Project Management - Ch. 2

why is it important to systematically prioritize projects? a. to prevent excessive corporate politics from overcoming objective reasoning b. to properly allocate scarce resources c. to assist a company with numerous small kaizen projects d. to prevent conflicts between functional managers for resources

a b d

The assessment of the external and internal environments is called _______ analysis. a. Competitive b. Strategic c. SWOT d. Market e. Industry

c

A project screening matrix typically contains all of the following EXCEPT a. Weights assigned to specific criteria b. Costs to complete each project c. All of these are typically contained d. Specific criteria e. The list of available projects

b

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

e

Which of the following would be classified as an organizational opportunity? a. Excellent employees b. Talented management c. Government regulation d. Low debt e. Increasing product demand

e

A project selection process that is strongly linked to strategy results in a. Better utilization of the organization's resources. b. A larger and more diverse organization. c. Stronger core competencies. d. The most profit. e. More projects.

a

Examples of nonfinancial criteria include all of the following EXCEPT a. Calculating the time it will take to recover the project investment. b. Preventing government intervention and regulation. c. Making it difficult for competitors to enter the market. d. Capturing a larger market share. e. Reducing dependency on unreliable suppliers.

a

In order to formulate strategies that align with the mission the organization will need to a. All of these should be considered when formulating strategies. b. Examine the external environment. c. Assess internal strengths and weaknesses. d. Know their core competencies. e. Analyze competitors.

a

Regardless of the criteria differences among different types of projects, the most important criterion for project selection is a. The project's fit to the organization strategy b. How the project will balance risk within the project portfolio c. Compliance d. Nonfinancial e. Profit

a

Susie's department is implementing many projects. She finds herself starting and stopping work on one task to go and work on another task, and then return to the work on the original task. Susie is experiencing a. Multitasking. b. Poor scheduling. c. Flexible tasking. d. Excess work burden. e. Burnout.

a

The __________ financial model measures the current value of all cash inflows using management's minimum desired rate of return. a. None of these b. IRS c. ARR d. IRB e. FUBAR

a

Which of the following is NOT a problem associated with the absence of a project portfolio system? a. Lack of funding b. Multitasking c. Resource conflicts d. Organizational politics e. Implementation gap

a

assume you've completed an NPV analysis and determined a project is acceptable. which change to your data could possibly cause a positive NPV to turn into a negative NPV? a. an increase to the return on investment hurdle rate b. a decrease to the return on investment hurdle rate c. decrease of the initial project cost d. the project inflows continue after the calculation horizon

a

the number of resources needed by projects in a portfolio usually exceed the amount of resources available by a factor of a. 3 or 4 b. 5 or 6 c. 10 or more d. they don't, there are always enough resources to go around

a

which of the following best relate symptoms of an implementation gap? a. frequent meetings to renegotiate resource allocations b. resources are generally available c. people feel their work is always contributing d. employees have a good understanding of what the priorities are

a

select 2 significant benefits of using a multi weighted non financial scoring model to select projects. a. selection criteria may be mapped to critical success factors in the strategic plan b. the weighting provides an objective measurement to allow ranking from best to worst c. it is very robust to selection of potential and relative weightings

a b

what are some key benefits of soliciting project proposals from stakeholders throughout and possible outside the company? a. a request for proposal (RFP) can be used to take a concept and ask an outside company to develop the project b. good ideas are not just limited to upper management c. project management offices and/or portfolio offices are all that are needed

a b

what are the aims of a portfolio management system? a. ensure that all projects are aligned with strategic goals b. apply a project prioritization process c. determine who will be the project sponsors d. determine the objectives of the strategic plan

a b

what are two types of risks associated with a strategic project portfolio? a. total risk of all the projects b. specific project risk c. white elephant risk d. classification risk

a b

traditional components of a mission statement include a. major products/services b. target customers/markets c. geographical domain d. profit goals and percentages

a b c

identify the steps necessary to implement strategies through projects a. determine and allocate available resources b. establish a planning and control system c. implement multiple objectives at the same time d. establish a corporate organization that complements the strategy

a b d

what are the main reasons project managers need to understand an organization's mission and strategy? a. allow appropriate decision making b. to make appropriate adjustments to the project plan during execution c. to authorize appropriate scope changes d. to be an effective project advocate

a b d

a good project priority system will promote a culture where all stakeholders participate, but ultimately someone has to choose which direction to go. what are upper management's risks in prioritizing projects? a. publicly supporting the selected projects b. decreased responsibility for project success c. picking the wrong ones d. being too transparent in the selection criteria

a c

what are the critical needs of a company utilizing a strategic project portfolio system? a. getting input from senior management b. utilizing only financial selection criteria c. establishing a common financial goal for all categories of projects (compliance, operation, and strategic) d. involving a team of people rather than just individuals to make decisions

a d

which are selection criteria for projects typically classified as? a. non financial b. compliance c. operational d. strategic e. financial

a e

All of the following are symptoms of organizations struggling with strategy disconnect and unclear priorities EXCEPT a. Frequent conflicts between managers. b. Not enough projects within the portfolio to make a profit. c. Confused employees regarding which projects are more important. d. Inadequate resources. e. People are working on multiple projects and feel inefficient.

b

Which of the following is NOT one of the traditional components found in mission statements? a. Target customers and markets b. Profitability c. Major products and services d. Contribution to society e. Geographic domain

b

mission statements should be written and communicated to organizational managers and other employees in order to a. provide a foundation for project management b. provide a focal point for decision making c. comply with corporate legal requirements

b

what is a primary drawback of adopting a check list type non financial project selection model? a. cannot use access across different divisions in a company b. difficult to compare multiple projects c. may struggle with different payback periods

b

what are the critical inputs that senior management must provide to an organization utilizing a project priority management system? a. development of individual project plans b. guidance in what to include in the selection criteria c. amount of resources to commit to various

b c

which represent a reason why a firm may choose to use non financial criteria rather than financial, to accept a strategic project? a. to diversify into new areas outside the company's expertise b. capture greater market share c. to develop a product that will increase sales in other more profitable areas

b c

Project managers who understand the role that their project plays in accomplishing the organization's strategy are able to do all of the following EXCEPT a. Demonstrate to senior management how their project contributes to the firm's mission. b. Explain to stakeholders why certain project objectives and priorities are critical. c. Be able to focus on problems or solutions, even if the project is a low priority strategically. d. Explain to team members why certain project objectives and priorities are critical. e. Be able to respond appropriately to delays and/or questions about product design.

c

Project selection criteria are typically classified as a. Cost and schedule. b. Short-term and long-term. c. Financial and nonfinancial. d. Strategic and tactical. e. Required and optional.

c

Which of the following is NOT true for strategic management? a. It supports consistency of action at every level of the organization b. It involves responding to changes in the external market and allocating scarce resources to improve a competitive position c. It should be done once every few years just before developing the operating plan d. It develops an integrated and coordinated long-term plan of action e. It positions the firm to meet the needs of its customers

c

Which of the following problems refers to lack of understanding and consensus of organization strategy among top and middle-level managers? This also can result when top management formulates strategy and leaves implementation to functional managers. a. Organization politics b. Multitasking c. Implementation gap d. Resource conflicts e. Employee turnover

c

Which of the following terms is often used to denote a project that a powerful, high-ranking official is advocating? a. Political necessity b. Pet project c. Sacred cow d. Special undertaking e. Strategic ploy

c

Which of the following would be classified as an organizational threat? a. Declining facilities b. High labor costs c. Slowing of the economy d. Excellent employees e. Poor product quality

c

Why do project managers need to understand their organization's mission and strategy? a. To reduce project duration and increase the number of projects implemented b. So that they can make sure the customer is satisfied c. So they can make appropriate decisions and adjustments and be effective project advocates d. It is only important for senior management to understand the organization's mission and strategy e. To get their job done and increase opportunities for promotion

c

all of the following are true of the process for rank ordering strategic project proposals except a. financial and non financial criteria may both be part of the same weighting model b. projects may be initially segregated by "wants" vs "needs" c. projects categorized as "wants" get first priority d. weighted totals become the key index value for rank ordering

c

portfolio management systems will generally... a. adjust the strategic plan to match the available projects b. determine project success c. classify and evaluate proposals, then allocate resources

c

the main role of a governance team managing a project portfolio system is to ensure that the system is free of a. non financial critera b. financial criteria c. power politics d. dissemination of project priority tasks

c

what best describes a project portfolio? a. SMART objectives b. a group of projects used to complete the corporate mission c. a group of projects used to support implementation of a strategic plan d. a program

c

why do non financial screening models for strategic projects typically require multiple criteria to evaluate? a. to provide a purely objective evaluation method to projects b. often a single criteria is all that's needed, so you use several to ensure the correct one is part of the process. c. since there are many considerations in a strategic plan, all should be considered

c

select the 2 responses that best describe the recommendation for applying a selection model to chose potential projects for a strategic portfolio that can be applied across all types of projects. a. always use non financial models b. always use a financial model for selection c. have a transparent weighted scoring model d. determine a project's fit into the strategic plan

c d

for a hypothetical company, projects that cost $1,000,000 to implement must have a payback not longer than 4 years. which of the following annual project cost savings would be acceptable? a. $100,000 b. $200,000 c. $300,000

c (this annual savings would result in $1,200,000 savings over 4 years. it will acheive the cut off point of a minimum of $250,000 per year)

Projects are usually classified into all but one of the following categories. Which one is NOT one of the typical classifications? a. All of these are typical classifications b. Operational c. Compliance and emergency d. Political necessity e. Strategic

d

Which of the following is NOT true when managing a portfolio system? a. It involves monitoring and adjusting criteria to reflect the strategic focus of the organization b. It requires input from senior management c. The qualities of a particular project are assessed within the context of existing projects d. It does not require a constant effort e. Within a small organization it can be managed by a small group of key employees

d

Which of the following questions does the organization's mission statement answer? a. How do we operate in the existing environment? b. What are our long-term strategies? c. What are our long-term goals and objectives? d. What do we want to become? e. All of these are answered by the mission statement

d

what does strategy require to implement? a. objectives b. a mission statement c. goals d. actions and tasks

d

why are corporate politics not always a bad thing with respect to managing strategic projects? a. politics are always bad b. "sacred cow" projects are always objectively selected c. politics and project management should not mix d. project sponsors may use politics to support a project behind the scenes

d

Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristics of effective objectives? a. Assignable b. Measurable c. Specific d. Realistic e. Flexible

e

Which of the following is NOT one of the requirements for successful implementation of strategies through projects? A. Prioritizing of projects b. Adequate planning and control systems c. Motivation of project contributors d. Allocation of resources e. Quality management

e

which is not important in establishing a proper objective? a. be as specific as possible while targeting the objective b. ensure that the results are measurable c. make the objective assignable to one person for completion d. establish realistic goals given the resources available e. establish a time frame for completion of objective f. make sure there is a project payback

f