Questions and Answers
What is the main purpose of using dummy activities in an activity network?
What information is represented by the 'Early time' and 'Late time' of a task in an activity network?
What does the 'float time' of a task indicate?
Which of the following is NOT a step involved in creating an activity network?
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What is the purpose of a Gantt chart in project management?
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What is the relationship between the critical path and the project completion time?
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What is the significance of the start node and sink node in an activity network?
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Which of the following statements about critical tasks is TRUE?
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What is the purpose of the float time in a Gantt chart?
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How should workers be assigned when there are enough available workers?
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What happens to the project if there are not enough workers available?
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To determine the minimum number of workers required, what calculation is performed?
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Which strategy should be avoided when scheduling a project with insufficient workers?
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What does rounding up to the next integer provide in the context of worker assignment?
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Which method should be prioritized when scheduling activities in the presence of insufficient workers?
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Why must a worker complete an activity once it has started?
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In a Gantt chart, what does the dotted section at the end of the bar represent?
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What is the assumption about activity completion in the context of worker assignment?
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When scheduling a project without enough workers, what should you avoid doing?
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What is the result of rounding up to the next integer in the context of worker assignment?
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When scheduling activities with insufficient workers, which strategy should be prioritized?
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Study Notes
Critical Path Analysis
- Critical Path Analysis is used to plan large projects, identify dependent activities, and determine start and finish times for project parts.
Precedence Table and Activity Networks
- A precedence table is the first step in Critical Path Analysis.
- Activity networks visually represent complex topics with interdependent tasks, similar to a precedence table.
- Dummy activities are used in activity networks to show multiple activity dependencies.
Task Timing
- Each task in a network has an Early time (when it can begin) and a Late time (when it must finish to avoid delaying the project).
- Early and Late times are calculated by analyzing task durations from start to end and then from end to start.
- The start node has times of 0, 0, and the sink node has times of t, t.
Float Time and Critical Tasks
- Float time is the time a task can be delayed before holding up the project.
- Tasks with a float time of 0 are critical tasks, which form a critical path from start to finish in the network.
- There may be multiple critical paths.
Gantt Charts
- Gantt charts are bar charts displaying task information, including start time, duration, and float time.
Scheduling
- To find the minimum number of workers needed, assume each activity is completed by a single worker in the specified time.
- Once an activity starts, the same worker must complete it, and once finished, the worker is immediately available for another activity.
- The lower bound for workers is calculated and rounded up to the next integer.
Scheduling with Enough Workers
- Assign a worker to each critical path.
- Allocate workers to remaining activities in order of lowest Late time.
- Minimize the number of workers used.
Scheduling without Enough Workers
- If there are insufficient workers, the project will take longer.
- Use the activity network instead of the Gantt chart.
- Avoid leaving a worker idle whenever possible.
- Assign the next available activity based on the lowest Late time.
Critical Path Analysis
- Critical Path Analysis is used to plan large projects, identify dependent activities, and determine start and finish times for project parts.
Precedence Table and Activity Networks
- A precedence table is the first step in Critical Path Analysis.
- Activity networks visually represent complex topics with interdependent tasks, similar to a precedence table.
- Dummy activities are used in activity networks to show multiple activity dependencies.
Task Timing
- Each task in a network has an Early time (when it can begin) and a Late time (when it must finish to avoid delaying the project).
- Early and Late times are calculated by analyzing task durations from start to end and then from end to start.
- The start node has times of 0, 0, and the sink node has times of t, t.
Float Time and Critical Tasks
- Float time is the time a task can be delayed before holding up the project.
- Tasks with a float time of 0 are critical tasks, which form a critical path from start to finish in the network.
- There may be multiple critical paths.
Gantt Charts
- Gantt charts are bar charts displaying task information, including start time, duration, and float time.
Scheduling
- To find the minimum number of workers needed, assume each activity is completed by a single worker in the specified time.
- Once an activity starts, the same worker must complete it, and once finished, the worker is immediately available for another activity.
- The lower bound for workers is calculated and rounded up to the next integer.
Scheduling with Enough Workers
- Assign a worker to each critical path.
- Allocate workers to remaining activities in order of lowest Late time.
- Minimize the number of workers used.
Scheduling without Enough Workers
- If there are insufficient workers, the project will take longer.
- Use the activity network instead of the Gantt chart.
- Avoid leaving a worker idle whenever possible.
- Assign the next available activity based on the lowest Late time.
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Description
Learn about Critical Path Analysis, precedence tables, and activity networks for planning and managing complex projects with interdependent tasks.
