1. What is a project?
   a) A temporary effort undertaken to create a specific result
   b) A repetitive activity performed without an end date
   c) A permanent organizational department
   d) A routine process that never changes
   Answer: a) A temporary effort undertaken to create a specific result
2. Which characteristic most clearly distinguishes a project from routine operations?
   a) It always requires outside contractors
   b) It has a defined beginning and end
   c) It must last longer than one year
   d) It never uses standard processes
   Answer: b) It has a defined beginning and end
3. Which of the following is an example of a project?
   a) Processing weekly payroll
   b) Filling customer orders each day
   c) Installing a new enterprise software system
   d) Performing routine equipment inspections
   Answer: c) Installing a new enterprise software system
4. Which activity is most likely part of ongoing operations rather than a project?
   a) Constructing a new distribution center
   b) Launching a new product
   c) Relocating a production facility
   d) Processing customer payments every day
   Answer: d) Processing customer payments every day
5. The primary responsibility of a project manager is to:
   a) Coordinate people and resources to achieve project objectives
   b) Perform every project activity personally
   c) Eliminate all uncertainty from the project
   d) Focus only on the project budget
   Answer: a) Coordinate people and resources to achieve project objectives
6. Which three constraints are commonly balanced in project management?
   a) Advertising, sales and market share
   b) Scope, time and cost
   c) Inventory, capacity and productivity
   d) Hiring, training and compensation
   Answer: b) Scope, time and cost
7. Project scope defines:
   a) The personal goals of the project manager
   b) The salaries of project-team members
   c) The work and results included in the project
   d) The permanent structure of the organization
   Answer: c) The work and results included in the project
8. Scope creep occurs when:
   a) Project activities finish ahead of schedule
   b) Costs decline without affecting results
   c) Team members improve productivity
   d) Uncontrolled requirements are added to the project
   Answer: d) Uncontrolled requirements are added to the project
9. A project objective should ideally be:
   a) Specific, measurable and time-bound
   b) Broad, informal and impossible to measure
   c) Based only on the project manager’s preference
   d) Changed whenever a team member requests it
   Answer: a) Specific, measurable and time-bound
10. A project deliverable is:
    a) A personal performance review
    b) A measurable output produced by the project
    c) A routine departmental expense
    d) An informal team conversation
    Answer: b) A measurable output produced by the project
11. Who is a project stakeholder?
    a) Only the project manager
    b) Only the customer paying for the project
    c) Anyone who affects or is affected by the project
    d) Only employees assigned full-time to the project
    Answer: c) Anyone who affects or is affected by the project
12. Which stakeholder normally provides senior-level support and authority for a project?
    a) Project scheduler
    b) External supplier
    c) Functional employee
    d) Project sponsor
    Answer: d) Project sponsor
13. Why is stakeholder analysis important?
    a) It helps identify stakeholder interests, influence and communication needs
    b) It removes the need for a project plan
    c) It guarantees that no conflict will occur
    d) It allows the project manager to ignore low-power stakeholders
    Answer: a) It helps identify stakeholder interests, influence and communication needs
14. A project charter normally provides:
    a) A detailed invoice for every activity
    b) Formal authorization and a high-level definition of the project
    c) The daily work schedule for every employee
    d) A final report written after project closure
    Answer: b) Formal authorization and a high-level definition of the project
15. Which item is most likely included in a project charter?
    a) Every individual task duration
    b) Complete technical instructions
    c) Project purpose, objectives and high-level scope
    d) Final lessons learned
    Answer: c) Project purpose, objectives and high-level scope
16. The project life cycle generally begins with:
    a) Project closure
    b) Performance auditing
    c) Final customer acceptance
    d) Project initiation
    Answer: d) Project initiation
17. Which phase normally follows project initiation?
    a) Planning
    b) Closure
    c) Contract termination
    d) Product disposal
    Answer: a) Planning
18. During project execution, the team primarily:
    a) Defines whether the project should exist
    b) Performs the work described in the project plan
    c) Archives all project records
    d) Calculates only the expected project duration
    Answer: b) Performs the work described in the project plan
19. Monitoring and controlling involve:
    a) Performing every activity again
    b) Replacing the project manager
    c) Comparing actual progress with the plan and correcting deviations
    d) Closing the project before deliverables are complete
    Answer: c) Comparing actual progress with the plan and correcting deviations
20. Project closure should include:
    a) Adding new scope without approval
    b) Starting the planning process again
    c) Ignoring unfinished documentation
    d) Confirming acceptance and recording lessons learned
    Answer: d) Confirming acceptance and recording lessons learned
21. A milestone is:
    a) A significant event or checkpoint with no duration
    b) A routine task requiring many resources
    c) An activity that can never be delayed
    d) A cost category in the project budget
    Answer: a) A significant event or checkpoint with no duration
22. Which is an example of a project milestone?
    a) Writing code for eight hours
    b) Receiving customer approval of the final design
    c) Attending a weekly team meeting
    d) Updating a task list
    Answer: b) Receiving customer approval of the final design
23. A project team is often cross-functional because:
    a) Projects never require technical knowledge
    b) One department should control every decision
    c) Projects may require skills from several organizational functions
    d) Cross-functional teams eliminate all conflict
    Answer: c) Projects may require skills from several organizational functions
24. Which condition is most likely to create project conflict?
    a) Clear responsibilities
    b) Agreed priorities
    c) Reliable communication
    d) Competition for limited resources
    Answer: d) Competition for limited resources
25. A responsibility assignment matrix is used to:
    a) clarify who is responsible for project activities
    b) calculate activity duration
    c) identify the critical path
    d) estimate project revenue
    Answer: a) Clarify who is responsible for project activities

26. A work breakdown structure, or WBS, is:
    a) A financial statement for project costs
    b) A hierarchical breakdown of project work into manageable components
    c) A list of employee performance ratings
    d) A diagram showing only the critical path
    Answer: b) A hierarchical breakdown of project work into manageable components
27. The lowest practical level of a WBS is commonly called a:
    a) Project charter
    b) Milestone network
    c) Work package
    d) Strategic objective
    Answer: c) Work package
28. What is the main purpose of a work package?
    a) To replace the project charter
    b) To summarize the organization’s strategy
    c) To identify all external stakeholders
    d) To define manageable work that can be estimated and assigned
    Answer: d) To define manageable work that can be estimated and assigned
29. The WBS helps project managers develop:
    a) More reliable schedules, budgets and responsibility assignments
    b) Corporate financial statements
    c) Product advertising campaigns
    d) Permanent departmental structures
    Answer: a) More reliable schedules, budgets and responsibility assignments
30. The 100% rule for a WBS means that it should:
    a) Assign 100 employees to the project
    b) Include all work required to complete the project
    c) Reserve all resources for critical activities
    d) guarantee that the project finishes on time
    Answer: b) Include all work required to complete the project
31. Which problem may result from an incomplete WBS?
    a) Every task will finish early
    b) Project risk will disappear
    c) Required work may be omitted from the schedule and budget
    d) The critical path will always become shorter
    Answer: c) Required work may be omitted from the schedule and budget
32. Excessive detail in a WBS may:
    a) Eliminate administrative work
    b) Guarantee accurate forecasts
    c) Remove the need for project control
    d) Make planning and tracking unnecessarily complex
    Answer: d) Make planning and tracking unnecessarily complex
33. Activity definition involves:
    a) identifying the specific work needed to produce project deliverables
    b) hiring every project employee
    c) assigning costs to organizational departments
    d) approving the final completed project
    Answer: a) Identifying the specific work needed to produce project deliverables
34. Activity sequencing determines:
    a) The salaries of project-team members
    b) The logical order and dependencies among activities
    c) The total value of project benefits
    d) Which stakeholder has the most authority
    Answer: b) The logical order and dependencies among activities
35. An activity that must be completed before another can begin is called a:
    a) Successor
    b) Milestone
    c) Predecessor
    d) Work package
    Answer: c) Predecessor
36. An activity that follows another activity is called a:
    a) Baseline
    b) Constraint
    c) Sponsor
    d) Successor
    Answer: d) Successor
37. A finish-to-start dependency means that:
    a) One activity must finish before the next activity can start
    b) Two activities must finish simultaneously
    c) The successor must finish before the predecessor starts
    d) Both activities must always start together
    Answer: a) One activity must finish before the next activity can start
38. Which dependency is most common in basic project-network models?
    a) Start-to-finish
    b) Finish-to-start
    c) Finish-to-finish only
    d) Start-to-start only
    Answer: b) Finish-to-start
39. An external dependency is created by:
    a) A relationship between two tasks controlled by the project team
    b) The project manager’s personal preference
    c) A factor outside the project team’s direct control
    d) The WBS numbering system
    Answer: c) A factor outside the project team’s direct control
40. Waiting for regulatory approval is an example of:
    a) A project milestone only
    b) An internal resource assignment
    c) A completed work package
    d) An external dependency
    Answer: d) An external dependency

41. A project schedule identifies:
    a) When activities are expected to begin and finish
    b) Only the total project cost
    c) The permanent reporting structure
    d) The market demand for the final product
    Answer: a) When activities are expected to begin and finish
42. A Gantt chart displays project activities against:
    a) Cost categories
    b) A time scale
    c) Employee skill levels
    d) Customer satisfaction ratings
    Answer: b) A time scale
43. On a Gantt chart, the length of a horizontal bar normally represents:
    a) Activity cost
    b) Number of assigned employees
    c) Activity duration
    d) Stakeholder influence
    Answer: c) Activity duration
44. A major advantage of a Gantt chart is that it:
    a) Automatically resolves all resource conflicts
    b) Always identifies uncertainty accurately
    c) Calculates probability without additional data
    d) Communicates planned timing in a simple visual format
    Answer: d) Communicates planned timing in a simple visual format
45. Which is a limitation of a basic Gantt chart?
    a) Complex activity dependencies may not be easy to see
    b) It cannot display activity durations
    c) It never shows project progress
    d) It requires three duration estimates for every activity
    Answer: a) Complex activity dependencies may not be easy to see
46. A baseline schedule is:
    a) The most recent informal estimate
    b) The approved schedule used to measure project performance
    c) A list of optional project activities
    d) A schedule prepared only after project completion
    Answer: b) The approved schedule used to measure project performance
47. Actual progress should be compared with the baseline to:
    a) Replace the project objective
    b) increase the number of activities
    c) Identify schedule variances and corrective needs
    d) Eliminate stakeholder communication
    Answer: c) Identify schedule variances and corrective needs
48. A schedule variance exists when:
    a) Every activity is completed exactly as planned
    b) The project has no budget
    c) The customer changes the product name
    d) Actual progress differs from planned progress
    Answer: d) Actual progress differs from planned progress
49. Resource allocation involves:
    a) Assigning people, equipment and materials to project activities
    b) Identifying only project stakeholders
    c) Eliminating the need for scheduling
    d) calculating customer demand
    Answer: a) Assigning people, equipment and materials to project activities
50. Resource leveling is used to:
    a) Shorten every activity automatically
    b) Adjust the schedule to address resource over-allocation
    c) Remove all noncritical activities
    d) Increase project scope
    Answer: b) Adjust the schedule to address resource over-allocation
51. Resource smoothing attempts to:
    a) Add unlimited resources
    b) Ignore resource limits
    c) Adjust noncritical activities without changing the project completion date
    d) Move all work to the critical path
    Answer: c) Adjust noncritical activities without changing the project completion date
52. A resource-constrained schedule is one in which:
    a) Costs have not been estimated
    b) Activity relationships are ignored
    c) The project has no deadline
    d) Limited resource availability affects activity timing
    Answer: d) Limited resource availability affects activity timing
53. Fast tracking is a schedule-compression technique that:
    a) Performs activities in parallel that were originally planned sequentially
    b) Adds more resources to every activity
    c) removes project deliverables
    d) Reduces quality requirements automatically
    Answer: a) Performs activities in parallel that were originally planned sequentially
54. What is a major risk of fast tracking?
    a) Reduced need for coordination
    b) Greater rework and coordination risk
    c) Guaranteed cost savings
    d) Elimination of schedule uncertainty
    Answer: b) Greater rework and coordination risk
55. Crashing a project generally means:
    a) Removing critical activities
    b) Delaying the completion date
    c) Adding resources or cost to shorten selected activities
    d) Canceling the project
    Answer: c) Adding resources or cost to shorten selected activities

56. A project network diagram shows:
    a) Only the project budget
    b) The organization’s reporting hierarchy
    c) Customer requirements by priority
    d) Activities and their logical relationships
    Answer: d) Activities and their logical relationships
57. In an activity-on-node network, a node represents:
    a) A project activity
    b) A functional department
    c) A financial account
    d) A customer requirement
    Answer: a) A project activity
58. Arrows in an activity-on-node network generally represent:
    a) Resource cost
    b) Precedence relationships
    c) Employee authority
    d) Project quality
    Answer: b) Precedence relationships
59. A path through a project network is:
    a) A list of all project stakeholders
    b) A group of unrelated activities
    c) A sequence of connected activities from start to finish
    d) The physical route employees take to work
    Answer: c) A sequence of connected activities from start to finish
60. The critical path is:
    a) The path with the fewest activities
    b) The path with the lowest cost
    c) The path with the greatest number of employees
    d) The longest-duration path through the project network
    Answer: d) The longest-duration path through the project network
61. Why is the critical path important?
    a) It determines the shortest possible project completion time
    b) It always contains the most expensive activities
    c) It identifies only optional work
    d) It shows which stakeholder has the most power
    Answer: a) It determines the shortest possible project completion time
62. A delay in a critical-path activity will normally:
    a) Have no effect on the project
    b) Delay the project unless corrective action is taken
    c) Increase the activity’s slack
    d) Shorten another path automatically
    Answer: b) Delay the project unless corrective action is taken
63. The earliest start time of an activity is the:
    a) Latest time it can begin without delay
    b) Planned completion date of the project
    c) Earliest time all predecessor requirements permit it to begin
    d) Difference between normal and crash time
    Answer: c) Earliest time all predecessor requirements permit it to begin
64. The earliest finish time is generally calculated as:
    a) Latest finish minus duration
    b) Earliest start minus duration
    c) Slack plus latest start
    d) Earliest start plus activity duration
    Answer: d) Earliest start plus activity duration
65. The forward pass through a network determines:
    a) Earliest start and earliest finish times
    b) Only project cost
    c) Latest start and latest finish times
    d) Resource-skill requirements
    Answer: a) Earliest start and earliest finish times
66. The backward pass through a network determines:
    a) Expected activity costs
    b) Latest start and latest finish times
    c) Customer priorities
    d) Resource productivity
    Answer: b) Latest start and latest finish times
67. The latest finish time is the latest an activity may finish without:
    a) Increasing its cost
    b) Changing its assigned employee
    c) Delaying the project completion date
    d) Reducing its duration
    Answer: c) Delaying the project completion date
68. Activity slack is commonly calculated as:
    a) Earliest finish minus duration
    b) Activity cost divided by time
    c) Latest finish plus earliest start
    d) Latest start minus earliest start
    Answer: d) Latest start minus earliest start
69. Slack represents:
    a) The time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project
    b) The amount by which an activity exceeds its budget
    c) The number of additional resources required
    d) The probability of project failure
    Answer: a) The time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project
70. Activities on the critical path usually have:
    a) The highest cost
    b) Zero slack
    c) The most resources
    d) The shortest durations
    Answer: b) Zero slack
71. A project can have:
    a) No path through its network
    b) Only one noncritical activity
    c) More than one critical path
    d) Unlimited slack on all activities
    Answer: c) More than one critical path
72. Multiple critical paths generally:
    a) Reduce the need for project monitoring
    b) Guarantee an early finish
    c) Eliminate schedule risk
    d) Increase the risk of project delay
    Answer: d) Increase the risk of project delay
73. If path A takes 15 days and path B takes 18 days, the critical path is:
    a) Path B
    b) Path A
    c) Both paths automatically
    d) Neither path
    Answer: a) Path B
74. If an activity has an earliest start of 6 and a duration of 4, its earliest finish is:
    a) 2
    b) 10
    c) 24
    d) 6
    Answer: b) 10
75. If an activity’s latest start is 12 and earliest start is 9, its slack is:
    a) 21 days
    b) 12 days
    c) 3 days
    d) 9 days
    Answer: c) 3 days

76. PERT is especially useful when:
    a) Every activity duration is known with certainty
    b) The project has no activity dependencies
    c) Only project cost matters
    d) Activity durations are uncertain
    Answer: d) Activity durations are uncertain
77. PERT normally uses which three time estimates?
    a) Optimistic, most likely and pessimistic
    b) Planned, actual and budgeted
    c) Early, late and average
    d) Fixed, variable and total
    Answer: a) Optimistic, most likely and pessimistic
78. The optimistic time estimate represents:
    a) The longest reasonable activity duration
    b) The shortest reasonable duration under favorable conditions
    c) The duration with the highest probability only
    d) The average of all previous projects
    Answer: b) The shortest reasonable duration under favorable conditions
79. The pessimistic time estimate represents:
    a) The minimum possible duration
    b) The activity’s normal cost
    c) A long reasonable duration under unfavorable conditions
    d) The most frequently observed duration
    Answer: c) A long reasonable duration under unfavorable conditions
80. The most likely time estimate is:
    a) Always equal to the optimistic estimate
    b) The mathematical average of two estimates
    c) The longest possible duration
    d) The duration expected under normal conditions
    Answer: d) The duration expected under normal conditions
81. The PERT expected-time formula is:
    a) (Optimistic + 4 × most likely + pessimistic) ÷ 6
    b) (Optimistic + most likely + pessimistic) ÷ 2
    c) Optimistic + pessimistic − most likely
    d) Most likely × 3
    Answer: a) (Optimistic + 4 × most likely + pessimistic) ÷ 6
82. If the optimistic time is 2 days, the most likely time is 5 days and the pessimistic time is 8 days, the expected time is:
    a) 4 days
    b) 5 days
    c) 6 days
    d) 8 days
    Answer: b) 5 days
83. PERT gives the most weight to the:
    a) Optimistic estimate
    b) Pessimistic estimate
    c) Most likely estimate
    d) Difference between optimistic and pessimistic estimates
    Answer: c) Most likely estimate
84. A large difference between optimistic and pessimistic times indicates:
    a) Low activity cost
    b) High project quality
    c) No scheduling risk
    d) Greater uncertainty in activity duration
    Answer: d) Greater uncertainty in activity duration
85. The variance of a PERT activity is based on:
    a) The difference between pessimistic and optimistic estimates
    b) The number of project-team members
    c) The activity’s budget
    d) The activity’s latest start time
    Answer: a) The difference between pessimistic and optimistic estimates
86. To estimate project-duration variance under basic PERT assumptions, managers add the variances of:
    a) Every activity in the project
    b) Activities on the critical path
    c) Only noncritical activities
    d) Only completed activities
    Answer: b) Activities on the critical path
87. Project standard deviation is found by:
    a) Adding all activity durations
    b) Dividing expected time by six
    c) Taking the square root of project variance
    d) Multiplying variance by project cost
    Answer: c) Taking the square root of project variance
88. A probability estimate for meeting a project deadline compares the deadline with:
    a) The project budget only
    b) The number of activities
    c) The crash cost
    d) The expected project duration and standard deviation
    Answer: d) The expected project duration and standard deviation

Section F: Project Cost, Crashing and Control

89. The normal time of an activity is:
    a) Its expected duration under normal resource and cost conditions
    b) The shortest technically possible duration
    c) The amount of allowable slack
    d) The time after crashing
    Answer: a) Its expected duration under normal resource and cost conditions
90. Crash time is:
    a) The time at which a project fails
    b) The shortest feasible activity duration using additional resources
    c) The total time spent correcting defects
    d) The maximum acceptable project duration
    Answer: b) The shortest feasible activity duration using additional resources
91. Crash cost is normally:
    a) Lower than normal cost
    b) Equal to the project budget
    c) The cost of completing an activity in its crash time
    d) The cost of project cancellation
    Answer: c) The cost of completing an activity in its crash time
92. The cost slope measures:
    a) Total project profit
    b) Cost per employee
    c) Project cost variance
    d) Additional cost per unit of activity time reduced
    Answer: d) Additional cost per unit of activity time reduced
93. The cost-slope formula is:
    a) (Crash cost − normal cost) ÷ (normal time − crash time)
    b) (Normal cost − crash cost) ÷ normal time
    c) Crash time divided by normal cost
    d) Normal cost multiplied by crash time
    Answer: a) (Crash cost − normal cost) ÷ (normal time − crash time)
94. When crashing a project, managers normally begin with:
    a) The most expensive noncritical activity
    b) The lowest-cost crash option on the critical path
    c) The activity with the most slack
    d) Any activity selected randomly
    Answer: b) The lowest-cost crash option on the critical path
95. Why is crashing a noncritical activity often ineffective?
    a) Noncritical activities cannot be shortened
    b) They have no costs
    c) Shortening it may not reduce the total project duration
    d) They are never required
    Answer: c) Shortening it may not reduce the total project duration
96. After crashing a critical activity, managers should:
    a) Assume the same critical path remains
    b) Stop monitoring project time
    c) Crash every remaining activity
    d) Recalculate the network because the critical path may change
    Answer: d) Recalculate the network because the critical path may change
97. Project control requires managers to:
    a) Measure progress, compare it with the plan and take corrective action
    b) Prevent any approved change
    c) focus only on completed activities
    d) Replace schedules with informal discussions
    Answer: a) Measure progress, compare it with the plan and take corrective action
98. A change-control process is designed to:
    a) Prevent stakeholders from suggesting improvements
    b) Evaluate and approve proposed changes to project baselines
    c) Allow team members to add scope without review
    d) eliminate project documentation
    Answer: b) Evaluate and approve proposed changes to project baselines
99. Which report is most useful for showing unresolved problems requiring attention?
    a) Employee attendance report
    b) Customer invoice
    c) Project issue log
    d) Supplier catalog
    Answer: c) Project issue log
100. Which statement best summarizes effective project management?
     a) Every project should use the same schedule and budget
     b) The project manager should perform all activities
     c) Planning is unnecessary when the team is experienced
     d) Projects require clear scope, structured planning, realistic scheduling and continuous control
     Answer: d) Projects require clear scope, structured planning, realistic scheduling and continuous control