ITC208

University of Fiji

Semester 2 2011

ProjectTimeManagementReviewQuestions 1. Whydoyouthinkscheduleissuesoftencausethemostconflictsonprojects? 2. Whyisactivitydefinitionthefirstprocessinvolvedinprojecttimemanagement? 3. Whyisitimportanttodetermineactivitysequencingonprojects?Discussdiagramsyouhaveseenthataresimilarto networkdiagrams.Describetheirsimilaritiesanddifferences. 4. Howdoesactivityresourceestimatingaffectactivitydurationestimating? 5. Explainthedifferencebetweenactivitydurationestimatingandestimatingtheeffortrequiredtoperformanactivity. 6. Explainthefollowingscheduledevelopmenttoolsandconcepts:Ganttcharts,criticalpathmethod,PERT,andcritical chainscheduling. 7. Howcanyouminimizeorcontrolchangestoprojectschedules? 8. ListsomeofthereportsyoucangeneratewithProject2007toassistinprojecttimemanagement. 9. Whyisitdifficulttouseprojectmanagementsoftwarewell? ProjectCostManagementReviewQuestions 1. Discusswhymanyinformationtechnologyprofessionalsmayoverlookprojectcostmanagementandhowthismight affectcompletingprojectswithinbudget. 2. Explainsomeofthebasicprinciplesofcostmanagement,suchasprofits,lifecyclecosts,tangibleandintangiblecosts andbenefits,directandindirectcosts,reserves,andsoon. 3. Giveexamplesofwhenyouwouldprepareroughorderofmagnitude,budgetary,anddefinitivecostestimatesforan informationtechnologyproject.Giveanexampleofusingeachofthefollowingtechniquesforcreatingacostestimate: analogous,parametric,bottomup,andcomputerizedtools. 4. Explainwhathappensduringthecostbudgetingprocess. 5. Explainhowearnedvaluemanagementcanbeusedtomeasureprojectperformanceandspeculateastowhyitisnot usedmoreoften.Whataresomegeneralrulesofthumbfordecidingifcostvariance,schedulevariance,cost performanceindex,andscheduleperformanceindexnumbersaregoodorbad? 6. Whatisprojectportfoliomanagement?Canprojectmanagersuseitwithearnedvaluemanagement? 7. Describeseveraltypesofsoftwarethatprojectmanagerscanusetosupportprojectcostmanagement. ProjectQualityManagementReviewQuestions 1. DiscusssomeoftheexamplesofpoorqualityininformationtechnologyprojectspresentedintheWhatWent Wrong?section.Couldmostoftheseproblemshavebeenavoided?Whydoyouthinktherearesomanyexamplesof poorqualityininformationtechnologyprojects? 2. Whatarethemainprocessesincludedinprojectqualitymanagement? 3. Howdofunctionality,systemoutputs,performance,reliability,andmaintainabilityrequirementsaffectquality planning? 4. Whattypeofinformationgoesinaqualityassuranceplan? 5. Whatarethethreemaincategoriesofoutputsofqualitycontrol? 6. ProvideexamplesofwhenyouwoulduseaParetodiagram,statisticalsampling,qualitycontrolcharts,andtestingon aninformationtechnologyproject. 7. Discussthehistoryofmodernqualitymanagement.HowhaveexpertssuchasDeming,Juran,Crosby,andTaguchi affectedthequalitymovementandtodaysuseofSixSigma? 8. Discussthreesuggestionsforimprovinginformationtechnologyprojectqualitythatwerenotmadeinthischapter. 9. Describethreedifferenttypesofsoftwarethatcanassistinprojectqualitymanagement. ProjectHumanResourceManagementReviewQuestions 1. Discussthechangesinthejobmarketforinformationtechnologyworkers.Howdoesthejobmarketandcurrentstate oftheeconomyaffecthumanresourcemanagement? 2. Summarizetheprocessesinvolvedinprojecthumanresourcemanagement. 3. BrieflysummarizetheworksofMaslow,Herzberg,McClellan,McGregor,Ouchi,ThamhainandWilemon,andCovey. Howdotheirtheoriesrelatetoprojectmanagement? 4. Describesituationswhereitwouldbeappropriatetocreateaprojectorganizationalchart,aresponsibilityassignment matrix,aRACIchart,andaresourcehistogram.Describewhatthesechartsormatriceslooklike. 5. Discussthedifferencebetweenresourceloadingandresourcelevelingandprovideanexampleofwhenyouwoulduse eachtechnique. 6. Explaintwotypesofteambuildingactivitiesdescribedinthischapter. 7. Summarizedifferenttoolsandtechniquesprojectmanagerscanusetohelpthemmanageprojectteams.Whatcan theydotomanagevirtualteams? 8. HowcanyouuseProject2007toassistinprojecthumanresourcemanagement?
jonev@unifiji.ac.fj

ITC208

University of Fiji

Semester 2 2011

ProjectCommunicationManagementReviewQuestions 1. Thinkofexamplesofmediathatpokefunatthecommunicationsskillsoftechnicalprofessionals.Howdoespokingfun attechnicalprofessionalscommunicationsskillsimpacttheindustryandeducationalprograms? 2. Whatitemsshouldacommunicationsmanagementplanaddress?Howcanastakeholderanalysisassistinpreparing andimplementingpartsofthisplan? 3. Discusstheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofdifferentwaysofdistributingprojectperformanceinformation. 4. Whataresomeofthewaystocreateanddistributeprojectperformanceinformation? 5. Discusstheuseofissuelogstoassistinmanagingstakeholders. 6. Explainwhyyouagreeordisagreewithsomeofthesuggestionsprovidedinthischapterforimprovingproject communications.Whatothersuggestionsdoyouhave? 7. Howcansoftwareassistinprojectcommunications?Howcanithurtprojectcommunications? ProjectRisksManagementReviewQuestions 1. DiscusstheriskutilityfunctionandriskpreferencechartinFigure112.Wouldyourateyourselfasbeingriskaverse, riskneutral,orriskseeking?Giveexamplesofeachapproachfromdifferentaspectsofyourlife,suchasyourcurrent job,yourpersonalfinances,romances,andeatinghabits. 2. Whataresomequestionsthatshouldbeaddressedinariskmanagementplan? 3. Discussthecommonsourcesofriskoninformationtechnologyprojectsandsuggestionsformanagingthem.Which suggestionsdoyoufindmostuseful?Whichdoyoufeelwouldnotworkinyourorganization?Why? 4. WhatisthedifferencebetweenusingbrainstormingandtheDelphitechniqueforriskidentification?Whataresomeof theadvantagesanddisadvantagesofeachapproach?Describethecontentsofariskregisterandhowtheriskregister isusedinseveralriskmanagementprocesses. 5. Describehowtouseaprobability/impactmatrix,riskfactors,andtheTopTenRiskItemTrackingapproachesfor performingqualitativeriskanalysis.Howcouldyouuseeachtechniqueonaproject? 6. ExplainhowtousedecisiontreesandMonteCarloanalysisforquantifyingrisk.Giveanexampleofhowyoucoulduse eachtechniqueonaninformationtechnologyproject. 7. Providerealisticexamplesofeachoftheriskresponsestrategiesforbothnegativeandpositiverisks. 8. Listthetoolsandtechniquesforperformingriskmonitoringandcontrol. 9. HowcanyouuseExceltoassistinprojectriskmanagement?Whatothersoftwarecanhelpprojectteamsmakebetter riskmanagementdecisions? ProjectProcurementManagementReviewQuestions 1. Whatisthemainpurposeofaprocurementaudit? 2. Listtwosuggestionsforensuringadequatechangecontrolonprojectsthatinvolveoutsidecontracts. 3. Howcanorganizationsuseaweighteddecisionmatrixtoevaluateproposalsaspartofsellerselection? 4. Whatisinvolvedintheprocessofrequestingsellerresponses?HowdoorganizationsdecidewhomtosendRFPsor RFQs? 5. DoyouthinkmanyinformationtechnologyprofessionalshaveexperiencewritingRFPsandevaluatingproposalsfor informationtechnologyprojects?Whatskillswouldbeusefulforthesetasks? 6.Explainthemakeorbuyprocessanddescribehowtoperformthefinancialcalculationsinvolvedinthesimpleleaseor buyexampleprovidedinthischapter.Whatarethemaintypesofcontractsifyoudecidetooutsource?Whatarethe advantagesanddisadvantagesofeach? 7. Listfivereasonswhyorganizationsoutsource.Whyisthereagrowingtrendinoutsourcing,especiallyinthe government? 8. Howcansoftwareassistinprocuringgoodsandservices?Whatiseprocurementsoftware?

jonev@unifiji.ac.fj