PMP Practice Questions #75
You are managing a large construction project and have been monitoring the Schedule Performance Index (SPI). Over the past three months, the SPI has consistently been less than 1 whereas the CPI is 1. What action should you take to improve the SPI to 1 or more?
A. Allocate more funds to the project to expedite processes and cover additional resources.
B. Add more resources to critical path activities to shorten the project duration.
C. Perform activities in parallel that were originally planned in sequence, where possible.
D. Eliminate or scale down certain project components to meet the original timeline.
Analysis:
In managing a large-scale construction project, you’ve observed that the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) has consistently been below 1 over the last three months, while the Cost Performance Index (CPI) is at 1. This indicates that while the project is on budget (CPI = 1), it is behind schedule (SPI < 1). The challenge is to improve the SPI to 1 or more without negatively impacting the CPI.
Analysis of Options:
Option A: Allocate more funds to the project to expedite processes and cover additional resources. This option suggests increasing the project budget to expedite processes and cover additional resources, known as crashing. However, since your CPI is already at 1, allocating more funds could negatively impact your budget adherence, potentially raising the CPI above 1.
Option B: Add more resources to critical path activities to shorten the project duration. Similar to Option A, this approach involves adding more resources to shorten the project duration, also a form of crashing. While it directly addresses the SPI issue, it risks increasing project costs, which may affect the CPI.
Option C: Perform activities in parallel that were originally planned in sequence, where possible. This option suggests reorganizing the project schedule to conduct activities in parallel that were initially planned in sequence, a technique known as fast-tracking. Fast-tracking can improve the SPI by accelerating the schedule without necessarily increasing the project costs, thus maintaining the CPI.
Option D: Eliminate or scale down certain project components to meet the original timeline. This option involves reducing the project scope to meet the original timeline. While it could improve the SPI by reducing the amount of work, it’s a significant change that requires stakeholder approval and could impact the project’s objectives and deliverables.
Conclusion: Given the need to improve the SPI without affecting the CPI, Option C (Performing activities in parallel) appears to be the most suitable. This approach aims to expedite the schedule (improving the SPI) without incurring additional costs (maintaining the CPI). Options A and B, while directly addressing the SPI, risk increasing the project costs and affecting the CPI. Option D involves a significant change in scope, which may not be feasible or desirable. Therefore, fast-tracking (Option C) is the most balanced and immediate action to address the current scheduling challeng
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
|---|---|
| Process | Task 5: Plan and manage budget and resources |
| Process | Task 6: Plan and manage schedule |
Topics Covered
- Schedule Compression (Crashing and Fast Tracking)
- Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
- Cost Performance Index (CPI)
