alaska Telecom, Inc.) that allows individuals to use a single, portable telephone in any location on earth to call in and out. NSDC will develop and produce the
> What does it mean if the priorities of a project include: Time-constrain, Scopeaccept, and Cost-enhance?
> What questions does a project objective answer? What would be an example of a good project objective?
> What are the six elements of a typical scope statement?
> When would it be appropriate to create a responsibility matrix rather than a fullblown WBS?
> How does a communication plan benefit management of projects?
> What kinds of information are included in a work package?
> In small groups, identify real life examples of a project that would fit each of the following priority scenarios: Time-constrain, Scope-enhance, Cost-accept Time-accept, Scope-constrain, Cost-accept Time-constrain, Scope-accept, Cost-enhance
> You are in charge of organizing a dinner-dance concert for a local charity. You have reserved a hall that will seat 30 couples and have hired a jazz combo. a. Develop a scope statement for this project that contains examples of all the elements. Assume
> You have prepared the following schedule for a project in which the key resource is a tractor(s). There are three tractors available to the project. Activities A and D require one tractor to complete while activities B, C, E, and F require 2 tractors. D
> Develop a WBS for a local stage play. Be sure to identify the deliverables and organizational units (people) responsible. How would you code your system? Give an example of the work packages in one of your cost accounts. Develop a corresponding OBS which
> Develop a WBS for a project in which you are going to build a bicycle. Try to identify all of the major components and provide three levels of detail.
> Nicolette Larson was loading the dishwasher with her husband, Kevin, and telling him about the first meeting of the Manchester United Tournament Organizing Committee. Nicolette, a self-confessed “soccer mom,” had been elected tournament director and was
> Lukas Nelson and his wife, Anne, and their three daughters had been living in their house for over five years when they decided it was time to make some modest improvements. One area they both agreed needed an upgrade was the bathtub. Their current house
> This chapter discussed the role of values and beliefs in forming an organization’s culture. The topic of organizational culture is big business on the Internet. Many companies use their Web pages to describe their mission, vision, and c
> What distinguishes a weak matrix from a strong matrix?
> What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of the functional, matrix, and dedicated team approaches to managing projects?
> What do you believe is more important for successfully completing a project—the formal project management structure or the culture of the parent organization?
> Other than culture, what other organizational factors should be used to determine which project management structure should be used?
> Why is it important to assess the culture of an organization before deciding what project management structure should be used to complete a project?
> Individually, identify what you consider to be the greatest achievements of mankind in the last five decades. Now share your list with three to five other students in the class, and come up with an expanded list. Review these great achievements in terms
> How can project management offices (POs) support effective project management?
> Under what conditions would it be advisable to use a strong matrix instead of a dedicated project team?
> Going to college is analogous to working in a matrix environment in that most students take more than one class and must distribute their time across multiple classes. What problems does this situation create for you? How does it affect your performance?
> You work as an analyst in the marketing department for Springfield International (SI). SI uses a weak matrix to develop new services. Management has created an extremely competitive organizational culture that places an emphasis upon achieving results ab
> Use the cultural dimensions listed in Figure 3.5 to assess the culture of your school. Instead of employees, consider students, and instead of management, use faculty. For example, member identity refers to the degree to which students identify with the
> You work for Barbata Electronics. Your R&D people believe they have come up with an affordable technology that will double the capacity of existing MP3 players and use audio format that is superior to MP3. The project is code named KYSO (Knock Your Socks
> You work for LL Company, which manufactures high-end optical scopes for hunting rifles. LL Company has been the market leader for the past 20 years and has decided to diversify by applying its technology to develop a top-quality binocular. What kind of p
> Bruce Palmer had worked for Moss and McAdams (M&M) for six years and was just promoted to account manager. His first assignment was to lead an audit of Johnsonville Trucks. He was quite pleased with the five accountants who had been assigned to his team,
> Patti Smith looked up at the bright blue Carolina sky before she entered the offices of Horizon Consulting. Today was Friday, which meant she needed to prepare for the weekly status report meeting. Horizon Consulting is a custom software development comp
> Explain the role projects play in the strategic management process.
> Compute the early, late, and slack times for the activities in the network that follows, assuming a time-constrained network. Which activities are critical? What is the time-constrained project duration? Recall, in the schedule resource load chart the
> Why does the priority system described in this chapter require that it be open and published? Does the process encourage bottom-up initiation of projects? Does it discourage some projects? Why?
> The portfolio of projects is typically represented by compliance, strategic, and operations projects. What impact can this classification have on project selection?
> How are projects linked to the strategic plan?
> Describe the major components of the strategic management process.
> Discuss the pros and cons of the checklist versus the weighted factor method of selecting projects.
> Why should an organization not rely only on ROI to select projects?
> Pinyarat worked in the IT department of a diversified IT firm. She was describing the firm’s early encounters with critical-chain scheduling to a friend in another IT firm. Three years ago management decided to add 10 percent time to all activity estim
> In Chapter 6, Brian Smith, network administrator at Advanced Energy Technology (AET), was given the responsibility of implementing the migration of a large data center to a new office location. Careful planning was needed because AET operates in the hi
> International Capital, Inc. (IC), is a small investment banking firm that specializes in securing funds for small- to medium-sized firms. IC is able to use a standardized project format for each engagement. Only activity times and unusual circumstances c
> Why is it difficult to apply Agile PM to large-scale projects?
> What is iterative incremental development? Why is it useful for developing new products?
> Why is the traditional project management approach less effective when project scope and technology are not well known?
> What are the differences between a self-organizing team and a conventional project team?
