Department of Industrial Engineering

School of Engineering
Department of Industrial Engineering

Semester: Fall 2017

IENG300 – Engineering Project Management Midterm Solution

Question 1 (10 points):

In the table below, mark the following statements as either TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). If
you change your answer, scratch previous one and clearly re-write the new one.
Questions with a confusing answer will automatically get a zero mark. Wrong answers
do not penalize correct ones. The weight for each question is 1 point.
1. A major portion of the project work, both physical and mental, takes place during the
conceptualization stage of the Project Life Cycle.

2. It is mandatory for project managers working on large information technology projects to be

experts in the field of information technology.

3. There can be two or more parallel critical paths, all having exactly the same completion time.

4. The term "work breakdown structure" refers to a failure in the work structure.

5. When the client makes a change in the project, the baseline of the project should be changed
accordingly.

6. Control charts and Gantt charts are tools used to monitor the project’s time performance.

7. Integrating a project's work packages within the organization's management structure is

known as work breakdown structure.

8. In an AoN network, if two activities have the same description, you can use the same
identification number for both.
9. A labor cost is usually a direct cost, while the project manager salary is a direct overhead cost.

10. The evaluation of the risk value must occur at the identification phase of the risk management
process.

Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Answer F F T F T T F F T F

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Question 2 (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. The weight for each question is 2 points.
1. Projects:
a. Do not usually produce something new.
b. Do not have a specific duration.
c. Are not repetitive.
d. Do not have objectives.

2. Which of the following is one of the characteristics of effective objectives?

a. Realistic.
b. Easy.
c. Flexible.
d. Enjoyable.

3. After the government issued a new law forcing all universities to have 50% of their
electric power generated by solar panels by end of year 2020, LIU started sending
requests for proposals for the design & installation of a solar panels systems across all
its campuses. These projects are classified under:

a. Strategic projects.
b. Compliance projects.
c. Risky projects.
d. Operational projects.

4. Project management structures include all of the following except:

a. Functional structure.
b. Organization breakdown structure (OBS).
c. Projectized structure.
d. Matrix structure.

5. You have been assigned as the Project Manager of an engineering project. One of the
project documents available to you lists down all the risks in a hierarchical fashion.
What is this document called?
a. Risk management plan.
b. List of risks.
c. Monte Carlo diagram.
d. Risk breakdown structure (RBS).

6. Projects are usually classified into all but one of the following categories. Which one is not
one of the typical classifications?
a. Strategic projects.
b. Compliance projects.
c. Political necessity projects.
d. Operational projects.

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7. A series of coordinated, related, multiple projects that continue over extended time intended to
achieve a goal is known as a:
a. Strategy.
b. Program.
c. Campaign.
d. Venture.

8. Your IENG300 course is good example of a(n) :

a. Activity.
b. Project.
c. Event.
d. Program.

9. Imad is the Project Manager of a team in charge of installing a new operating system
on a hospital IT network. Before implementing the project, Imad’s team tested the new
operating system on a smaller isolated network. By doing so, they discovered a variety
of problems and were able to come up with solutions prior to implementation. This
testing can be considered an example of:
a. Mitigating risk.
b. Avoiding risk.
c. Transferring risk.
d. Retaining risk.

10. During the definition phase of the project life cycle (PLC), it is important to:
a. Determine the project scope.
b. Develop the project plan.
c. Initiate change requests.
d. None of the above.

11. Bottom-Up Estimates are mainly formulated based on:

a. The senior management past experience.

b. The WBS.
c. The weather forecast.
d. Politics.

12. Increasing or decreasing slack time would have an impact on:

a. Risk breakdown structure.
b. Project charter.
c. The criticality of network activities.
d. Work breakdown structure.

13. An important tool that is used in the change management process would be:
a. Risk request.
b. Change request.

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c. Change creep.
d. Scope modification request form.

14. The Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) involves calculating the value of a project
risk through the multiplication of the following factors:
a. (Probability) x (detection).
b. (Probability) x (impact) x (detection).
c. (Impact) x (detection).
d. (Likelihood) x (trigger).

15. The table where project risks are tracked and controlled is referred to as:
a. Risks register.
b. Changes register.
c. Risks severity matrix.
d. Risks Breakdown Structure (RBS).

Question 3 (15 points):

Your company has set up a weighted scoring matrix for evaluating potential
projects. Below are five projects under consideration:

Question 3 Solution

a) Using the provided scoring matrix, which project would you rate the
highest? Which project would you rate the lowest? (4 points)

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b) If the weight for “Risk” is changed from 2 to 4, will the project selection
change? What are the three highest weighted project scores with this new
weight? (4 points)

c) Why is it important that the weights mirror critical strategic factors? (2

points)

It is important that the weights mirror critical strategic factors because

failure to do so will cause selection of projects that do not contribute the
most to the strategic plan.

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Question 4 (25 points):

The project office (PO) of your company is asking you to address the questions in the
solution section. The activities time estimates and their dependencies are summarized in the
following table:

Activity ID Predecessor activity Duration

A None 7
B A 5
C B 5
D B 4
E C 2
F C, D 3
G E, F 8
H F, G 3

Question 4 Solution

a. Draw the Activity on Node (AoN) network. (5 points)

b. Calculate the early start (ES), early finish (EF), late start (LS), late finish (LF) and slack. (10
points)

c. Identify the critical path (CP). (3 points)

A,B,C,F,G,H

d. How soon can the project be finished? (1 points)

31 time unit

e. Give 3 characteristics for activity F. (6 points)

Critical activity
SL= 0
Burst
Merge
Parallel to E

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Question 5 (20 points)

LIU’s SoE Football Championship:

You work for WindPower, a company that specializes in environmentally-friendly power solutions.
WindPower was selected by NorthBuild (a real estate company) to execute a power project in the
windy city of Mina (Tripoli). The project consists of installing a wind turbine that will generate 1.5
MW of electricity to a set of 50 apartments in a residential complex (owned by NorthBuild) located 1
Km away from the wind turbine location.

WindPower assigned you as the Project Manager on this project, and provided you with the below
information:
 The client, NorthBuild, wants the project to be completed by 27/07/2018.
 The client, NorthBuild, wants to see time and cost details of the activities.
 The 1.5 MW wind turbine should be delivered by 15/05/2018 from Spain.
 WindPower does not have enough experience in installing wind turbines with capacities
above 1 MW. That’s why senior Management requested you to have a strong focus on the
project and to use all the expertise available in the functional departments of WindPower.
 When connecting the power cables from the wind turbine to the residential complex, the
cables should be laid underground. This will involve Excavation, Cable Laying and
Backfilling over a distance of 1 Km.
 The client, NorthBuild, is also hoping to sell renewable energy from this wind turbine to the
national power grid of Electricité du Liban (EDL), by providing cables connection between
the wind turbine and a nearby EDL substation. WindPower stated that they cannot execute
this part, because of its complexity.

Based on the presented facts, address the questions in the solution section.

Question 5 Solution

a. Classify the type of this project. Justify your answer. (3 points)

Strategic: It supports the organization’s mission of executing environmentally-friendly

power projects (from clean wind power). Installing this relatively big-size wind
turbine would also give WindPower a strategic edge over it competitors in the market.

b. You were requested to participate in completing the project scope checklist below. Fill in the
blank items of the checklist below (Some items were already filled by other project team
members). (4 points)

Project Scope Checklist

Project Objective Install and connect a 1.5 MW wind turbine to a

residential complex by 27/07/2018

Technical specs of the wind turbine

Deliverables
Test Report when wind turbine is put online
Technical specs submission, by 23/01/2018
Milestones Wind Turbine Delivery, by 15/05/2018
Test Report submission, by 20/07/2018

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1.5 MW generating capacity for wind turbine (doubly fed

Technical
induction generator), 65-meter steel monopole tower, 3
Requirements
blades, rated rotational speed 18 rpm.
Limits &
The connection to EDL substation/grid
Exclusions
WindPower agreed with the client that the link with EDL
Reviews with will not be done.
Customers WindPower agreed with the client that the power cables
will be purchased form Liban Cables.

c. What would be the recommended approach for cost estimations? Justify your answer.

A Bottom-Up approach is preferred because the client wants to see time and cost details of the
activities. Also, time is an important factor because the wind turbine will be delivered almost 2
months before the project completion date. This is why refined time and cost estimates should
be made using a bottom-up approach based on the elements of the WBS.

d. Identify 2 risk events that might impact the scope, cost, time, or quality of this project:

Risk id Risk Description

R-1 Late delivery of the wind turbine from Spain (there is only 2-month duration between the wind
turbine delivery and the project completion date).
R-2 Some project team members may not be experienced with the 1.5 MW wind turbine
installation (WindPower does not have enough experience with wind turbines above 1 MW
capacity

e. Propose a risk response (i.e. Avoid, Mitigate, …) along with planned action and contingency
for each one of the above risks. (8 points)

Risk id Risk Response/Action Contingency

R-1 Mitigate: Weekly follow-up with the Spanish If delay occurs, order the wind turbine parts by air
supplier on manufacturing status of the wind cargo (air-freight).
turbine.
R-2 Mitigate: Send the inexperience staff to visit the If technical problems still occur during
supplier in Spain to get training on the turbine installation, ask the Spanish supplier to come visit
installation. the site for supervision and technical support.

f. Would you include risk management plan in your baseline plan? Justify your answer. (5
points)

Yes, because the risk management plan:

 Is a proactive rather than a reactive approach which allows the PM to foresee risks before
they occur?
 Reduces surprises and negative consequences.
 Prepares the PM to take advantage of appropriate risks.
 Provides better control over the future.
 Improves chances of reaching project performance objectives within budget and on time.

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