Directing and Managing Project Execution Lecture Answer Key

Directing and managing project execution involves carrying out the project management plan by performing the activities included in it. True Many people consider project integration management the key to overall project success. True Project integration management does not include interface management. False The number of interfaces can increase EXPONENTIALLY as the number of people involved in a project increases. True Project integration management must occur just within the context of a particular project. False Project managers should never be involved in strategic planning and project selection. False Strategic planning involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services. T-134 An organization's information technology project selection process should guide the strategic plan. False Information systems can help an organization support a strategy of being a low-cost producer. True Selecting projects is considered an exact science. False As projects progress, the organization must reevaluate the need, funding, and will for each project to determine if the project should be continued, redefined, or terminated. True Opportunities and directives are essentially the same thing. False Many problems and directives must be resolved quickly. True The organization should complete low-priority projects before high-priority ones, if the low-priority ones take less time. False You can use the NPV function in Microsoft Access to calculate the NPV quickly. False Net present value and cash flow mean the same thing. False An annual discount factor is a multiplier for each year based on the discount rate and year. True The ROI is always positive. False Payback period is the amount of time it will take to recoup, in the form of net cash inflows, the total dollars invested in a project. True The first step in creating a weighted scoring model is to assign a weight to each criterion. False A project charter typically does not authorize the project manager to use organizational resources to complete the project. False Some people might use a contract in place of a charter. True Many projects fail because of unclear requirements and expectations, so starting with a project charter makes a lot of sense. False Project management plans document project planning assumptions and decisions regarding choices. True The introduction or overview of a project must only include a list of definitions and acronyms. False A stakeholder analysis should be part of the overall project plan. False The key deliverables section of the project management plan should describe the quality expectations for the product deliverables. True A commonsense approach to improving the coordination between project plan development and execution is to follow this simple rule: Those who will do the work should not plan the work. False Many organizations have found that large information technology projects require experienced general managers who understand the business and application area of the technology, not the technology itself. True All projects can benefit from using some type of project management information system to coordinate and communicate project information. True There are ____ main processes involved in project integration management. six ____ involves working with stakeholders to create the document that formally authorizes a project. Developing the project charter ____ involves coordinating all planning efforts to create a consistent, coherent document. Developing the project management plan The outputs of ____ include change request status updates, project management plan updates, and project document updates. performing integrated change control Many people are familiar with SWOT analysis—analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats—which is used to aid in ____. strategic planning The ____ step in the planning process is to tie the information technology strategic plan to the organization's overall strategic plan. first In the ____ information technology planning stage, the analysis outlines business processes that are central to achieving strategic goals and helps determine which ones could most benefit from information technology. Business Area Analysis In the ____ stage, organizations tie information technology strategy to mission and vision of organization and identify key business areas. Information Technology Strategy Planning In the ____ stage of selecting information technology projects, organizations define project scope, benefits, and constraints. Project Planning In the ____ stage of selecting information technology projects, organizations select information technology projects. Resource Allocation Research shows that ____ is the number one reason cited for why organizations invest in information technology projects. supporting explicit business objectives Author ____, who developed the concept of the strategic value of competitive advantage, has written several books and articles on strategic planning and competition. Michael Porter Projects that address ____ are much more likely to be successful because they will be important to the organization. broad organizational needs One method for selecting projects based on ____ is to determine whether they first meet three important criteria: need, funding, and will. broad organizational needs ____ are new requirements imposed by management, government, or some external influence. Directives ____ analysis is a method of calculating the expected net monetary gain or loss from a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time. Net present value The first step in determining the NPV is to ____. determine the estimated costs and benefits for the life of the project and the products it produces In the mathematical formula for determining the NPV, the variable n is ____. the last year of the cash flow The ____ is the minimum acceptable rate of return on an investment. required rate of return You can determine a project's ____ by finding what discount rate results in an NPV of zero for the project. internal rate of return (IRR) In a weighted scoring model, the sum of all of the criteria's weights must total ____ percent. 100 A(n) ____ is a methodology that converts an organization's value drivers, such as customer service, innovation, operational efficiency, and financial performance, to a series of defined metrics. balanced scorecard A(n) ____ is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the project's objectives and management. project charter A(n) ____ is a document that describes the products or services to be created by the project team. statement of work ____ support contributes the most to successful information technology projects. Executive A(n) ____ is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a project's execution and control. project management plan The ____ section of the project plan should describe the major project functions and activities and identify those individuals who are responsible for them. project responsibilities The ____ section of the project management plan describes how to monitor project progress and handle changes. a. management objectives c. risk management b. project controls d. technical processes project controls The ____ section of the project management plan describes specific methodologies a project might use and explains how to document information. a. management objectives c. risk management b. project controls d. technical processes technical processes The project schedule information section of the project management plan might include ____. a. a detailed budget c. a detailed schedule b. key deliverables d. project staffing a detailed schedule The majority of time on a project is usually spent on ____, as is most of the project's budget. a. execution c. closing b. planning d. monitoring and controlling execution Most systems analysts begin their careers as ____. a. database administrators c. project managers b. CEOs d. programmers programmers On large projects, many project managers say that ____ percent of the job is communicating and managing changes. a. 50 c. 90 b. 70 d. 100 90 ____ should result in improvements in project performance. a. Corrective actions c. Preventive actions b. Corrective reports d. Proactive methods Corrective actions ____ provide information on how project execution is going. a. Performance reports c. Deliverables b. Change requests d. Contracts Performance reports Which of the following is an important input to the integrated change control process? a. Deliverables b. Work performance information c. Approved and rejected change requests d. Approved and validated defect repair Work performance information A(n) ____ is a formal, documented process that describes when and how official project documents may be changed. a. integrated change control c. performance report b. change request d. change control system change control system A(n) ____ is a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes to a project. a. CCA c. CCC b. CCB d. CCD CCB ____ ensures that the descriptions of the project's products are correct and complete. a. CCB c. Configuration management b. Correction management d. Product description management Configuration management ____ tools track the execution of business process flows and expose how the state of supporting IT systems and resources is impacting end-to-end business process performance in real time. a. BSM c. CCA b. CCB d. BSC BSM COMPLETION ____________________ involves coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project's life cycle. Project integration management Good ____________________ management is critical to providing stakeholder satisfaction. project integration ____________________ involves identifying and managing the points of interaction between various elements of the project. Interface management Project initiation starts with identifying potential projects, using realistic methods to select which projects to work on, and then formalizing their initiation by issuing some sort of ____________________. project charter The last step in the ____________________ process for selecting information technology projects is choosing which projects to do and assigning resources for working on them. planning Many information systems are classified as "____________________" because they directly support key business strategies. strategic Many organizations rely on effective ____________________ (NPD) to increase growth and profitability. new product development ____________________ are undesirable situations that prevent an organization from achieving its goals. Problems ____________________ are chances to improve the organization. Opportunities Even though many information technology projects can be completed quickly, it is still important to ____________________ them. prioritize A positive NPV means the return from a project exceeds the ____________________, the return available by investing the capital elsewhere. cost of capital A(n) ____________________ is the rate used in discounting future cash flow. discount rate ____________________ is the result of subtracting the project costs from the benefits and then dividing by the costs. ROI - Return on investment - Return on investment (ROI) You can use the ____________________ function in Excel to determine the IRR quickly. Goal Seek A(n) ____________________ is a tool that provides a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria. weighted scoring model With a(n) ____________________, you can simply add all the points to determine the best projects for selection, without having to multiply weights and scores and sum the results. point model Enterprise ____________________ include relevant government or industry standards, the organization's infrastructure, and marketplace conditions. environmental factors ____________________ include formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, guidelines, information systems, financial systems, management systems, lessons learned, and historical information that can be used to influence a project's success. Organizational process assets A project manager usually organizes the project work into several work packages using a(n) ____________________. WBS - work breakdown structure - work breakdown structure (WBS) The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard 1058-1998 describes the contents of a(n) ____________________. SPMP - Software Project Management Plan - Software Project Management Plan (SPMP) Project managers should not hesitate to consult ____________________ on different topics, such as what methodology to follow, what programming language to use, what training approach to follow, and so on. experts ____________________ project work includes collecting, measuring, and disseminating performance information. Monitoring A(n) ____________________ is the approved project management plan plus approved changes. baseline A(n) preventive ____________________ might be modifying a time-tracking system screen to avoid common errors people made in the past. action ____________________ involves identifying, evaluating, and managing changes throughout the project life cycle. Integrated change control