Earned value management
28 cards- 01
A status report shows CPI = 1.10 and SPI = 0.90. What is the project's condition?
- A
Under budget and ahead of schedule
- B
Over budget and behind schedule
- C
Under budget and behind schedule
- D
Over budget and ahead of schedule
- A
- 02
A 10-month project has a budget at completion (BAC) of $100,000, spread evenly over the months. At the end of month 4, what is the planned value (PV)?
- A
It cannot be known without the actual cost
- B
$100,000
- C
$40,000
- D
$60,000
- A
- 03
A project's BAC is $200,000. The team reports that 50% of the total work is complete. What is the earned value (EV)?
- A
It depends on how much has been spent
- B
It depends on how much was planned by now
- C
$200,000
- D
$100,000
- A
- 04
EV is $80,000 and AC is $100,000. What is the cost performance index (CPI), and what does it mean?
- A
−$20,000: the project is under budget
- B
1.25: the project is 25% under budget
- C
0.80: every dollar spent has earned only 80 cents of work
- D
0.80: the project is 20% behind schedule
- A
- 05
EV is $80,000 and PV is $90,000. What is the schedule performance index (SPI)?
- A
0.89: behind schedule
- B
0.89: over budget
- C
1.00: on schedule
- D
1.13: ahead of schedule
- A
- 06
A project has EV of $150,000 and AC of $170,000. What is the cost variance, and is that good or bad?
- A
−$20,000: over budget
- B
+$20,000: ahead of schedule
- C
+$20,000: under budget
- D
−$20,000: behind schedule
- A
- 07
EV is $150,000 and PV is $130,000. What is the schedule variance?
- A
−$20,000: behind schedule
- B
It cannot be expressed in dollars
- C
+$20,000: ahead of schedule
- D
+$20,000: under budget
- A
- 08
BAC is $500,000 and the CPI so far is 0.80. Assuming the cost performance to date continues, what is the estimate at completion (EAC)?
- A
$500,000
- B
$625,000
- C
$600,000
- D
$400,000
- A
- 09
BAC is $500,000, EV is $100,000 and AC is $120,000. The overrun so far was caused by a one-off problem that will not recur. What is the EAC?
- A
$500,000
- B
$520,000
- C
$625,000
- D
$600,000
- A
- 10
BAC is $500,000, EV is $100,000, AC is $120,000, CPI is 0.80 and SPI is 0.90. Management believes both the cost and schedule trends will continue. What is the EAC?
- A
$520,000
- B
$625,000
- C
$675,556
- D
$555,556
- A
- 11
A project's EAC is $625,000 and its AC to date is $100,000. What is the estimate to complete (ETC)?
- A
$400,000
- B
$725,000
- C
$525,000
- D
$625,000
- A
- 12
BAC is $500,000 and EAC is $625,000. What is the variance at completion (VAC)?
- A
−$125,000: the project will finish over budget
- B
+$125,000: the project will finish under budget
- C
−$125,000: the project will finish late
- D
$0: the budget is fixed
- A
- 13
BAC is $500,000, EV is $100,000 and AC is $120,000. What CPI must the team achieve on the remaining work to finish exactly on the original budget?
- A
1.05
- B
0.83
- C
1.25
- D
0.80
- A
- 14
Same project (BAC $500,000, EV $100,000, AC $120,000), but management has approved a new EAC of $600,000. What is the TCPI against that EAC?
- A
1.20
- B
0.83
- C
0.80
- D
1.05
- A
- 15
A project is in its final week, three months later than planned. EV = $490,000, PV = $500,000, BAC = $500,000. SPI is 0.98. Why is SPI so close to 1.0 on a badly late project?
- A
Because PV reaches BAC at the planned end date and EV reaches BAC at the actual end, so SPI always converges to 1.0 as a project finishes
- B
Because the report used the wrong PV
- C
Because the project has caught up on schedule
- D
Because SPI measures cost, not schedule
- A
- 16
Planned value (PV) is the budgeted cost of which work?
- 17
Earned value (EV) is the budgeted cost of which work?
- 18
What is the formula for cost variance (CV)?
- 19
What is the formula for schedule variance (SV)?
- 20
What is the formula for the cost performance index (CPI)?
- 21
What is the formula for the schedule performance index (SPI)?
- 22
Which estimate at completion (EAC) formula applies when the cost performance so far is expected to continue?
- 23
Which estimate at completion (EAC) formula applies when the variance so far was a one-off and the remaining work will go to plan?
- 24
Which estimate at completion (EAC) formula applies when both the cost and the schedule performance so far are expected to persist?
- 25
Which estimate at completion (EAC) formula applies when the original estimate is no longer credible?
- 26
What is the formula for the estimate to complete (ETC), given an EAC?
- 27
What is the formula for the variance at completion (VAC)?
- 28
What is the to-complete performance index (TCPI) needed to finish within the original budget (BAC)?
Critical path method
4 cards- 29
A small network has four activities. A (3 days) starts the project. B (4 days) and C (6 days) both follow A. D (2 days) follows both B and C and ends the project.
What is the critical path and the project duration?
- A
A–C–D, 11 days
- B
A–B–D, 9 days
- C
A–C–D, 9 days
- D
A–B–C–D, 15 days
- A
- 30
A schedule has two paths: the critical path of 30 days and a second path of 28 days. The project manager shortens a critical activity by 4 days. What is the new project duration?
- A
28 days: the second path is now critical
- B
24 days
- C
30 days: nothing changes
- D
26 days
- A
- 31
A project must finish 3 days earlier. Crash costs per day: activity A (critical) $500, activity B (critical) $300, activity C (not critical) $100. Which activity should be crashed first?
- A
B: the cheapest activity on the critical path
- B
A: the most expensive, so it has the most slack
- C
C: the cheapest activity overall
- D
All three equally
- A
- 32
Two ways to compress a schedule: overlapping design and construction so they run partly in parallel, or paying overtime to finish design faster. What are these techniques, and what does each cost you?
- A
Fast tracking (adds risk of rework) and crashing (adds cost)
- B
Fast tracking (adds cost) and crashing (adds scope)
- C
Resource levelling and resource smoothing
- D
Crashing (adds risk) and fast tracking (adds cost)
- A
Float (project management)
3 cards- 33
A small network has four activities. A (3 days) starts the project. B (4 days) and C (6 days) both follow A. D (2 days) follows both B and C and ends the project.
How much total float does activity B have?
- A
0 days
- B
2 days
- C
4 days
- D
6 days
- A
- 34
Activity X has total float of 5 days and free float of 0 days. What does that combination tell the project manager?
- A
The data is inconsistent: free float cannot be less than total float
- B
X can slip 5 days without affecting any other activity
- C
X can slip 5 days without delaying the project, but any slip at all delays its immediate successor
- D
X is on the critical path
- A
- 35
What is the formula for an activity's total float?
Program evaluation and review technique
5 cards- 36
An activity's optimistic estimate is 4 days, most likely 8 days and pessimistic 18 days. What is its PERT (beta distribution) expected duration?
- A
10 days
- B
9 days
- C
11 days
- D
8 days
- A
- 37
Optimistic 4 days, most likely 8, pessimistic 18. What is the PERT standard deviation of the activity's duration?
- A
5.44 days
- B
1.17 days
- C
2.33 days
- D
7 days
- A
- 38
An activity's PERT estimate is 10 days with a standard deviation of 2 days. Assuming a normal distribution, within what range will the duration fall about 95% of the time?
- A
8 to 12 days
- B
9 to 11 days
- C
6 to 14 days
- D
4 to 16 days
- A
- 39
A critical path has two activities. One has a standard deviation of 2 days and the other 1.5 days. What is the standard deviation of the path's total duration?
- A
6.25 days
- B
3.5 days
- C
1.75 days
- D
2.5 days
- A
- 40
What is the PERT (beta) expected duration for optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimates $O$, $M$ and $P$?
Three-point estimation
1 card- 41
Same estimates: optimistic 4, most likely 8, pessimistic 18 days. What is the triangular expected duration?
- A
9 days
- B
7.3 days
- C
8 days
- D
10 days
- A
Dependency (project management)
2 cards- 42
Activity "Pour foundation" finishes on day 10. "Erect frame" has a finish-to-start dependency on it with a 3-day lag for the concrete to cure. When can "Erect frame" start?
- A
Day 10
- B
Day 11
- C
Day 7
- D
Day 13
- A
- 43
"Concrete must cure before the frame goes up" and "We prefer to finish the whole design before starting any code" are both dependencies. How does the PMBOK classify them?
- A
Both are mandatory
- B
The first is mandatory (hard logic); the second is discretionary (soft logic)
- C
The first is discretionary; the second is mandatory
- D
The first is external; the second is internal
- A
Resource leveling
1 card- 44
A scheduler adjusts start dates so that no engineer is booked for more than 40 hours a week, and accepts that the project will finish later. Which technique is this?
- A
Resource smoothing
- B
Fast tracking
- C
Crashing
- D
Resource levelling
- A
Complete graph
2 cards- 45
A project team grows to 10 people (including the project manager). How many potential communication channels are there?
- A
10
- B
45
- C
90
- D
100
- A
- 46
A team of 6 gains 2 members. How many new communication channels does that create?
- A
15
- B
13
- C
2
- D
28
- A
Expected value
1 card- 47
A risk has a 30% probability of costing $50,000 and an opportunity has a 20% probability of saving $20,000. What is the combined expected monetary value?
- A
−$15,000
- B
+$4,000
- C
−$30,000
- D
−$11,000
- A
Decision tree
1 card- 48
Build in-house: costs $100,000; 60% chance of a $300,000 payoff, 40% chance of a $50,000 payoff. Buy a product: costs $150,000 for a certain $230,000 payoff. Which option has the higher EMV?
- A
Build, with an EMV of $100,000 versus $80,000
- B
Buy, with an EMV of $80,000 versus $100,000
- C
Build, with an EMV of $200,000
- D
Buy, because it has no risk
- A
Cost contingency
1 card- 49
A project's cost baseline is $1,000,000 and includes $80,000 set aside for identified risks. Separately, the sponsor holds $50,000 for unforeseen work. What are these two amounts called, and which can the project manager spend without going back to the sponsor?
- A
Both are contingency reserve
- B
Both are management reserve
- C
Contingency reserve (inside the baseline, PM's authority) and management reserve (outside the baseline, needs sponsor approval)
- D
Management reserve (inside the baseline) and contingency reserve (outside it)
- A
Point of total assumption
1 card- 50
A fixed-price incentive fee contract has a target cost of $100,000, a target profit of $10,000, a ceiling price of $120,000 and a buyer/seller share ratio of 80/20. What is the point of total assumption (PTA)?
- A
$120,000
- B
$110,000
- C
$125,000
- D
$112,500
- A
Cost-plus contract
1 card- 51
A cost-plus-incentive-fee contract has a target cost of $100,000, a target fee of $10,000 and a buyer/seller share ratio of 80/20. Actual cost comes in at $90,000. How much does the buyer pay in total?
- A
$110,000
- B
$98,000
- C
$100,000
- D
$102,000
- A
Payback period
1 card- 52
A project costs $100,000 and will generate net savings of $30,000 per year. What is its payback period?
- A
2.5 years
- B
3 years
- C
4 years
- D
3.33 years
- A
Benefit–cost ratio
1 card- 53
A project's benefits are valued at $300,000 and its costs at $200,000. What is its benefit–cost ratio, and what does a ratio above 1 mean?
- A
$100,000: the project is profitable
- B
0.67: costs exceed benefits
- C
1.5: benefits exceed costs
- D
1.5: costs exceed benefits
- A
Opportunity cost
1 card- 54
An organisation can fund only one of two projects: A has an NPV of $50,000 and B has an NPV of $70,000. It picks B. What is the opportunity cost of that choice?
- A
$20,000
- B
$50,000
- C
$70,000
- D
$120,000
- A
Sunk cost
1 card- 55
A project has already spent $400,000. Finishing it will cost another $200,000 and deliver $150,000 of benefit. Cancelling it now costs nothing further. What should the project manager recommend?
- A
Cancel: the remaining $200,000 buys only $150,000 of benefit, and the $400,000 is sunk
- B
Continue: the project is two-thirds funded
- C
Continue: $550,000 of benefit is needed to recover the investment
- D
Continue: cancelling would waste the $400,000
- A
Quality costs
1 card- 56
Which of these are costs of conformance in the cost-of-quality model?
- A
Rework, scrap and warranty claims
- B
Only the cost of the final product audit
- C
Training, process documentation and inspections
- D
Lost customers and liability lawsuits
- A
Control chart
1 card- 57
On a control chart, seven consecutive measurements fall on the same side of the mean, though all are inside the control limits. What should the project manager conclude?
- A
The process is in control because nothing breached the limits
- B
The process is out of control: a non-random pattern (rule of seven) signals an assignable cause
- C
Nothing: only points outside the limits matter
- D
The specification limits need widening
- A
Pareto chart
1 card- 58
A defect analysis shows that three of twenty defect types account for 80% of all defects. What tool displays this, and what is the principle behind it?
- A
A histogram of random variation
- B
A control chart, based on the rule of seven
- C
A Pareto chart, based on the 80/20 rule: focus on the vital few causes
- D
A scatter diagram, showing correlation
- A
Scrum (software development)
1 card- 59
An agile team completed 20, 24 and 22 story points in its last three sprints. 110 points of work remain in the backlog. Roughly how many more sprints are needed?
- A
It cannot be estimated
- B
5 sprints
- C
4 sprints
- D
6 sprints
- A
Agile software development
1 card- 60
Requirements are well understood and unlikely to change, the technology is familiar, and regulators require the full design to be approved before construction. Which life cycle fits best?
- A
Hybrid, because every project needs both
- B
Predictive (plan-driven), because the requirements are stable and up-front approval is mandated
- C
Agile, because it is always faster
- D
Agile, because requirements always change
- A
End of deck · 60 cards