Project Management

Project team productivity is at its peak during the norming phase of group development. - True - False

False

Key steps in the scope statement process include (multiple answers): - Developing the management plan for the project - Creating a scope baseline - Establishing a Work Breakdown Structure - Limiting project status information to only a handful of key individuals - Establishing the project criteria

- Developing the management plan for the project - Creating a scope baseline - Establishing a Work Breakdown Structure - Establishing the project criteria

Select the so-called "triple constraint." (Multiple answers) - Client Acceptance - Performance/Quality - Budget - Time

- Performance/Quality - Budget - Time

Select proper definitions of a project (multiple answers): -NOT = Projects use existing systems, properties, and capabilities in a continuous, fairly repetitive manner ~ Flip... for Correct Answers!!

- Projects are goal-oriented, involve the coordinated undertaking of interrelated activities, are of finite duration, and are all, to a degree, unique. - A project is defined as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. - A project is organized work toward a predefined goal or objective that requires resources and effort, a unique and therefore risky venture having a budget and schedule.

We expect future money to be worth less for two reasons due to (select two): - The impact of inflation - The globalization of economy - The scarcity of resources - The inability to invest the money

- The impact of inflation - The inability to invest the money

With a cost factor of 0.8, a schedule rating of 0.6, a reliability rating of 0.5, and a performance rating of 0.6, the overall consequence of failure was: - 0.500 - 0.750 - 0.565 - 0.625

0.625

One of the key concepts of sustainability is: - Thinking globally, not locally. - Consuming the income, not the capital. - Increasing risk-taking behavior, as long as benefits are global. - Focusing on long-term initiatives.

Consuming the income, not the capital.

A project management office requiring compliance with standards and procedures that have been adopted is best described as a ________ form of PMO. - Supportive - Authoritative - Directive - Controlling

Controlling

You have agreed to paint your neighbor's house for $1500 and discover that the house has a second floor. Now you're faced with the prospect of buying a ladder or scaffolding or a really long handled brush, not to mention the 15 more gallons of paint that will be needed to cover. You won't get another penny for what will surely be increased efforts since your neighbor transferred risk with a(n): -Inflation clause. -Cost-plus contract. -Contingency reserve. -Fixed price contract.

Fixed price contract.

Which of these is NOT considered a critical contextual factor in project management? - Organizational culture - Organizational strategy - Organizational function - Organizational structure

Organizational function

Which of these is NOT characteristic of a project? - Traditional process management functions of planning, organizing, and controlling do not apply to project management. - Projects are ad hoc endeavors with a clear life cycle. - Projects are responsible for the newest and most improved products, services, and organizational processes. - Projects provide a philosophy and strategy for the management of change.

Traditional process management functions of planning, organizing, and controlling do not apply to project management.

Fred Knievel took out a substantial life insurance policy before he began his trek across North America in his Volvo. Doing so enabled him to: - Share risk. - Accept risk. - Transfer risk. - Minimize risk.

Transfer risk.

A comprehensive statement of work includes an estimate of time and costs, resource requirements, and the scope of the work to be performed. - True - False

True

A comprehensive statement of work includes an estimate of time and costs, resource requirements, and the scope of the work to be performed. Correct! True False

True

Every decision model contains both objective and subjective factors. - True - False

True

The simplest method of project screening and selection is developing a list of criteria that pertain to the choice of projects and then applying them to alternatives. - True - False

True

The two main challenges that virtual project teams face are building trust and establishing the best modes of communication. - True - False

True

Why is project management such a useful training ground for senior executives? Because managing a project provides the first true test of an individual's ability to master both the technical and human challenges that characterize effective leaders in business. - True - False

True

Virtual teams are often slowed down by difficulty establishing: - Task outcomes. - Psychosocial outcomes. - Superordinate goals. - Trust.

Trust

The firm set aside a little extra money just in case an unforeseen element of cost pushed the project beyond what they had budgeted. This extra money is called: - An escalation clause. - A rainy day fund. - A contingency reserve. - A sinking fund.

A contingency reserve.

A project typically has: - No defined start but a defined end date. - No defined start or end date. - A defined start and end date. - A defined start date but no defined end date.

A defined start and end date.

The terpsichorean was familiar with the risks associated with various moves, the accountant knew financial risks forwards & backwards, while the civil engineer could quantify the risks associated with distributed loads on the temporary stage. Their input was used as part of: -The Delphi method approach to risk factor identification -A past history approach to risk factor identification -A brainstorming meeting approach to risk factor identification -A multiple assessments approach to risk factor

A multiple assessments approach to risk factor

Between projects A and B, project A will be considered a superior financial undertaking if it has: - A lower net present value than project B. - A shorter payback period than project B. - A longer payback period than project B. - A lower average rate of return than project B.

A shorter payback period than project B.

Which of the following is accomplished through project management? - A retailer restocks the shelves after a day of brisk sales. - A software developer creates a new crash-proof operating system. - A cellular phone company activates a new customer's service. - An automotive manufacturer produces a day's quota of vehicles.

A software developer creates a new crash-proof operating system.

A project champion is: - A project manager that always completes projects within the allotted time frame. - A project manager that always completes projects within the allotted time frame and under budget. - A project manager that always completes projects within the allotted - budget. - A sponsor in top management that is keenly interested in the project's success.

A sponsor in top management that is keenly interested in the project's success.

The number one predictor of project success is: - Documentation that clearly articulates the consequences of failing to achieve the objectives. - The absence of conflict among project team members. - A well-prepared fallback position in case the project cannot be executed as imagined. - A mission that is understood and accepted by all team members.

A well-prepared fallback position in case the project cannot be executed as imagined.

Twenty-thousand dollars ($20,000) was budgeted for the office renovation that had a task contingency multiplier of 1.3. The estimated cost of the task must be: - About $22,800. - About $18,600. - About $15,400. - About $26,000.

About $15,400.

With a maturity risk of 0.3, a complexity risk of 0.4, and a dependency risk of 0.5, the probability of failure is: - About 0.3. - About 0.6. - About 0.5. - About 0.4.

About 0.4.

If the risk of a negative outcome is slight, the BEST course of action might be to: - Share it. - Accept it. - Transfer it. - Minimize it.

Accept it.

Your first project team meeting got off to a bad start when the functional manager for your team's physician refused to allow her to attend the meeting. This: - Interpersonal conflict was devastating to the project's chance for success. - Administrative conflict posed a serious threat to the project's success. - Interactionist conflict meant there would be no project completion party in your future. - Goal-oriented conflict threatened the project's success.

Administrative conflict posed a serious threat to the project's success.

Project members may be from: - All of them. - Different departments. - One functional area. - Other organizational units.

All of them.

Which of the following types of activities is more closely associated with projects rather than processes? - An activity that is day-to-day. - An activity that is ongoing. - An activity that uses only existing systems. - An activity that establishes its own work.

An activity that establishes its own work.

Risk and opportunity: - Do not vary throughout the project life cycle. - Vary inversely throughout the project life cycle. - Both decrease throughout the project life cycle. - Both increase throughout the project life cycle.

Both decrease throughout the project life cycle.

A strategic perspective on project management might ask all of the following questions pertaining to organizational setting prior to undertaking a project EXCEPT: - Can we complete the project on time? - What is our corporate culture? - Does this project support the company vision? - Do we have established reporting relationships?

Can we complete the project on time?

Which of the following statements about clients is BEST? - Clients tend to be concerned with receiving the project as quickly as they can possibly get it. - Client groups tend to have similar agendas. - A single presentation is best when dealing with all client groups in an organization so that everyone hears exactly the same message. - Client refers to the entire customer organization.

Clients tend to be concerned with receiving the project as quickly as they can possibly get it.

Which statement about conceptual development is BEST? - Conceptual development begins with the process of reducing the project's overall complexity to a more basic level. - It is vital that a best approach to solving a problem be locked in as soon as possible to save analysis time downstream. - A project goal of "significantly increase computer performance" is better than "improve processing speed 20%" because the team may exceed 20%. - Project goals should be optimistic to the point of excess.

Conceptual development begins with the process of reducing the project's overall complexity to a more basic level.

Any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item that must be produced to complete a project or part of a project is a: - Product. - Work product. - Deliverable. - Tangible.

Deliverable.

Projects differ from classic organizational processes because projects are: - Multi-objective. - Well established systems in place to integrate efforts. - Discrete activities. - Part of line organization.

Discrete Activities

Pettersen's study of project managers found that most do not have the capacity to exercise power that derives from formal positional authority and therefore they must develop: - Project champions. - Cadres of trained professionals. - Efficient communications networks. - Effective influencing skills.

Effective influencing skills.

While other characteristics are all considered important traits in project managers, this additional concept has been suggested as a more meaningful measure of leadership effectiveness. What is this? - Subject matter knowledge - Technical skill - Emotional intelligence - Analytical ability

Emotional intelligence

A failing project becomes a black hole for money, time, and personnel as management continues to pour resources into it despite the growing expectation that it will fail miserably. This phenomenon is known in project management circles as: - The vanishing horizon. - Escalation of commitment. - The Pareto principle. - Negative outcome disposition.

Escalation of commitment.

The facet of partnership that describes the requirement that every worker be responsible for defining the project's vision and goals is called: - A right to say no. - Exchange of purpose. - Joint accountability. - Absolute honesty.

Exchange of purpose.

Client interest is typically at its lowest during the: - Termination phase. - Conceptualization phase. - Execution phase. - Planning phase.

Execution phase.

Your project team members do not have adequate training to complete project work and there are far fewer team members that what you need to complete your project activities according to your originally projected schedule. This situation represents an example of: - Execution risk. - Legal risk. - Technical risk. - Commercial risk.

Execution risk.

Because projects managed under a project portfolio management scheme may be independent of each other, it is not necessary to consider resource use when deciding to pursue any single project. - True - False

False

Developing vision and mission statements is an important tactical step in project management. - True - False

False

High turnover among project team members is a key element of success since new team members will bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the group. - True - False

False

In general, a superordinate goal is a replacement goal for the goals of all functional groups involved in the project. - True - False

False

It is easy to distinguish between common bribery from gift-giving when doing business in foreign countries. - True - False

False

The checklist model of project screening has a mechanism to accommodate the differential importance of relevant criteria. - True - False

False

The pre-process phase of the portfolio selection consists of activities related to project development, project evaluation, and portfolio completion. - True - False

False

One practical step that should be taken in order for an organization to begin developing a core of project management professionals is to: - Hire professional project managers. - Fire the unprofessional project managers. - Formalize the organization's commitment with training programs. - Review instances where projects were poorly managed.

Formalize the organization's commitment with training programs.

Probably the most common type of organizational structure today is: - Project. - Matrix. - Organic. - Functional.

Functional

Probably the most common type of organizational structure today is: Project. Matrix. Organic. - Functional.

Functional

A design project is completed on time, under budget, to the customer's satisfaction, and in adherence to the technical specifications agreed. The new product takes the market by storm and everyone associated with the project receives a coveted gold star. Under the four dimensions of project success model, the project still needs to show: - Future potential. - Business success. - Efficiency. - Impact on the customer.

Future Potential

The Scope Management chapter begins and ends with the quote, "It's a dream until you write it down. Then it's a _______."

Goal

A firm is BEST served if its project portfolio: - Has a number of low-cost experimental prototypes. - Devotes significant resources to hit product "home runs." - Aims to take the marketplace by storm regardless of future trends. - Represents narrowly concentrated efforts.

Has a number of low-cost experimental prototypes.

Based on a study of successful American project managers as perceived by project team members, the most important characteristic of a project manager is: - Visionary. - Leadership by example. - Good communicator. - Good motivator.

Leadership by example.

Project penalty clauses that initiate at mutually agreed-on points in the project's development and implementation are: - Liquidated damages. - Milestone adjustments. - Penalty points. - Contingency clauses.

Liquidated damages.

To protect his poultry from meteorites, the farmer made hard hats for each bird & installed a meteor detection system that opened umbrellas throughout the yard if a meteor were detected. Safety of his flock assured the farmer was surprised when he read his latest issue of Risk Mngmt. Magazine and found that this event was: -High in consequence and high in probability -Low in probability and high in consequence -High in probability and low in consequence -Low in consequence and low in probability

Low in probability and high in consequence.

The organizational structure for the project team, including policies and procedures, is the: - Rules statement. - Work breakdown structure. - Scope statement. - Management plan.

Management plan.

Which of these duties is more reflective of a leader's tasks? - Efficiency of operations - Marshalling resources - Motivation and inspiration - Delegation and maintaining

Motivation and inspiration

It appeared that everyone on the project team was finally on board; Jim would bring the doughnuts to all team meetings and Jenny would make the coffee. Fully caffeinated and on a sugar high, the team was coming together and fully committed to the project development process. The team was now planted firmly in the: - Norming stage of group development. - Forming stage of group development. - Storming stage of group development. - Performing stage of group development.

Norming stage of group development.

A common tactic project managers use when they realize their project is underfunded is to rely on: - Asking for forgiveness rather than permission. - Political tactics. - Intimidation. - The kindness of strangers.

Political tactics.

The ________ phase of the portfolio selection process involves steps such as prescreening, individual project analysis, and portfolio adjustment. - process - post-process - pre-process - implementation

Process

A business condition that makes effective project management critical is that: - Products are becoming increasingly simple. - Product launch windows are widening. - Product life cycles are compressing. - Inflation is rampant.

Product life cycles are compressing.

The (_______) is defined as a document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally actions the existence of the project and authorizes the project manager to begin applying organizational resources to project activities.

Project Charter

A matrix organization for project management has a distinct advantage because: - Project importance is enhanced by setting authority equal to that of functional departments. - Dual hierarchies mean two bosses. - A significant amount of time is spent negotiating the sharing of critical resources. - Workers must reconcile competing project and functional demands.

Project importance is enhanced by setting authority equal to that of functional departments.

The maturity models presented in this chapter all demonstrate that: - Project management maturity can be measured only imprecisely. - Project management maturity is an ongoing process based on continuous improvement. - Project management maturity must have at least three levels. - Project management maturity tends to stagnate and then improve in a sudden burst to the next level.

Project management maturity is an ongoing process based on continuous improvement.

The author's synthesis of all well-known maturity models states that moderate project management maturity is characterized by: - Ad hoc processes. - Little support from upper management. - Active exploration of ways to improve project management. - Project management training programs.

Project management training programs.

The systematic process of selecting, supporting, and managing a firm's collection of projects is called: - Heavyweight project management. - Matrix project organization. - Project portfolio management. - Profile management.

Project portfolio management.

Recent research in organizational leadership declares that the new project leader should be adept at: - Recognizing and rewarding talent. - Analytics regarding the project's performance. - Managing the progressive discipline process. - Analytics regarding project team performance.

Recognizing and rewarding talent.

Project management people skills include: - Scheduling. - Project evaluation. - Budgeting. - Team building.

Team building.

A project manager can identify personnel who will be directly responsible for each task in the project's development by using a(n): - Work package report. - Milestone designation chart. - Responsibility assignment matrix. - Merrill report.

Responsibility assignment matrix.

One unique feature of projects is that they blend both: - Financial and temporal challenges. - Financial and behavioral challenges. - Technical and behavioral challenges. - Technical and temporal challenges.

Technical and behavioral challenges.

The construction foreman posted a large sign requiring all work site visitors to don a hard hat and safety glasses. He also purchased copious quantities of both items and made them readily available at the entrance. The foreman is engaged in: - Risk mitigation. -Risk identification. - Control and documentation. - Analysis of probability and consequences.

Risk mitigation.

A principal cause of portfolio underperformance is: - Conservative technical communities. - Government intervention. - Out-of-sync projects. - Scarce resources.

Scarce resources.

Which statement about scope management is BEST? - Scope management is accomplished in a single step by any one project team member. - Scope management can begin once a project hits operational level. - Project goals don't matter in scope management as long as the budget is not exceeded. - Scope management must take place during the conceptual development, full definition, execution, and termination phases.

Scope management must take place during the conceptual development, full definition, execution, and termination phases.

Which of the following best describes the major constraints on a project? - Scope, time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction - Scope, cost, and time - Time, cost, and number of changes - Scope, number of resources, and cost

Scope, time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction

Individuals are commonly organized into departments for all of the following reasons EXCEPT: - Seniority. - Function. - Geography. - Product.

Seniority

The tendency of employees in a functionally organized company to become fixated on their own concerns and work assignments to the exclusion of the needs of other departments is known as: - Siloing. - Myopia. - Nepotism. - Layering.

Siloing

Which of the following is a traditional duty of a project champion? - Cheerleader - Politician - Visionary - Technical understanding

Technical understanding

A method for conducting risk factor identification that consolidates the judgments of isolated anonymous respondents is: - The Delphi method. - Multiple assessments. - Past history. - A brainstorming meeting.

The Delphi method.

The difference between projects that fail and those that are ultimately successful has to do with: - The plans that have been made to deal with problems as they arise. - Whether the project is for an internal or external customer. - The fact that a successful project doesn't encounter problems. - Whether the problem is time- or budget-related.

The plans that have been made to deal with problems as they arise.

The greatest project risk occurs when: - The probability of the event is high and the consequences of the event are low. - The probability of the event is low and the consequences of the event are low. - The probability of the event is low and the consequences of the event are high. - The probability of the event is high and the consequences of the event are high.

The probability of the event is high and the consequences of the event are high.

For the project manager, leadership is: - The process of building skills among all team members. - The process of maintaining control of the budget. - The process by which she influences the project team. - The process of assembling a group of individuals.

The process by which she influences the project team.

The PMO is used as a tracking and monitoring device under the: - Weather station model. - Control tower model. - Radar model. - Resource pool model.

Weather station model.

The Bennis article on competencies that determine a project leader's success indicates that it is crucial to continually remind the team: - Who their leader is. - Who the customer is. - What the deadline is. - What is important.

What is important.

Which of these behaviors is task-oriented? -When my computer broke, the project manager had it replaced immediately. -Every Friday is ice-cream day at the job site; everyone gets a double dip of their favorite flavor. -The dean reached into his pocket, extracted his money clip and peeled off $3,000, saying, "Why don't you pick out some window treatments for the office? Something nice." -The employee of the month plaque is updated monthly and placed in a prominent position near the checkout stand

When my computer broke, the project manager had it replaced immediately.

A (_______) is "a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the project deliverables."

Work Breakdown Structure

Responding to an unforeseen threat that you either did not have a planned response for or has not been dealt with effectively by implementing your planned response is best described as a(n) - Contingency. - Workaround. - Mitigation plan. - Transference.

Workaround.

Geoffco's project manager names three individuals and requests a project budget of $3,000,000 for the new 8-Pod, a backpack-sized personal music player for 8-track tapes capable of holding up to 100 songs from the '60s and '70s. This important step takes place during ________ of the project life cycle. - termination - execution - conceptualization - planning

conceptualization