IENG300- Fall 2012 Midterm

School of Engineering Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semester: Fall 2012 IENG300 – Engineering Project Management Midterm Instructors: Mr. Ibrahim Serhan, Dr. Khaled Chahine, Mr. Ayman Dayekh, Dr. Refaat Abdallah, Mr. Mohamad Negro, Dr. Bassam Hussein Date: Monday, December 3rd, 2012 Time: 17:00 – 18:30 (90 minutes) Student Name: _____________________

Student ID: _______________ Section: ____

There are 5 questions in the booklet; each has several parts. Please answer all parts of the questions to the best of your ability. Marking Scheme Questions

Weight

Question 1

10 points

Question 2

15 points

Question 3

25 points

Question 4

20 points

Question 5

30 points

Total

100 points

Mark

1. This booklet contains 11 pages including this one. Make sure all these pages are attached. 2. Closed book examination. Formulas are provided on the last page. 3. Do not take the staple out. The exam booklet must remain intact. 4. Cheating penalty will be an “F” grade on the exam. 5. Non-programmable calculators are allowed. 6. Mobile phones/devices are to be turned off and stowed away. 7. Students must sign out prior to leaving the exam room.

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Question 1 (10 points): Mark the following statements as either TRUE (T) or FALSE (F): 1. Because of its flexibility, project management is equally useful in ongoing, routine work as well as unique, one-time projects. 2. A program is a task within a project. 3. One of the major disadvantages of the project form of project management structure is that it tends to be more expensive than other forms of organizing. 4. A project manager must be flexible and creative and have the ability to adjust rapidly to changes. 5.

The “Pay Back” method of project selection takes into consideration the time value of money.

6. Responsibility matrices are used primarily with small and medium sized projects and have limited use in large projects. 7. Once management has committed to a project, it is not possible for them to change the funding allocated to the project, or to change the deadline of the project. 8. In developing a project network, each activity should have a unique identification number that is smaller than the identification numbers of activities that follow it. 9. Resource leveling is only used on projects which are resource-constrained. 10. The risk is highest in the earliest phases of the project life cycle.

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Question 2 (15 points): You work for a company which expects to earn at least 18 % on its investments. You have to choose between two similar projects. Your analysts predict that inflation rate will be a stable 3 % over the next 7 years. Below is the cash flow information for each project. Which of the two projects would you fund if the decision is based only on financial information? Why? Omega Year Y0 Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Total

Inflow 0 0 $150,000 220,000 215,000 205,000 197,000 100,000 1,087,000

Outflow $225,000 190,000 0 30,000 0 30,000 0 30,000 505,000

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Netflow -225,000 -190,000 150,000 190,000 215,000 175,000 197,000 70,000 582,000

Alpha Year Y0 Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Total

Inflow 0 $50,000 150,000 250,000 250,000 200,000 180,000 120,000 1,200,000

Outflow $300,000 100,000 0 50,000 0 50,000 0 30,000 530,000

Netflow -300,000 -50,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 150,000 180,000 90,000 670,000

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Question 3 (25 points):

Given the project information summarized in the following table:

Activity A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

Predecessor Activity A A A B B, C C, D D F, G F E, J G, H F, H I, K, L, M

Duration (days) 2 7 10 4 6 5 8 9 12 5 5 6 4 3

Using the following legend to represent the nodes:

1. Draw the Activity on Node (AoN) network. 2. Calculate the early start (ES), early finish (EF), late start (LS), late finish (LF) and slack. 3. Find the critical path (CP). 4. Discuss the impact on the activities if the project target completion time was set to 30 days.

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Question 4 (20 points)

iTech LAN Project iTech is a small, information systems consulting firm located in Beirut. iTech has just been hired by LIU to design and install a local area network (LAN) for the LIU Saida Campus to extend existing IT labs. You are the manager for the project, which includes one iTech professional resource and two intern students from LIU. You have just finished a preliminary scope statement for the project (see below). You are now brainstorming potential risks associated with the project. a) Identify at least four potential risks associated with this project. b) Using the provided risk matrix, analyze identified risks and outline how you would deal with each of the risks. c) What are some of the benefits of doing this exercise?

PROJECT SCOPE STATEMENT PROJECT OBJECTIVE To design and install a local area network (LAN) within one month with a budget not to exceed $50,000 for the LIU Saida campus IT labs.

DELIVERABLES       

Twenty workstations and twenty laptop computers. Server with dual-core processors. Two color laser printers. Windows 2008 R2 server and workstation operating system (Vista/Windows 7). Four hours of introduction training for client’s personnel. Sixteen hours of training for client network administrator. Fully operational LAN system.

MILESTONES     

Hardware January 22. Setting users’ priority and authorization January 26. In-house whole network test completed February 1. Client site test completed February 2. Training completed February 16.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS     

Workstations with 17-inch flat panel monitors, dual-core processors, 2 GB RAM, 8X DVD1RW, wireless card, Ethernet card, 80 GB hard drive. Laptops with 12-inch display monitor, dual-core processors, 2GB RAM, 8X DVD1RW, wireless card, Ethernet card, 60 GB hard drive and weigh less than 41y2 lbs. Wireless network interface cards and Ethernet connections. System must support Windows Vista/Windows 7 platforms. System must provide secure external access for field workers.

LIMITS AND EXCLUSIONS    

System maintenance and repair only up to one month after final inspection. Warranties transferred to client. Only responsible for installing software designated by the client 2 weeks before the project start. Client will be billed for additional training beyond that prescribed in the contract.

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a)

b) Risk Matrix ID

Likelihood

Impact

Response

Trigger

When

c)

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Question 5 (30 points) Choose the correct answer. Only one answer may be marked. Questions with more than one answer will automatically get a zero mark. Wrong answers do not penalize correct ones. 1. Which of the following activities is not considered a project? a. Developing a new software program b. Designing a space station c. Preparing the site for the Olympic Games d. Production of automobile tires 2. Which of the following choices is not one of the stages of a project life cycle? a. Conceptualizing b. Defining c. Planning d. Executing 3. Which of these is not part of the "science" of project management? a. WBS b. Budgets c. Critical thinking d. Progress reports 4. In reviewing the project plan, Adam sees that the first prototype is due by September 23rd. This would be best classified as a: a. Project milestone b. Project objective c. Time-constraint project d. Project goal 5. Project selection criteria are typically classified as: a. Financial and non-financial b. Short-term and long-term c. Strategic and tactical d. Required and optional 6. In which of the following is the balance of authority strongly in favor of the functional managers? a. Weak matrix b. Balanced matrix c. Strong matrix d. Functional matrix 7. The activities that are to be completed immediately following a particular activity are referred to as: a. Merge b. Burst c. Predecessor d. Successor

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8. The first step in creating the necessary information to manage a project is to: a. Establish project priorities b. Define the project scope c. Verify the budget available d. Assign team members to work on the project 9. The highest element in the hierarchical breakdown of the WBS is: a. A work package b. Sub deliverables c. A cost account d. The project 10. All of the following are true about work packages except: a. Consume resources b. Assigned to only one manager c. Have medium to long duration d. Definitive starts and stops dates 11. A good starting point for developing time and cost estimates is: a. Past experience b. Work packages c. Task analysis d. Time and motion studies 12. Maya is forecasting the time and cost of developing a customized software program by looking at the number of inputs, outputs, inquires, files and interfaces. Which of the following methods is she employing? a. Template b. Ratio c. Function point d. Apportion 13. The two scales of a risk severity matrix usually measure: a. The cost and the schedule b. The likelihood and the cost c. The schedule and the impact d. The likelihood and the impact 14. Which of the following is not one of the potential responses to a specific risk event? a. Avoiding b. Ignoring c. Transferring d. Sharing 15. The tendency for the project objectives to be changed with little or no discussion with other parties actively engaged in the project is referred to as: a. Scope reference b. Scope creep c. Effectiveness d. Hierarchical planning

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FORMULAS The payback formula: Payback period (yrs) = Estimated Project Cost/Annual Savings

The net present value (NPV) formula:

AoN calculations formulas:   

EF = ES + Duration LS = LF – Duration SL = LS – ES or SL = LF – EF

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