past exam questions project management

Project Planning and Project Management Past examination papers

1

Questions from Past Examination Papers

Question 1. (January 2002: Risk) ........................................................................... 2

Question 2. (January 2002: DCF/NPV) ................................................................. 2

Question 4. (January 2002: Motivation, STEEP & SMART) ................................ 2

Question 5. (January 2002: Network diagrams, CPM, PERT) .............................. 3

Question 2. (May 2002: Risk) ................................................................................ 5

Question 3. (May 2002: Gantt charts) .................................................................... 5

Question 4. (May 2002: Belbin’s team roles) ........................................................ 6

Question 5. (May 2002: Network diagrams, CPM, resources) .............................. 6

Question 2. (January 2003: Risk) ........................................................................... 8

Question 3. (January 2003: Gantt charts) ............................................................... 9

Question 4. (January 2003: Scope, Work Breakdown Structure) ....................... 10

Question 5. (January 2003: Network diagrams, CPM, resources) ....................... 10

Question 2. (May 2003: Risk) .............................................................................. 12

Question 3. (May 2003: DCF/NPV) .................................................................... 12

Question 4. (May 2003: Leadership and motivation) .......................................... 13

Question 5. (May 2003: Network diagrams, CPM) ............................................. 13

Question 1. (January 2004: Risk) ......................................................................... 17

Question 2. (January 2004: DCF/NPV) ............................................................... 17

Question 3. (January 2004: Management/leadership, SMART & STEEP) ......... 17

Question 4. (January 2004: Gantt charts) ............................................................. 18

Question 5. (January 2004: Network diagrams, CPM) ........................................ 18

Question 1. (May 2004: Risk) .............................................................................. 21

Question 2. (May 2004: DCF/NPV) .................................................................... 21

Question 3. (May 2004: Cost of work performed/scheduled) .............................. 22

Question 4. (May 2004: Gantt charts) .................................................................. 22

Question 5. (May 2004: Network diagrams, CPM) ............................................. 23


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Question 1. (January 2002: Risk) (a) How can risk be managed within a project? Use a diagram to illustrate your answer.

(15 Marks)

(b) A new MS Access/Visual Basic system for a chemical development company will take 1 week

for requirements capture, 7 weeks for development and 3 weeks for acceptance testing. There

is an 80% chance that this is insufficient because the MS Access specialist may be required to

support a different project of higher priority. If this were to happen the 7 weeks development

would extend to 10 weeks, at a cost of 6 person-weeks.

(i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project

plan would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks)

(ii) A two-week training course on Advanced MS Access could be booked and would

reduce the risk to 50% at a cost of 4 person-weeks. The training could take place in

parallel with the requirements capture. Draw a diagram to show the containment

action and the recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration.

(8 Marks)

(iii) Should the training course be booked? Justify your answer. (2 Marks)

Question 2. (January 2002: DCF/NPV) Barter and Haggle are a printing company producing business cards, small numbers of books and

greetings cards; they wish to update their computer system to deal with customer accounts while

retaining their traditional printing facilities. Barter and Haggle have examined the options open to

them, and have narrowed the choice to the following:

Option 1 12 workstations purchased from Linkway Computers at £1200 per machine

Option 2 12 workstations rented from Hiram Safely at £200 per machine per annum in the first

year, rising by £25 per annum per machine for each subsequent year.

Whichever option is chosen, insurance will need to be paid at 15% per machine per annum of the

purchase price. Barter and Haggle plan to replace the equipment after seven years, and have negotiated

with Hiram Safely that they will be paid £250 per machine if they renew a new rental option at that time

with that company; no similar deal has been negotiated with Linkway Computers. When you undertake

the cost calculations, you will also need to take into account any income generated from the collection

of the workstations.

You are required to calculate the apparent costs, and the Net Present Value for:

Option 1 (purchase) (13 marks)

Option 2 (rental) (16 marks)

given the Discounted Cash Flow rates of 12% and 15% below.

Which option would you recommend, and why? (4 marks)

DCF Factors

Year 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DCF 12% 1.0 .89 .80 .71 .64 .57 .51 .45 .40

DCF 15% 1.0 .87 .76 .66 .57 .50 .43 .38 .33

Question 4. (January 2002: Motivation, STEEP & SMART)

(a) Outline the concepts of Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

You should use diagrams to illustrate your answer. How do these two theories correspond?

(17 marks)

(b) In the context of project management, explain what is meant by the acronyms "STEEP" and

"SMART". Give an example of each of the STEEP characteristics, and one example fulfilling all

the SMART criteria. (16 marks)


3

Question 5. (January 2002: Network diagrams, CPM, PERT) Your computer manager, Lee Constable, has produced the following network diagram for the next

programming project that you will be working on together. Lee has specified the most likely time for

each activity in Table I below, and has asked you to complete the table and network diagram by doing

the following:

(a) Using the Most Likely Time from Table I below, calculate the Earliest Event Time (EET), the

Latest Event Time (LET) and float or slack associated with each activity (15 marks)

(b) Identify the critical path for Lee's network diagram (3 Marks)

Note: You may enter the results of your calculations in the table or on the network diagram and attach

these pages to your answer booklet.

You may assume the times are in days, all activities are appropriate, and the network diagram is correct.

Table I

Activity Most Likely Time EET LET Float

A 2

B 5

C 6

D 4

E 3

F 9

G 8

H 7

I 1

J 3


4

Lee Constable's network diagram:

Note: You may enter the results of your calculations in the table or on the network diagram and attach these pages to your answer booklet.

10

A

2

B 5

G

8

E

3

C

6

F

9

H

7

I

1

D

4

30

40

60

20 50

70

80

90

J

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Project Planning and Management Past examination papers

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Now that you have finished the calculations for the network diagram, Lee has asked you to carry out the

following tasks:

(c) Calculate the expected time (using the PERT formula) from the optimistic, most likely and

pessimistic times Lee has identified in Table II below. (10 marks)

(d) Specify and comment on the effect of using the Expected Time as opposed to the Most Likely

Time on the critical path for Lee's network diagram. (5 marks)



Table II

Activity Most Likely

Time

Optimistic

Time

Pessimistic Time Expected Time

A 2 1 3

B 5 1.5 5.5

C 6 2.5 6.5

D 4 3 5

E 3 2 4

F 9 8 10

G 8 7.5 14.5

H 7 6.5 13.5

1 0.5 1.5

3 1.5 4.5

Question 2. (May 2002: Risk) (a) Explain with the aid of a diagram one possible way of managing risks within a project.

(15 Marks)

(b) A new Java and Oracle based system for a bank will take 2 weeks for requirements capture, 8

weeks for development and 2 weeks for acceptance testing. There is a 75% chance that this will be

insufficient because the Oracle developer may be required to support a different project of higher

priority. If this were to happen the 8 weeks of development time would extend to 12 weeks, at a cost of

8 person-weeks.

(i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project plan

would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks)

(ii) The Java developer could attend a two-week Oracle training course before requirements

capture. This would reduce the risk to 25% at a cost of 2 person-weeks. Draw a diagram to

show the containment action and recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration.

(8 Marks)

(iii) Should the training course be booked? Please explain your answer. (2 Marks)

Question 3. (May 2002: Gantt charts) Consider the following activities, scheduled as a project that starts on Friday 24 May 2002. Note that

Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that Monday 3 June and Tuesday 4 June are Bank

Holidays (and are therefore not working days).

Activity Start day Duration (days)

A 0 3

B 3 5

C 1 5

D 6 5

E 9 7

F 16 2


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There are dependencies between certain activities, as given below:

Activity B cannot start until Activity A has finished

Activity D cannot start until Activity C has finished

For technical reasons, there must be 3 consecutive working days between the end of Activity C

and the start of Activity E (e.g. if the last day Activity C runs is a Monday, Activity E could not

start until Friday, but if the last day Activity C runs is a Friday, Activity E could not start before

the following Thursday)

Activity F cannot start until Activity E has finished

(a) Draw a Gantt chart showing each activity for this project. How many working days does the

project take, and when does the project finish? (11 marks)

(b) If additional resources are made available so that Activity C starts 1 working day earlier and

its duration is reduced from 5 days to 4, what effect does this have on the project? Draw a Gantt chart

to illustrate your answer. (10 marks)

(c) If Activity C is delayed by 1 working day, based on the original start plan, what effect does

this have on the project? Use a Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. (12 marks)

Question 4. (May 2002: Belbin’s team roles) (a) Specify each of the nine team roles identified by Belbin, highlighting two strengths and one

allowable weakness in each case. You may give your answer in tabular format or as a sequence of

paragraphs. (18 marks)

(b) Comment on the balance between the strengths and allowable weaknesses for each team role,

and indicate how strengths and weaknesses may compensate for each other across the team

roles. (15 marks)

Question 5. (May 2002: Network diagrams, CPM, resources) Your Project Manager, Alex Midway, has produced the following network diagram for a programming

project. Alex has specified the duration for each activity in Table I below, and has asked you to

complete the table and network diagram by doing the following:

(a) Using the Duration from Table I below, calculate the Earliest Event Time (EET), the Latest

Event Time (LET) and the float or slack associated with each activity. (15 marks)

(b) Identify the critical path for Alex's network diagram. (3 Marks)




Table I

Activity Duration EET LET Float/

Slack

Staff

Resources

A 2 3

B 3 1

C 5 3

D 4 5

E 6 7

F 9 4

G 8 3

H 6 6

I 3 3

J 1 2


7

Alex Midway's network diagram:


10

A

2

B

3

D

4

C

5

E

6

F

9

G

8

I

3

H

6

30

40

60

50

70

80

90

J

1

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Project Planning and Management Past Examination Papers

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Now that you have finished the calculations for the network diagram, Alex has asked you to carry out

the following tasks:

(c) What are the staff resources used each day for the project? (12 marks)

(d) What is the peak day for staff resources? What would the effect of starting Activity E four

days later than the EET? (3 marks)

Question 2. (January 2003: Risk) (a) A new MS Access/Visual Basic development for a financial services company will require 2

weeks for the Feasibility Study, 3 weeks for analysis, 10 weeks for prototyping and 2 weeks for

implementation. There is a 70% chance that this is insufficient because the MS Access specialist may be

required to support a different project of higher priority. If this were to happen the 10 weeks

prototyping would extend to 13 weeks with an additional 5 person-weeks.

(i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project

plan would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks)

(ii) A 4 week training course could be booked and would reduce the risk to 30%

requiring an additional 4 person-weeks. The training could take place in parallel with

the Feasibility Study. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and the

recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks)


(b) This question refers to figure 1 and figure 2, shown on the following page.

(i) Compare and contrast figure 1 and figure 2. (5 Marks)

(ii) Briefly explain the difference between containment and contingency as depicted in

figure 1 (3 Marks)

(iii) Briefly explain what is meant by the terms risk assessment and risk monitoring in

figure 2 (4 Marks)

Containment

Project Plan

Control

Contingency

Trigger

Identify

Allocate

AssessNot Significant

Project MemberUpwards

Figure 1


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Start Risk assessment

Risk prioritisation

Risk reduction

Risk management planning

Risk resolution

Risk monitoringEnd

Figure 2

Question 3. (January 2003: Gantt charts) Consider the following project activities, starting on Monday 7 April 2003. Note that Saturday and

Sunday are not working days, and that Friday 18 April and Monday 21 April 2003 are Bank Holidays

(and are therefore not working days). There are further Bank Holidays on Monday 5 May and Monday

26 May 2003.

Activity Start day Duration (working

days)

A 0 5

B 2 6

C 5 5

D 0 7

E 13 3

F 16 3

There are dependencies between certain activities, as given below:

Each activity must start as soon as possible after any preceding activities, given the following

constraints

Activity C cannot start until Activity A has finished

Activity A and Activity D must start at the same time

For technical reasons, there must be 3 consecutive working days between the end of Activity C and

the start of Activity E (e.g. if the last day Activity C runs is a Monday, Activity E could not start

until Friday, leaving Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as the 3 consecutive working days, but if

the last day Activity C runs is a Friday, Activity E could not start before the following Thursday,

leaving Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as the 3 consecutive working days)

Activity F cannot start until Activity E has finished

(a) Draw a Gantt chart showing each activity for this project. How many working days does the

project take, and when does the project end (i.e. what is the first working day after all activities are

finished)? (11 marks)

(b) If additional resources are made available so that Activity B starts 1 working day earlier and

its duration is reduced from 6 days to 4, what effect does this have on the project? How many working

days does the project now take, and when does the project end (i.e. what is the first working day after

all activities are finished)? This change to the project will cost an additional £500; justify your reasons

as to whether you would recommend this proposed change. Draw a full Gantt chart to illustrate your

answer. (11 marks)


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(c) Based on the original plan outlined in (a) above, if Activity A overruns by 2 working days,

what effect does this have on the project? Draw a full Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. How many

working days does the project now take, and when does the project end (i.e. what is the first working

day after all activities are finished)? (11 marks)

Question 4. (January 2003: Scope, Work Breakdown Structure) (a) Explain what is meant by each of the following terms from the perspective of a project

manager, and give an example to clarify your answer:

(i) scope (or "scope of work") (5 marks)

(ii) scope definition (5 marks)

(iii) scope verification (5 marks)

(b) Give two possible work breakdown structures for each of the following:

(i) a programme of studies for a University degree course (9 marks)

(ii) the construction of a house. (9 marks)

Question 5. (January 2003: Network diagrams, CPM, resources) Your Project Manager, Chas Mildwood, has produced the following network diagram for a

programming project. Note that the number of staff required each day for each activity is given in the

table. Chas has specified the duration for each activity in Table I below, and has asked you to complete

the table and network diagram by doing the following:

(a) Using the Duration from Table I below, calculate the Earliest Event Time (EET), the Latest

Event Time (LET) and the float or slack associated with each activity (10 marks)

(b) Identify the activities on the critical path for Chas's network diagram. (3 Marks)




Table I

Activity Duration EET LET Float Staff

resources

A 3 3

B 4 7

C 6 8

D 5 5

E 9 6

F 3 7

G 2 2

H 6 4

I 4 9

J 2 5


11

Chas Mildwood's network diagram:


10

A

3

B

4

G

2

D

5

C

6

E

9

H

6

F

3

I

4

30

40

60

50

70

80

90

J

2

20


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Now that you have finished the calculations for the network diagram, Chas has asked you to carry out

the following tasks:

(c) Assuming that all activities start at their Earliest Event Time (EET), what are the staff

resources used each day for the project? What is/are the peak day(s) for staff resources? (You

may use Table II to illustrate your answer). (10 marks)

(d) Assuming that all activities start at their Latest Event Time (LET), what are the staff resources

used each day for the project? What is/are the peak day(s) for staff resources? (You may use

Table III to illustrate your answer). (10 marks)

Question 5: Table II: Resources used, activities starting at EET Day Activities & staff Resources per day Peak day

0

1

:

:

30

Question 5:Table III: Resources used, activities starting at LET

Day Activities & staff Resources per day Peak day

0

1

:

:

30

Question 2. (May 2003: Risk) (a) Describe the four stages of the risk management process. (15 Marks)

(b) A new Java/Oracle system for a sales company will take 3 weeks for requirements capture, 10

weeks for development and 5 weeks for acceptance testing. There is an 85% chance that this is

insufficient because Oracle is unknown to the developers. This would result in a delay of 5 weeks in

development, at a cost of 12 person-weeks.

(i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project plan

would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks)

(ii) Formal training before requirements capture would reduce this risk to 25% at a cost of 5

person-weeks. The course lasts 1 week. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and

then recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks)


Question 3. (May 2003: DCF/NPV) Walter Wall Carpets, a company supplying and fitting carpets and soft furnishings, wish to upgrade

their computing facilities. The company uses its computers for processing customer orders and

invoices, stock control and supplier records. Walter Wall Carpets have considered the available

options, and need to decide between the following two:

Option 1: 10 workstations rented at £150 per machine per annum in the first year,

rising by £15 per machine per annum each year from PC Surprise PLC.

Option 2: 10 workstations rented at a constant rate of £185 per machine per annum

from IT4ALL.

Whichever option is chosen, insurance will need to be paid at a rate of £10 per machine per annum.

Walter Wall Carpets plan to replace the equipment after 6 years, and do not expect to receive any

refund from the supplier at this time.

Given the Discounted Cash Flow rates of 5 % and 8% (see the formula sheet), you are asked to

calculate the apparent costs, and the Net Present Value for:

Option 1 (from PC Surprise) (15 marks)

Option 2 (from IT4ALL) (15 marks)

Which option would you recommend, and why? (3 marks)


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Question 4. (May 2003: Leadership and motivation) You have been appointed as project manager by Candle & Carver Ltd, a traditional furniture

manufacturer, to design and develop a customer database system. You have outlined your project

plans, which include training sessions for Candle & Carver's staff on using the new system. Barry

Bullimore, Customer Services Manager, is in charge of the team of end users. He says he doesn't see

the need for staff training. “If staff can't find out how to use the system themselves, we'll just appoint

new staff who can,” says Barry. Candle & Carver acknowledge that they have a problem retaining staff

in the customer services department.

(a) Identify and describe each of the 6 leadership styles as discussed by Burke (1999). Specify which

of these styles appears to be closest to Barry Bullimore's approach to leadership, and explain why. You

may also refer to other styles of leadership in your answer. (18 marks)

(b) The senior management of Candle & Carver Ltd have asked you to make a presentation lasting

20 to 30 minutes dealing with aspects of staff motivation. Barry Bullimore will be one of eight

departmental managers attending your presentation. Identify and describe the issues that you would

raise at this presentation. (15 marks)

Question 5. (May 2003: Network diagrams, CPM) You are the Project Manager for a team working on the development of a new library system. You

have specified the duration in days for each activity and constructed the network diagram for the

project. Bob Bodgett, one of your project team, has been assigned to calculate the Earliest and Latest

Event Times, and identify the critical path. Bob is not sure that the Earliest Event Times (EET) and

Latest Event Times (LET) he has calculated are correct. Bob’s EETs and LETs are shown in Table II

and the network diagram II below.

(a) Using Table I and/or Network Diagram I below, perform your own calculations for the Earliest

Event Time (EET), the Latest Event Time (LET) at the start of each activity, and the float or

slack associated with each activity. (10 marks)

(b) Identify the critical path based on your calculations. (4 Marks)

You may assume that the times are in days, the network diagram is correct in that the activities are in

the right order, and the duration is accurate in each case.

Note: You may enter the results of your calculations in Table I or on Network Diagram I and attach


Table I

Activity Duration EET LET Float/Slack

A 3

B 4

C 6

D 2

E 3

F 2

G 6

H 3

I 5

J 2


14

Network Diagram I

Note: You may enter the results of your calculations in the Table I or on Network Diagram I and attach these pages to your answer booklet. Remember to add your student

number, examination hall and seat number in the space provided.

10 A

3

B

4

D

2

C

6

E

3

F

2

G

6

H

3

I

5

30

40 60

50

70

80 90

J

2

20


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(c) Using your calculations from Table I and Network Diagram I above, identify and explain any

errors in Bob's calculations for the Earliest Event Time (EET), the Latest Event Time (LET)

and the float or slack associated with each activity as shown in Table II below. Your answer

should demonstrate why any calculations are in error, not simply provide an amended version.

(15 marks)

(d) Bob Bodgett has identified the critical path as B, E, H and J. Is this correct, given Bob’s

calculations? Explain your answer. (4 Marks)

Table II

Activity Duration Bob's EET Bob's LET Bob's Float

A 3 0 -2 -2 B 4 3 1 -2 C 6 3 1 -2 D 2 3 1 -2 E 3 7 7 0 F 2 9 8 -1 G 6 5 3 -2 H 3 10 10 0 I 5 11 9 -2 J 2 13 13 0


16

Network Diagram II

Bob Bodgett's EETs, LETs and critical path.

Bob Bodgett's critical path shown as a dotted line: B, E, H, J

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0, -2 A

3

B

4

D

2

C

6

E

3

F

2

G

6

H

3

I

5

30

7, 7

40

11, 9 60

5,3

50

9, 8

70

10, 10

80

13, 13 90

15,15

J

2

20

3, 1


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Question 1. (January 2004: Risk) (a) Describe two different models of risk management. You should illustrate your answer with

diagrams. (Diagrams alone are not sufficient). What are the key features common to both the

models you have chosen? (15 Marks)

(b) A new Visual Basic/MS Access system for a sales company will take 5 weeks for requirements

capture, 8 weeks for development and 4 weeks for acceptance testing. There is a 75% chance that this

will be insufficient because the developers are not experienced in Visual Basic. This would result in a

delay of 3 weeks, with an additional 12 person-weeks involved in development.

(i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate the additional effort

and duration that would need to be accommodated in the project plan. (8 Marks)

(ii) A 1-week training course in parallel with requirements capture would reduce this risk to

20%, but it would involve 5 person-weeks. Draw a diagram to show the containment action

and then calculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks)

(iii) Based on your calculations above, should the training course be booked? Please explain

your answer. (2 Marks)

Question 2. (January 2004: DCF/NPV) Repaint@Leisure, an interior design company, sells wallpaper, paint and associated home decorating

products. They also offer a competitive interior design service for their clients. The company now

wishes to upgrade its equipment to include the provision of notebook PCs for staff visiting clients in the

homes. The company uses its computers for processing customer orders and invoices, stock control,

supplier records, client appointments and interior design. Repaint@Leisure has considered the

available options, and need to decide between the following two:

Option 1: to purchase 5 PC workstations (£1100 each) and 5 colour printers (£275

each) for use in their offices, and rent 5 PC notebooks (£120 each per annum) for use by their

interior design consultants. The supplier is Gladiator Equipment.

Option 2: to rent 10 PC notebook PCs (£180 each per annum) and purchase 5 colour

printers (£275 each) from X-Calibre.

Whichever option is chosen, insurance will need to be paid at a rate of £10 per machine per annum,

whether it is a workstation or a notebook; no insurance premium is paid on the printers.

Repaint@Leisure plans to replace the equipment after 5 years, and do not expect to receive any refund

from the supplier at this time, neither will there be a collection charge for the disposal of equipment.

(a) Given the Discounted Cash Flow rates of 4% and 6% (see the formula sheet), you are asked to

calculate the apparent costs (giving the component parts of your calculations in full) and the Net Present

Value for:

Option 1 (from Gladiator Equipment) (15 marks)

Option 2 (from X-Calibre) (14 marks)

(b) Which option would you recommend, and why? (4 marks)

Question 3. (January 2004: Management/leadership, SMART & STEEP) (a) How does management differ from leadership? Highlight the main characteristics of each, including

the 6 leadership styles as discussed by Burke (1999). (19 marks)

(b) What is meant by each of the following terms, and how are the techniques used?

(i) SMART (give two full examples) (7 marks)

(ii) STEEP (give two examples for each category) (7 marks)


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Question 4. (January 2004: Gantt charts) Consider the following activities, which are part of a project scheduled to start on Tuesday 30 March

2004. Note that Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that Friday 9 April, Monday 12 April

and Monday 3 May 2004 are Bank Holidays (and therefore not working days). Only working days are

numbered; you should number these on your Gantt charts.

Activity Start Day Duration (in working days)

A 0 3

B 1 3

C 4 4

D 12 3

E 15 6

F 22 3

You should note that all activities must start as soon as possible; you should also take into account the

dependencies between certain activities described below:

Activity B must start one day after Activity A has started;

Activity C cannot start until both Activity A and Activity B have finished;

Activity C must run on 4 consecutive working days (not split over a weekend);

There must be a gap of two working days (which can be split over a weekend) between the end of

Activity C and the start of Activity D;

Activity D must run on 3 consecutive working days (not split over a weekend);

Activity D must have finished before Activity E can start;

Activity E must have finished before Activity F can start;

Activity F must run on 3 consecutive working days (not split over a weekend).

(a) Draw one Gantt chart showing each activity for this project. (9 marks)

(i) How many working days does the project take, and when does the project finish (i.e.

what is the first working day when all activities have been completed)? (2 marks)

(b) What happens if Activity B overruns by one day? Draw a complete Gantt chart to illustrate your

answer. (6 marks)

(i) How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project finish?

Comment on your results. (5 marks)

(c) The reallocation of a team member to Activity C, based on the original plan, means that this activity

now takes 3 working days rather than 4, but Activity E now takes 7 working days rather than 6 as a

result. What is the effect of this on the project as a whole? Draw a complete Gantt chart to illustrate

your answer. (6 marks)

(i) How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project finish?


Question 5. (January 2004: Network diagrams, CPM) Consider the following scenario.

“You work for a company that organises conferences for clients, and you are the project manager for a

team organising a two-day conference on the risk posed by computer viruses. The client is a well-

known software developer, and expects delegates to attend from other companies, universities, as well

as private individuals. You have been given a shortlist of names of possible speakers for the

conference. The speakers need to be invited to the event, and will then require both travel

arrangements and hotel facilities to be organised (at the same time) for them. As project manager, you

will also need to investigate possible venues for the conference, and then hire the most appropriate

one. When the venue has been hired, and the speakers have been organised (including their hotel and

travel arrangements), it will be possible to advertise the conference, and then take bookings from

delegates who wish to attend. When the venue has been hired, you will need to evaluate whether it is

more cost-effective to buy or rent microphones for the speakers, and then acquire microphones for the

event. After the conference has taken place, you will need to arrange payment of expenses for the

invited speakers.”


19

Identify 10 activities that have been specified from the above scenario. (You may specify these

activities in your answer book, or in Table I below). Note that you do not need an activity to represent

the conference itself. (5 marks)

Table I

Activity Description Predecessor

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

(a) Construct a network diagram for the 10 activities that you have identified in (a) above, using the

Activity-on-Arrow convention. You must indicate which activities have to occur in sequence

(dependencies), and which can run in parallel, but you do not need to consider the start time or

duration of each activity. You may wish to indicate the predecessor of each activity in Table I

above, or by a description to accompany your network diagram. (13 marks)

(b) You are also working on another conference for a different client. You have specified the duration

in days for each activity and constructed the network diagram for the project.

(i) Using Table II and/or Network Diagram I below, calculate the Earliest Event Time

(EET) and the Latest Event Time (LET) for the start of each activity, and the

float/slack associated with each activity. (10 marks)

(ii) Identify the critical path based on your calculations. (5 Marks)



Note: You may enter the results of your calculations in Table II or on Network Diagram I and attach

these pages to your answer booklet. Remember to add your student number, examination hall and

seat number in the space provided. Do not write your name on the answer sheets.

Table II


A 2

B 3

C 5

D 4

E 5

F 4

G 6

H 2

I 5

J 3


20

Network Diagram I


number, examination hall and seat number in the space provided. Do not write your name to the answer sheets.

10 A

2

B

3

D

4

C

5

E

5

F

4

G

6

H

2

I

5

60

50 30

40 70 80 90

J

3

20


21

Question 1. (May 2004: Risk) (a) In the context of risk analysis and management, what is meant by each of the following the terms?

i. risk (6 marks)

ii. contingency plan (3 marks)

iii. containment action (3 marks)

iv. tracker (3 marks)

(b) A new web-based holiday reservation system for a travel agency will take 3.5 weeks for

requirements capture, 10 weeks for development and 5 weeks for acceptance testing. There is a 65%

chance that the time allowed for development will not be sufficient because the developers are not

experienced in Java. This would result in a delay of 4 weeks, with an additional 9 person-weeks

involved in development.

i. Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate the additional effort and

duration that would need to be accommodated in the project plan. (8 Marks)

ii. A 2-week training course before requirements capture would reduce this risk to 10%, but it

would involve an additional 3 person-weeks. Draw a diagram to illustrate the inclusion of the

training course, and then calculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks)

iii. Based on your calculations above, should the training course be booked? Please explain your

answer. (2 Marks)

Question 2. (May 2004: DCF/NPV) Carrie Vann, a new car valet company, offers a competitive car-cleaning service for their clients. The

company wishes to acquire notebook PCs for use by car valet staff to organise their appointments while

they are travelling between clients or in the office. The company also plans to acquire PC workstations

for use at head office for booking customer appointments, issuing invoices and receipts, stock control

and supplier details. Carrie Vann has considered a range of options, and needs to decide between the

following two:

Option 1: to purchase 5 PC workstations (£975 each) for use at head office, and rent 5

PC notebooks (£120 each per annum) for use by their car valet staff. The supplier is Camel

Trading.

Option 2: to rent 5 PC workstations (£190 per annum) for use at head office, and rent 5

PC notebook PCs (£180 each per annum) for use by their car valet staff. The supplier is Dune

Computing.

Whichever option is chosen, insurance will need to be paid at a rate of £8 per machine per annum,

whether it is a workstation or a notebook. Carrie Vann plans to replace the equipment after 4 years, and

there will be a collection charge of £20 for each purchased machine for the disposal of equipment in the

fifth year. There is no collection charge for rented equipment.

(a) Given the Discounted Cash Flow rates of 3% and 6% (see the separate formula sheet), you are asked

to calculate the apparent costs (giving the component parts of your calculations in full) and the Net

Present Value for:

i. Option 1 (from Camel Trading) (15 marks)

ii. Option 2 (from Dune Computing) (14 marks)

(b) Which option would you recommend, and why? (4 marks)


22

Question 3. (May 2004: Cost of work performed/scheduled) (a) Explain what is meant by each of the following variables, and what information each provides in the

context of project management.

i. BCWP (3 marks)

ii. ACWP (3 marks)

iii. BCWS (3 marks)

(b) Show how the above variables can be used to calculate the following values for a project, and what

information each provides in the context of project management.

i. schedule variance (in cost terms) (4 marks)

ii. cost variance (4 marks)

(c) Explain how schedule variance and cost variance can be used to determine the status of a project.

(16 marks)

Question 4. (May 2004: Gantt charts) Consider the following activities, which are part of a project scheduled to start on Monday 26 April

2004. Note that Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that both Monday 3 May and Monday

31 May 2004 are Bank Holidays (and therefore not working days). Only working days should be

numbered; you should insert the number for each working day on your Gantt charts in the space

provided.

Activity Start Day Duration (in working

days)

Staff required each

working day

A 0 5 4

B 2 4 2

C 6 6 6

D 14 8 8

E 14 5 3

F 19 4 7

G 22 3 5

You should note that all activities must start as soon as possible; you should also take into account the

dependencies between the activities described below:

Activity B must start two days after Activity A has started;

Activity C cannot start until both Activity A and Activity B have finished;

There must be a gap of two working days (which can be split by a weekend) between the end of

Activity C and the start of Activity D;

Activity D and Activity E must start on the same working day;

Activity E must run on consecutive working days (not split by a weekend);

Activity E must have finished before Activity F can start;

Activity F must run on 4 consecutive working days (not split by a weekend).

Activity G must start on 27 May 2004.

[Blank Gantt chart grids are attached in the examination].

(a) Draw a Gantt chart that shows each activity for this project. You may use the blank charts provided.

(7 marks)

i. How many working days does the project take, and when does the project finish (i.e. what is

the first working day after all activities have been completed)? (2 marks)

ii. Show how many staff are required on each working day of the project. (3 marks)

iii. Identify the working day(s) where most staff are used. How many staff are involved on

these days? (2 marks)

iv. Identify the working day(s) where fewest staff are used. How many staff are involved on



23

(b) What happens if Activity A overruns by two days? Draw a complete Gantt chart to illustrate your

answer. You may use the blank charts provided. (7 marks)

i. How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project finish?


ii. Show how many staff are now required on each working day of the project. (3 marks)

iii. Identify the working day(s) where most staff are used. How many staff are involved on


iv. Identify the working day(s) where fewest staff are used. How many staff are involved on


Question 5. (May 2004: Network diagrams, CPM) Consider the following scenario.

“You work for a company that organises exhibitions, and you are the project manager for a team

organising a two-day exhibition on computer graphics and animation. You are expecting visitors to

attend from other companies, universities, as well as private individuals.

You have a list of companies who wish to contribute by displaying their hardware and software at the

exhibition. Representatives from these companies will need to be invited to the event, and they will

then require both travel arrangements as well as hotel facilities to be organised for them (these last

two activities should be carried out at the same time).

As project manager, you will also need to investigate possible halls for the exhibition, and then hire the

most appropriate one. After the hall has been hired, and the company representatives have been

organised (including their hotel and travel arrangements), it will be possible to advertise the

exhibition. After this, you will need to arrange for the exhibition guide to be printed. At the same time

as advertising the exhibition and printing the exhibition guide, you will need to rent the display stands,

and when they have been delivered you will need to erect them in the exhibition hall.

After the exhibition has taken place, you will need to calculate the income generated by visitors to the

exhibition.”

(c) Identify 10 activities that have been specified in the above scenario. (You may specify these

activities in your answer booklet, or in Table I below). Note that you do not need an activity to

represent the exhibition itself. (5 marks)

Table I

Activity Description Predecessor

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J


24

(d) Construct a network diagram for the 10 activities that you have identified in (a) above, using the

Activity-on-Arrow convention. You must indicate which activities have to occur in sequence

(dependencies), and which can run in parallel, but you do not need to consider the start time or

duration of each activity. You must indicate the predecessor of each activity. You may do this

either in Table I above, or by a description to accompany your network diagram. (13 marks)

(e) You are also working on another conference for a different client. You have specified the duration

in days for each activity and constructed the network diagram for the project.

(iii) Using Table II and/or Network Diagram I below, calculate the Earliest Event Time

(EET) and the Latest Event Time (LET) for the start of each activity, and the

float/slack associated with each activity. (10 marks)

(iv) Identify the critical path based on your calculations. (5 Marks)



Note: You may enter the results of your calculations in Table II or on Network Diagram I and attach

these pages to your answer booklet. Remember to add your student number, examination hall and

seat number in the space provided on these pages. Do not write your name on these pages.

Table II


A 2

B 5

C 3

D 5

E 6

F 8

G 2

H 3

I 2

J 2


25

Network Diagram I


number, examination hall and seat number in the space provided. Do not write your name to the answer sheets.

10 A

2

B

5

D

5

C

3

E

6

F

8

G

2

H

3

I

2

60

50 30

40 70 80 90

J

2

20


26

CC2005 Examination Formula Sheet 2007-08

DCF Rates to 2 decimal places

Year 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 16% 17% 18% 19% 20%

0 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

1 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.96 0.95 0.94 0.93 0.93 0.92 0.91 0.90 0.89 0.88 0.88 0.87 0.86 0.85 0.85 0.84 0.83

2 0.98 0.96 0.94 0.92 0.91 0.89 0.87 0.86 0.84 0.83 0.81 0.80 0.78 0.77 0.76 0.74 0.73 0.72 0.71 0.69

3 0.97 0.94 0.92 0.89 0.86 0.84 0.82 0.79 0.77 0.75 0.73 0.71 0.69 0.67 0.66 0.64 0.62 0.61 0.59 0.58

4 0.96 0.92 0.89 0.85 0.82 0.79 0.76 0.74 0.71 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.61 0.59 0.57 0.55 0.53 0.52 0.50 0.48

5 0.95 0.91 0.86 0.82 0.78 0.75 0.71 0.68 0.65 0.62 0.59 0.57 0.54 0.52 0.50 0.48 0.46 0.44 0.42 0.40

6 0.94 0.89 0.84 0.79 0.75 0.70 0.67 0.63 0.60 0.56 0.53 0.51 0.48 0.46 0.43 0.41 0.39 0.37 0.35 0.33

7 0.93 0.87 0.81 0.76 0.71 0.67 0.62 0.58 0.55 0.51 0.48 0.45 0.43 0.40 0.38 0.35 0.33 0.31 0.30 0.28

8 0.92 0.85 0.79 0.73 0.68 0.63 0.58 0.54 0.50 0.47 0.43 0.40 0.38 0.35 0.33 0.31 0.28 0.27 0.25 0.23

9 0.91 0.84 0.77 0.70 0.64 0.59 0.54 0.50 0.46 0.42 0.39 0.36 0.33 0.31 0.28 0.26 0.24 0.23 0.21 0.19

10 0.91 0.82 0.74 0.68 0.61 0.56 0.51 0.46 0.42 0.39 0.35 0.32 0.29 0.27 0.25 0.23 0.21 0.19 0.18 0.16

Formulae

Additional Effort = Risk % * Delayed Effort

Additional Duration = Risk % * Delayed Duration

Expected Time = [Pessimistic Time + (4 * Most Likely Time) + Optimistic Time] / 6

past exam questions project management

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