File: ch09, Chapter 9: Resource Allocation

Multiple Choice

1. In CPM, ________ are specified.

a) Two activity times
b) Two activity times and two costs
c) Two costs
d) An expected time, a crash time, and the standard deviation time

Ans: b
Response: Refer to section 9.1, critical path method crashing a project.
Level: intermediate

2. The standard practice with PERT/CPM is to estimate activity times under the assumption of
________.
a) Resource loadings that are normal
b) Resource loadings that are crashed
c) Resource loadings that are probabilistic
d) Resource loadings that are dynamic

Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 9.1, critical path method crashing a project.
Level: easy

3. If deterministic time estimates are used, and if project deadlines are firm, there is a high
likelihood that it will ________.
a) Not be necessary to crash the last few activities of most projects
b) Be necessary to crash the last few activities of most projects
c) Be completed on time and within budget without crashing
d) Be completed on schedule

Ans: b
Response: Refer to section 9.1, critical path method crashing a project.
Level: easy
4. The formula for computing the cost/time slope for each activity that can be crashed is
________.
a) (Crash cost + normal cost) / (crash time + normal time)
b) (Crash cost - normal cost) / (crash time - normal time)
c) (Normal cost + crash cost) / (normal time + crash time)
d) (Normal cost - crash cost) / (normal time - crash time)

Ans: b
Response: Refer to section 9.1, critical path method crashing a project.
Level: intermediate

5. Economically speaking, crashing a project creates a technology change in the ________ for
an activity.
a) Production function
b) Deliverable demand function
c) Audit function
d) Deliverable supply function

Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 9.1, critical path method crashing a project. In economic terms,
crashing represents a reallocation of production factors.
Level: advanced

6. The ________ schedule compression technique overlaps the design and build phases of a
project to expedite a project.
a) Crashing
b) Leading
c) Fast-tracking
d) Blitzing

Ans: c
Response: Refer to section 9.1, fast-tracking.
Level: easy

7. The points between the extreme points of the relationship between time use and resource use
represent ________.
a) Time constrained projects
b) Resource constrained projects
c) Alternatives for trade-offs between time and resources
d) A non-feasible solution space of trade-off alternatives related to time and resource use
Ans: c
Response: Refer to section 9.2, the resource allocation problem.
Level: advanced

8. The two fundamental approaches to constrained allocation problems are ________.

a) Heuristic approaches and rules of thumb
b) Linear programming approaches and optimization models
c) Heuristic approaches and optimization models
d) Goal programming and trial and error

Ans: c
Response: Refer to section 9.5, constrained resource scheduling.
Level: easy

9. The ________ approach to constrained resource scheduling problems is the only feasible
method of attacking large, nonlinear, complex problems that tend to occur in the real world of
project management.
a) Goal programming
b) Heuristic
c) Optimization modeling
d) Linear programming

Ans: b
Response: Refer to section 9.5, heuristic methods.
Level: easy

10. Most heuristic solution methods start with the ________ and analyze resource usage period
by period, resource by resource.
a) GERT schedule
b) Gantt chart
c) PERT/CPM schedule
d) Master schedule

Ans: c
Response: Refer to section 9.5, heuristic methods.
Level: intermediate
11. When using heuristic solutions to build a schedule, ________ will always take precedence.
a) Resource constraints
b) Time constraints
c) Technological necessities
d) Managerial preferences

Ans: c
Response: Refer to section 9.5, heuristic methods.
Level: easy

12. The ________ heuristic provides a general solution for critical path and time. It is usually
the default rule for a schedule.
a) ASAP
b) ALAP
c) Minimum slack first
d) Shortest task first

Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 9.5, heuristic methods.
Level: easy

13. The usual purpose of the ________ scheduling heuristic is to delay cash outflows as long as
possible.
a) Minimum slack first
b) Shortest task first
c) Most successors
d) ALAP

Ans: d
Response: Refer to section 9.5, heuristic methods.
Level: intermediate

14. If a date-constrained project is scheduled from the ending date constraint using the ALAP
heuristic, the following effect will be observed in the network..
a) Each activity will have zero slack and be located on the critical path
b) The network will not have any critical activities because everything can be done prior to the
final date constraint
c) It would never be possible to override the ALAP heuristic with a “must start no later than”
date constraint
d) It would never be possible to schedule an activity prior to the start date of the project
Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 9.5, heuristic methods.
Level: advanced

15. The methods to find an optimal solution to the constrained resource scheduling problem fall
into two categories. They are ________.
a) Mathematical programming and linear programming
b) Mathematical programming and enumeration
c) Statistical analysis and simulation
d) Quantified heuristics and gaming

Ans: b
Response: Refer to section 9.5, optimizing methods.
Level: easy

Short Answer

16. A project is said to be ________ if all three variables --- time, cost, and specifications --- are
fixed by the project sponsor.

Ans: overdetermined
Response: Refer to section 9.2, the resource allocation problem. In any three-variable equation,
only two of the quantities can be fixed.
Level: easy

17. A project task is said to be ________ if it requires a fixed amount of time and known
quantities of resources.

Ans: system constrained

Response: Refer to section 9.2, the resource allocation problem.
Level: intermediate

18. ________ describes the amounts of individual resources an existing schedule requires during
specific time periods.
Ans: resource loading
Response: Refer to section 9.3, resource loading.
Level: easy

19. ________ aims to minimize the period-by-period variations in resource loading by shifting
tasks within their slack allowances. The purpose is to create a smoother distribution of resource
usage.

Ans: resource leveling

Response: Refer to section 9.4, resource leveling.
Level: easy

20. ________ refers to the amount of time beyond the project’s due date or beyond the expected
delivery date required to complete the project.

Ans: schedule slippage

Response: Refer to section 9.6, multiproject scheduling and resource allocation.
Level: easy

21. Three important parameters used to assess the effectiveness of a scheduling system include
schedule slippage, in-process inventory, and ________.

Ans: resource utilization

Response: Refer to section 9.6, multiproject scheduling and resource allocation.
Level: intermediate

22. With respect to project scheduling, ________ is the amount of work waiting to be processed
because there is a shortage of some resource.

Ans: in-process inventory

Response: Refer to section 9.6, multiproject scheduling and resource allocation.
Level: easy

23. Work = duration * units. Given that task A will use three carpenters and have duration of six
days, task A requires ________ days of work.
Ans: 18
Response: 18 days = three resources * six days.
Level: easy

24. The number of work periods required to complete the work effort for an activity is its
________.

Ans: duration
Response: The project calendar can be subdivided into work periods and nonwork periods.
Duration reflects the number of work periods required to accomplish an activity.
Level: intermediate

25. Given a scheduling equation W = D * U, if the equation for task A is initialized so that W =
40d, D = 10d, and U = 4 resources, and task A is an effort-driven activity, correctly balance this
equation if the value for U is changed from 4 to 5. To balance the equation, the altered variable
and its new value are ________.

Ans: D = 8d
Response: In an effort-driven task, W is held constant when resources are changed. Therefore,
40 days of work spread among 5 resources should require 8 days instead of 10 days to complete
the job.
Level: advanced

26. Given a scheduling equation W = D * U, if the equation for task J is initialized so that W =
20d, D= 5d, and U = 4 resources, and task J is a non-effort-driven activity, correctly balance this
equation if the value for U is changed from 4 to 5. To balance the equation, the altered variable
and its new value are ________.

Ans: W = 25d
Response: In a non-effort-driven task, D is held constant when resources are changed.
Therefore, 5 days of duration spread among 5 resources should require 25 days instead of 20
days of effort to complete the job. Adding resources to a non-effort driven task will not decrease
duration.
Level: advanced

27. Given W = D * U for an effort-driven task. Assume an 8-hour workday. Initially, task R was
assigned to Bob. Bob was expected to accomplish 32 hours of work in five days. If Bob was
100 percent available to work on task R during the entire five days, his efficiency rate is
________%.

Ans: 80
Response: Work / duration = efficiency if the resource is 100 percent available over the entire
duration.
Level: advanced

28. Given W = D * U for an effort-driven task. Assume an 8-hour workday. Initially, task R was
assigned to Bob. Bob was expected to accomplish 32 hours of work in five days. Bob was
expected to be 100% available to work on task R during the entire five days. However, Bob left
the company and will be replaced by Sam. Sam’s efficiency rate is 90%. If Sam is only 70%
available, Sam will require ________ hours to complete task R.

Ans: 50.8
Response: (32 hours of work) / (70 percent availability * 90 percent efficiency) = 50.8 hours for
duration.
Level: advanced

Essay

29. Describe the extreme points of the relationship between time use and resource use.

Ans: If the project is time-limited, it will seek to use as few resources as possible but will be
constrained by time. If the project is resource limited, it will seek to finish as soon as possible
but will be resource constrained. The points between these two extremes represent time/resource
use trade-offs available to the project manager.
Response: Refer to section 9.2, the resource allocation problem.
Level: advanced

30. Discuss the advantages obtained from resource leveling.

Ans: First, less hands-on management is required if the use of a given resource is nearly constant
over its period of use. Second, if resource usage is level, the project manager may be able to use
a just-in-time inventory policy without much worry that the quantity delivered will be wrong.
For human resources, leveling can improve morale and lead to fewer problems in the personnel
and payroll offices due to increasing and decreasing labor levels. Moreover, the leveling of
resources tends to level costs. And since hiring and layoff costs can be significant, leveling can
minimize such costs.
Response: Refer to section 9.4, resource leveling.
Level: easy

31. Describe the basic procedure for resource leveling.

Ans: Identify the type and quantity of resources that are required to complete activities in the
network. Once the logical relationships between tasks and their duration have been established,
resource assignments will establish the initial load required to accomplish the work. Working
within project constraints for time and resources, fluctuations in load for each resource will be
minimized.
Response: Refer to section 9.4, resource leveling.
Level: easy

32. Suggest some options for leveling the load placed on resources.

Ans: Leveling demand arrival patterns would be one possible option. If this were not possible,
personnel could be asked to alter working hours to accommodate the demand arrival patterns.
The third possibility would be to hire temporary workers to handle peak demand patterns
exceeding the internal capacity of the organization. It is also important to allow for unexpected
delays associated with resource availability problems. For example, is generally unwise to load
scarce resources with demand exceeding 85 to 90 percent of the resources’ available capacity.
Thus, if future load will consistently exceed the existing capacity of the organization, it may be
appropriate to hire additional resources in the affected resource category.
Response: Refer to section 9.4, resource loading/leveling and uncertainty
Level: intermediate

33. Discuss some other causes of the strong optimistic bias in a project schedule.

Ans: An overly optimistic project manager simply ignore the need to perform risk management.
When problems arise, this category of project manager treats the problem as an act of chance that
cannot be forecasted. When senior managers refuse to recognize that the capacity to undertake
projects will need to exceed the demand for projects, then resources will become overloaded.
Goldratt described the student syndrome as a scenario where students always want more time to
complete a project. Then, the project will be delayed until the last possible moment.
Multitasking to reduce idle time actually increases the amount of time it takes to accomplish
work. The perception that people need a reason to work hard will often result in arbitrary
reductions to the allotted time to complete activities. To mitigate the impact of arbitrary cuts in
the schedule, game playing may take place during planning.
Response: Refer to section 9.7, Goldratt’s critical chain.
Level: intermediate