Exam 3
Consider a project where the organizational structure is simple, involves few people, no new relationships need to be formed, and the people have worked together in these relationships before. For this project the DPCI score for organizational complexity would be _____.
1
When the project size is about 50 percent higher or lower than projects the organization or most of the team members have done before, the DPCI score for size would be _____.
4
The _____ Model explores the skills needed to successfully manage a project based on knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Darnall Three Level
The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project by its two key characteristics. Which of the following is one of them?
a project creates a unique product, service, or result
Which of the following statements is true about a project?
a project team recognizes that a project is temporary
When a project can be completed by one person, it is
a task
An organization of elements that change in response to events in the environment is known as a(n)_____.
adaptive system
Accounting is an example of _____ function.
administrative
With reference to the project management skills defined by Hans Thamhain, planning, organizing, and controlling the work are included under which of the following skills?
administrative skills
Control and monitoring of complex projects can include all of these listed EXCEPT:
archiving documents
_____ allow the characterization or profiling of a project.
attributes
A punch list is a list of items that remain to be done during the project _____ phase.
closeout
Typically, project documents are archived in which phase of a project?
closeout
For project cost management, the first estimate created of the budget is the
conceptual estimate
Which of the following statements is true about commodities?
concrete is an example of a commodity
Which of the following is NOT considered a project?
continuously improving a process
The parent organization's _____ influences when start-up activities of the project will take place.
decision-making process
A(n) _____ system is a system that will produce the same results if you start with the same conditions.
deterministic
At the time of starting a project, the alignment process is used to _____.
develop a common understanding of the purpose and goals of the project
Project profiling is the process of _____.
developing a characterization from the known attributes of a project
Which of the following activities is carried out during the planning phase of a project?
developing detailed staffing plans
A _____ represents a minor change made to the schedule that does not affect the completion date of the project.
deviation
Which of the following is one of the four categories used by the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index for grouping project attributes?
environmental attributes
With reference to an information technology project, the development of the software code is an activity carried out during which of the following phases of a project?
execution
_____ refers to the work processes associated with shortening the time of delivering a product or service.
expediting
With reference to the four categories used by the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index (DPCI), the size and duration of a project are included in _____ category.
external
A deterministic system is a system that can produce wildly different results even if the starting conditions are almost exactly the same.
false
A project execution plan is a document that defines what work will be accomplished by the end of the project.
false
A project is independent of the type of organization in which it is conducted.
false
All projects are permanent.
false
Identifying the project team is an activity carried out during the planning phase of a project.
false
Meredith and Mantel discussed a tendency noted by Darnall that expectations often decrease during the life of a project.
false
Ordered systems have multiple interacting components whose collective behavior cannot be simply inferred from the behavior of the components.
false
The DPCI score for organizational complexity is 5 when the organizational structure is simple and involves few people and the people have worked together in these relationships before.
false
The four categories of attributes used by the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index are internal, external, environmental, and social.
false
With reference to the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index, organizational complexity is an attribute included in the external attributes category of the index.
false
Which of the following is one of the five characteristics of an effective project leader as identified by Albert Einsiedel?
flexibility in management style
The best practice for creating the project charter, as recommended by the Project Management Institute, is to
have the project sponsor and project manager collaborate
Developing a common understanding among the key project stakeholders requires all of the following EXCEPT:
identifying the gatekeepers of the information
During the project start-up phase, the project manager will conduct one or more _____ meetings to begin refining the scope of work, the schedule, the budget, and the project execution plan.
kickoff
According to the Project Management Institute, "Project management is the application of _____, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
knowledge
Which of these is NOT an external attribute under the DCPI?
legal
The 'center of excellence' function performed by a project management office involves which of the following activities?
maintaining a historical database
It's important to gain an understanding of how the project will be accomplished through all of these EXCEPT:
managing technology
In a _____ project, the project team members would be reporting to both the functional manager and the project manager in the parent organization.
matrixed
An organization's statement of purpose is its _____ statement.
mission
The complexity of a system is usually determined by the _____, the degree of differentiation between the parts, and the structure of their connections.
number of activities
An end toward which effort is directed that has a measurable outcome is known as a(n) _____.
objective
The Darnall-Preston Complexity Index (DPCI) is built on four categories of attributes. Which of the following is included under internal attributes?
organizational complexity
The factors that define a system and determine its behavior are known as _____.
parameters
The project sponsor is typically a leader in the _____ organization.
parent
Although the level of skills needed by the project manager depends largely on the project profile, increasingly the _____ skills of the project manager are becoming more important.
people
Which of the following is a typical activity included within the project control function?
planning and scheduling
A project methodology reflects the processes, tools, techniques as well as _____ for managing a project.
policies and procedures
A well-written mission statement has which of the following sections?
primary stakeholders
Which of these is NOT a key function on a project?
production
In addition to identifying the purpose and goals of a project, the project charter should also include:
project description and deliverables
All the issues that surround the development and management of the project plan, including legal, cultural, political, and ecological are the
project environment
According to the Project Management Institute, the scope statement should include which of the following?
project exclusions
The _____ will often develop the first draft of the project scope.
project manager
A _____ represents a grouping of logically related activities that end in a completion of deliverable.
project phase
A _____ is the document that reflects the performance specifications of the project deliverables.
project scope
A(n) _____is typically a leader in the parent organization with an interest in the outcome of the project and he is outside the day-to-day operation of the project. He can provide input into the project scope and other documents that define project success and has the organizational authority to provide resources and overcome barriers for the project.
project sponsor
Shenhar and Dvir observed that the project management approach was connected to the _____.
project type
The DPCI was developed around four assumptions. Which of the following is one of them?
projects have common characteristics
The portfolio management function carried out by a project management office includes which of the following activities?
provides coordinated oversight
Project managers estimate _____ on a project based on the number of things that can go wrong and the probability that they may happen.
risk
Providing _____ will help all team members understand how the project will operate and what each member is doing.
role clarity
Jack Meredith and Samuel Mantel discussed project management in terms of producing project outcomes within the three objectives of cost, _____, and specifications.
schedule
A sequential list of scope change requests and actions related to scope changes is known as a _____.
scope change log
Robert is a project manager with several years of experience. A common trend he has observed on all his projects is that the project scope expands incrementally. This trend observed by Robert is known as _____.
scope creep
A written description of what activities are included in the project and some of those that are specifically not included is known as a(n) _____.
scope document
With reference to technology familiarity, which of the following statements is true about the DCPI score of 3?
several team members have not worked with this technology, including some of the key team members
_____ is the method which indicates the time period it takes to recoup the original expense without considering interest payments or other complicating factors.
simple payback
Organizations don't always match the right _____ of a project manager with the specific project.
skills and experience
The number of people reporting to a manager is known as _____.
span of control
Changes that are significant, rather than incremental, and take advantage of new technologies are
step changes
Which of the following represents one of the two dimensions used by Aaron J. Shenhar and Dov Dvir for profiling of engineering projects?
system scope
Aaron J. Shenhar and Dov Dvir developed a typology of engineering projects that reflected two dimensions;system scope and _____.
technological uncertainty
Including the project manager in the project evaluation activities can be helpful, but can be an issue if
the evaluation indicates the need for a project manager with different skills
Which of the following statements is true about procuring specialized equipment?
the lowest bid may not win the contract for specialized equipment.
The document that authorizes the project is
the project charter
The technological complexity for a project reflects two aspects: the newness of the technology and _____.
the team's familiarity with the technology
Which of the following statements represents a DPCI score of 1 in terms of technology newness?
the technology is not new and has been around for years
Which of the following statements is true about project managers?
they create teams that are goal-focused.
A church is an example of an organization.
true
A common understanding does not mean building a consensus.
true
A project's organization is influenced by the complexity profile of a project.
true
An operations manager's work is oriented toward continuous improvement of existing processes over long periods of time.
true
Both smaller and larger projects that fall outside the comfort zone of the project management team will create stress for the project.
true
Client expectations was the fourth aspect of project management added by Meredith and Mantel.
true
Every project is unique.
true
One of the four assumptions used by the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index (DPCI) is that all projects are unique.
true
Projects are more likely to be funded if the proposal for the project is closely aligned with the mission of the organization.
true
The activities that occur within the initiation phase of a project vary on each project.
true
The project scope is not a stagnant document, and changes are to be expected.
true
The size of a project is relative.
true
When all the team members have used a particular type of technology, the DPCI score for technology familiarity is 1.
true
Classification or profiling of items that have characteristics or traits in common is known as a _____.
typology
Samantha is a project manager and she is about to start work on her new project. She has developed a layered description of the work with increasing detail in each layer. This description developed by Samantha is known as a _____.
work breakdown structure
