DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 489

could be conducted. The activities and immediate

ACTIVITY TIME (DAYS)
predecessors appear in the following table:
A 3

ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS B 7

C 4
A —
D 2
B —
E 5
C —
F 6
D B
G 3
E A, D
F C 12-16 Monohan Machinery specializes in developing weed-
G E, F harvesting equipment that is used to clear small lakes
of weeds. George Monohan, president of Monohan
Develop a network for this problem. Machinery, is convinced that harvesting weeds is far
better than using chemicals to kill weeds. Chemicals
12-13 Sid Davidson was able to determine the activity
cause pollution, and the weeds seem to grow faster
times for the leadership training program. He would
after chemicals have been used. George is contemplat-
like to determine the total project completion time
ing the construction of a machine that would harvest
and the critical path. The activity times appear in the
weeds on narrow rivers and waterways. The activities
following table (see Problem 12-12):
that are necessary to build one of these experimental
weed-harvesting machines are listed in the following
ACTIVITY TIME (DAYS) table. Construct a network for these activities.
A 2
ACTIVITIES IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS
B 5
C 1 A —

D 10 B —

E 3 C A

F 6 D A

G 8 E B

35 F B
G C, E
H D, F
12-14 Jean Walker is making plans for spring break at the
beaches in Florida. In applying techniques she learned
12-17 After consulting with Butch Radner, George Mono-
in her quantitative methods class, she has identified the
han was able to determine the activity times for con-
activities that are necessary to prepare for her trip. The
structing the weed-harvesting machine to be used on
following table lists the activities and the immediate
narrow rivers. George would like to determine ES,
predecessors. Draw the network for this project.
EF, LS, LF, and slack for each activity. The total
project completion time and the critical path should
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR also be determined. (See Problem 12-16 for details.)
The activity times are shown in the following table:
A —
B —
ACTIVITY TIME (WEEKS)
C A
A 6
D B
B 5
E C, D
C 3
F A
D 2
G E, F
E 4
F 6
12-15 The following are the activity times for the project in G 10
Problem 12-14. Find the earliest, latest, and slack
times for each activity. Then find the critical path. H 7
490 CHAPTER 12 • PROJECT MANAGEMENT

12-18 A project was planned using PERT with three time (e) Determine the probability that the project will be
estimates. The expected completion time of the proj- finished in 70 days or less.
ect was determined to be 40 weeks. The variance of (f) Determine the probability that the project will be
the critical path is 9. finished in 80 days or less.
(a) What is the probability that the project will be (g) Determine the probability that the project will be
finished in 40 weeks or less? finished in 90 days or less.
(b) What is the probability that the project takes 12-20 Using PERT, Ed Rose was able to determine that the
longer than 40 weeks? expected project completion time for the construc-
(c) What is the probability that the project will be tion of a pleasure yacht is 21 months and the project
finished in 46 weeks or less? variance is 4.
(d) What is the probability that the project will take (a) What is the probability that the project will be
longer than 46 weeks? completed in 17 months or less?
(e) The project manager wishes to set the due date (b) What is the probability that the project will be
for the completion of the project so that there is a completed in 20 months or less?
90% chance of finishing on schedule. Thus, there (c) What is the probability that the project will be
would only be a 10% chance the project would completed in 23 months or less?
take longer than this due date. What should this (d) What is the probability that the project will be
due date be? completed in 25 months or less?
12-19 Tom Schriber, a director of personnel of Manage- 12-21 The air pollution project discussed in the chapter has
ment Resources, Inc., is in the process of designing progressed over the past several weeks, and it is now
a program that its customers can use in the job-finding the end of week 8. Lester Harky would like to know
process. Some of the activities include preparing the value of the work completed, the amount of any
resumés, writing letters, making appointments to see cost overruns or underruns for the project, and the
prospective employers, researching companies and extent to which the project is ahead of or behind
industries, and so on. Some of the information on schedule by developing a table like Table 12.8. The
the activities is shown in the following table: revised cost figures are shown in the following table:

PERCENT OF ACTUAL
DAYS IMMEDIATE ACTIVITY COMPLETION COST ($)
ACTIVITY a m b PREDECESSORS
A 100 20,000
A 8 10 12 —
B 100 36,000
B 6 7 9 —
C 100 26,000
C 3 3 4 —
D 100 44,000
D 10 20 30 A
E 50 25,000
E 6 7 8 C
F 60 15,000
F 9 10 11 B, D, E
G 10 5,000
G 6 7 10 B, D, E
H 10 1,000
H 14 15 16 F
I 10 11 13 F
12-22 Fred Ridgeway has been given the responsibility of
J 6 7 8 G, H
managing a training and development program. He
K 4 7 8 I, J knows the earliest start time, the latest start time, and
L 1 2 4 G, H the total costs for each activity. This information is
given in the table on the next page.
(a) Using earliest start times, determine Fred’s total
(a) Construct a network for this problem. monthly budget.
(b) Determine the expected time and variance for (b) Using latest start times, determine Fred’s total
each activity. monthly budget.
(c) Determine ES, EF, LS, LF, and slack for each
activity.
(d) Determine the critical path and project comple-
tion time.
 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 491

their immediate predecessors, and time requirements

TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY ES LS t ($1,000S) are given in Table 12.10 on the next page.
As you can see, optimistic (a), most likely (m),
A 0 0 6 10 and pessimistic (b) time estimates have been given
B 1 4 2 14 for all of the activities described in the table. Using
C 3 3 7 5 the data, determine the total project completion time
D 4 9 3 6
for this preliminary step, the critical path, and slack
time for all activities involved.
E 6 6 10 14
12-26 Getting a degree from a college or university can be
F 14 15 11 13 a long and difficult task. Certain courses must be
G 12 18 2 4 completed before other courses may be taken. De-
H 14 14 11 6 velop a network diagram, in which every activity is a
particular course that must be taken for a given de-
I 18 21 6 18
gree program. The immediate predecessors will be
J 18 19 4 12 course prerequisites. Don’t forget to include all uni-
K 22 22 14 10 versity, college, and departmental course require-
L 22 23 8 16 ments. Then try to group these courses into semesters
or quarters for your particular school. How long do
M 18 24 6 18
you think it will take you to graduate? Which
courses, if not taken in the proper sequence, could
12-23 General Foundry’s project crashing data are shown in delay your graduation?
Table 12.9. Crash this project to 13 weeks using CPM. 12-27 Dream Team Productions was in the final design
What are the final times for each activity after crashing? phases of its new film, Killer Worms, to be released
12-24 Bowman Builders manufactures steel storage sheds next summer. Market Wise, the firm hired to coordi-
for commercial use. Joe Bowman, president of nate the release of Killer Worms toys, identified 16
Bowman Builders, is contemplating producing sheds critical tasks to be completed before the release of
for home use. The activities necessary to build an the film.
experimental model and related data are given in the (a) How many weeks in advance of the film release
accompanying table. should Market Wise start its marketing cam-
(a) What is the project completion date? paign? What are the critical path activities? The
(b) Formulate an LP problem to crash this project to tasks are as follows:
10 weeks.
Table for Problem 12-27
NORMAL CRASH
MOST
NORMAL CRASH COST COST IMMEDIATE
IMMEDIATE OPTIMISTIC LIKELY PESSIMISTIC
ACTIVITY TIME TIME ($) ($) PREDECESSORS
ACTIVITY PREDECESSOR TIME TIME TIME
A 3 2 1,000 1,600 —
Task 1 — 1 2 4
B 2 1 2,000 2,700 —
Task 2 — 3 3.5 4
C 1 1 300 300 —
Task 3 — 10 12 13
D 7 3 1,300 1,600 A
Task 4 — 4 5 7
E 6 3 850 1,000 B
Task 5 — 2 4 5
F 2 1 4,000 5,000 C
Task 6 Task 1 6 7 8
G 4 2 1,500 2,000 D, E
Task 7 Task 2 2 4 5.5
Task 8 Task 3 5 7.7 9
12-25 The Bender Construction Co. is involved in construct-
ing municipal buildings and other structures that are Task 9 Task 3 9.9 10 12
used primarily by city and state municipalities. This Task 10 Task 3 2 4 5
requires developing legal documents, drafting feasibil- Task 11 Task 4 2 4 6
ity studies, obtaining bond ratings, and so forth. Re- Task 12 Task 5 2 4 6
cently, Bender was given a request to submit a
proposal for the construction of a municipal building. Task 13 Tasks 6, 7, 8 5 6 6.5
The first step is to develop legal documents and to per- Task 14 Tasks 10, 11, 12 1 1.1 2
form all steps necessary before the construction con- Task 15 Tasks 9, 13 5 7 8
tract is signed. This requires more than 20 separate Task 16 Task 14 5 7 9
activities that must be completed. These activities,
492 CHAPTER 12 • PROJECT MANAGEMENT

TABLE 12.10
Data for Problem 12-25, Bender Construction Company

TIME REQUIRED (WEEKS)

ACTIVITY a m b DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS

1 1 4 5 Draft of legal documents —

2 2 3 4 Preparation of financial statements —
3 3 4 5 Draft of history —
4 7 8 9 Draft demand portion of feasibility study —
5 4 4 5 Review and approval of legal documents 1
6 1 2 4 Review and approval of history 3
7 4 5 6 Review of feasibility study 4
8 1 2 4 Draft final financial portion of feasibility study 7
9 3 4 4 Draft facts relevant to the bond transaction 5
10 1 1 2 Review and approval of financial statements 2
11 18 20 26 Receive firm price of project —
12 1 2 3 Review and completion of financial portion of 8
feasibility study
13 1 1 2 Completion of draft statement 6, 9, 10, 11, 12
14 .10 .14 .16 All material sent to bond rating services 13
15 .2 .3 .4 Statement printed and distributed to all 14
interested parties
16 1 1 2 Presentation to bond rating services 14
17 1 2 3 Bond rating received 16
18 3 5 7 Marketing of bonds 15, 17
19 .1 .1 .2 Purchase contract executed 18
20 .1 .14 .16 Final statement authorized and completed 19
21 2 3 6 Purchase contract 19
22 .1 .1 .2 Bond proceeds available 20
23 0 .2 .2 Sign construction contract 21, 22

(b) If Tasks 9 and 10 were not necessary, what (a) Calculate the expected time and variance for
impact would this have on the critical path and each activity.
the number of weeks needed to complete the (b) What is the expected completion time of the crit-
marketing campaign? ical path? What is the expected completion time
12-28 The estimated times (in weeks) and immediate pred- of the other path in the network?
ecessors for the activities in a project are given in the (c) What is the variance of the critical path? What is
following table. Assume that the activity times are the variance of the other path in the network?
independent. (d) If the time to complete path A–C is normally dis-
tributed, what is the probability that this path
will be finished in 22 weeks or less?
IMMEDIATE (e) If the time to complete path B–D is normally dis-
ACTIVITY PREDECESSOR a m b tributed, what is the probability that this path
A — 9 10 11 will be finished in 22 weeks or less?
B — 4 10 16 (f) Explain why the probability that the critical path
C A 9 10 11
will be finished in 22 weeks or less is not neces-
sarily the probability that the project will be fin-
D B 5 8 11 ished in 22 weeks or less.
 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 493

12-29 The following costs have been estimated for the NORMAL CRASH
activities in a project: IMMEDIATE TIME TIME NORMAL CRASH
ACTIVITY PREDECESSOR (WEEKS) (WEEKS) COST ($) COST ($)

IMMEDIATE A — 3 2 8,000 9,800

ACTIVITY PREDECESSORS TIME COST ($)
B — 4 3 9,000 10,000
A — 8 8,000 C A 6 4 12,000 15,000
B — 4 12,000 D B 2 1 15,000 15,500
C A 3 6,000 E A 5 3 5,000 8,700
D B 5 15,000 F C 2 1 7,500 9,000
E C, D 6 9,000 G D, E 4 2 8,000 9,400
F C, D 5 10,000 H F, G 5 3 5,000 6,600
G F 3 6,000
(a) If the project is to be finished in 16 weeks, which
(a) Develop a cost schedule based on earliest start activity or activities should be crashed to do this
times. at the least additional cost? What is the total cost
(b) Develop a cost schedule based on latest start of this?
times. (b) List all the paths in this network. After the crash-
(c) Suppose that it has been determined that the ing in part (a) has been done, what is the time
$6,000 for activity G is not evenly spread over required for each path? If the project completion
the three weeks. Instead, the cost for the first time must be reduced another week so that the
week is $4,000, and the cost is $1,000 per week total time is 15 weeks, which activity or activi-
for each of the last two weeks. Modify the cost ties should be crashed? Solve this by inspection.
schedule based on earliest start times to reflect Note that it is sometimes better to crash an activ-
this situation. ity that is not the least cost for crashing if it is on
12-30 The Scott Corey accounting firm is installing a new several paths rather than to crash several activi-
computer system. Several things must be done to ties on separate paths when there is more than
make sure the system works properly before all the one critical path.
accounts are put into the new system. The following 12-32 The L. O. Gystics Corporation is in need of a new
table provides information about this project. How regional distribution center. The planning is in the
long will it take to install the system? What is the early stages of this project, but the activities have
critical path? been identified along with their predecessors and
their activity times in weeks. The table below pro-
vides this information. Develop a linear program
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE TIME
PREDECESSOR (WEEKS) that could be used to determine the length of the crit-
ical path (i.e., the minimum time required to com-
A — 3
plete the project). Solve this linear program to find
B — 4 the critical path and the time required to complete
C A 6 the project.
D B 2
E A 5 ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE TIME
PREDECESSOR (WEEKS)
F C 2
A — 4
G D, E 4
B — 8
H F, G 5
C A 5
D B 11
12-31 The managing partner of the Scott Corey account-
ing firm (see Problem 12-30) has decided that the E A, B 7
system must be up and running in 16 weeks. Con- F C, E 10
sequently, information about crashing the project G D 16
was put together and is shown in the following
H F 6
table: