Quiz, Ch. 2
What is systems thinking?
A holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization.
What is Kanban?
A just-in-time inventory control method developed by Toyota - uses visual cues to guide the workflow
What does agile mean?
Agile means being able to move quickly and easily
What are phase exits or kill points?
Management reviews that are very important for keeping projects on track and determining if they should be continued, redirected, or terminated.
What are the four frames of organizations?
Structural: - Roles and responsibilities, coordination, and control. - organizational charts help describe this frame. Human resources frame: - Providing harmony between needs of the organization and needs of people. Political frame: - Coalitions composed of varied individuals and interest groups. - Conflict and power are key issues. Symbolic frame: - Symbols and meanings related to events. - Culture, language, traditions, and image are all parts of this frame.
What is systems management?
Systems management addresses the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with creating, maintaining, and modifying a system.
What is project feasibility?
The first two traditional project phases of a project life cycle (concept and development) that focus on planning
What is project acquisition?
The last two phases of a project life cycle (implementation and closeout) that focus on delivering the actual work
What is a project life cycle?
a collection of phases - phases break projects down into smaller, more manageable pieces, reducing uncertainty. - define what work will be performed in each phase, what deliverables will be produced and when, who is involved in each phase, and how management will control and approve work produced in each phase.
What is a systems development life cycle (SDLC)?
a framework for describing the phases of developing information systems - popular predictive SDLC models include waterfall, spiral, incremental build, prototyping, and Rapid application development (RAD)
What is a virtual team?
a group of people who work together despite time and space boundaries using communication technologies.
What is a predictive life cycle?
a life cycle model in which the scope of the project can be articulated clearly and the schedule and cost can be predicted accurately. - a large portion of the project is spent attempting to clarify the requirements of the entire system and then producing a design.
What is systems analysis?
a problem-solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system, dividing it into components, and then identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs.
What is a deliverable?
a product or service, such as a technical report, a training session, a piece of hardware, or a segment of software code, produced or provided as part of a project.
What is a champion in a project?
a senior manager who acts as a key advocate for a project. - sponsor can serve as the champion, but often another manager can more successfully take on this role.
What is an organizational culture?
a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of an organization. - often includes elements of all four frames - powerful; most problems lie in organizational culture
A ______________________ is a product or service, such as a technical report, a training session, or hardware, produced or provided as part of a project. a. deliverable b. product c. work package d. tangible goal
a. deliverable
Which of the following terms describes a framework of the phases involved in developing information systems? a. systems development life cycle b. rapid application development c. predictive life cycle d. extreme programming
a. systems development life cycle
What is IT governance?
addresses the authority for and control of key IT activities in organizations, including IT infrastructure, IT use, and project management.
What is outsourcing?
an organization's acquisition of goods and services from an outside source
What is a systems philosophy?
an overall model for thinking about things as systems.
Which of the following statements is false? a. An analysis project life cycle is a collection of project phases. b. A product life cycle is the same as a project life cycle. c. The waterfall approach is an example of a predictive life cycle model. d. Agile is an example of an adaptive life cycle model.
b. A product life cycle is the same as a project life cycle.
Which of the following is not part of the three-sphere model for systems management? a. business b. information c. technology d. organization
b. information
What term describes an organization's acquisition of goods and services from an outside source in another country? a. globalization b. offshoring c. exporting d. global sourcing
b. offshoring
The nature of IT projects is different from the nature of projects in many other industries because they are very ______________________. a. expensive b. technical c. diverse d. challenging
c. diverse
Personnel in a ______________________ organizational structure often report to two or more bosses. a. functional b. project c. matrix d. hybrid
c. matrix
______________________ is the leading agile development method. a. Extreme programming b. Sprint c. Kanban d. Scrum
d. Scrum
Which of the four frames of organizations addresses how meetings are run, employee dress codes, and expected work hours? a. structural b. human resources c. political d. symbolic
d. symbolic
What is a project organizational structure?
is hierarchical like a functional organizational structure, but instead of functional managers or vice presidents reporting to the CEO, program managers report to the CEO. - Their staffs have a variety of skills needed to complete the projects within their programs. - An organization that uses this structure earns its revenue primarily from performing projects for other groups under contract.
What is an adaptive software development (ASD) life cycle model?
life cycle model that assumes software requirements cannot be clearly expressed early in the life cycle, so software is developed using a less structured, flexible approach - focus on the rapid creation of working code and an evolution of the entire software system. - instead of planning in detail, developers have a basic idea of user needs and work to create code that will meet those needs. - i.e. extreme programming, feature driven development, dynamic systems development model, and scrum.
What is a matrix organizational structure?
matrix organizational structure represents the middle ground between functional and project structures. - Personnel often report both to a functional manager and one or more project managers.
In which organizational structure does the PM have the most authority? In which does the PM have the least authority?
most authority in project structure, least authority in functional structure
What is offshoring?
sometimes used to describe outsourcing from another country. - offshoring is a natural outgrowth of globalization.
What is a systems approach?
term that emerged in the 1950s to describe a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems that includes using a systems philosophy, systems analysis, and systems management.
What is a functional organizational structure?
the hierarchy most people think of when picturing an organizational chart. - Functional managers or vice presidents in specialties such as engineering, manufacturing, IT, and human resources report to the chief executive officer (CEO). ~~~ Their staffs have specialized skills in their respective disciplines.
What is scrum?
the leading agile development method for completing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work.
What is the three-sphere model of systems management?
three spheres meant to address business, organization, and technology - projects must address issues in all three spheres of the systems management model
What is agile software development?
today, ASD approaches are collectively referred to as agile software development, named after the Agile Manifesto published in 2001.
