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BUS-517 Chapter 3: The Project Manager

Multiple Choice

1. Identify the attribute that is not normally associated with the job of functional manager.

a) The functional manager is usually a generalist in the area being managed

b) The functional manager is responsible for deciding what resources will be devoted to accomplishing the task

c) The functional manager is administratively responsible for deciding how something will be done

d) The functional manager is responsible for deciding who will do the work

2. According to the authors, the analytic method, when applied to systems, focuses on ________.

a) Assembling the components of a system into an integrated package

b) Building an array of individually designed and manufactured components

c) Calculating the cost and schedule requirements

d) Breaking the components of a system into smaller and smaller elements

3. The project manager should be ________.

a) A direct, technical supervisor knowledgeable in the technology of the process being used

b) Both generalist/facilitator and have a high level of technical competence in the science of the project

c) A facilitator and specialist with technical credibility

d) A technical specialist competent in principles of robust design

4. According to the authors, three major questions face the project manager with respect to synthesizing the requirements of a project. Identify the item that is not listed as one of the three major questions.

a) What needs to be done?

b) Who will actually do the work of the project?

c) When must it be done?

d) How will the required resources be obtained?

5. When managing a project, the project manager is responsible for ________.

a) Planning and controlling the project

b) Planning, staffing, and executing the project

c) Organizing, staffing, budgeting, directing, planning, and controlling the project

d) Organizing, designing, staffing, executing, auditing, and controlling the project

6. The project manager's responsibilities are broad and fall primarily into three separate areas. Identify the item that is not identified by the authors.

a) Responsibilities to the parent organization

b) Responsibilities to the project and the client

c) Responsibilities to the members of the project team

d) Responsibilities to special-interest groups

7. Project managers should view politics as ________.

a) A barrier to successful project management

b) The mechanism by which the people in organizations make decisions

c) Win-lose competitions

d) The mechanism used to sustain projects selected using non-financial selection models

8. The project manager must make trade-offs between project progress and process. Conceptually, this involves trade-offs between the ________ functions.

a) Technical and management

b) Schedule and cost

c) Performance and schedule

d) Cost and performance

9. During the ________ stage of the project lifecycle, there is no significant difference in the importance that project managers place on the three goals of cost, time, and performance.

a) Initiation stage

b) Design or formation stage

c) Buildup stage

d) Final stage

10. According to the authors, a Type 1 project is ________.

a) Well understood but not routine

b) Well understood and routine

c) Not well understood and not routine

d) Not well understood but routine

11. According to the authors the project manager should be more skilled at

a) General management

b) Technology

c) Synthesis

d) Analysis

12. Type 1 projects usually fail because ________.

a) They have not been organized to handle unexpected crises and deviations from plan

b) Contingency allowances have not been built into the budget

c) Continues the allowances have not been built into the schedule

d) The client submitted change requests

13. In a Type II project, the so-called planning problems usually result from ________.

a) An inability to solve the project’s technical problems

b) An inability to plan unknown unknowns

c) A failure to define the mission carefully and get the client's acceptance

d) A failure to handle deviations from plan

14. According to the authors, of all the characteristics desirable in a project manager, ________ is the most important.

a) Availability

b) A strong technical background

c) A person who can keep the project team happy

d) Drive to complete the task

15. The project manager needs ________ credibility.

a) Technical and personal

b) Administrative and personal

c) Technical and administrative

d) Technical and financial

16. Projects are conducted in four important environments. They are ________.

a) Economic, political, legal, and sociotechnical

b) Internal, external, transitional, and multicultural

c) Routine, unique, fast-paced, and complex

d) Profit, not for profit, government, and industry

17. According to the authors the key to coping with the uncertainty that happens at the end of a project, an obstacle that the project manager must overcome is

a) Discipline

b) Communication

c) Planning

d) Supervision

18. During the build-up phase the order of importance of the project goals is

a) Schedule, performance, cost

b) Cost, schedule, performance

c) Schedule, cost performance

d) Cost performance, schedule

19. According to the authors the most desirable characteristic of a project manager is

a) Technical knowledge

b) Managerial skill

c) Negotiation skill

d) Drive to complete the task

Short Answer

20. A ________ is a set of interrelated components that accepts inputs and produces outputs in a purposeful manner.

21. In order to maintain credibility within the parent firm, the PM must never allow ________ to be surprised.

22. The project manager's responsibility to the project and to the client is met by ensuring that the ________ of the project is preserved in spite of conflicting demands made by stakeholders.

23. During the build-up stage of a project lifecycle, ________ is the dominant goal of many project managers.

24. During the final stage of the project lifecycle, ________ is the dominant goal of many project managers.

25. ________ results when the demands made on an individual are greater than the person's ability to cope with them, particularly when the person has a high need for achievement.

Essay

40. With respect to acquiring resources, there is a high potential for conflict between the functional manager and the project manager. Describe a major source of that conflict and suggest how it can be properly managed.

Ans: The project manager often will seek individuals with scarce but necessary skills. Moreover, the project manager will seek those individuals who are top producers. However, these are the very people the functional manager would like to retain to perform the work of the function. In order to manage this conflict, the use of an objective standard to set priorities is recommended. Instead of seeking to optimize the project or the function, the project manager and the functional manager should collaborate to solve the problem in a manner that maximizes organizational success for the business as a whole.

Response: Refer to section 3.2, acquiring and motivating personnel

Level: advanced

41. When asked, “How do you motivate astronauts?” A representative of NASA responded, “We don't motivate them, but, boy, are we careful about whom we select.” Discuss the implications of this statement for project managers seeking to motivate project team members.

Ans: The most effective team members have some common characteristics. Moreover, the issue of motivating people in a project team is closely related to the kind of people who are invited to join the team. For example, when faced with technical problems, will the team members take the initiative to resolve the issue or will the team members seek to delay action by referring the problem back to the functional department? Moreover, because of the potential for conflicting priorities between the function and the project, team members should have the political skills to balance such competing demands, especially when the project team is not assigned full-time to work on a project. If each team member has a problem solving orientation, the team member will seek interdisciplinary collaboration instead of narrowly viewing the problem within a specific discipline. And finally, team members should have the moral courage necessary to work in an open environment where problems are identified and resolved.

Response: Refer to section 3.2, acquiring and motivating personnel.

Level: advanced

42. At the inception of a project, crises tend to be associated with resources. Explain why this scenario could be common in some organizations.

Ans: Uniqueness is a characteristics shared by projects. Once the technical plans to accomplish the project have been translated into a budget and schedule, managerial reviews will often seek to gain cuts in budget and/or schedule. Each time this happens, the cuts will have to be translated into changes in technical plans.

Response: Refer to section 3.2, dealing with obstacles

Level: intermediate

43. Identify three important characteristics that would be desirable in a project manager. Explain your reasoning.

Ans: The three characteristics would be an ability to get the job done without destroying the performing organization and/or its relationships with key stakeholders. There are three aspects to this statement. First, there needs to be a drive to complete the tasks of the project. Second, the resources of the performing organization must be used in a manner that ensures survivability of the organization. Finally, the project manager needs the emotional maturity to balance competing demands among multiple project stakeholders.

Response: This response assumes that is important for the performing organization to survive after completion of the project. In some cases, the intent would be to dismantle the performing organization once the project's results have been completed. However, this answer assumes that the performing organization intends to sustain operations as an ongoing business.

Level: advanced

44. Four project environments were identified in chapter 3. Assume that there is a clash in requirements between the legal environments of two countries participating in the project. Before taking action to resolve the clash in requirements, what would you recommend that the project manager do?

Ans: Since this is a multinational project, the project manager needs to understand the jurisdiction of the legal systems governing the project. Once the governing jurisdiction for the matter at issue has been identified, the project manager should also understand procedural laws associated with the interpretation and enforcement of substantive rights. In many cases, the project manager will lack the expertise to correctly understand and translate these issues into a course of action without guidance provided by competent legal counsel.

Response: When in doubt, the project manager should seek the advice of competent legal counsel. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it.

Level: advanced

45. You are the project manager of a multi-national projects with stakeholders and team members on both sides of the Atlantic. You receive an email request from a stakeholder in the United Kingdom for information that is “needed by 4/3/05”. You run into the stakeholder at a conference in the middle of March 2005 and he refuses to acknowledge you in any way. To what do you attribute this “weird” behavior?

Ans: Coming from the UK, a request for information by 4/3/05 means the requestor needs the information by March 4th 2005. In the US 4/3/05 means April 3rd! Therefore the stakeholder may have been very angry with the project manager in the middle of March if he did not receive the information. The project manager, on the other hand thought he still had two weeks to respond! This is both a culture and communication problem. The project manager has the obligation to ensure that his interpretation of the message is what the sender intended.

Level: advanced

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