SYSTEM AND DESIGN CHAPTER 3
21. Traditional Work Breakdown Structures tend to a. focus on the design of the system as oppose to the needs of the current phase and iteration b. force too many levels of detail early on for large project and they tend to allow too few level of detail for small projects c. be too specific for the project and difficult to compare across projects d. all of the above e. none of the above
Ans: d Response: See pages 86-87
3. A critical success factor for project management is to _____. a. create a work plan b. follow the three steps of project management c. identify most project tasks d. manage the hundreds of tasks e. start with a realistic assessment of the work
Ans: e Response: See page 70
4. Describe three classic planning mistakes. What would be a solution for each?
Ans: Classic planning mistake 1: Wishful thinking leads to an overly optimistic schedule that causes analysis and design time to be cut short and puts pressure on the programmers to produce a system without meeting the systems requirements. The solution is to explicitly schedule slack time at the end of each phase to account for the variability of estimates. Classic planning mistake 2: Failing to monitor the schedule prevents the team members from knowing if the project is on schedule. The solution is to require team members to honestly report progress (good or bad) at regular intervals. Classic planning mistake 3: Failing to update the schedule because there is an assumption that the time can be made up later is a mistake. This is an early warning that the entire schedule may be overly optimistic. The solution is to immediately revise the schedule and inform the project sponsor of the new end date or reduce functionality in the project. Classic planning mistake 4: Adding people to a project running late only makes the project take longer to complete. The time required for the new member of the team to become "up to date" on the project and the new coordination activities involved slow the entire project down more. The solution is to revise the schedule, use timeboxing, and throw away bug filled code. Response: See page 100.
17. A key factor in staffing a project involves motivating people to meet the project's objectives, and the most effective way to do this is through the use of money and bonuses.
Ans: False Response: See page 106-107
14. One of the greatest weaknesses of systems consulting firms is that they try to apply estimates and methodologies that they have developed over time and applied to other projects, most of which are very different from the current project.
Ans: False Response: See page 71
4. When estimating project time schedules using industry standards for a systems project, the following values are acceptable: 15% for planning, 25% for analysis, 50% for design, and 10% for implementation.
Ans: False Response: See page 72
5. Using typical industry standards for estimating project time schedules, the estimated analysis phase would be 25 person-months for a systems project where the planning phase was completed in 30 person-months.
Ans: False Response: See page 72
3. Creating a work plan requires three steps: identify the tasks that need to be accomplished, estimate the time that it will take to complete the tasks, and record the task completion time in a Gantt Chart.
Ans: False Response: See page 77
13. It is not wise to identify tasks for a current project using existing methodology, because methodologies that have been used by an organization for other projects probably will not work for this project without extensive changes.
Ans: False Response: See page 78
23. The project team has just determined that the deadline for completion will not be met. In order to deliver a high quality system on schedule, the team has requested that the features be prioritized and that a fixed deadline be imposed for the project. This technique is referred to as SDLC methodology.
Ans: False Response: See page 85
45. The traditional Work Breakdown Structure approach is very useful when the requirements of the system are not well understood.
Ans: False Response: See page 86
47. The traditional Work Breakdown Structure makes it easy to compare the current project with past projects.
Ans: False Response: See page 86
10. To complete a 20 person-month project in 10 months, a team should have 4 full-time staff members assigned to the project.
Ans: False Response: See page 91
29. A functional lead manages a group of programmers and technical staff members.
Ans: False Response: See page 92
30. A technical lead manages a group of analysts.
Ans: False Response: See page 92
32. Daniel has just been assigned as the project manager. To motivate his team properly, Daniel's first step is to award bonuses to team members.
Ans: False Response: See page 94
26. The project charter describes the qualifications of the people who will work on a project and the reporting structure of the project team.
Ans: False Response: See page 95
39. Upper CASE tools are used to create diagrams and generate code for database tables system functionality during the design phase.
Ans: False Response: See page 96
40. Lower CASE tools are used to create integrated diagrams of the system and store information about system components during the analysis phase.
Ans: False Response: See page 96
9. The COCOMO model to convert lines of code estimates into person-month estimates was designed by Allen Albrecht of IBM.
Ans: False Response: See pages 72 and 76
37. CASE tool is a popular graphic depiction of the work plan that lists project tasks along a y-axis, time along an x-axis, and uses shaded boxes to represent tasks.
Ans: False Response: See pages 79 and 96
20. Scope creep is only a minor factor in projects running over schedule, and every effort should be made to incorporate any changes into the present system if they would truly be beneficial.
Ans: False Response: See pages 83-85
42. Jim Smith, the project manager for a high-profile project, has permitted the users to add additional features to the systems project. The schedule and costs are now running over. This project suffers from poor standards.
Ans: False Response: See pages 83-85
15. Adding staff to a project to shorten the project's length is usually a wise move, because adding staff normally translates into increased productivity.
Ans: False Response: See pages 91 and 100
28. Lauren, a systems analyst, has excellent interpersonal skills. To take advantage of her skills, the functional lead of the project should assign her to program in Java and C++.
Ans: False Response: See pages 94-95
22. Sergei, the project manager, is worried about completing the project on time. To increase the productivity of his 15-person team he should create subteams with no more than 10 people on a subteam.
Ans: True Response: See pages 91-92
25. Matching people's skills with the needs of the project, motivating employees, and minimizing personnel conflict are all part of the staffing process.
Ans: True Response: See pages 91-95
34. A good technique to help minimize conflict among team members is to hold team members accountable for their tasks.
Ans: True Response: See pages 94-95
27. The document that describes the project's objectives and rules is called the project charter.
Ans: True Response: See pages 95
3. A project manager has three options to take when a schedule date has been missed. What are the basic assumptions the project manager can make? What changes to the schedule should the manager make for each assumption? What is the level of risk for each assumption?
Ans: When a schedule date is missed in a project plan the project manager can make three possible assumptions. The first is to assume that the rest of the project is simpler than the part completed and that the lost time can be made up during the remainder of the project. No change should be made to the schedule. This is a high-risk assumption since a project rarely gets simpler. The second assumption is to assume that the remainder of the project is no simpler or more complex than the part completed. The lost time cannot be made up so the project completion date is extended the exact time difference between the originally planned and the missed schedule time. This has moderate risk. The third is to assume that the rest of the project is as complex as the part that was completed late and that all future schedule dates have been under estimated. An increase of the entire schedule by the percentage of time that the schedule is late is recommended. This action may require a reduction in the scope of the project, but it will have a lower risk. Response: See page 84
17. Assume a systems development project effort calculation determines that the system will require 240 function points. If the developers choose to implement this system in the C programming language, approximately 31,200 lines of code will have to be written. If the developers choose Visual Basic to implement the system, the number of lines of code will be _____. a. about the same b. can't tell without more information c. exactly the same d. much greater e. much less
Ans: e Response: See page 75
5. The _____ is a dynamic schedule that logs and monitors all of the tasks that need to be accomplished for the length of the project. a. margin of error b. project manager c. project objective d. timebox e. work plan
Ans: e Response: See page 77
7. To identify the tasks for a work plan the project manager can _____. a. control and direct the project b. estimate the size, staff the project, and remember technical skills c. establish a possible reporting structure d. list the four phases of the SDLC and the steps that occur in each e. set conservative numbers for the project software
Ans: d Response: See page 78
22. Unlike traditional Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), evolutionary WBSs are a. organized in a standard manner across all projects b. created in an iterative and incremental manner c. designed so one can compare the current project to past projects d. all of the above e. none of the above
Ans: d Response: See page 87
19. Michelle has decided to use a shortcut to determine the complexity of the project she is currently managing. She has assigned the adjusted project complexity (PCA) a value of .65. She has determined that her project is _____. a. bi-lateral b. complex c. microconvergent d. normal e. very simple
Ans: e Response: See pages 73-74
11. Give the formula for the effort in person-months based on the number of lines of code.
Ans: effort (in person-months) = 1.4 X thousands of lines of code Response: See page 76
8. Explain the consequences of a project manager allowing the scope of a project to gradually increase. Why does 'scope creep' occur?
Ans: If the project manager allows that scope of the project to increase without adjusting the project's cost and/or schedule, then there is little likelihood that the team can complete the project on time and under budget. This puts severe pressure on the project team, and heightens the risk of project failure. Scope creep is often subtle and usually does not occur for malicious reasons. Rather, the end users may become aware of some desirable features of the system that they honestly did not perceive at the project's outset. Technical staff may become convinced of certain technical features that were not initially identified. Management and project sponsors may perceive new roles for the system as the project progresses. Many project managers try to accommodate these changes, but the trick is to negotiate adjustments in time and/or budget before committing to the expanded requirements.
7. Discuss the options a project manager has if a phase of a project is completed (a) earlier than expected, and (b) later than expected.
Ans: In the happy event that a project phase is completed earlier than expected, the project manager should move all the intermediate target dates up in the project schedule. However, the final completion date should not be adjusted; that slack time may be needed later in the project, and it is not a good idea to change your project sponsor's expectations about the completion date of the project. In the more common situation, a target date for an intermediate phase may be missed. Although it is tempting to think that this time may be made up later in the project, this is rarely the case. In fact, the underestimate of time for the phase that has just been missed may be true for the remainder of the project, implying that all time estimates need to be adjusted (increased). As a general rule, the project manager should determine if the work remaining on the project is simpler than the part of the project that was late. If it is simpler, the original time estimates are probably still appropriate. If the work remaining on the project is more complex than the part that was late, then the time estimates should be increased at least by the percentage of time that the late portion overran its deadline. Response: See pages 82-83
9. For what reason does a project team create a risk assessment? What value is a risk assessment to the team?
Ans: It is desirable for a project team to have a clear understanding of the risks that are faced in a project. These risks can be defined and evaluated in a risk assessment, a document that details the risks associated with a project. Risks and their likelihood should be identified and their effect on the project should be assessed. The team can then identify ways to deal with the project risks. As the project progresses, some risks may be reduced and others may become apparent. The risk assessment document should be updated to reflect these changes, and should reflect the current project risk status.
5. The unadjusted total function points of a system are frequently adjusted to reflect the complexity of the system. Describe two ways to determine the appropriate complexity adjustment factor.
Ans: One method requires the project manager to rate the complexity of fourteen project factors on a scale of 0-5. These ratings are added together, and then adjusted to obtain a complexity factor that either inflates or deflates the function points of the project. The second method provides a shortcut to this rather lengthy process: the project manager simply chooses a complexity factor from a standard range (0.65 for simple projects to 1.35 for very complex projects) and applies that factor to adjust the project function points.
14. Explain PERT analysis.
Ans: PERT stands for program Analysis and Review Technique. PERT technique can be used when the individual task time estimates are fairly uncertain. Instead of simply relying on one estimate for the duration of the project, PERT uses three estimates: optimistic, pessimistic, and most-likely. These estimates are then combined into a single weighted average using a formula: PERT Weighted Average = (optimistic estimate + 4 * most-likely estimate + pessimistic estimate)/6 Response: See pages 81-82
6. What can be done when the skills needed for a project are not found in the staff that is available for the project?
Ans: Project managers cannot always dictate who will be assigned to his/her project team. Sometimes the staff with the needed skills are not available for assignment to a particular project. When the project manager is concerned about the lack of needed skills, it is essential to factor in the development of those skills into the project workplan. Obtaining the services of a vendor or consultant can help a project team initially. Staff can also be sent to training programs. Setting up a mentoring system can also help develop team members' skills by pairing them with other staff members who have the needed skills. Response: See page 91
13. Give the formula for the schedule time in months, given the effort in person-months.
Ans: Schedule time (in months) = 3.0 X (person-months)1/3 Response: See page 76
15. What are different types of standards that a project may need to adhere to.
Ans: Some of the standards that a project needs to comply with are as follows. Documentation standards, coding standards, procedural standards, requirements and specification standards, and user-interface design standards. Response: See page 97
2. Outline the three important components for staffing a project. Include topics such as matching peoples' skills with project needs, motivating team members, and minimizing conflict. Structure the essay into three or more paragraphs, one for each component.
Ans: The three components of staffing are matching people's skills with project needs, motivating team members, and minimizing conflict. When matching people's skill to project needs, it is important to remember that people have technical skill and interpersonal skills. Both skill sets are important for a project's success. Technical skills are useful when working with tasks such as programming and server configuration. Interpersonal skills are critical when performing requirements gathering activities and when addressing organizational feasibility issues. Motivating team members is necessary for project success. Assuming that team members are paid a fair salary, motivation methods that are normally most successful are recognition, achievement, responsibility, advancement, and an opportunity to learn new things. Steps that minimize conflict among group members include clearly defining team roles, holding team members accountable, and creating a project charter that lists project norms and ground rules.
43. The underlying cause of many missed project deadlines is scope creep.
Ans: True Response: See pages 83-85
44. The most common reason for schedule and cost overruns that surface after the project is underway is scope creep.
Ans: True Response: See pages 83-85
16. Explain why the evolutionary Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is preferable for certain project over the traditional WBS.
Ans: There are three reasons why the evolutionary WBS is sometime preferable. First, traditional WBS is tied to the structure of the system under development. This makes sense only when the requirements of the system are known. Using traditional WBS when the requirements are not fully understood, forces the analyst to make task assignment decisions before there is enough information. Second, the traditional WBS forces the analyst to specify too many levels of details for large projects and not enough levels of detail for small projects. Third and last, the traditional WBS is too specific to the project and does not make it easy for the analyst to compare the current project to past projects. Evolutionary WBS uses a standard format making comparisons between projects straight forward and easy. Evolutionary WBS is built iteratively and incrementally allowing the analyst to decide the level of detail that is most appropriate for the particular iteration. Evolutionary WBS is structured around the workflows of the UP development methodology and not around the structure of the system. Hence the analyst need not have to fully know the requirements of the system to begin the iterative process of drawing up the WBS. This is particularly useful when the requirements are not yet fully understood as often happens when the business domain is unfamiliar.
12. Explain the concept of timeboxing.
Ans: Timeboxing sets a fixed deadline for the project and delivers the system by that deadline, even if it means reducing the original functionality. This technique makes sure that the project does not drag on for too long, and ensures that a system is delivered to the business relatively quickly. The following steps are used for timeboxing. First, set the date for system delivery. Second, prioritize functionality that needs to be included in the system. Third, build the core of the system with the essential functionality. Fourth, postpone the functionality that cannot be delivered by the deadline. Fifth, deliver the system with the core functionality. Then repeat steps three to five to add refinements and enhancements. Response: See page 85
1. Project management is the process of planning and controlling the development of a system within a specified time frame at a minimum cost with the right functionality.
Ans: True Response: See page 70
11. Project management is the second major component of the planning phase of the systems development life cycle (SDLC), and it includes three steps: creating the work plan, staffing the project, and controlling and directing the project.
Ans: True Response: See page 70
2. When planning a systems project, overly optimistic timetables are the cause of project completion delays.
Ans: True Response: See page 70
6. Using typical industry standards for estimating project time schedules, the estimated analysis phase would be 10 person-months for a systems project where the planning phase was completed in 7.5 person-months.
Ans: True Response: See page 72
7. A function point is a measure of program size based on the number and complexity of inputs, outputs, queries, files and program interfaces.
Ans: True Response: See page 72
21. Michelle has decided to use a shortcut to determine the complexity of the project she is currently managing. She has assigned the adjusted project complexity (PCA) a value of 1.35. By assigning a value of 1.35 for PCA, she has determined that her project is complex.
Ans: True Response: See page 74
12. The work plan records and keeps track of all of the tasks that need to be accomplished over the life of the project, listing each task, along with important information about it, such as when it needs to be completed, the person assigned to do the work, and any deliverables that will result.
Ans: True Response: See page 77
18. Estimates from the planning stage will need to be refined as the project progresses, because it is virtually impossible to develop an exact assessment of the project's schedule before the analysis and design phases are conducted.
Ans: True Response: See page 82
35. According to leading experts in software development, the margin of error when estimating project costs is 100% and the margin of error in project scheduling time is 25%.
Ans: True Response: See page 82
16. Timeboxing is a popular technique which sets a fixed deadline for a project and delivers the system by that deadline no matter what, even if functionality needs to be reduced.
Ans: True Response: See page 85
24. Timeboxing is a time-oriented approach to project development.
Ans: True Response: See page 85
46. The evolutionary Work Breakdown Structure approach is very useful when the requirements of the system are not well understood.
Ans: True Response: See page 86
48. The evolutionary Work Breakdown Structure makes it easy to compare the current project with past project
Ans: True Response: See page 86
31. Christine does not have the skills that her project manager feels are necessary and no money has been budgeted for outside consultants. Mentoring is a good option to improve Christine's skills in this situation.
Ans: True Response: See page 93
33. A highly effective motivational technique for technical staff is to provide recognition for each team member's accomplishments.
Ans: True Response: See page 94
19. Benefits to using computer-aided software engineering (CASE) include faster task completion and alteration, centralized development information, and illustration of information through diagrams.
Ans: True Response: See page 96
41. Integrated CASE tools are used to support tasks that happen throughout the SDLC.
Ans: True Response: See page 96
8. Using the shortcut method to determine the complexity of a systems project, a very complex system having 300 unadjusted function points would have 405 adjust function points.
Ans: True Response: See pages 73-74
38. PERT chart can be used to track the tasks of a project when task time estimates are fairly uncertain.
Ans: True Response: See pages 81-82
36. The hurricane model implies that project estimates become more accurate as the project's product becomes better understood.
Ans: True Response: See pages 82-83
1. There are two methods for estimating the time required to build a system: industry standards based on the planning phase time and the more complex three-step process. Compare and contrast the two methods. What are the advantages and disadvantages for each?
Ans: When estimating project time schedules using the planning phase time, the project manager applies an industry average approach. Industry standards suggest that the time required to build a typical business application system can be divided into four time periods. For a typical project the planning phase is 15%, the analysis phase is 20%, the design phase is 35%, and the implementation phase is 30%. The advantage of this approach is the simplicity. The disadvantage of this approach is the assumption that all projects are similar. Estimating project time using the more complex three-step process is considered more reliable, which is its advantage. But the complexity, which involves calculating function points, estimating lines of code, rating complexity, and calculating effort and schedule time, has the disadvantage of being time consuming, and it is considered excessive by some. The complex method has three steps. The first is estimating system size, which includes rating complexity, calculating function points, and estimating lines of code. The second step, estimating effort, includes calculating effort (in person-months) with an equation. The third step, estimating schedule time, includes another equation to calculate schedule time in months.
1. _____ is the process of planning and controlling the development of a system within a specified time frame at a minimum cost with the right functionality. a. Project management b. Symantec timeline c. Task identification d. Time estimation e. Work plan
Ans: a Response: See page 70
13. A(n) ____________ is a measure of program size based on the number and complexity of inputs, outputs, queries, files, and program interfaces. a. function point b. line of code c. project plan d. standard module e. workplan
Ans: a Response: See page 72
8. Project managers can develop task lists for a project with the help of _____. a. established methodologies b. system proposals c. system requests d. user application hardware e. user requirements
Ans: a Response: See page 78
4. The three steps of project management are _____. a. controlling the project, directing the project, and creating the work plan b. creating the work plan, staffing the project, and controlling and directing the project c. directing the project, creating the work plan, and naming the tasks d. naming the tasks, creating the work plan, and completing the deliverables e. setting the start date, estimating the time, and reading the actual time
Ans: b Response: See page 70
10. The process of assigning values for the time and effort needed to perform a system project is called _____. a. analysis b. estimation c. identifying d. planning e. preparation
Ans: b Response: See page 71
12. One method of estimating project time is to use industry standard factors for each project phase. With this method, if the planning phase typically takes 15% of total project time, and a particular project requires three months for planning, then the remainder of the project will require _____. a. 15 months b. 20 months c. 3.5 months d. 4.5 months e. 3 months
Ans: b Response: See page 72
15. When estimating project time schedules using industry standards, the estimated project completion time for a systems project would be _____ person-months if the actual planning phase were completed in 6 person-months. a. 30 b. 40 c. 17.14 d. 9 e. 50
Ans: b Response: See page 72
18. When using a function point estimation worksheet, there are 14 factors that impact the complexity of a project. These factors include _____. a. data communications, time tradeoffs, and estimated effort b. end-user efficiency, data communications, and reusability c. performance and programming language d. reports printed and PCA e. x-rays, extensibility, and operational conversion
Ans: b Response: See page 74
6. Diane needs to create a work plan for an upcoming systems project. She must first _____. a. estimate the hours and request deliverables b. identify the tasks and estimate the time needed to complete them c. initiate the project and create the project management assessment d. make tradeoffs and set conservative numbers e. timebox the completion date
Ans: b Response: See page 78
11. Kathryn has little experience estimating the time it will take to complete a systems project. She has just completed the planning phase of the project. What method should she use to estimate the time required to build the system? a. adjusted project complexity b. function points c. industry standards d. Microsoft Project e. more complex approach
Ans: c Response: See page 72
14. Function points are used to measure the estimated _____ of a project. a. complexity b. effort required c. program size d. time required e. TUFP
Ans: c Response: See page 72
9. Ryan, a newly hired systems analyst/consultant, is about to begin a systems project. Where will Ryan look first to locate the identifiable tasks he will record in his work plan? a. call a friend at a competing firm b. his Systems Analysis text book from college c. the company training materials for the company methodology d. the project planning software available at the local bookstore e. the website of his old college professor
Ans: c Response: See page 78
16. A normal system with 400 unadjusted function points would have _____ adjusted function points when the shortcut method is use to determine the complexity of the project. a. 200 b. 260 c. 400 d. 540 e. 600
Ans: c Response: See pages 73-74
20. Adding people to a project team in order to speed up total development time _____. a. is a standard task in timeboxing b. is a useful way to meet a tight deadline c. may actually increase total development time d. simplifies communication within the team e. none of the above
Ans: c Response: See pages 91 and 100
2. The most significant challenge to project managers is _____. a. lack of project management training b. no one really understands how to manage a complex systems development project c. the lack of tools that can assist in controlling project progress d. unrealistic schedule demands by project sponsors e. all of the above
Ans: d Response: See page 70
10. Sunnyview Hospital needs to create a new patient-record system. Their current manual system is inadequate, and results in many errors in the records for the patients in their care. At this point in time, the users do not have a good idea of what they need the new system to do, but they need it done quickly. Create a risk assessment for this system.
Risk #1: Users do not know the requirements; thus, scope is likely to increase as the requirements become better known Likelihood of risk: High probability of risk Potential impact on the project: This risk likely will increase the time to complete the project by at least 50% Ways to address this risk: Since the user requirements are unknown, a prototyping approach should be taken to help quickly determine what the users requirements are going to be for this system. User involvement is going to be critical for this system since they cannot articulate what they need the system to do up front.