Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Gantt Chart and Risk Questions

Question 1. (January 2002: Risk) (a) How can risk be managed within a project? Use a diagram to illustrate your answer. (15 Marks) (b) A new MS Access/Visual Basic system for a chemical development company will take 1 week for requirements capture, 7 weeks for development and 3 weeks for acceptance testing. There is an 80% chance that this is insufficient because the MS Access specialist may be required to support a different project of higher priority. If this were to happen the 7 weeks development would extend to 10 weeks, at a cost of 6 person-weeks. (i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project plan would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks) (ii) A two-week training course on Advanced MS Access could be booked and would reduce the risk to 50% at a cost of 4 personweeks. The training could take place in parallel with the requirements capture. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and the recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks) Should the training course be booked? Justify your answer. (2 Marks)

(iii)

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 2. (May 2002: Risk) (a) Explain with the aid of a diagram one possible way of managing risks within a project. (15 Marks) (b) A new Java and Oracle based system for a bank will take 2 weeks for requirements capture, 8 weeks for development and 2 weeks for acceptance testing. There is a 75% chance that this will be insufficient because the Oracle developer may be required to support a different project of higher priority. If this were to happen the 8 weeks of development time would extend to 12 weeks, at a cost of 8 person-weeks. (i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project plan would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks) (ii) The Java developer could attend a two-week Oracle training course before requirements capture. This would reduce the risk to 25% at a cost of 2 person-weeks. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks) (iii) Should the training course be booked? answer. Please explain your (2 Marks)

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 3. (May 2002: Gantt charts) Consider the following activities, scheduled as a project that starts on Friday 24 May 2002. Note that Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that Monday 3 June and Tuesday 4 June are Bank Holidays (and are therefore not working days). Activity A B C D E F Start day 0 3 1 6 9 16 Duration (days) 3 5 5 5 7 2

There are dependencies between certain activities, as given below: Activity B cannot start until Activity A has finished Activity D cannot start until Activity C has finished For technical reasons, there must be 3 consecutive working days between the end of Activity C and the start of Activity E (e.g. if the last day Activity C runs is a Monday, Activity E could not start until Friday, but if the last day Activity C runs is a Friday, Activity E could not start before the following Thursday) Activity F cannot start until Activity E has finished (a) Draw a Gantt chart showing each activity for this project. How many working days does the project take, and when does the project finish? (11 marks) (b) If additional resources are made available so that Activity C starts 1 working day earlier and its duration is reduced from 5 days to 4, what effect does this have on the project? Draw a Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. (10 marks) (c) If Activity C is delayed by 1 working day, based on the original start plan, what effect does this have on the project? Use a Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. (12 marks)

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 2. (January 2003: Risk) (a) A new MS Access/Visual Basic development for a financial services company will require 2 weeks for the Feasibility Study, 3 weeks for analysis, 10 weeks for prototyping and 2 weeks for implementation. There is a 70% chance that this is insufficient because the MS Access specialist may be required to support a different project of higher priority. If this were to happen the 10 weeks prototyping would extend to 13 weeks with an additional 5 person-weeks. (i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project plan would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks) A 4 week training course could be booked and would reduce the risk to 30% requiring an additional 4 person-weeks. The training could take place in parallel with the Feasibility Study. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and the recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks) Should the training course be booked? Please explain your answer. (5 Marks)

(ii)

(iii)

(b)

This question refers to figure 1 and figure 2, shown on the following page. (i) (ii) Compare and contrast figure 1 and figure 2. (5 Marks) Briefly explain the difference between containment and contingency as depicted in figure 1 (3 Marks) Briefly explain what is meant by the terms risk assessment and risk monitoring in figure 2 (4 Marks)

(iii)

Identify N ot Significant Project M em ber

Start

R isk assessm ent R isk prioritisation

A ssess U pw ards A llocate

R isk reduction
C ontainm ent

C ontrol

R isk m anagem ent planning

Project Plan

R isk resolution

Trigger

R isk m onitoring
C ontingency

End

Figure 1

Figure 2

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 3. (January 2003: Gantt charts) Consider the following project activities, starting on Monday 7 April 2003. Note that Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that Friday 18 April and Monday 21 April 2003 are Bank Holidays (and are therefore not working days). There are further Bank Holidays on Monday 5 May and Monday 26 May 2003.
Activity A B C D E F Start day 0 2 5 0 13 16 Duration (working days) 5 6 5 7 3 3

There are dependencies between certain activities, as given below: Each activity must start as soon as possible after any preceding activities, given the following constraints Activity C cannot start until Activity A has finished Activity A and Activity D must start at the same time For technical reasons, there must be 3 consecutive working days between the end of Activity C and the start of Activity E (e.g. if the last day Activity C runs is a Monday, Activity E could not start until Friday, leaving Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as the 3 consecutive working days, but if the last day Activity C runs is a Friday, Activity E could not start before the following Thursday, leaving Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as the 3 consecutive working days) Activity F cannot start until Activity E has finished (a) Draw a Gantt chart showing each activity for this project. How many working days does the project take, and when does the project end (i.e. what is the first working day after all activities are finished)? (11 marks) If additional resources are made available so that Activity B starts 1 working day earlier and its duration is reduced from 6 days to 4, what effect does this have on the project? How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project end (i.e. what is the first working day after all activities are finished)? This change to the project will cost an additional 500; justify your reasons as to whether you would recommend this proposed change. Draw a full Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. (11 marks) Based on the original plan outlined in (a) above, if Activity A overruns by 2 working days, what effect does this have on the project? Draw a full Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project end (i.e. what is the first working day after all activities are finished)? (11 marks)

(b)

(c)

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 2. (May 2003: Risk) (a) Describe the four stages of the risk management process. (15 Marks) (b) A new Java/Oracle system for a sales company will take 3 weeks for requirements capture, 10 weeks for development and 5 weeks for acceptance testing. There is an 85% chance that this is insufficient because Oracle is unknown to the developers. This would result in a delay of 5 weeks in development, at a cost of 12 person-weeks. (i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate how the project plan would need to be modified in terms of additional effort and duration. (8 Marks) (ii) Formal training before requirements capture would reduce this risk to 25% at a cost of 5 person-weeks. The course lasts 1 week. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and then recalculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks) (iv) Should the training course be booked? Please explain your answer. (2 Marks) Question 1. (January 2004: Risk) (a) Describe two different models of risk management. You should illustrate your answer with diagrams. (Diagrams alone are not sufficient). What are the key features common to both the models you have chosen? (15 Marks) (b) A new Visual Basic/MS Access system for a sales company will take 5 weeks for requirements capture, 8 weeks for development and 4 weeks for acceptance testing. There is a 75% chance that this will be insufficient because the developers are not experienced in Visual Basic. This would result in a delay of 3 weeks, with an additional 12 person-weeks involved in development. (i) Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate the additional effort and duration that would need to be accommodated in the project plan. (8 Marks) A 1-week training course in parallel with requirements capture would reduce this risk to 20%, but it would involve 5 personweeks. Draw a diagram to show the containment action and then calculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks) Based on your calculations above, should the training course be booked? Please explain your answer. (2 Marks)

(ii)

(iii)

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 4. (January 2004: Gantt charts) Consider the following activities, which are part of a project scheduled to start on Tuesday 30 March 2004. Note that Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that Friday 9 April, Monday 12 April and Monday 3 May 2004 are Bank Holidays (and therefore not working days). Only working days are numbered; you should number these on your Gantt charts.
Activity A B C D E F Start Day 0 1 4 12 15 22 Duration (in working days) 3 3 4 3 6 3

You should note that all activities must start as soon as possible; you should also take into account the dependencies between certain activities described below: Activity B must start one day after Activity A has started; Activity C cannot start until both Activity A and Activity B have finished; Activity C must run on 4 consecutive working days (not split over a weekend); There must be a gap of two working days (which can be split over a weekend) between the end of Activity C and the start of Activity D; Activity D must run on 3 consecutive working days (not split over a weekend); Activity D must have finished before Activity E can start; Activity E must have finished before Activity F can start; Activity F must run on 3 consecutive working days (not split over a weekend). (a) Draw one Gantt chart showing each activity for this project. (9 marks) How many working days does the project take, and when does the project finish (i.e. what is the first working day when all activities have been completed)? (2 marks) (b) What happens if Activity B overruns by one day? Draw a complete Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. (6 marks) (i) How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project finish? Comment on your results. (5 marks) (c) The reallocation of a team member to Activity C, based on the original plan, means that this activity now takes 3 working days rather than 4, but Activity E now takes 7 working days rather than 6 as a result. What is the effect of this on the project as a whole? Draw a complete Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. (6 marks) (i) How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project finish? Comment on your results. (5 marks) (i) 7

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 1. (May 2004: Risk) (a) In the context of risk analysis and management, what is meant by each of the following the terms? i. risk (6 marks) ii. contingency plan (3 marks) iii. containment action (3 marks) iv. tracker (3 marks) (b) A new web-based holiday reservation system for a travel agency will take 3.5 weeks for requirements capture, 10 weeks for development and 5 weeks for acceptance testing. There is a 65% chance that the time allowed for development will not be sufficient because the developers are not experienced in Java. This would result in a delay of 4 weeks, with an additional 9 person-weeks involved in development. i. Draw a diagram to demonstrate the impact of the risk, and calculate the additional effort and duration that would need to be accommodated in the project plan. (8 Marks) ii. A 2-week training course before requirements capture would reduce this risk to 10%, but it would involve an additional 3 personweeks. Draw a diagram to illustrate the inclusion of the training course, and then calculate the revised impact on effort and duration. (8 Marks) iii. Based on your calculations above, should the training course be booked? Please explain your answer. (2 Marks)

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

Question 4. (May 2004: Gantt charts) Consider the following activities, which are part of a project scheduled to start on Monday 26 April 2004. Note that Saturday and Sunday are not working days, and that both Monday 3 May and Monday 31 May 2004 are Bank Holidays (and therefore not working days). Only working days should be numbered; you should insert the number for each working day on your Gantt charts in the space provided.
Activity A B C D E F G Start Day 0 2 6 14 14 19 22 Duration (in working days) 5 4 6 8 5 4 3 Staff required each working day 4 2 6 8 3 7 5

You should note that all activities must start as soon as possible; you should also take into account the dependencies between the activities described below: Activity B must start two days after Activity A has started; Activity C cannot start until both Activity A and Activity B have finished; There must be a gap of two working days (which can be split by a weekend) between the end of Activity C and the start of Activity D; Activity D and Activity E must start on the same working day; Activity E must run on consecutive working days (not split by a weekend); Activity E must have finished before Activity F can start; Activity F must run on 4 consecutive working days (not split by a weekend). Activity G must start on 27 May 2004. (a) Draw a Gantt chart that shows each activity for this project. You may use the blank charts provided. (7 marks) i. How many working days does the project take, and when does the project finish (i.e. what is the first working day after all activities have been completed)? (2 marks) Show how many staff are required on each working day of the project. (3 marks) Identify the working day(s) where most staff are used. How many staff are involved on these days? (2 marks) Identify the working day(s) where fewest staff are used. How many staff are involved on these days? (2 marks) 9

ii.

iii.

iv.

Project Planning and Management

Past Examination Questions

(b) What happens if Activity A overruns by two days? Draw a complete Gantt chart to illustrate your answer. You may use the blank charts provided. (7 marks) i. How many working days does the project now take, and when does the project finish? Comment on your results. (3 marks) ii. Show how many staff are now required on each working day of the project. (3 marks) iii. Identify the working day(s) where most staff are used. How many staff are involved on these days? (2 marks) iv. Identify the working day(s) where fewest staff are used. How many staff are involved on these days? (2 marks) [Blank Gantt chart grids are attached in the examination]. Formulae Additional Effort = Risk % * Delayed Effort Additional Duration = Risk % * Delayed Duration Expected Time = [Pessimistic Time + (4 * Most Likely Time) + Optimistic Time] / 6

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