Chapter 2 Questions (Project Management)

What belongs in the project binder?How is the project binder organized?

All project deliverables, all internal communication, and all project documentation should be placed in the project binder. The sections of the project binder should follow the phases of the life cycle, and each deliverable produced during the project should be placed in its appropriate place.

What is the stakeholder analysis? Discuss three stakeholders that would be relevant for most projects.

Stakeholder analysis is a systematic process that identifies all parties that will be affected by a new information system, and attempts to estimate the consequences of the project for each stakeholder group. a. The system champion: The system champion is the person or group who initiates the project and provides support for it. b. The system users: The users are the individuals who will work with the system once it is implemented. c. The organization's management: The organization management commits resources to the project and has an interest in seeing those resources be used to improve the functioning of the organization.

What process do we use to estimate systems development based on use cases?

Use-case point-based estimation also has a set of factors that are used to adjust the use-case point value.

Why should system request be created by a business person?

Usually the system originates with a businessperson as he understands the need for the system or system improvement in the business unit and will have a much better idea of the value of the proposed system or improvement and therefore is in a better position to create a meaningful system request.

Create a list of potential risks that could affecr the outcome of a project

Weak personnel, scope creep, poor design decisions, overly optimistic project estimates

Describe a risky project in terms of technical feasibility. Describe a project that would not be considered risky.

a. A project that would be technically risky would be one that is large in scale, utilizes technology that we have little or no experience with, and is for a business area that is new and unfamiliar to the organization. b. A project that would not be considered technically risky would be one that is small in scale, uses technology that is well understood, and is for a business area that is very familiar to the users and developers.

What is the break-even point for the project? How is it calculated?

a. Break-even point is defined as the point in time at which the costs of the project equal the value it has delivered. b. It is determined by looking at the cash flow over time and identifying the year in which the benefits are greater than the costs.

Describe three types of standards and provide examples of each.

a. Coding standards define the content and structures that are to be used in programs. An example would be that all programs are to be written following structured programming guidelines. b. Procedural standards define processes that are to be followed by all team members. An example would be required attendance at a weekly team progress meeting, and required honest progress reporting at that meeting. c. User interface design standards create a common understanding of the appearance and functioning of the screens the end users see. An example would be to create a standard group of icons that are used consistently on all screens.

Describe three technical skills and three interpersonal skills that are very important to have on any project.

a. Desirable technical skills might include programming experience in the chosen programming language, experience in configuring the hardware and communications technology platform correctly, and experience in utilizing the file/database environment effectively. b. Desirable interpersonal skills might include interviewing skills, negotiation skills, and conflict resolution skills.

What is an evolutionary WBS? How does it address the problems associated with a conventional WBS?

a. Evolutionary work breakdown structure allows the project manager to provide more realistic estimates for each iteration or build of a system. b. First, they are organized in a standard manner across all projects: by workflows, phases, and then tasks. c. Second, evolutionary WBSs are created in an incremental and iterative manner. d. Third, since the structure of an evolutionary WBS is not tied to any specific project, evolutionary WBSs enable the comparison of the current project to earlier projects.

Compare and contrast the Gantt chart with the network diagram.

a. Gantt Chart: In the Gantt chart, horizontal bars are drawn to represent the duration of each task, and as people work on tasks, the appropriate bars are filled in proportionately to how much of the task is finished. b. Network Diagram: PERT, which stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique, is a network analysis technique that can be used when the individual task time estimates are fairly uncertain.

What is an iterative workplan?

a. Iterative work plans better fit the typical methodologies associated with object-oriented systems development. b. They allow the project manager to provide more realistic estimates for each iteration or build of a system.

Three examples of business needs.

a. Maintain or improve the competitive position b. Perform a business function more efficiently c. Take advantage of a new business opportunity

Name two ways to identify the tasks that need to be accomplished over the course of a project.

a. One approach for identifying tasks is to get a list of tasks that has already been developed and to modify it. b. The second approach would be the top to down approach whereby the high-level tasks are defined and then these are broken down into subtasks.

List two intangible benefits. Describe how these benefits can be quantified.

a. One example of an intangible benefit is reduced response time to customer requests. b. A second example of an intangible benefit is improved customer satisfaction.

What is scope creep, and how can it be managed?

a. Scope creep is the most common reason for schedule and cost overruns. b. The main factor contributing to this is when new requirements are added to the project after the original project scope was defined and frozen. c. The first thing that a project manager needs to do is to allow only absolute necessary requirements to be added after the project begins. d. Any change that is implemented should be carefully tracked so that an audit trail exists to measure the change's impact.

What is difference between intangible and tangible value? Give three examples of each?

a. Tangible Value: Tangible value can be quantified and measured easily. Tangible value represents the benefits from the systems that are quantifiable and measurable. b. Example: (a) increased sales (b) reduced operating costs (c) reduced interest costs etc... c. Intangible Value: An intangible value results from an intuitive belief that the system provides important, but hard-to-measure benefits to the organization. Intangible value represents benefits that are real, but are difficult to quantify and measure. Example: (a) increased customer satisfaction (b) improved decision making (c) better competitive positioning, etc.

Describe the differences between a technical lead and a functional lead. How are they similar?

a. Technical Lead: The technical lead is typically a project team member who supervises the programmers and more technically oriented project staff. b. Functional Lead: The functional lead is a team member who oversees the systems and business analysts on the team. c. Both positions report to the project manager, and are responsible for managing, controlling, and coordinating the work of their assigned team members

Describe three techniques for feasibility analysis.

a. Technical feasibility: Technical feasibility looks at the capability of the organization to successfully develop the proposed system. b. Economic feasibility: Economic feasibility addresses the economic justification of the project. c .Organizational feasibility: Organizational feasibility evaluates whether the system is likely to be accepted and used by the organization.

What are the best ways to motivate a team? What are the worst ways?

a. Technically oriented people are motivated by recognition, achievement, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and the chance to learn new skills. b. The worst ways to motivate technical staff include setting unrealistic deadlines, failing to recognize good effort, accepting low quality output, rewarding all team members monetarily regardless of work quality, failing to include team members in important project decisions, and providing poor working conditions.

Purpose of an approval committee? Who is on committee

a. The approval committee generally serves as the decision making body regarding business investments in information systems projects. b. This approval committee could be a company steering committee that meets regularly to make information systems decisions, a senior executive who has control of organizational resources, or any other decision-making body that governs the use of business investments.

Explain the net present value and return on investment for a cost-benefit analysis. Why would these calculations be used?

a. The net present value (NPV) method compares the present values of the project's cash inflows and outflows. b. The return on investment (ROI) method simply compares the total net cash flows from the project with the total outflows in aggregate. c. These calculations are used to show the committee where the project stands.

What are purposes of system request and the feasibility analysis? How are they used in project selection?

a. The purpose of the system request is to initiate a systems project. b. A system request is a document that describes the business reasons for building a system and the value that the system is expected to provide. c. The feasibility analysis represents a more detailed investigation into the proposed system outlined in the system request.

What are the trade-offs that project managers must manage?

a. The size of the system (in terms of what it does) b. The time to complete the project (when the project will be finished) c. The cost of the project.

What are the problems associated with conventional WBSs?

a. They tend to be focused on the design of the information system being developed. b. They tend to force too many levels of detail very early on in the SDLC for large projects or they tend to allow too few levels of detail for small projects. c. Since they are project specific, they are very difficult to compare across projects.

What is timeboxing, and why is it used?

a. Timeboxing is a technique that is used to organize a project when time is a critical issue. b. With timeboxing, a fixed deadline is established, and the project team prioritizes the functionality of the system so that the essential features are delivered within the set deadline.

List two intangible benefits and two operational costs for a system. How would you determine the values that should be assigned to each?

a. Two tangible benefits are: an increase in sales and a decrease in noncollectable accounts receivable. b. Operational costs are the ongoing costs associated with the new system, and are fairly easy to determine objectively.

Why do many projects end up having unreasonable deadlines? How should a project manager react to unreasonable demands?

a. Unreasonable deadlines are often the consequence of trying to complete the project to accomplish some business goal rather than being based on a realistic assessment of how long the project will actually take to complete. b. If the time deadline is immovable, then the project manager should employ time boxing to negotiate a narrowed project scope that will be achievable in the time allotted.

What is a use-case point? For what is it used?

a. Use-case points is a use cases based project effort estimation approach, which was originally developed based on unique features of use cases and object orientation. b. From a practical point of view, to estimate effort using use-case points, the use cases and the use-case diagram must have been created.

Describe two special issues that may be important to list on a system request.

Environmental factors and competitive factors

List three techniques to reduce conflict.

Clearly define the roles on the project, hold team members accountable for their assigned tasks, develop detailed operating procedures and make sure the team members understand them, have each team member commit to the project charter.

What are the steps for assessing economic feasibility? Describe each step.

The four steps for assessing economic feasibility are: a. Identify costs and benefits of the proposed system. b. Assign values to the costs and benefits. c. Determine the cash flow of the project over the analysis period. d. Determine the project's investment return.

Some companies hire consulting firms to develop the initial project plans and manage the project but use their own analysts and programmers to develop the system. Why do you think some companies do this?

They use their own staff to initiate and manage projects but hire consultants, temporary personnel, or outsourcing firms to do the actual programming