Review Questions PDF

**Review Questions** 1\. Why are projects organizational investments? When an organization builds or implements a new IT-based product, service, or solution, it commits time, money, and resources to the project with an expectation of receiving something of value in return. Just as an investor cons...

**Review Questions** 1\. Why are projects organizational investments? When an organization builds or implements a new IT-based product, service, or solution, it commits time, money, and resources to the project with an expectation of receiving something of value in return. Just as an investor considers the expected return and risk of a financial opportunity, an organization must weigh the expected costs, benefits, and risks of a project in order to make an effective business decision. It is up to the project manager and project team to deliver that value to the organization. 2\. How do projects support business strategy? Business strategy supports the vision and mission of an organization's current or desired markets, products, and services. While an organization must have an effective business strategy to be successful, projects are the planned organizational changes or means for achieving a chosen strategy. More specifically, IT projects enable the integration of technology in new products, services, or processes that can change existing relationships between an organization and its customers or suppliers, as well as among the people within the organization. 3\. What is a project? A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. (PMBOK© Guide) 4\. What is the definition of a project manager? A project manager is the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives. (PMBOK© Guide) 5\. What are the attributes of a project? The attributes of a project are: time frame, purpose, ownership, resources, roles, risks and assumptions, interdependent tasks, organizational change, and operating in an environment larger than the project itself. 6\. Why do projects have a time frame? Because a project is a temporary endeavor, it must have a definite beginning and end. A project ends when all the promised work is completed and the organization's expectations are met, or it can be terminated prematurely when the work or expectations cannot be met. While a project is temporary, the product, service, or system created by the project can have either a brief or lasting impact. 7\. Why do projects need a purpose? Projects are undertaken to accomplish something. A project must also create something unique. This could be a new product, service, system, or an enhancement to an existing product, service, or system. A project must have a clear goal that defines the value of the project to the organization. This is important for setting expectations, defining the work to be done, setting direction for the project team, and developing a schedule and budget. A clear (and measureable) project goal can be used after the project is completed to evaluate its overall success. 8\. What is a stakeholder? People, groups, or other organizations that have a vested interest in the project's success or failure. 9\. Give some examples of resources that may be required for an IT project? Resources include time, money, people, facilities, and technology. 10\. What is the role of a project manager or leader? The project manager or team leader is responsible for ensuring that all the project management processes and processes associated with the creation of the product, service, or system are in place and carried out efficiently and effectively. 11\. What is the role of a project sponsor? The project sponsor may be the client, customer, or high-level executive who plays the role of champion for the project by providing resources, making project-related decisions, giving direction, and publicly supporting the project when needed. 12\. Why does a project need subject matter experts (SMEs)? A subject matter expert may be a user or a person who has specific knowledge, expertise, or insight in a specific functional area needed to support the project. For example, if the organization wishes to develop a system to support tax decisions, having a tax expert either as part of the project team or available to the team to share his or her expertise can be more productive than having the technical people trying to learn tax accounting. 13\. What types of technical experts (TEs) might an IT project need? Technical expertise is needed when engineering or building a product, service, or system. Technical experts may include database analysts, network specialists, engineers, programmers, graphic artists, and so forth. 14\. What is a risk? Provide an example of a project risk. A project risk is any situation that exposes the project to failure. Some examples of project risks are: Internal risks: - - External risks: - 15\. What is an assumption? Provide an example of an assumption. Assumptions are different forms of risk that are introduced to the project as a result of forecasts or predictions. They are what we use to estimate schedule and budget. For example, a project manager may need to hire a programmer. While estimating the project's budget, the project manager may make an assumption that this programmer's salary will be \$75,000 a year. If this assumption is too low and the programmer is hired for more than \$75,000 a year, then the project's budget will be higher than what the project manager estimated and the project may run the risk of being over budget. Assumptions should be documented because all estimates of a project's scope, schedule, and budget depend on them, and it is important to make explicit the assumptions (and risks) that can impact the project. 16\. What is meant by project tasks being interdependent? Provide an example of two interdependent tasks. The work to deliver a product, service, or system requires many related tasks or activities. These tasks become interdependent when some tasks require the completion of other tasks. Often the delay of one task can affect other subsequent, dependent tasks. For example, a network cannot be installed until a server and other hardware is delivered, or important requirements cannot be incorporated into the design of a product or an application (app) unless a key customer or user is interviewed. 17\. What is progressive elaboration? Projects can be characterized by progressive elaboration whereby the details of a project become clearer as more information becomes available. 18\. Why would an IT project be considered a planned organizational change? New products, services, or systems are planned organizational change. Change must be understood and managed because a project can alter how people work or how they related to one another. Because not everyone likes or is in favor of change, the potential for resistance and conflict exists. This is where a new IT-based product or solution could end up being a technical success but an organizational failure. Subsequently, the potential value of the project may not be fully realized. 19\. Why should the project manager and team understand the organization's culture, environment, politics, and structure? Projects operate in an environment larger than the project itself. Organizations choose or select projects for a number of reasons, and the projects chosen can impact the organization (1). It is especially important for the project manager and team to understand the organization's culture, environment, politics, and structure. These organizational variables influence the selection, funding, and support of a project. The project team must understand the organizational variables and the political climate within the organization so that potential issues that could impede the project can be recognized and handled appropriately. 20\. What is project management? Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements. 21\. What is a project portfolio? A project portfolio is comprised of a collection of diverse projects. Organizations should seek to balance their project portfolio with respect to risk, experience, and technology so that the project portfolio is balanced 22\. Why should organizations manage their projects as a portfolio? An organization may not want to take on too many large, risky projects. On the other hand, an organization may not want to have a portfolio of low-risk projects using soon-to-be obsolete technologies that cater only to a single business unit. A portfolio of projects should be managed collectively so as to align with the organization's strategy and overall plan to achieve competitive advantage. 23\. What is a program? Some projects are managed as a program where the projects' activities are coordinated so that the benefits of the program are greater than the sum benefits of the individual projects. Therefore, projects that are part of a program have a common outcome or capability. While a project may not be part of a program, a program will include more than one project. 24\. What is the purpose of managing a program? A large, complex project may be better managed as a program of several, smaller coordinated projects to reduce risk and efficiently use resources. Each project would have its own project manager, team, budget, schedule, and so forth with a shared governance structure in place for resolving issues and conflicts and to ensure that each project aligns with the overall success of the program 25\. Describe the EDP era. How were IT projects managed during this era? The EDP Era began in the early 1960s and is characterized by the purchase of the first centralized mainframe or a mini-computer by large organizations. The IT projects during this era focused generally on automating various organizational transactions such as general accounting tasks, inventory management, and production scheduling. The manager of this technology resource was often called the Data Processing (DP) manager and usually reported to the head accounting or financial manager. The goal of using technology was to improve efficiency and reduce costs by automating many of the manual or clerical tasks performed by people. As Richard Nolan (2001) points out, software programmers applied computer technology similar to the ways that farmers or engineers applied steam engine technology to mechanize agriculture. The process remained relatively unchanged, while the means for doing the process became more efficient. Subsequently, IT projects during this era were generally structured, and therefore a structured approach for managing these projects could be used. Since the requirements or business processes were fairly stable, changing requirements were not a major issue and large, multi-year projects were common. Unfortunately in many cases these legacy systems created information silos as projects supported specific business functions that often employed different technology platforms and programming languages. 26\. Describe the micro era. What challenges did the micro era present? In the early 1980s, the IBM personal computer (PC) and its subsequent clones signaled the beginning of the Micro Era. However, the transition or integration from a centralized computer to the PC did not happen immediately or without conflict. The often uncontrolled proliferation of the PC in many organizations challenged the centralized control of many MIS managers. For example, the first PCs cost less than \$5,000 and many functional department managers had the authority to bypass the MIS manager and purchase these machines directly for their department. This often led to the rise of user-developed, independent systems that replicated data throughout the organization. Security, data integrity, maintenance, training, support, standards, and the sharing of data became a rightful concern. The organization often had an IT resource that was split between a centralized computer and a collection of decentralized user-managed PCs. 27\. Describe the network era. What challenges did the network era present? In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a defense project called ARPANET allowed university researchers and scientists to share information with one another even in the event of a nuclear war. By the mid-1980s, this network of computers became known as the Internet and led to the Network Era that began around 1995. In the Network Era, IT projects focused primarily on the challenge of creating an IT infrastructure to support many partners, strategic alliances, vendors, and customers. The network architecture had to be scalable to that potentially thousands of networked computers could function in an efficient and timely manner. Moreover, digital convergence or the integration of data, voice, graphics, and video allowed for new and innovative ways to deliver new products and services to customers. While the Micro Era focused on creating an internal network within the organization, the thrust of the Network Era was to extend this network externally. Network Era projects not only faced the challenge of coordination and control, but also how to support a dynamic business strategy and new organizational structures. IT project members not only needed to understand the technology, but the organization and its competitive environment. As witnessed by the rise and fall of many dot com businesses in the late 1990s, the benefits and risks of managing IT projects were much higher than the two previous eras. 28\. What is globalization? What challenges did/does globalization present? Some people such as Thomas L. Friedman (2006) suggest that we may be entering into a new era called Globalization. According to Friedman, the combination of technology and lowering of political barriers have flattened the world so that it is possible for people and organizations to work with almost anyone in any place and at any time. Moreover, the real IT revolution is just beginning as the global competitive playing field becomes leveled for everyone. 29\. What are some challenges that project managers and teams face when managing IT projects today? Today, IT projects support a wide range of organizational activities that range from maintaining existing (legacy) systems to developing innovative ideas that take advantage of emerging technologies like 3-D printing or cloud and mobile computing. IT projects can be relatively straightforward like upgrading a network or developing a simple web site, while large, expensive, and risky enterprise applications like ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) can support core business processes and activities throughout the organization. Moreover, social media and big data analytics are increasingly redefining the customer relationship and enhancing the customer experience. 30\. What seems to be the current state of IT project management? As a project manager or member of a project team you will be involved in projects that are more dynamic, more geographically dispersed, and more ethnically or culturally diverse than ever before. The risk and rewards will be greater than in the past. Therefore, a solid set of technical, nontechnical, and project management skills founded upon past experience and adapted to this new, dynamic environment will be needed to successfully manage IT projects. Although IT is becoming more reliable, faster, and less expensive, the costs, complexity, and risks of managing IT projects continues to be a challenge for many organizations. There is no shortage of stories in the trade magazines about failed IT projects. Very often, these failures end up in lawsuits that cost people and organizations vast amounts of money, as well as damaged careers and estranged relationships 31\. What are the four categories for project failure? Give an example of each. Figure 1.1 provides an extensive list for each category. People - for example, lack of top management support can lead to project failure. Processes - a project can fail due to poorly defined goals and objectives. Technology - obsolete, incompatible and unproven technologies can contribute to project failure. Organization - projects can often fail in an organization that lacks direction or constantly shift priorities. 32\. How might people influence the potential failure of a project? People are the stakeholders of a project, and stakeholders can have varied roles and interest in the project's success or failure. The support of top management or a high-level executive consistently ranks as one of the most important criteria for project success. The support of upper management is critical in terms of acquiring and maintaining financial backing for the project. Users are important project stakeholders that should be involved in important decisions because they may have vital knowledge of the business and processes not possessed by the more technical people. Working closely together, the users and developers can better understand the business opportunities and limitations of the technology. Ineffective user involvement can lead to missed opportunities, unrealistic expectations, or a lack of buy-in. 33\. How might processes influence the potential failure of a project? Project management processes define the project's goal and objectives and help to develop and carry out a realistic project plan. Processes that are not defined or followed can lead to poor quality in terms of a solution not providing the expected value or not meeting schedule, budget, or quality objectives. Often, requirements that are not properly defined lead to additional work or a product, process, or system that stakeholders did not ask for or do not need. In short, the project is poorly executed. 34\. How might technology influence the potential failure of a project? Only a small percentage of IT project failures can be attributed to technical challenges. However, projects run the risk of failure if a technology is obsolete, unproven, or incompatible with developing the project's product, process, or system. Choosing the right technology means having the right tool for the job and that the product, process, or system is not hindered by a technology that is not scalable, integrative, maintainable, or supported in the future. 35\. How might an organization influence the potential failure of a project? A lack of clear direction in terms of strategy can allow an organization to fund the wrong project or overlook a potential winner. In a dynamic environment, changing requirements in terms of laws, the competition, or customer demands may create a moving target for the project's product, service, or system as the organization's priorities change. Funding can impact a project if business units within the organization compete for limited funds or if the organization suffers a financial downturn. Management can create its own problems because of a lack of oversight or through a bureaucracy of overly complex and unwavering rules and policies. Moreover, not having an organizational plan to prepare the stakeholders for the project's planned organizational change can lead to missed deadlines due to conflicts and resistance from stakeholders. 36\. How does a value-driven approach to managing projects improve the likelihood of project success? The decision to fund or invest in an IT project should be based on the value that the completed project will provide the organization. Otherwise, what is the point of spending all that time, effort, and money? Although senior management must make the difficult decision as to which IT projects receive funding and which ones do not, others must plan and carry out the project work. Which situation is worse: Successfully building and implementing an information system that provides little or no value to the organization, or failing to implement an information system that could have provided value to the organization, but was developed or managed poorly? It's probably a moot point. In either situation everyone with a direct or indirect interest in the project's success loses. 37\. How does a socio-technical approach to managing projects improve the likelihood of project success? It is understanding of the importance of addressing the business and organizational aspects of IT projects as well as the purely technical tools and techniques of IT development and with that understanding in mind, involving end users and stakeholders early and often in the development process to the extent that they become partners with a vested interest in the project's success. Using this approach holds the promise of technologically successful projects with add value to the organization. 38\. How does a project-management approach to managing projects improve the likelihood of project success? Using a project management approach to developing information systems has the potential to uncouple the results of undertaking a project from the selection individual team members. Results are more a function of the processes and infrastructure. Five additional benefits are: - - - - - 39\. How does a knowledge-management approach to managing projects improve the likelihood of project success? Knowledge management is a systematic process for acquiring, creating, synthesizing, sharing, and using information, insights, and experiences to transform ideas into business value. In an information economy, knowledge and information are the currency which determine success. Being a wise steward of this valuable asset and attempting to leverage that currency makes sense. From the Standish Group quote "Out of knowledge you gain wisdom, and it is with wisdom that you can become truly successful" 40\. Why does the sharing of experiences in the form or lessons learned lead to best practices for managing and developing new products, processes, or systems? By utilizing such technologies as the WWW and intranets, organizations can share the knowledge, experiences gained, and lessons learned in previous projects with the entire organization. Documenting both the successes and failures, makes the most effective and efficient practices available in the form of organizational best practices.