Project Management
True or False. A projectized organization has less clearly defined lines of reporting than the other types of organizations.
False, In a projectized organization, lines of authority are clear. In addition, the project manager has full authority.
A firm begins its strategic business initiative of developing a new business model that will allow the firm to deliver an efficient, tailored service to its customers. To accomplish this, the firm initiates a business management project. Which aspect of project management applies to this firm's project?
Interdependent Tasks
A general contractor from Germany is managing a construction project in Norway that will add a new conference room to an existing office building. The project needs to collect requirements from the client prior to developing plans to build the new conference room. Which two actions would prove useful to plan the project's quality?
(1) Defining traceable and verifiable requirements that can be validated at project closure (2) Establishing metrics that describe what to measure and how to measure it
Each project team member generated a series of questions to evaluate three projects. The checklist was compiled into one list based on frequency of question content, such as personnel, materials, experience, and time. The more frequent the question content, the more likely the questions would be asked first. Which two benefits result from this checklist approach?
(1) Operational impact has been built in (2) Strategic impact has been integrated.
Which two processes are considered iterative processes?
(1) Planning (2) Executing
The general manager of a hotel has asked for a project to put in new landscaping around the building. The project manager has constructed a high-level work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project, which is provided below. WBS ID Description 1.0 Landscaping 1.1 Plans 1.2 Site preparation 1.3 Sprinklers 1.4 Sidewalks and curbing 1.5 Planting Which activity would it be logical to add to the approved high-level WBS to provide more detail on the work to be accomplished?
1.5.1 Lay sod
The project team is determining the duration for upgrading the software on the app used on its mobile devices. An experienced technician took 15 minutes to complete the task. Two other new technicians will be assisting. They have performed a few upgrades on mobile devices, desktop computers, and laptop computers, which took one technician approximately 25 minutes and the other 20 minutes to upgrade. Using three-point estimating, how many minutes will it take for each upgrade performed?
20
The project team is determining the duration for upgrading the software on the app used on its mobile devices. An experienced technician took 10 minutes to complete the task. Two other new technicians will be assisting and have little experience in software upgrades on mobile devices or desktop and laptop computers. One technician took approximately 28 minutes, while the other technician took 31 minutes to complete the task. Using three-point estimation, how many minutes will it take for each upgrade performed?
23
_____ consists of the activities, methods, tactics, etc. that will be employed to meet business goals.
A business strategy
What is the waterfall method
A traditional practice which found its best use in software and hardware development
What is a key project management motivator
Achievement of business results
A project manager is creating a list of anticipated project tasks while building a calendarized budget. What is the key component of this budget called?
Activity estimates
A good way to improve the results of a scoring model is to _____
Add weighting factors to each item
What is another name for the lessons learned review that is often used by the military and other uniformed services?
After action report
What is Agile project management
An iterative approach to project management where the project team works closely with the customer to deliver projects in usable chunks
What is a specific example of monitoring
Assessing whether the project plan is being implemented as designed
Each project team member generated a series of questions to evaluate three projects. A checklist was then compiled into one list based on the frequency of question content, such as personnel, materials, experience, and time. What is a disadvantage of using this checklist approach?
Biases have not been eliminated.
What does the project selection process involve
Both evaluating and prioritizing the project proposals
What are some examples of a product that a project creates
Buildings such as houses, libraries, and schools
Which tool could a project manager use to ensure that the project team will address the items that are important when developing and defining the project's scope?
Checklist
All other factors being equal, the project with the shortest payback period is _____
Chosen
Which group is included in the five process groups?
Closing process group
A project plan which involves a product with many parts and contributors is an example of _____
Complexity
In Project A, the contract specifies that time is very important. All of the scope must be completed, or the project will fail. The project's objective requires the project team to work as quickly as possible. Which triple constraint can be adjusted to permit the project team to work as quickly as possible?
Cost
Projects are important to organizations because they provide organizations with the opportunity to
Create or improve products and services
Projects are important to organizations because they provide organizations with the opportunity to...
Create or improve products and services
A project manager has identified activities in a calendarized budget. What is the appropriate next planning action this project manager should take to utilize the cost, duration, and sequencing information for these activities?
Creating project schedules
Using a weighted factor scoring model, the project team's ratings for each criteria are multiplied by which factor
Criterion weight
What is CCPM
Critical chain project management focuses on managing the uncertainties of a project, and relies heavily on the theory of constraints and limited resources
What is CPM
Critical path method, is used to estimate project activity durations and assumes that the estimates do not vary and time can reliably estimated
What is the initiating process to get a project started
Defining, creating, identifying, documenting, evaluating, completing
What is the correct term for an intermediate outcome of project work, such as a signed contract or obtaining a construction permit?
Deliverable
When adding the consideration of the time value of money to a payback period model, cash flows are _____ to reflect a more accurate estimate for the payback period
Discounted
A project being considered due to competitive necessity _____ require a proposal with justification, cost estimates, and schedule estimates
Does
Scoring criteria can be _____ in form
Either quantitative or qualitative
What is a communication tenet for conflict resolution
Establish expectations for the team on what they are to do, how they should communicate with each other and what to do if there are issues.
True or False. A checklist provides numerical values for attributes to compare different scenarios
False, Checklists only provide answers to questions about the project; no numerical values are assigned.
True or False. When calculating NPV, any one time expenses do not need to be included
False, NPV includes all incomes and all expenses
Net Present Value (NPV) is the amount of money that needs to be invested today to have a specified amount of money at some specific future date
False, NPV includes more than just the amount of money invested today. It includes all expenses and all revenues, and takes time value of money into account.
True or False. Project checklists are always a quick and simple approach to project selection
False, Project checklists can include hundreds of items with many participants
True or False. Typical project execution involves a fixed team of people who stay on throughout its duration
False, Project execution can be very dynamic, with people joining and exiting the project tam throughout the project
True or False. The selection criteria determines if the initiative is a project, program, or portfolio
False, The criteria used to accept or reject has nothing to do with an initiative being a project, program, or portfolio.
True or False. A project is defined as part of the planning process
False, The project is defined earlier, during the initiating processes
True or False. "Sacred Cow" projects are never canceled.
False, They may be canceled once the project sponsor understands the lack of justification for continuing
True or False. Traditional management method approaches work well in situations where the project outcome has not yet been clearly defined
False, Traditional management methods are best suited to situations where the project outcome is clearly defined
True or False. A project that will be developed using a newly released technology is ideal for a traditional project management approach
False, Traditional project management methods are better suited to projects which use known/stable technologies
True or False. Checklists assign weights to each selection criteria
False, checklists are not weighted but are basically a list of questions about the characteristics of the project
Which activity is accomplished as part of the planning process of a project?
Finalizing the project schedule
In which structure does the PM have little or no formal authority
Functional
Which organizational structure is most often represented in corporation shareholder reports and organizational reports
Functional
Which activity is accomplished as part of the executing process of a project?
Implementing the project plan
To calculate future cash flows using time and interest rate
Internal rate of return
Which financial concept used for project selection evaluates projects in the same way that financial investments are evaluated
Internal rate of return
What is PMBOK
It is a standard that identifies the best practices which can be applied across projects and evironments
What is the term "alignment" in project management
It is used to describe connecting project outcomes to company goals
What is a challenge to effective project management
Lack of clear and direct strategic alignment with the specific project
What is the name for the closing task where all project activities are reviewed to determine what went right and what went wrong?
Lessons learned review
Why is having an appropriate project selection method important
Limited resources
Which advantage does the functional (departmentalized) organizational structure provide for a firm with multiple projects?
Lines of authority are clear.
A _____ has less clearly defined lines of reporting than other types of organizations
Matrix organization
What is a possible shortcoming of using a project selection model
Models are singular in their vision of reality
Money in possession now is worth _____ money in the future
More than
The financial measure of the total future benefits of a project minus the costs of the project is called
Net present value
Are operating necessity projects always approved
No, they must be justified
Using a scoring model, criteria are selected for scoring based on the company's _____
Objectives
What describes the on-going, daily activities of an organization that produces revenue and expense
Operations
_____ are the on-going, daily activities of an organization that produces revenue and expense.
Operations
What information does a resource histogram display that can help during the planning phase of the project?
Opportunities to level resource usage patterns
To calculate the alternative use of money
Opportunity cost
What are the traditional project management methods that are best practices
PERT, CPM, critical chain, waterfall, and PRINCE2
What does PRINCE2 stand for?
PRojects IN a Controlled Environment
The project scope, budget, and schedule created and approved through the planning process will become the standard for _____
Performance measurement
The traditional project management approach of four linear phases is: define, _____, execute, close.
Plan
A _____ is a group of related programs which support a long term company goal or objective.
Portfolio
What is a group of related programs which support a long term company goal or objective
Portfolio
If the future benefits exceed the costs of the project, the NPV is _____
Positive
A _____ is a group of related projects.
Program
A _____ is an activity or group of activities to generate a new, unique product, service, or results to support a program.
Project
A shorter payback period is obtained if _____ is reduced or if _____ is increased.
Project cost, Monthly return
What is PERT
Project evaluation and review technique is used to estimate activity duration times using a statistical approach.
The Project Management Institute defines _____ as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities."
Project management
What is the act of running a project using the knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to ensure that the project meets its goals
Project management
A firm begins a strategic business initiative of developing a new business model that will allow the firm to deliver an efficient, tailored service to its customers.
Project sponsor
Every _____ and project manager should be aware of the impact of project management challenges and anticipate how to avoid them in order to ensure the success of their projects
Project sponsor
Every _____ and project manager should be aware of the impact of project management challenges and anticipate how to avoid them in order to ensure the success of their projects.
Project sponsor
In which organization do subject matter experts from different functional areas report directly to the project manager for a specific project
Projectized
In which organization do subject matter experts from different functions directly report to the project manager for a specific project
Projectized
What are temporary endeavors with a specified start and end date that exist to develop a unit product, service, or result
Projects
What is PRINCE2
Projects in controlled environments focuses on the specification of the outputs rather than the coordination of activities
Models are representations of _____
Reality
Which activity is accomplished during the closing process of a project?
Reconciling the vendor accounts
What is a characteristic of a project that is well-suited to traditional project management methods
Risks are low and identifiable
A project's _____, budget, and schedule are developed during the planning processes.
Scope
Traditional project management methods are characterized by _____ steps
Sequential
A _____ is received from the customer during the project's closing
Sign-off
Numeric selection is _____ based on profit/loss projections
Sometimes
Scoring models are _____ numeric
Sometimes
Which report is often updated in an online collaboration tool and published weekly
Team status reports
What is a factor that contributes to uncertainty in project management
Technologies being used
What is a specific example of controlling
Terminating a project because its outcomes are no longer needed
The Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified associate in Project Management (CAPM) certifications are offered by which organization
The Project Management Institute (PMI)
What is internal rate of return?
The discount amount when present value of cash intake equals the original investment
Which process involves determining who the project's stakeholders are?
The initiating process
What is project selection
The process of identifying which projects an organization will undertake.
What happens once the initiating processes are completed
The project charter is issued
What gets created during the executing process
The project outcomes
What is an advantage of the functional organization
There is flexibility in the use of staff
What is the purpose of cost variance (CV) analysis?
To determine if a project is meeting budget expectations
True or False. A checklist can be changed to a scoring model by adding a rating scale to the checklist
True, A scoring model is, essentially, a checklist with ratings (scores) assigned to each item.
True or False. Integration control is one of the processes of monitoring and controlling
True, Integration control is another term for keeping the project activities in sync
True or False. A project maturity model is a process for determining if the level of documentation and best practices are followed in executing projects
True, Maturity level is based on comprehensiveness of written procedures to accomplish tasks
True or False. At level 4 of the OPM3, more refined project management standards, processes, methods, procedures, and staff are in place
True, Metrics are in place to collect performance data across all projects at level 4
True or False. The discount rate can be equivalent to the interest rate that would be paid to a bank.
True, The discount rate can be based on bank interest rates as well as other comparative rates for acquiring capital
True or False. A project charter is signed after all the steps of the processes of initiating are completed
True, The final step of the processes of initiating is issuing the project charter, if the project is approved.
True or False. The customer is often unable to fully define the desired outcome of a project
True, This is one of the uncertainties that must be considered when selecting an appropriate project management method
True or False. Companies can incur great expense during the planning processes of a project
True, Though they can be costly, the planning processes of a project can ensure smooth execution and eliminate even costlier re-planning later in the project
True or False. The concept of IRR is a numeric measure
True, this is a financial calculation
True or False. The concept of IRR uses time value of money
True, this is a financial calculation using time and an interest rate.
The ABC Company is beginning a project that is ideal for traditional project management methods because its scope is _____
Unlikely to change
The best way to do a scoring model is with what
Use a group of scorers
using traditional project management methods in a _____ environment can result in changes to project scope, budget, and/or costs
Volatile
What aspect of a project must be assessed during the planning process to ensure that a project is a good match for traditional project management methods
Volatility
During what kind of meeting does each leader speak to the status of their work and project risks, and explain the status of any mitigation activities
Weekly internal status meeting
Which output is needed prior to using the bottom-up estimating technique?
Work breakdown structure
Which is a task that occurs during the process of closing
Write the lessons learned
Non-numeric analysis _____ numeric analysis
can be as good as
Including time value of money in the payback period equation will _____ which of two projects being compared will be chosen
have an unknown impact on
A state college is launching a library building project. The project manager has constructed a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project. A few elements from the WBS are shown in the table below (the WBS ID numbers and indentations of the descriptions are intentionally omitted). WBS ID Description ? Library project ? Facility needs ? Academic plan ? Stakeholder input ? Building proposal ? Siting ? Fundraising ? Potential donor list ? U.S. donors ? Florida donors Which two WBS elements of this project are on the same level as each other? Choose 2 answers
(1) Building proposal (2) Fundraising
What is the order of project activities in order of occurrence from first (1) to last (5).
(1) Collecting customer requirements (2) Developing the work breakdown structure (3) Working to produce project deliverables (4) Customers evaluating the project outcomes (5) Capturing lessons learned
A project manager wants to understand and document the approvals that must be obtained for each work package in the work breakdown structure (WBS). Which tools document the approval requirements for each work package?
(1) Project statement of work (SOW) (2) Requirements traceability matrix (RAM)
Which two organizations are examples of organizations with the functional organizational structure?
(1) The U.S. Department of State and (2) The U.S Department of Energy
What are the three categories of risk in the project risk register?
External, technical, or organizational
A project manager is discussing the latest financial reports of a project to construct a grocery store and is approximately 90% into the planning phase. The project manager has been told by a project team member that other grocery stores in the area have an automated teller machine (ATM) for visitors. An ATM has not been discussed or incorporated into the planning of this project nor have any been incorporated into prior grocery store services. The leader calls for the immediate addition of an ATM into all prior grocery stores. Which non-numeric model is this leader using?
Competitive necessity
Consolidated Systems, Inc. is initiating a project to develop a new Inventory system with a specific system launch date and fixed budget. The company had planned to use a software development tool it has used for past projects but is now considering instead using new state-of-art software that has the potential to speed development. The available staff is familiar with the old software development tool. What can the company do to avoid the risk of project delays?
Continue using the old software tool
During which life cycle phase is the vast majority of the actual work to produce the project's deliverables completed?
Executing
Which PMBOK process group is described as the delivery part of project management where the main activity happens?
Executing
The customer of a project validates that the project scope has been completed, all invoices have been paid, and the expected benefits have been realized. Which closure practice does this describe?
Deliverable completion
In the work breakdown structure given for a software development, which component is the starting point for developing the project schedule?
Determine data format
Which activity is performed during the creating part of the initiating process?
Drafting the project charter
What is an example of an item that is not a product that a project creates
Filing documents
Which activity is accomplished as part of the planning process of a project?
Finalizing the project budget
In which type of organizational structure does the PM have little or no formal authority and any influence that the PM does have will come from his/her ability to negotiate with and influence others.
Functional
The _____ is the oldest and most basic form of organization, and it is the type of organization most often represented in corporation shareholder reports and organizational reports.
Functional organization
Bantam Electronics, a leader in mobile communications, has fallen behind in technology. Competitors have introduced products using the latest technology. Resources with expertise in this technology are scarce since there are very few universities offering training in the technology. Bantam's market share has fallen from 70 % to under 50%. What can Bantam do to mitigate the risk of losing further ground in technology?
Hire technical staff from the competition
A firm begins its strategic business initiative of developing a new business model to enhance its competitiveness. What can be identified as a strategic business initiative for this firm?
Improvement in product design
To calculate whether revenue tomorrow is greater than costs today
Net present value
A disadvantage in a matrix organization is _____
Not knowing who has the power to make decisions for a project.
A project team is gathered together to begin the planning process for a large office building. It is discussing estimates of each activity in the schedule. For all of the plumbing-related work, the team will use the information obtained from the plumber-in-residence in its organization. What estimating technique will be used?
One-point
During a certain project phase, specific blueprints are drawn and approved, materials and labor costs are estimated, prototypes are created, and work activities and tasks are identified. Also, quality expectations, measurements, and costs are defined. During which project phase do these activities occur?
Planning
A project was authorized as an operational necessity to repair a design flaw in the date field on a computer system that constrains the year number to two digits instead of permitting the year to be indicated with four digits. During execution of the activity concerned with identifying the affected software, five relevant software modules were discovered that had not been included in the scope baseline. The project team must adjust the baselines to include the omitted scope. Which change management phase does this scenario describe?
Preparing for the change
What is an advantage of a matrix organization
Project managers have access to a large reservoir of technically skilled people.
A _____ represents an important business need or issue and provides an opportunity for others to create an appropriate, valuable solution.
Project objective
An organization expects to use a project management office (PMO) to support multiple projects that will be implemented within a projectized organizational structure. Which implied effect is a benefit to this organization?
Project team members gain access to historical data from other projects.
Regardless of the organizational structure used to manage a project, an organization elects to use a project management office (PMO). Which benefit will this organization gain?
Projects will coordinate resource usage by monitoring the status of shared resources.
A project manager is working on a large two-year IT project. At the end of the first year, the project is two months behind schedule because the interface programming is taking longer than planned. The sponsor will not extend the deadline or reduce the scope. The project manager decides to crash the schedule to meet the project deadline. What is the risk of this decision?
Reduced quality of deliverables
A general contractor is managing a highway construction project that will repair a flood-damaged road. The Department of Transportation offered an incentive fee if the repairs are completed early. Therefore, the project manager has established a rewards and recognition program and has communicated this program to the project team members. The project's recognition program will reward project team members who add value by accelerating the project while maintaining its ability to deliver the completed scope correctly. Which change management phase does this scenario describe?
Reinforcing the change
What are some disadvantage of the functional organization
Requests for assistance from other departments are not easily prioritized. The organization has difficulty utilizing resources across functions
The World Fabrication Corporation is launching a project that calls for the heavy use of copper-clad bolts. The cost of these bolts fluctuates daily and it is difficult to estimate the project cost over several weekly purchases of bolts. The threat of cost increases is highly probable with a potentially significant budget impact. The company has decided to contract with the supplier to buy the bolts at a fixed price for the expected duration of the project. What risk response strategy is World Fabrication Corporation using?
Risk Avoidance
An organization has a surplus of project dollars in the operating budget. The senior leader's decision is to fund one more project with the remaining funds. Of the three projects proposed, one of the projects was selected without evaluation of feasibility or viability. Which non-numeric model is this leader using?
Sacred cow
A project is successful if it meets the triple constraints of scope, _____, and budget.
Schedule
A general contractor is managing a highway construction project that will repair a flood-damaged road. The project was documented in a cost-plus-incentive fee contract that specified a completion date of June 30. The Department of Transportation has offered an incentive for early completion of the repairs. Which triple-constraint baseline remains unchanged by the effects of the incentive?
Scope
A project is an operational necessity to repair a design flaw in the date field that constrains the year number to two digits, instead of permitting the year to be indicated with four digits. If the project is not completed before December 31, 1999, many legacy programs are expected to fail or produce unpredictable outcomes. The marketing department wants to upgrade its existing computer equipment and have the costs included in the budget for this project. The project team implemented the marketing department's request without completing the formal change control procedures. What has happened to the scope baseline in this scenario?
Scope creep has caused a scope variance.
A project manager is working on a large two-year IT project. At the end of the first year, the project is two months behind schedule because the interface programming is taking longer than planned. The sponsor will not extend the deadline or the budget but is willing to eliminate an interface. Which schedule compression technique can the project manager use?
Scope reduction
Strategy is determined by _____ in the organization to improve the value of the company.
Senior management
The following table shows the Level 1 work breakdown structure (WBS) for Project A. WBS ID Description 0.0 Project A 1.0 Project started 2.0 Feasiblity 3.0 Design 4.0 Development 5.0 Manufacturing 6.0 Distribution 7.0 Project completed Which approach did the project manager use to structure the WBS?
Sequence of project phases
Project objectives should be _____, Measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
Specific
Project objectives should be _____, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely
Specific
The customer of a project validates that scope has been completed for the second of three segments of the project. Which closure practice does this describe?
Stage completion
For the following collapsed work breakdown structure (WBS) for Project O, the project's steering committee held a phase gate review of the Feasibility results. That review determined that the project's proposed design would be obsolete before it would reach the marketplace. WBS ID Description 0.0 Project O 1.0 Project started 2.0 Feasibility 3.0 Design 4.0 Development 5.0 Manufacturing 6.0 Distribution 7.0 Project completed Which action should the project manager initiate?
Terminating the project as soon as possible and releasing the project's resources
What is the time value of money?
The concept that a dollar today is worth a dollar, but a dollar in a year will be worth less than a dollar
What is a disadvantage of the matrix organization
The person with decision making power is not always clearly identified. Project closeout tasks are often challenging, especially in strong matrix organizations
A project team is gathered together to begin the planning process to create a new website for its client. Discussions have turned to website capacity. Some team members believe the bandwidth of the site needs to be higher to avoid the website freezing. Others believe the bandwidth is too high as it is right now. A finite capacity needs to be determined to define the estimated time to complete this task. What estimating technique will be used?
Three-point
In Project B, all of the scope must be completed, or the project will fail. The work is important but not urgent. Which triple constraint can be adjusted if the project's objective requires the project team to work at the lowest possible cost?
Time
To calculate money's worth today compared to in the future
Time value of money
What is the purpose of the schedule performance index (SPI)?
To determine a project's time efficiency
What is the purpose of the cost performance index (CPI)?
To measure a project's cost efficiency
True or False. The existence of technical continuity within the functional organization helps ensure systems and people remain connected.
True, A functional organization is very straightforward with well-defined lines of authority.
True or False. In a projectized structure, the PM has complete authority over matters from resource allocation to budget to schedule to scope trade-offs.
True, In a projectized structure, the PM has complete authority and is responsible for all aspects of the project.
True or False. Having a skilled project team that can support several successive projects of the same type is a real advantage within the projectized organization.
True, In the projectized organization, SMEs are assigned to directly report to the project manager for a specific project.
True or False. In a balanced matrix structure, the PM has low to moderate authority on a project.
True, The PM's level of authority in a matrix structure is highly dependent on how weak or strong the matrix structure is. In a balanced matrix structure, the PM has low to moderate authority on a project.
True or False. At level 1 of the OPM3, there are no formal standards, processes, methods, procedures, or staff to constitute a project management discipline.
True, at level 1 standard technologies and reporting are sporadic.
Which deliverable from a work breakdown structure (WBS) is not specific enough to measure its completion at project closure?
User training
A general contractor is managing a construction project that will add a new conference room to an existing office building. The project was documented in a fixed-price contract that specified a completion date. The contract includes a damages clause imposing a late completion penalty if the conference room is not ready for use by the due date. One month into the implementation, the customer wants to modify the room's lighting equipment. The requested change will delay the project's critical path by three months. Which process should be used to maintain the existing baseline?
Using a change management system to influence performance
For the following collapsed work breakdown structure (WBS) for Project O, the project manager must complete the scope baseline. In addition to the WBS, the scope baseline will contain two additional documents. WBS ID Description 0.0 Project O 1.0 Project started 2.0 Feasibility 3.0 Design 4.0 Development 5.0 Manufacturing 6.0 Distribution 7.0 Project completed What are the other two documents that belong in the scope baseline?
WBS dictionary and project scope statement
