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BAM 540 Project Management

Text: Project Management

Second Edition, 2010

ISBN-10: 0136065619

Author(s): Jeffery K. Pinto

Publisher: Prentice Hall

b.

Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)

l. There is no such thing as a project team with a(n) ________________

a. del iverable b. ongoing, nonspecific purpose

c. goal

d. project manager

2. A project that results in "doing the wrong things well" has ignored the ______________________goal.

c. budgetary d. technical

e. customer satisfaction

f. scheduling

3. The technical side of project management emphasizes __________________

a. team building b. confl ict management

c. negotiation

d. budgeti ng

4. The behavioral side of project management emphasizes __________________

a. scheduling b. leadership

c. planning

d. project selection

5. Geoffco's project manager names three individuals and requests a project budget of $3,000,000 for the new 8-Pod, a backpack-sized personal music player for 8-track tapes capable of holding up to 100 songs from the 60s and 70s. This important step takes place during of the project life cycle.

a. planning b. conceptualization

c. execution

d. termination

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g.

12. Process management features _________________with respect to project management.

a. greater heterogeneity b. greater certainty of performance c. greater numbers of goals and objectives d. lower adherence to establ ished practices

13. Studies of IT projects reveal that ________________

a. initial cost estimates are overrun by an average of 15 b. over 66 of IT projects were del ivered to customers but not used c. about 25 of all IT projects become runaways by overshooting budgets and

timetables d. up to 75 of software projects are cancelled

14. A business reality that makes effective project management critical is the fact that

a. products are becoming increasingly simple b. inflation is rampant c. product life cycles are compressing d. product launch windows are widening

15. A product is introduced into a market, gains the acceptance of a fickle public and is finally supplanted by a new and improved offering. This phenomenon is known as _________________

a. the product life cycle b. the rule of 80 c. the Mendoza line d. the beta

16. External stakeholders that are external to a project but possess the power to effectively disrupt the project's development are groups.

a. intervenor b. environmental c. stressor d. special-interest

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h.

22. The PMO is used to protect and support the skill of project management under the ______ model.

a. resource pool b. weather station

c. control tower

d. project

23. The PMO is used to maintain and provide a cadre of skilled and trained project professionals, as needed, under the model.

a. control tower b. cadre

c. weather station

d. resource pool

24. A writer estimates it will take three months to generate spiffy documents to accompany a seminal work in operations management. He grossly underestimates the time required and misses his deadline by two months. This estimate was and ___________

a. objective; accurate b. subjective; accurate

c. objective; inaccurate

d. subjective; inaccurate

25. 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 and ___________

A) numeric; ubjective B) numeric; objective C) nonnumeric; subjective

D) nonnumeric; objective

26. The efficient frontier in project management is the set of portfolio options that offer a ______ return for a risk.

a. minimum; minimum b. minimum; maximum

c. maximum; minimum

d. maximum; maximum

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i.

32. Group maintenance behavior would be exhibited by a project manager that _____________________

a. provides the necessary support and technical assistance b. plans and schedules activities and resources appropriately c. contributes to the completion of project assignments d. works with subordinates to understand their problems

33. The group maintenance behavior of gatekeeping helps to ___________________

a. increase and equalize participation b. reduce tension and hostility c. regulate behavior d. increase comprehension

34. The task-oriented behavior of summarizing accomplishes which specific outcome?

a. check on understanding and assess progress b. guide and sequence discussion c. check on agreement d. increase comprehension

35. Tim slapped together his first webpage and proudly showed it to all his colleagues, pointing out what he thought were obvious and overwhelming advantages in simplicity and portability. His championing of webpages that he had read about in a trade journal ultimately shamed everyone else into adopting a web-based approach for all communication

and cemented his status as a true ________________

a. creative origi nator b. entrepreneur c. godfather d. project manager

36. Michael wants to carry out his mentor's long range strategic vision of expanding the company's customer base by entering the casino business in Las Vegas. He issues a series of memos that explain the importance of these projects and makes sure that all necessary resources are at the disposal of the project management team, which is fortunate to have such a(n) _____________

a. creative originator at the helm b. entrepreneur c. godfather d. project manager

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j.

43. As the 80th change order floated across h is desk, the project manager wished that he had kept the first seventy-nine. What money he had saved in scrap paper might as well be lost in charges that could never be recouped from the client. What he needs is better __________________

a. trend mon itori ng b. configuration control c. specification control d. document control

44. Which step in project management requires project managers to consider the types of records and reports they and their clients will require at the completion of the project?

a. project closeout b. completion phase c. reporting d. planning

45. A priori consideration of information needs is performed ____________________

a. several years after a project is completed b. before a project begins c. at the start of a project d. during the project

46. Conflict begins as team members begin to resist authority and demonstrate hidden agendas and prejudices in the stage of group development.

a. storming b. performing c. forming d. norming

47. Everyone in the Tagi tribe agreed to vote out Gervasse at the next tribal council. Their 39-

day project to make it to the final four together was two steps away from completion. This project group is in the stage of group development.

a. storming b. performing c. forming d. norming

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k.

53. Project penalty clauses that initiate at mutually agreed-on points in the project's development and implementation are _________________

a. liquidated damages b. milestone adjustments c. contingency clauses d. penalty points

54. The firm set aside a little extra money just in case an unforeseen element of cost pushed the project beyond what they had budgeted. This extra money is called a(n) ____________________

a. rainy day fund b. contingency reserve c. escalation clause d. sinking fund

55. The mouse executive board meeting was drawing to a conclusion; the only way they would be able to detect the presence of the cat was to tie a bell around its tail. Under their risk management identification scheme, this would fall under risk.

a. commercial b. execution c. financial d. technical

56. A method for conducting risk factor identification that consol idates the judgments of isolated, anonymous respondents is ______________

a. a brainstorming meeting b. the Delphi method c. past history d. multiple assessments

57. A method for conducting risk factor identification that generates ideas but doesn't focus on decision-making is ________________

a. a brainstorming meeting b. the Delphi method c. past history d. multiple assessments

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l.

63. What learning rate is being demonstrated if the first unit takes 15 hours and the third unit

takes 14 hours to complete?

a. greater than or equal to 97 percent b. less than 97 percent but greater than or equal to 95 percent c. less than 95 percent but greater than or equal to 93 percent d. less than 93 percent

64. It took 80 hours of analysis to complete the first phase, but the second phase was done in

74 hours. If this learning rate continues, then the 8th analysis should take a mere _____ hours and minutes, give or take.

a. 63; 20 b. 68; 30 c. 57; 15 d. 52; 45

65. Which of these indirect costs is typically classified as an overhead cost?

a. advertising b. shipping c. sales commissions d. taxes

66. These can be located by doing a backward pass through a network.

a. critical paths b. merge activities c. successors d. burst activities

67. An activity with two or more immediate predecessors is atn) ____________________

a. merge activity b. burst activity c. float activity d. event

68. An activity has an optimistic time estimate of 7 days, a most likely estimate of 12 days and

a pessimistic estimate of 20 days. What is the expected standard deviation of the activity?

a. between 2 and 3 b. between 3 and 4 c. between 4 and 5 d. between 5 and 6

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m.

74. If an activity's cost is plotted against its duration on axes with zeros at the origin, the slope of the line is _____________

a. positive because it costs more to finish an activity more quickly b. negative because a shorter activity costs less than a longer one c. negative because it costs more to finish an activity more quickly d. positive because a longer activity costs more than a shorter one

75. An activity on arrow network ________________

a. cannot have more arrows than nodes b. cannot have more nodes than arrows c. has one more node than arrows d. has one more arrow than nodes

76. The best approach to network representation of a large and hugely complex project is to

a. represent all activities and relationships b. simplify network logic and reduce it to the most meaningful relationships c. use AOA d. use AON

77. CCPM advocates performing all noncritical activities ___________________

a. as late as possible

b. as early as possible c. before starting the critical path d. after completing the critical path

78. An important departure from traditional project management is that critical chain project management logic ______________

a. changes from a late finish to an early start approach b. factors in the effects of resource contention c. adjusts expected activity durations to reflect a 95 probability of completion on time d. creates a separate safety margin for each activity in the project

79. In order to resolve a resource conflict, it is advisable to ___________________

a. work backwards from the end of the project b. work forwards from the start of the project c. begin activities at their earliest possible start time d. complete activities at their earliest possible finish time

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n.

86. A tracking Gantt chart cannot show __________________

a. the reason an activity has slipped b. which activities are ahead of schedule

c. which activities are on schedule

d. which activities are behind schedule

87. A tracking Gantt chart does not allow for __________________

a. looking at today's activity progress and determining whether a single activity is behind

scheduled

b. future projections of the project's status

c. looking at today's activity progress and determining whether the entire project is

behind schedule

d. looking at today's activity progress and determining whether a single activity is ahead

of schedule

88. It is possible to measure _________________with the tracking Gantt chart.

a. only positive deviations from the schedule baseline b. only negative deviations from the schedule baseline

c. both positive and negative deviations from the schedule baseline d. both positive and negative deviations from the budget

89. If significant deviations from the project plan are detected, corrective action is taken and then ____________

a. the monitoring and control cycle begins anew b. project goals are adjusted to reflect current reality

c. the project stakeholders are informed of the budget or time difficulties

d. the critical chain is reviewed for task dependency

90. The classic project S-curve is a plot of __________________

a. labor hours versus money expended b. money expended versus elapsed time

c. elapsed time versus labor hours

d. number of personnel versus days behind schedule

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o.

97. In nonbinding arbitration, _______________

a. the judge can offer suggestions for dispute resolution but cannot enforce these opinions.

b. the two parties agree to open up, or unbind, their books for inspection by the other party.

c. the client and project organizations both agree to perform exactly what the judge

decrees. d. the client and project organizations are not bound by the rules of law.

98. The goal of a lessons learned meeting is to recapitulate the series of events ____________________

a. as subjectively as possible b. from the project manager's viewpoint c. as intuitively as possible d. from all possible viewpoints

99. Some of the greatest challenges facing project teams during termination is _____________________

a. maintaining the energy and motivation to finish b. providing accurate data for the project final report c. providing accurate root cause analysis for the project final report d. finding another project to begin

100. An example of an external intellectual issue is the ___________________

a. control of charges to the project b. screening of partially completed tasks c. identification of outstanding commitments d. determinants of requirements for audit trail data

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