Project Management

In PERT networks, assuming a normal distribution about estimates of duration, the "pessimistic" time would be where there is a ________.

1% chance the actual work time is greater.

In a WBS each hierarchical level should have about how many interrelated tasks?

2 to 20

A node or event with duration of 0 days is:

A milestone

What is a "quasi-project"?

A situation in which all of the three primary project objectives are ill-defined.

A task or set of tasks that are required by the project are called:

Activities

The Gantt chart shows which of the following?

Activities on Bars.

What is more common in business project management today?

Activity on Node (AON)

Project selection models should include which of the following?

Alignment with organization goals, ease of implementation, reasonable cost of implementation

________ on the Critical Path ______?

All activities; have zero slack

Composite Organizational designs exist when:

Both functional and projected divisions coexist in one firm.

Meeting schedule and cost goals without compromising performance is what type of problem?

Both technical and human factors problem.

Project success depends upon:

Both the technical skills of the team and the political and negotiation skills of the PM are critical.

If the resources for a project are increase, the output usually:

Change, but not in predicable patterns.

Risk management's primary focus is on what type of activities?

Complex coordination of planning, risk identification, risk analysis, response planning, monitoring & control, and recording of incidents.

Typical problems in a Matrixes Organization happen because:

Confusion exists due to project members reporting to multiple managers

Goldratt's Critical Chain (1997) addresses what common PM problems?

Constrained resource scheduling.

The most difficult aspect of coordinating a complex project is ...

Coordinating the various elements of the project to meet overall project goals.

The use of three probabilistic activity time estimates may reduce the need for:

Crashing the project

When a project is expedited it will often:

Create more problems

What are some appropriate tools for managing projects?

Crystal Ball, Microsoft Project, & Excel

If the primary goal of a project is to produce 10 new widget designs, what might be an important ancillary goal?

Determine skill and creativity level of the design department.

In a "Projectized" organization:

Each Project Manager has full line authority so there is unity of command

In a "Projectized" organization:

Each project includes a full set of the functions needed for its operation.

The use of heuristics for project scheduling:

Employs rules of thumb that have been found to work well for similar situations.

Typical responsibilities of the PMO include:

Establishing PM procedures, offering training, mentoring project managers, keeping reports of projects activities.

What is Monte Carlo Simulation used for?

Evaluating the impact of various management decisions.

The most popular method for displaying a project schedule is the __________ due to ease o use and ease of construction:

Gantt Chart

Common methods to select project forms are:

Generally intuitive

The weighted Factor Scoring Model has the advantage of:

Increased attention to relative importance of each selection criterion.

What is the impact of increasing the time for completion of a project?

Increasing cost

What is a major advantage of the Functional Organization for a Project?

It offers maximum flexibility in use of personnel

At any given time a firm may have a fixed level of various resources for its projects, such as:

Labor hours, equipment & parts

The two primary tasks of the Project Manager are what?

Managing tradeoffs and anticipating and addressing risks to the project.

Most firms eventually adopt which organizational form for running their projects?

Matrix

When a project requires input from several functional areas and uses a sophisticated technology , the recommended organizational structure is:

Matrix

Which of the following is strongly recommended for managing projects?

NO single tool is always recommended. The PM should investigate several appropriate tools.

Typically when PMs are asked how many people report to them, the reply is what?

None

What probability distribution is used to estimate the completion time for the critical path of a project?

Normal.

Project success is judged by what criteria?

On time, within budget, to scope, and project impact on the organization.

The PMBOK addresses project management maturity in 5 levels, and the highest level most organizations achieve is which of the following?

Organized - standardized process & some predictable results

If all three critical resources are fixed, the system is:

Over-determined

The series of connected activities or events between any two events in a network is called:

Path

The Project Launch Meeting occurs when?

Prior to beginning the project to show management commitment.

Numeric project selection models generally focus on:

Profits and profitability

The PMO is ...?

Project Management Office

In the past decade a new type of organizational structure has become increasingly popular, It is called the:

Project Organization.

Agile project planning and management methods should be used when?

Projects have a high degree of uncertainty.

Common benefits of the Matrixes Organization include:

Rapid response to client needs & less anxiety over next job after project ends

Because the PM typically has no direct authority over project team members, s/he should motivate good performance how?

Recognition, achievement, challenging assignments, responsibility, chance to learn new skills, & the work itself.

Which of the following describes the amount of resources a schedule requires during specific time periods?

Resource loading

What is the RACI Matrix?

Responsible, Accountabale, Consult & Inform matrix.

Resource leveling aims to minimize variations in resource usage by:

Shifting tasks within their slack allowances.

An "Unweighted 0-1 Factor Model" has the advantage of:

Simplicity.

What are the three primary objectives of projects?

Stay within budget, within time constraints, within scope

Common problems in managing projects include which of the following?

Staying within budget, within time constraints, & within scope.

Successful Project Management (PM) includes which of the following attributes:

Strongly relates to the organization's strategy, mission & goals.

The typical reasons for lack of scarce resources where and/or when needed are:

Supplier failure to deliver on time, or due to loss or theft of the scarce resources.

Which of the following project selection models focuses strongly on the long-term success of the firm?

Sustainability Model.

Real Options seek to reduce which of the following risks in projects

Technological

Which member of the Project Team is generally in personal control of the Project Schedule?

The Project Manager

Of the choices below, which tool has the most significant influence on the management of projects?

The Schedule

Risk is generally believed to focus on profits, but:

Uncertainty plagues all aspects of the work and is present in all stages of PM.

What is the Sacred Cow model?

Upper management's favorite model.

Where is the location of a project in the "functional structure"?

Within one of the major divisions or departments of the organization.

In Project Management, Parkinson's Law states that:

Work expands to fill the time allotted.

For Projects, time is always

a critical resource

The process of managing risk in a project is

a dynamic process throughout the project life cycle.

Project management today is:

a flexible method for managing large or small endeavors.

Actual experience with PM indicates that _________ organizations using it claim to experience better customer relations and increase in their ROI.

a majority of..

Firms usually have two or more projects, and this collection of projects is referred to as ________.

a portfolio

Project bids and Requests for Proposal (RFPs) should begin with:

a short summary statement describing the project.

Project planning typically is:

an iterative process involving multiple stakeholders.

Ambiguities in projects

can be managed to reduce their impact.

Project Management has resulted in an overall ______.

decline in the use of traditional hierarchical management.

Strategic benefits of PPM are:

difficult to quantify

A common negative aspect of implementing PM is ...

greater organizational complexity

The process of coordinating the work and the timing of the different PM groups is called _______________.

integration management

When a project is crashed it

is completed in less time.

The _________ priority rule is the best overall generally results in minimum schedule slippage, minimum resource idle time, and minimum in process inventory.

minimum slack first

Scheduling and allocating resources for multiple projects is ____________ is compared to single-project cases.

much. more complicated

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) involves participation by:

only the Project Manager.

The largest amount of effort applied to a project is during the __________ phase.

planning, scheduling, monitoring, and control

A project plan must be designed so that the ______________ meet the criteria used to justify its selection.

project outcomes

The _________ is the key input for establishing the monitoring and control systems for the project.

schedule

Important parameters used to measure effectiveness of PM scheduling include:

schedule slippage, resource utilization, & in-process inventory.

Effective Project Portfolio Management ...

should include projects of various sizes, timeframes, and levels of risk.

Project management RFPs should be written with ...

simple, minimally technical language.

Most of the credit for developing project management techniques belongs to:

the military.

Work situations that disrupt a Project Manager's Schedule typically occur:

unexpectedly

A universal characteristic of all projects is that projects are:

unique

Managing complex projects often involves use of multidisciplinary teams (MTs) including personnel from

various combinations of college majors, work units, subcontractors, and industry partners.

Goldratt illustrates that overly optimistic Project Managers are:

very common and cause problems in scheduling.