CS 682 chapter4

99. Give some reasons for project changes.

(1) an omission occurred in the initial scope definition; (2) a misunderstanding occurred in the initial scope definition whereby the desired product is actually more complicated than originally communicated or perceived; (3) external events such as government regulations create new requirements; (4) organizational changes, such as mergers, acquisitions and partnerships that create new business problems and opportunities.

83. ________________ stands for project evaluation and review technique.

-PERT

72. Which of the following questions should NOT be answered during a project review?:

A) Which of the project team members are the most compatible?

56. The process of scoping, planning, staffing, organizing, and controlling the development of an acceptable system at a minimum cost within a specified time frame is:

A)Project Management

57. An ongoing activity that documents, manages the use of, and improves an organization's chosen methodology for systems development is:

B)Process Management

62. Which of the following is the estimate of the minimum amount of time it would take to perform a task?

B)optimistic duration

51. Which of the following is NOT a basic function of a project manager?

B)programming

60. Which of the following is NOT one of the five basic questions that influence project scope?:

B)the efficiency of each of the team members

59. A strategy wherein all project stakeholders participate in a multiple-day workshop to achieve consensus on project scope, schedule, resources and budget is:

C)Joint Project Planning

67. Which of the following is the sequence of dependent tasks that have the largest sum of most likely durations?

C)critical path

54. Which of the following establishes a project start date and then schedules forward from that date?

C)forward scheduling

50. Which of the following is NOT a project management cause of failed projects?

C)inadequate systems analysis and design tools

63. Which of the following is the estimate of the longest amount of time it would take to perform a task?

C)pessimistic duration

55. Which of the following establishes a project deadline and then schedules backward from that date?

C)reverse scheduling

70. Which of the following is NOT a likely reason for a change in project scope?:

C)the expectations management matrix is correct

52. Which of the following functions of the project manager is the most difficult and important function?

D)controlling

68. Which of the following is NOT shown on a PERT chart?

D)estimated duration

71. A tool for helping management understand the dynamics and impact of changing project parameters such as cost, schedule, scope and quality is:

D)expectations management matrix

64. Which of the following is the estimate of the time that will be needed to perform the task?

D)expected duration

74. Which of the following is NOT one of the 10 hints for project leadership?

D)keep -fudge- time in the schedule by not communicating -real- deadlines to team members

73. The common techniques for estimating include:

D)resource leveling

69. Which of the following is the amount of delay that can be tolerated by a non-critical task without causing a delay in the completion date of the entire project? :

D)slack time

53. Which of the following is a simple horizontal bar chart that depicts project tasks against a calendar?

E)Gantt chart

66. Which of the following is NOT one of the guidelines for selecting and recruiting team members?

E)Make the team as large as possible to assure that you have the resources to complete the project within the schedule-

58. A narrative description of the work to be performed as part of a project is:

E)all of these

61. Elapsed time takes into account which of the following factors?

E)all of these

65. Which of the following is considered a project resource?

E)all of these

96. ________________________ measures the actual amount of time that it takes to complete a task, taking into account that workers cannot possibly perform at 100% efficiency, and that interruptions increases the amount of time it takes from start to finish to complete a task.

Elapsed time

15. The project schedule should be developed based on the desired due date for project completion based on management decree.

False

16. GANTT is an acronym that stands for Group Activity Network Time Table.

False

19. A Gantt chart is a graphical network model that depicts a project's tasks and the relationships between those tasks.

False

23. Rapid application development (RAD) is a strategy wherein all project stakeholders participate in a short duration project management workshop, which results in a consensus agreement on the project scope, schedule, resources, budget and quality.

False

25. A PERT chart depicts the WBS or Work Breakdown Structure.

False

28. Joint project planning (JPP) is a hierarchical decomposition of the project into phases, activities and tasks.

False

29. Optimistic duration is the estimation of the maximum amount of time that it would take to perform a task.

False

31. Pessimistic duration is the estimation of the minimum amount of time that it would take to perform a task.

False

36. Forward scheduling establishes a project deadline forward into the future, and then schedules backwards from that date.

False

4. A common and effective project management technique is to assign more people to the team if a project gets behind schedule.

False

40. The critical path for a project is that sequence of dependent tasks that have the shortest sum of pessimistic durations. The critical path determines the latest possible completion date of a project.

False

42. The inefficiency of workers is known as slack time.

False

43. It is uncommon for project scope to grow out of control even when a properly completed statement of work was agreed on early in the planning process.

False

44. When a properly completed statement of work is agreed upon at the start of the planning process, it is unlikely that changes in project scope will occur.

False

47. Once management has committed to a project, it is not possible for them to change the funding allocated to the project, or to change the deadline of the project.

False

49. "Identify Business Requirements" is an example of a milestone.

False

6. One key to successful project management is to commit to a fixed budge and schedule as early as possible and then stick to it.

False

9. Cost overruns are not a reason for project failure.

False

78. ________________ is the uncontrolled addition of technical features to a system under development without regard to schedule and budget.

Feature creep

85. What are the four types of intertask dependencies that determine the start or completion of tasks?

Finish to Start (the finish of one task triggers the start of another task); Start to Start (the start of one task triggers the start of another task); Finish to Finish (two tasks must finish at the same time); and Start to Finish (the start of one task signifies the finish of another task).

84. ________________ establishes a project start date and then schedules forward from that date.

Forward scheduling

89. A ________________________ is a simple horizontal bar chart that depicts project tasks against a calendar.

Gantt chart

94. ____________________________ is a strategy wherein all project stakeholders participate in a short duration project management workshop, which results in a consensus agreement on the project scope, schedule, resources, and budget.

Joint project planning (JPP)

81. ________________ are events that signify major accomplishments or events during a project.

Milestones

95. _______________________________ is the estimated minimum amount of time needed to complete a task.

Optimistic duration

77. ________________ is a graphical model that depicts a project as a series of events and milestones that are dependent on one another.

PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique)

91. ________________________ identifies the required tasks to complete the project based on the project goal.

Planning

79. ________________ is an ongoing activity that documents, manages the use of and improves an organization's chosen methodology for systems development. It is concerned with the activities, deliverables, and quality standards to be applied to all projects.

Process management

90. _____________________ defines the boundaries of a project.

Scope

75. ________________ is the unexpected growth of user expectations and business requirements for an information system as the project progresses.

Scope creep

76. List the basic functions of a project manager.

Scoping the project, Planning project tasks and staffing the project team; Estimating task requirements from time, resource and skills points of view; Organizing and scheduling the project effort; Directing and controlling the project; Closing and evaluating the project at its conclusion

1. Project management is the process of scoping, planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and controlling the development of an acceptable system at a minimum cost within a specified time frame.

True

10. A Gantt chart is a simple horizontal bar chart that depicts project tasks against a calendar.

True

11. Each bar on a Gantt chart represents a named project task.

True

12. Scope defines the boundaries of a project.

True

13. Planning identifies the required tasks to complete the project based on the project goal.

True

14. The project schedule should be developed with an understanding of the required tasks, task duration, and task prerequisites.

True

17. A project manager must demonstrate people management skills to coordinate, delegate, motivate, advise, appraise, and reward team members.

True

18. The project manager must monitor and report progress against goals, schedule, and costs, and make appropriate adjustments when necessary.

True

2. The causes of failed projects include shortcuts taken during the project, expectations mismanagement, lack of or unreasonably precise targets, poor estimating techniques, budget overruns, missed schedules, and lack of management and leadership.

True

20. PERT charts were developed to make clear the interdependence between project tasks.

True

21. Gantt charts clearly show the overlapping tasks, that is, the tasks that can be performed at the same time.

True

22. Some project management competencies cannot be taught in a class but must be learned through business experience.

True

24. A statement of work is a narrative description of the work to be performed as part of a project.

True

26. The answers to five basic questions influence the negotiation of project scope: (1) product; (2) quality; (3) time; (4) cost; and (5) resources.

True

27. Scope defines both the boundaries of what is included in the system, as well as what is considered outside of the project.

True

3. Feature creep is the uncontrolled addition of technical features to a system under development without regard to schedule and budget.

True

30. Optimistic duration is the estimation of the minimum amount of time that it would take to perform a task.

True

32. Elapsed time measures the actual amount of time that it takes to complete a task, taking into account that workers cannot possibly perform at 100% efficiency, and that interruptions increases the amount of time it takes from start to finish to complete a task.

True

33. The expected duration of a task is the estimation of how much time will be required to perform the task by taking into account potential interruptions or delays that are likely to occur.

True

34. Milestones have no duration.

True

35. Forward scheduling establishes a project start date and then schedule forward from that date. Based on the planned duration of required tasks, their interdependencies and the allocation of resources to complete those tasks, a projected project completion date is calculated.

True

37. The availability of resources, especially people and facilities, can significantly alter the project schedule.

True

38. Resource leveling is a strategy used to correct resource over-allocations by some combination of delaying or splitting tasks.

True

39. The critical path for a project is that sequence of dependent tasks that have the largest sum of most likely durations. The critical path determines the earliest possible completion date of a project.

True

41. The slack time available for any non-critical task is the amount of delay that can be tolerated between the starting time and completion time of a task without causing a delay in the completion date of the entire project.

True

45. Change is frequently a point of contention between the customer and the information systems organization, because they disagree on whether a particular function is a change or a part of the initial agreement.

True

46. An expectations management matrix shows that if project scope changes then cost and/or schedule must also change.

True

48. An expectations management matrix is a tool for helping management understand the dynamics and impact of changing project parameters such as cost, schedule, scope and quality.

True

5. A project is considered successful if, (1) the resulting information system is acceptable to the customer; (2) the system was delivered on time; (3) the system was within budget; and (4) the system development process had a minimal impact on ongoing business operations.

True

7. Over-optimism is the tendency for systems analysts and project managers to fail to recognize that project slips in one phase or activity can cause corresponding slips in many other phases and activities, and contribute to cost overruns.

True

8. If the project's importance changes during the project, or if the management or the business reorganizes, projects should be reassessed for compatibility with those changes and their importance to the business.

True

97. The __________________________________ is the sequence of dependent tasks that determines the largest sum of most likely durations.

critical path

100. A(n) __________________________________________ is a tool for helping management understand the dynamics and impact of changing project parameters such as cost, schedule, scope and quality.

expectations management matrix

86. The project management causes of ___________________________ include shortcuts taken during the project, expectations mismanagement, lack of or unreasonably precise targets, poor estimating techniques, budget overruns, missed schedules, and lack of management and leadership.

failed projects

93. PERT charts were developed to make clear the _____________________ between project tasks before those tasks are scheduled.

interdependence

92. A _____________________________ must demonstrate people management skills to coordinate, delegate, motivate, advise, appraise, and reward team members.

project manager

87. _________________ is a strategy for correcting resource overallocations.

resource leveling

82. The ________________ available for any task is equal to the difference between the earliest and latest completion times.

slack time

98. The ____________________________________ available for any non-critical task is the amount of delay that can be tolerated between the starting time and completion time of a task without causing a delay in the completion date of the entire project.

slack time

88. A project is considered ______________________ if, (1) the resulting information system is acceptable to the customer; (2) the system was delivered on time; (3) the system was within budget; and (4) the system development process had a minimal impact on ongoing business operations.

successful

80. A ________________ is a hierarchical decomposition of the project into phases, activities, and tasks.

work breakdown structure