MIS 308 Exam 2 Ch 5 - 7

A series of coordinated, related, multiple projects that continue over an extended time period and are intended to achieve a goal is known as a

program.

Arrows on an activity-on-node (AON) project network represent

project flow and dependency.

Organizations use ___ in conjunction with work breakdown structures to help management teams identify and eventually analyze risk.

risk breakdown structures

The attempt to recognize and manage potential and unforeseen trouble spots that may occur when a project is implemented is known as

risk management.

An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on project objectives is termed a

risk.

The risk management tool that is divided into three color-coded zones representing major, moderate, and minor risks is the risk

severity matrix.

The chances of a risk event occurring as a project proceeds through its life cycle tend to

slowly drop.

The cost impact of a risk event occurring as a project proceeds through its life cycle tends to

slowly rise.

Risks that can result in a system or process that will not work are known as

technical risks.

The forward pass in project network calculations determines all of the following EXCEPT

the critical path.

Activities which can take place at the same time are termed

parallel activity.

A good starting point for developing time and cost estimates is

past experience.

A sequence of connected, dependent activities is termed a(n)

path.

What is a hammock activity and give an example?

A hammock activity identifies the use of a resource over a segment of the project. Thus its duration is determined by the duration of other activities. The example used in the text was for a color copier during specific phases of a project.

Which of the following represents an activity on an activity-on-node (AON) project network?

A node

What is a "trigger" and why is it important when planning contingencies?

A trigger is an event or point in time when the contingency plan will be implemented. It is not only important to know what you will do if a risk event actually occurs but at what point will it be implemented. This discourages implementing the plan too soon or waiting too long nd potentially increasing the negative impact of the risk.

When completing a forward pass you carry the early finish to the next activity where it becomes its early start, unless the next succeeding activity is a merge activity. In this case you select the largest early finish number of all its immediate predecessor activities. Why do you select the largest early finish number?

Acknowledging that the finish number represents the activities' early finish, the largest early finish number is selected because all preceding activities must be completed before an activity can begin. If anything less than the largest number is chosen, there will not be enough time for all preceding activities to finish.

Change management systems are designed to accomplish all of the following EXCEPT Identify expected effects of proposed changes on schedule and budget. Track all changes that are to be implemented. Reflect scope changes in baseline and performance measures. Review, evaluate, and approve/disapprove proposed changes formally. All of these

All of these

Which of the following is NOT included in a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis? Detection Probability Impact Risk value All of these

All of these

Which of the following is true of multiweighted scoring models? Will include qualitative criteria Will include quantitative criteria Projects with higher scores are considered more desirable Each criterion is assigned a weight All of these are true

All of these are true

Estimating can be challenged by Political dynamics Difficulty in predicting the future Human nature All of these choices

All of these choices

Which of the following groups should NOT be a part of the risk identification process? Project team Vendors Subcontractors Customers All of these groups can be included in the risk identification process.

All of these groups can included in the risk identification process.

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic rules to follow when developing project networks?

Conditional statements are allowed but looping statements are not allowed.

What is the relationship between organizational culture and estimating?

Cultural norms affect the accuracy of estimates.

Which of the following represents the correct order of stages within the project life cycle?

Defining, Planning, Executing, Closing

Identify the three major categories of project costs and give an example of each.

Direct costs (labor, materials, equipment) Project overhead costs (salaries of project managers, rent on space to house the project) General and administrative overhead costs (advertising, accounting, and senior management of the organization)

Which of the following correctly calculates the early finish for an activity?

ES+DUR

Which of the following will correctly calculate the total slack is an activity

Either LS-ES or LF-EF

List four reasons why estimating time and cost are important to project management.

Estimating time and cost are important to project management because they are needed to support good decisions, to schedule work, to determine how long the project should take and its cost, to determine whether the project is worth doing, to develop cash flow needs, to determine how well the project is progressing and to develop a time-phased budget.

Identify the four types of lags.

Finish-to-Start Start-to-Start Finish-to-Finish Start-to-Finish

Which of the following can be used without coordinating with managers of succeeding activities?

Free slack

Which of the following is NOT one of the factors that need to be considered to improve quality of estimates for project times and costs?

Profit

Sean is forecasting the time and cost of developing a customized software program by looking at the number of inputs, outputs, inquiries, files, and interfaces. Which of the following methods is he using?

Function point

Which of the following does NOT help describe a project network?

Highlights major deliverables and identifies their completion dates

Under what conditions would the top-down approach to estimating project times and costs be the best choice?

In the early stages of a project to help develop the initial plan, in making strategic decisions, in projects of high uncertainty, in small internal projects or in projects with an unstable scope.

Describe the relationship between the likelihood of a risk even occurring and the cost of fixing the risk event as a project proceeds through its life cycle.

In the early stages of the project life cycle the probability of a risk event occurring is greater than at any other time and the cost to fix it is lower than at any other point. As time passes the probability of occurrence drops lower and lower while the cost rises.

Which of the following is a good condition for top-down estimating?

Internal, small project.

Which of the following is NOT true regarding scope creep?

It is when the cost of the project is more than expected.

Which of the following correctly calculates the late start for an activity?

LF-DUR

Which of the following would best represent direct project costs?

Labor, materials and equipment

Which of the following is an advantage of a functional project management organization?

Maximum flexibility in the use of staff

Identify the four ways to respond to identified risks.

Mitigate the risk-involves reducing the likelihood that the event will occur and/or reducing the impact that the adverse event would have on the project Avoid the risk-changing the project plan to eliminate the risk Transfer the risk-passing a risk to another party Retain the risk-making a conscious decision to accept the risk of the event occurring

Janet is forecasting how much money her department needs to support a new project. She estimates that two people and $25,000 in expenses will cover her needs. Because management typically insists on reducing forecasts by 20 percent, she increases her estimates to allow for that reduction. Which of the following factors is illustrated in this situation?

Padding estimates

Richard is collecting estimates for a house that he will have the funding to build in 12 months. Which of the following factors does Richard need to consider in regard to the quality of these estimates

Planning horizon

Identify three out of the six factor that should be considered to improve the quality of estimates for project times and costs.

Planning horizon Project duration People Project structure and organization Padding estimates Organization culture

Ed is looking over the actual results of projects and comparing them to what was estimated. He notices that projects that took six months or longer to complete were noticeably more off the estimates. Which of the following factors is he recognizing?

Project duration

Rob is responsible for estimating a work package that has a significant amount of uncertainty associated with the time and cost to complete. Due to the uncertainty involved he will be making a low, an average and a high estimate. Rob is using which estimating approach?

Range estimating

Jose is forecasting project time and cost for constructing a new building by multiplying the total square footage by a given dollar amount. Which of the following methods is he using?

Ratio

An external view of a Mega Project based upon the outcome of similar projects undertaken in the past is known as:

Reference Class Forecasting

Identify and briefly describe the four steps in the risk management process.

Risk Identification - all possible risks are identified Risk Assessment - risks are assessed in terms of importance and need for attention Risk Response Development - plans are developed to respond if the risk actually occurs Risk Response Control - the actual response to the risk and controlling changes associated with the risks.

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps in the risk management process?

Risk tracking

The assessment of the external and internal environments is called ___ analysis

SWOT

In the network computation process what is a backward pass and what four things does it determine?

Starting with the last activity, each path is traced backward through the network, subtracting times until the beginning of the project. This determines (1) how late each activity can start, (2) how late each activity can finish, (3) the critical path, and (4) how long each activity can be delayed without changing the completion date.

Which of the following methods is NOT considered a top-down approach to estimating project time and cost?

Template

The assumption that all immediate preceding activities must be 100% complete is too restrictive in some situations. When an activity is broken down into small segments in order to start the succeeding activity sooner, this is called

laddering.

The minimum amount of time a dependent activity must be delayed to begin or end is referred to as

lag.

Risks are evaluated in terms of

likelihood and impact

What is the purpose of using tools such as a risk assessment form and a risk severity matrix?

These tools are used to assess risk. After risk identification there are many risks that are trivial and can be ignored. The risk assessment form and risk severity matrix help assess the probability of the event occurring and the impact of the event on the project. After assessment, responses are developed only for risks that pose serious threats to the welfare of the project.

Which of the following does NOT help describe a bottom-up estimating approach?

They are made by someone who uses experience and/or information from someone else to determine overall project cost and duration.

Describe phase estimating. When should it be used and how is it different from all other top-down and bottom-up methods of estimating?

This approach starts with a top-down estimated and then estimates are refined after each phase of the project. Some projects cannot be clearly defined because of their uncertainty. Phase estimating uses a two-estimate system over the life of the project. A detailed estimate is developed for the immediate phase and a macro estimate is made for the remaining phases of the project.

Identify and briefly describe the two major classifications of estimating project time and costs.

Top-down estimates are made for the project as a whole and typically made by top management. Bottom-up estimates are made at the work package level and by those responsible for completing the work packages.

Bill is building a project network that involves testing a prototype. He must design the prototype (activity 1), build the prototype (activity 2), and test the prototype (activity 3). Activity 1 is the predecessor for activity 2 and activity 2 is the predecessor for activity 3. If the prototype fails testing, Bill must redesign the prototype; therefore, activity 3 is a predecessor for activity 1. This is an example of

looping.

What is the difference between free slack and total slack?

Total slack tells us the amount of time an activity can be delayed and not delay the project. Use of total slack must be coordinated with all participants in the activities that follow in the chain. Free slack is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying any immediately following activity. It requires no coordination with other managers.

Change management systems involve reporting, controlling, and recording changes to the project baseline. T/F

True

One common mistake that is made early on in the risk identification process is to focus on consequences and not on the events that could produce consequences. T/F

True

Which of the following describes the consensus method?

Uses pooled experience of senior and/or middle managers to estimate the total project duration and cost.

What are the three different matrix systems discussed in the text?

Weak, Strong, Balanced

An activity that has more than one dependency arrow flowing into it is termed a(an)

merge activity.

How is project scope defined?

What you expect to deliver to your customer when the project is complete.

Under what conditions would the bottom-up approach to estimating project times and costs be the best choice?

When low-cost, efficient estimates are needed, when time and cost are important, when working on a fixed price contract, or when the customer wants details.

Which of the following is a good condition for bottom-up estimating?

When there is a fixed price contract.

A key distinction between a risk response and a contingency plan is

a risk response is part of the actual implementation plan and action is taken before the risk cam materialize, while a contingency plan goes into effect only after the risk has transpired.

Tools such as a risk assessment form and a risk severity matrix are used to

assess risks.

Large projects that have long time horizons and a very high complexity can be referred to as

both mega projects and white elephants.

A Responsibility Matrix will clarify

both supports and responsibilities.

Funds that are for identified risks that have a low probability of occurring and that decrease as the project progresses are called ______ reserves.

budget

A(n) ____ activity has more than one dependency arrow flowing from it.

burst

The first step of project scope definition is to

define the overall objective to meet the customer's needs.

The backward pass in project network calculations determines all of the following EXCEPT

earliest time an activity can finish.

The process of forecasting or approximating the time and cost of completing project deliverables is called

estimating.

The initial step in the risk management process is to

identify the risks.

Typically, a project sponsor is

instrumental in approving a project and key to support a project to its completion.

In practice, estimating processes are frequently classified as

top down/bottom up.

The amount of time an activity can be delayed and yet not delay the project is termed

total slack

A Risk Response Matrix contains all of the following EXCEPT

when the risk will occur.

Information to develop a project network is collected from the

work breakdown structure.

On a project network, the activity times are derived from the

work packages.