Question

1. It has been said that Earned Value Management (EVM) came about because the Federal Government often used “Cost-plus” contractors with project organizations.  Cost-plus contracting allows the contractor to recover full project development costs plus accumulate profit from these contracts.  Why would requiring contractor firms to employ earned value management help the government hold the line against project cost overruns?


2. Why do so many projects end up terminated as a result of termination through starvation?  Discuss the role that ego, power, and politics in this form of termination.


3. Why do “lessons learned” programs often fail to capture meaningful information that could help guide future projects?

Chapter 13: Project Evaluation and Control 

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the nature of the control cycle and the four key steps in a general project control model.


2. Recognize the strengths and weaknesses of common project evaluation and control methods.


3. Understand how Earned Value Management can assist project tracking and evaluation.


4. Use Earned Value Management for project portfolio analysis.


5. Understand critical issues in the effective use of Earned Value Management.


6. Understand behavioral concepts and other human issues in evaluation and control.


7. From Appendix 13.1: Understand  the advantages of Earned Schedule methods for determining project schedule variance, schedule performance index, and estimates to completion.

Chapter 14: Project Closeout and Termination 

Learning Objectives

1. Distinguish among the four main forms of project termination.


2. Recognize the seven key steps in formal project closeout.


3. Understand key reasons for early termination of projects.


4. Know the challenges and components of a final project report.