Dependency Determination

Correct Answer: Contract terms and delivery milestones

Contract terms and delivery milestones are the most critical consideration when establishing dependencies with external vendors in project scheduling because: 1. They are legally binding commitments that form the basis of the project schedule 2. They define specific dates, deliverables, and expectations that must be met 3. They impact the critical path and overall project timeline 4. They establish clear accountability and performance metrics Why other options are less suitable: Resource availability and capacity limitations, while important, are secondary to contractual obligations and should be addressed during contract negotiations. Team preferences and historical working patterns are subjective factors that should not drive schedule dependencies with vendors - contractual agreements take precedence. Communication protocols and escalation procedures, though necessary, are operational details that support the execution of contractual deliverables rather than being primary scheduling considerations.

Correct Answer: Physical limitations of the work process

The primary basis for establishing mandatory relationships between activities in a project schedule is driven by physical limitations of the work process. This is because physical limitations represent hard constraints that cannot be changed, such as: - You must pour the foundation before building walls - Paint must dry before applying a second coat - Concrete must cure before adding load These physical dependencies are based on natural laws and technical requirements that must be followed regardless of preferences or other factors. The other options are less valid because: - Organizational preferences and historical practices are discretionary dependencies that can be changed if needed - Resource allocation requirements are soft constraints that can be adjusted through resource leveling and optimization - Stakeholder preferences are also discretionary and can be negotiated or modified based on project needs

Correct Answer: Finish-to-Start with a quality review lag time

The Finish-to-Start relationship with quality review lag time is the most appropriate dependency type between quality testing and product development tasks. Here's why: Product development must be completed before meaningful quality testing can begin. This creates a natural Finish-to-Start relationship where: - Development work must finish before testing starts - A lag time is typically needed for preparation and setup of testing environments - This sequence ensures that a stable version of the product is available for testing The other options are less suitable because: Start-to-Start with mandatory checkpoints would require testing to begin alongside development, which is premature and inefficient. Finish-to-Finish with overlapping phases could lead to incomplete testing of final development changes. Start-to-Finish with concurrent validation is impractical as testing cannot validate features that haven't been developed yet. The Finish-to-Start relationship maintains clear dependencies and ensures proper sequencing of development and testing activities while accommodating necessary preparation time through lag.