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CMA Intermediate · Operations Management and Strategic Management

Project Management, Monitoring and Control for CMA Inter

Project management is planning, scheduling and controlling a one-time set of activities to finish on time, within budget and to the required quality. To solve numericals, draw the network, find the critical path with forward and backward passes, compute PERT probabilities, crash the cheapest critical activities, then compare progress with the plan.

What this chapter covers

This chapter in Paper 9 teaches how a one-off project is organised from idea to closure. You start with the project life cycle and the Work Breakdown Structure, which turn a large job into small, measurable activities. Then you move to the numerical core: network diagrams, the Critical Path Method (CPM), PERT with three time estimates, and crashing.

The last part is about control. Once a project starts, you track progress against plan, spot delays or cost overruns, and level resources so that no resource is overloaded. This is mostly theory, but it uses the same network ideas you learned earlier.

The chapter connects to the rest of the paper in two ways. On the operations side, it sits alongside planning, scheduling and capacity topics. On the strategic side, projects are how strategies get executed, so questions can link project control to strategy implementation. Treat it as the chapter where the paper turns numerical.

This chapter is one of the few in Paper 9 where you can score full marks by following a fixed method. Network problems have one right answer, and the working earns step marks even if a later figure goes wrong. The theory parts are short and easy to write as points. The same chapter can also supply standalone MCQs on terms like float, critical path, crash cost and expected time, so a few days of focused practice help in both Section A and the descriptive questions.

Project Management, Monitoring and Control: topics in the order to study them

  1. 1Project Management Basics and Life CycleIt gives you the vocabulary of project, phases, constraints and stakeholders that every later topic assumes.
  2. 2Project Planning and Work Breakdown StructureYou must know how a project is split into activities and sequenced before you can draw any network.
  3. 3Network Analysis: CPMThis builds the core skill of drawing the network, forward and backward pass, float and critical path.
  4. 4PERT and Probability of CompletionIt reuses the CPM network and adds three time estimates, variance and normal-distribution probability.
  5. 5Project Crashing and Time-Cost Trade-offCrashing needs a correct critical path first, so it comes after CPM and PERT.
  6. 6Project Monitoring, Control and Resource LevellingIt closes the chapter by showing how the plan is tracked and adjusted once work is under way.

How to prepare Project Management, Monitoring and Control

Spend the first session on theory and the rest on repeated numerical practice. Network questions are learned by drawing, not by reading.

  1. Read the life cycle phases and constraints once, then write them from memory as a short list.
  2. Practise breaking a simple project, such as a product launch or a building job, into a WBS with activities and predecessors.
  3. Solve CPM problems by hand: draw the network, do the forward pass, the backward pass, then write float for each activity and mark the critical path.
  4. For PERT, memorise expected time = (O + 4M + P) ÷ 6 and variance = ((P − O) ÷ 6)². Add variances only along the critical path, then use Z = (target − expected duration) ÷ standard deviation.
  5. For crashing, calculate the crash cost per unit of time for each activity, shorten the cheapest critical activity first, and recheck the critical path after every step.
  6. Prepare control and resource levelling as points with a one-line meaning each, and add a small example of progress against plan.
  7. Finish with a timed set: ten MCQs, then one full numerical question written in a clean layout with a table of activities.

Common mistakes in Project Management, Monitoring and Control

  • Taking the longest path wrongly or missing a parallel path when finding the critical path.

    Fix: Complete both passes and confirm that the critical activities have zero total float. Check the path total against the project duration.

  • Adding the variances of all activities in PERT instead of only critical ones.

    Fix: Mark the critical path first, then sum variances only for those activities and take the square root for the standard deviation.

  • Using standard deviation where variance is needed, or adding standard deviations.

    Fix: Write variance for each activity, add variances, then take the square root once at the end.

  • Crashing a non-critical activity, or crashing without rechecking the critical path.

    Fix: Choose the cheapest critical activity within its crash limit, redraw the times, and check whether another path has become critical before the next step.

  • Writing the answer as a block of text with no activity table.

    Fix: Show a table with activity, predecessor, times, earliest and latest values and float. Then state the critical path and duration clearly to earn step marks.

  • Writing generic theory on monitoring and control without tying it to a project.

    Fix: Give each point a short project example, such as a delayed supplier causing a schedule variance, and state the corrective action.

Last-day revision: Project Management, Monitoring and Control

  • A project is temporary, unique and has a defined start, end and objective.
  • The three main constraints are time, cost and scope or quality.
  • A WBS breaks the deliverable into smaller work packages that can be assigned and measured.
  • Forward pass gives earliest times; backward pass gives latest times.
  • Total float = latest start − earliest start (or latest finish − earliest finish).
  • Critical activities have zero total float; the critical path is the longest path.
  • PERT expected time = (O + 4M + P) ÷ 6.
  • PERT variance of an activity = ((P − O) ÷ 6)².
  • Project standard deviation = square root of the sum of critical-path variances.
  • Z = (target time − expected project time) ÷ project standard deviation; read probability from the normal table.
  • Crash cost per unit time = (crash cost − normal cost) ÷ (normal time − crash time).
  • Crash only critical activities, cheapest first, and recheck for new critical paths.
  • Control means comparing actual with plan, finding the variance and taking corrective action.

Project Management, Monitoring and Control practice questions

Project Management, Monitoring and Control in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Project Management, Monitoring and Control: frequently asked questions

Is Project Management, Monitoring and Control mostly numerical or theory?

It is a mix. Network analysis, PERT and crashing are numerical, while the life cycle, WBS, monitoring, control and resource levelling are theory. Prepare both, because MCQs can come from either side.

Which topic should I practise most in this chapter?

Practise CPM and PERT most, since crashing and probability questions depend on them. If you can find the critical path quickly and accurately, the rest of the numericals become much easier.

What is the difference between CPM and PERT?

CPM uses a single time estimate for each activity and is suited to work with known durations. PERT uses optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimates to get an expected time and variance, so it lets you find the probability of finishing by a target date.

Do I need statistical tables for the PERT probability?

You need to know how to convert the target time into a Z value and read the normal probability. Learn the common Z-table values and check what the question paper provides, so you are not caught out.