Project Management Flashcards
What does PERT stand for?
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
Developed by the U.S. Navy for the Polaris missile project
What is the primary focus of PERT?
Handles uncertain activity times
What does CPM stand for?
Critical Path Method
Developed by DuPont & Remington Rand
What is the primary focus of CPM?
Used for industrial projects with known activity times
What do modern project management software typically combine?
Both PERT and CPM techniques
List three applications of PERT/CPM.
- R&D projects
- Construction (buildings, roads, etc.)
- Equipment maintenance
What are the benefits of using PERT/CPM?
- Helps determine project duration
- Identifies critical activities
- Provides scheduling details
In project network representation, what do nodes represent?
Activities
Define ‘Critical Path’.
Sequence of activities with zero slack that determines project duration
What key question does PERT/CPM answer regarding project duration?
What is the total project duration?
What is the first step in PERT/CPM analysis?
Construct the Project Network
What does ‘Earliest Start (ES)’ represent in PERT/CPM?
Max (Earliest Finish of predecessor activities)
Fill in the blank: The project completion time is the max ______.
Earliest Finish (EF)
What is calculated during the backward pass in PERT/CPM?
Latest Start (LS) and Latest Finish (LF) Times
What activities form the Critical Path?
Activities with zero slack
What distribution is used in PERT for activity duration estimation?
Beta Distribution
What do the variables ‘a’, ‘m’, and ‘b’ represent in the Activity Time Estimate formula?
- a = Optimistic time
- m = Most likely time
- b = Pessimistic time
What is ‘Crashing’ in project management?
Reducing activity duration by spending extra costs
What does ‘Mj’ represent in the Crashing Cost Formula?
Max time reduction possible
What is the summary of PERT’s use?
Used for uncertain activity times
What is the summary of CPM’s use?
Used for deterministic activity times
What does slack time indicate in scheduling?
Determines flexibility in scheduling
What does crashing achieve in project management?
Reduces project time at an additional cost
