Critical Path Method Flashcards
7 cards from real Project Management practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Critical Path Method flashcards as text
In which industry was the Critical Path Method (CPM) originally developed in the late 1950s?
Answer: Construction and chemical manufacturing
CPM was developed jointly by DuPont and Remington Rand in 1957 for managing chemical plant maintenance and construction projects.
A project activity has ES=5, EF=12, LS=8, LF=15. What is the activity's total float and duration?
Answer: Float=3, Duration=7
Duration = EF - ES = 12 - 5 = 7 days; Total Float = LS - ES = 8 - 5 = 3 days (or LF - EF = 15 - 12 = 3 days).
When performing schedule compression using 'crashing,' a project manager should first target activities that:
Answer: Are on the critical path with the lowest cost slope (cheapest to crash)
Crashing should prioritize critical path activities with the lowest cost-per-unit-of-time-saved (cost slope) to minimize the additional cost of compression.
What is the 'near-critical path' in CPM scheduling?
Answer: A path with very little total float that could easily become critical if delays occur
Near-critical paths have minimal total float and pose significant schedule risk because small delays can turn them into the critical path.
In CPM, what does it mean when two activities are said to have a 'Finish-to-Finish (FF)' dependency with a lag of 3 days?
Answer: Activity B cannot finish until 3 days after Activity A finishes
An FF+3 dependency means the successor activity's finish must be at least 3 days after the predecessor's finish.
How does adding a project buffer at the end of a Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) schedule differ from traditional CPM?
Answer: CCPM removes safety time from individual tasks and consolidates it into buffers at chain endpoints; CPM uses deterministic single-point estimates throughout
CCPM strips safety time padding from individual tasks, aggregates it into project and feeding buffers, and manages the chain based on resource availability.
A project's critical path is A→B→D→F with a total duration of 30 days. Path A→C→E→F has a duration of 27 days. If Activity C is delayed by 4 days, what happens?
Answer: The project is delayed by 1 day because path A→C→E→F becomes the new critical path at 31 days
Path A→C→E→F had 3 days of float; a 4-day delay consumes all float and extends this path to 31 days, making it the new critical path and delaying the project by 1 day.