Operations Management - Project Management

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the Operations Management lecture on Project Management.

Project

A temporary and customized initiative consisting of many smaller tasks and activities that must be coordinated and completed on time and within budget.

Project Management

Planning, directing, and controlling resources to meet the technical, cost, and time constraints of a project.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Defines the hierarchy of project tasks, subtasks, and work packages.

Activities

Discrete tasks that consume resources and time.

Immediate Predecessors

Activities that must be completed immediately before an activity may start.

Project Network

A network consisting of nodes and arcs that define the precedence relationships between activities.

Critical Path

Sequence of activities that takes the longest time and defines the total project completion time.

Earliest Start (ES)

Earliest possible date on which an activity can start.

Earliest Finish (EF)

Earliest possible date on which an activity can be completed.

Latest Start (LS)

Latest possible date that an activity may begin without delaying the project completion.

Latest Finish (LF)

Latest possible date an activity can be completed without delaying the project completion.

Slack Time

The length of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project.

Forward Pass

Proceeding through a project diagram from start to finish to determine the earliest start and finish times for each activity.

Backward Pass

Proceeding through a project diagram from finish to start to determine the latest start and finish times for each activity.

Crashing a Project

Reducing the total time to complete the project to meet a revised due date.

Crash Time

Shortest possible time the activity can realistically be completed

Crash Cost

Total additional cost associated with completing an activity in its crash time rather than in its normal time.

Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

An approach to project management developed to handle uncertainties in activity completion times.

Optimistic Time

Activity time under ideal conditions.

Most Probable Time

Most likely activity time under normal conditions.

Pessimistic Time

Activity time if breakdowns or serious delays occur.