Which statement regarding project selection is best

Name ______________________________

PJM 6500 Project Management: Initiation,

Implementation & Termination

Midterm Exam

Instructions: Select the best answer for each question. Multiple Choice: Write the correct letter choice on the line.

1. _____ Which of these countries is NOT identified in the text as having a developing economy with a substantial market?

A) Russia B) China C) India D) Europe

2. _____ Low inflation is a trigger for improved project management skills because: A) Rampant cost increases must be passed along to the consumer. B) Internal process improvement is accomplished via project management. C) Lower inflation means narrower product launch windows. D) Global markets are a prerequisite for low inflation.

3. _____ The Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide definition of a project indicates that a project is:

A) Multifunctional. B) Permanent. C) Designed to avoid using human resources. D) Not limited by a budget.

4. _____ The acronym PMBoK stands for: A) The Personal Management Before or Kernel. B) The Project Movement Behind our Kernel.

C) The Project Management Body of Knowledge. D) The Performance Measurement Body of Knowledge.

5. _____ Which of the following is NOT a project constraint? A) The budget B) The customer requirements C) The schedule D) The technical specifications

6. _____ Which of the following is NOT an element of strategic management? A) Formulating cross-functional decisions B) Implementing cross-functional decisions C) Evaluating cross-functional decisions D) Eliminating cross-functional decisions

7. _____ Which of the following is descriptive of a vision statement? A) Inspirational B) Functional C) Supportive D) Critical

8. _____ Which of these strategic elements exists at a higher level than the others? A) Programs B) Objectives C) Goals D) Strategies

9. _____ A strategic element that contains formally titled initiatives such as the Customer Survey Project, the Small Business Alliance Project, and the Employee Relations Project is most likely a:

A) Mission. B) Strategy. C) Goal. D) Program.

10. _____ External stakeholders that are external to a project but possess the power to effectively disrupt the project's development are:

A) Intervenor groups. B) Environmental groups. C) Stressor groups. D) Special-interest groups.

11. _____ Souder's project screening criterion of realism addresses the question: A) How many workers will the project need? B) Will the project work as intended? C) Who are the stakeholders? D) How often should the project team meet?

12. _____ A selection model that is broad enough to be applied to multiple projects has the benefit of:

A) Ease of use. B) Comparability. C) Capability. D) Flexibility.

13. _____ A project screening criterion that allows the company to compare long-term versus short-term projects, projects with different technologies, and projects with different commercial objectives is:

A) Flexibility. B) Ease of use. C) Capability. D) Realistic.

14. _____ A wedding planner allows $10,000 for flowers and three weeks to receive all RSVPs back from the list of 700 guests. Both estimates are correct within a fraction of a percent. We could describe this factoid as:

A) Numeric and subjective. B) Numeric and objective. C) Non-numeric and subjective. D) Non-numeric and objective.

15. _____ One project factor that directly impacts a firm's internal operations is the: A) Expected return on investment. B) Financial risk. C) Need to develop employees. D) Impact on company's image.

16. _____ Which statement regarding project selection is BEST? A) Organizational reality can be perfectly captured by most decision-making models. B) Before selecting any project, the team should identify all the relevant issues that play a

role in project selection. C) Decision models must contain either objective or subjective factors. D) Every decision model has both objective and subjective factors.

17. _____ A project manager is using a simple scoring model to decide which of four projects is best, given the company's limited resources. The criteria, importance weights, and scores for each are shown in the table. Which project should be chosen?

Project Criteria

Importance

Weight Score

1 1 3

Greenlight 2 2 2

3 3 1

1 1 2

Runway 2 2 1

3 3 3

1 1 1

X 2 2 2

3 3 2

1 1 2

Ilevomit 2 2 2

3 3 2

A) Project Greenlight B) Project Runway C) Project X D) Project Ilevomit

18. _____ For the project manager, leadership is: A) The process by which she influences the project team. B) The process of assembling a group of individuals. C) The process of building skills among all team members. D) The process of maintaining control of the budget.

19. _____ The idea that all members of a project team have the ability to offer a contrary position in order to achieve true partnership between the project manager and the team is called:

A) Exchange of purpose. B) A right to say no.

C) Joint accountability. D) Absolute honesty.

20. _____ In a partnership, each member of the project team is responsible for the project's outcomes and the current situation, whether it is positive or shows evidence of project problems. The term that BEST describes this responsibility is:

A) Exchange of purpose. B) A right to say no. C) Joint accountability. D) Absolute honesty.

21. _____ Which statement regarding the duties of leaders and managers is BEST? A) Leaders embrace change while managers support the status quo. B) Management is more about interpersonal relationships than leadership is. C) Leaders aim for efficiency. D) Managers aim for effectiveness.

22. _____ Which of these is more characteristic of a leader? A) Strive for control B) Do things right C) Demand respect D) Inspire trust

23. _____ A common tactic project managers use when they realize their project is underfunded is to rely on:

A) Intimidation. B) Political tactics. C) Asking for forgiveness rather than permission. D) The kindness of strangers.

24. _____ Which personality trait is a poor match for project work? A) Introverted B) Outgoing C) Gregarious D) People-oriented

25. _____ Which statement about scope management is BEST? A) Scope management must take place during the conceptual development, full definition, execution, and termination phases. B) Project goals don't matter in scope management as long as the budget is not exceeded.

C) Scope management is accomplished in a single step by any one project team member. D) Scope management can begin once a project hits operational level.

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

A) Etched in stone." B) A scope statement." C) A documented dream." D) A goal."

27. _____ Which of these is NOT an element of project scope management? A) Project champion B) Scope statement C) Project closeout D) Control systems

28. _____ Scope management for a project begins with: A) A work package. B) An organization breakdown structure. C) A statement of goals. D) A configuration statement.

29. _____ Restrictions that affect project development are: A) Problems. B) Constraints. C) Stop-limits. D) Limitations.

30. _____ Expected commitments from other departments in support of the project would most likely be detailed in the:

A) Approach section of the SOW. B) Risks and concerns section of the SOW. C) Acceptance criteria section of the SOW. D) Resource requirements section of the SOW.

31. _____ The step that reflects the formal "go ahead" given to the project to commence once the scope definition, planning documents, and other contractual documents have been prepared and approved is the:

A) Go ahead.

B) Send off. C) Work authorization. D) Work release.

32. _____ Project management people skills include: A) Team building. B) Scheduling. C) Budgeting. D) Project evaluation.

33. _____ The first step in assembling a project team is to: A) Talk to potential team members. B) Identify the required skills. C) Negotiate with the functional supervisor. D) Notify top management.

34. _____ Most project resources are negotiated with: A) Project managers. B) Potential team members. C) Top management. D) External stakeholders.

35. _____ Stacey noted that the client was a cantankerous old man and that her current project team lacked the requisite skills to work with him. Time was running short, so the BEST approach to making sure the project team had the necessary skills was to:

A) Locate a new client for this project. B) Identify a suitable training program and implement it. C) Hire a contractor for the life of the project. D) Modify the skill set to something that her current team possessed.

36. _____ If a functional manager will NOT release the resources you need as project manager, your best course of action is to:

A) Complete the project as best you can and inform management and the client that you predicted this outcome. B) Use social media to voice your concerns. C) Notify top management of the consequences. D) Update your resume.

37. _____ The department chair had allotted plenty of time for all department (and project) members to prepare sections of their five-year program review. Administration demanded no less than 50 pages be devoted to a thorough and thoughtful review of activities and goals. What happened to the report was anybody's guess; no one had actually seen one or ever heard back from administration once they had submitted it. Most of the project team members thought the report was immediately sent to the steam tunnels running underneath the campus or perhaps it would sit collecting dust as part of a make-work program to justify an assistant VP's job. No wonder that team meetings were poorly attended and that all the sections of the report were filled with trite phrases and wide margins. This team suffers from:

A) Tenure. B) Poorly developed goals. C) Poorly defined team interdependencies. D) Lack of motivation.

38. _____ During the two hours before their 7:30 p.m. appointments on Wednesday evenings, the operations team had a weekly gripe session during which everyone gleefully unloaded on the powers that controlled their miserable lives. This session was valuable since it:

A) Allowed them to feel like real men, if only for a little while. B) Rewarded good behavior. C) Established a sense of security and consistency. D) Created a clear process for addressing conflict and group norms.

39. _____ The difference between projects that fail and those that are ultimately successful has to do with:

A) The plans that have been made to deal with problems as they arise. B) The fact that a successful project doesn't encounter problems. C) Whether the project is for an internal or external customer. D) Whether the problem is time- or budget-related.

40. _____ Project risk is highest during the: A) Termination stage of the project life cycle. B) Concept stage of the project life cycle. C) Implementation stage of the project life cycle. D) Development stage of the project life cycle.

41. _____ Project risk is lowest during the: A) Concept stage of the project life cycle. B) Implementation stage of the project life cycle. C) Termination stage of the project life cycle. D) Development stage of the project life cycle.

42. _____ The greatest project risk occurs when: A) The probability of the event is high and the consequences of the event are high. B) The probability of the event is high and the consequences of the event are low. C) The probability of the event is low and the consequences of the event are high. D) The probability of the event is low and the consequences of the event are low.

43. _____ The greatest project opportunity occurs when: A) The project is in the concept phase. B) The project is in the development phase. C) The project is in the implementation phase. D) The project is in the termination phase.

44. _____ The overall project risk factor is known to be 0.6. The probability of dependency failure is twice the probability of complexity failure and four times the probability of maturity failure. The consequence of performance failure is twice the consequence of reliability failure, four times the consequence of schedule failure and eight times the consequence of cost failure. What is the probability of maturity failure?

Maturity X Cost Y

Complexity 2X Schedule 2Y

Dependency 4X Reliability 4Y

Performance 8Y

A) 0.213 B) 0.197 C) 0.104 D) 0.148

45. _____ Use the failure probability and consequence scores shown in the table to determine the consequence of failure for the project.

Maturity 0.6 Cost 0.2

Complexity 0.8 Schedule 0.3

Dependency 0.6 Reliability 0.2

Performance 0.5

A) Greater than 0.7

B) Less than or equal to 0.7 but greater than 0.5 C) Less than or equal to 0.5 but greater than 0.3 D) Less than 0.2

True and False: Write T for True or F for False on the line.

46. _____ Projects, rather than repetitive tasks, are now the basis for most value-added in business.

47. _____ The emergence of global markets has made project management skills more critical.

48. _____ The same project managed in the same fashion may succeed in one organization but fail in another.

49. _____ Most companies are well suited to allow for successful completion of projects in

conjunction with other ongoing corporate activities.

50. _____ Risks can be quantified by multiplying the likelihood a failure will occur by the severity of the failure.