Questions and Answers of Project Management Processes Methodologies And Economics

Suppose that you have decided to build a new house. Explain what kind of project control you will consider and why?
Why is it important to integrate cost and schedule control? Give an example for which separate cost and schedule control systems may not function properly.
Explain how you would measure the EV of the following activities: a. Writing a term paper b. Building a nuclear power plant c. Designing a new car d. Developing a new training program.
Is there a need for “technological control” in developing a new insurance policy? Explain.
Explain what the responsibilities of “quality control” are in a project associated with making a Hollywood-style movie. How would these responsibilities differ if the movie were a documentary on,
Is there a need for a control system in projects performed by nonprofit organizations? Explain and give examples.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the line-of-balance technique as opposed to using several program evaluation and review technique networks.
How would you build total quality management principles into a project control system?
Why will a delay in the completion of a project probably cause a budget overrun?
The National Institutes of Health support research and development of new treatments for AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Develop a project control system by which the agency will be able
Consider the project plan defined in Table 12. A cost schedule control system produces weekly reports. The reports for weeks 1, 2, and 3 (assume 5 working days each week) are shown Table 13. a.
An activity on the critical path of a project was scheduled to be completed within 12 weeks, with a budget of $8,000. During a performance review, which took place 7 weeks after the activity was
The performance of a project was evaluated 10 weeks after its start. Table 15 gives the relevant information. a. On the same Gantt chart, show the project plan and the project progress, and discuss
Explain CM and control within the curriculum of your school. Give three examples that demonstrate a good configuration control process and three that identify poor CM.
What characteristics distinguish R&D project management from conventional project management? What additional skills does an R&D project manager need?
Identify a few breakthrough technologies and the products that they spawned.
Pick a major U.S. industry, such as automobiles or computers, and discuss the lapses in technology and innovation on the domestic front that permitted foreign competitors to get a foothold and, in
In the mid-1980s, General Motors undertook a $5 billion program to introduce robotics and computer-integrated manufacturing techniques into many of its assembly plants. The results were
Give a few examples for which commercial success did not follow technical success with regard to new product introduction. What were the reasons for market failure?
Can you think of any example for which lack of standards retarded the introduction of a new product or technology? Give some details.
Pick an industry and identify its base, key, and pacing technologies.
What are the differences between a strategic technical plan and an operational plan for an R&D project?
As the head of an R&D group that is contemplating the development of a notebook computer with a built-in fax machine, who would you like to have on your strategic planning team? Why?
Consider a new technology, such as superconductivity or magnetic levitation, and identify several (parallel) ways of realizing it on a commercial rather than a laboratory scale.
Identify a new technology for which you believe that parallel development is not warranted. Explain your choice.
Why has simulation modeling, which is a descriptive technique, been preferred to mathematical programming, which is a prescriptive technique, for analyzing and providing help in the management of R&D
Which of the critical factors and key variables described in Section 6 do you think would apply to conventional projects?Critical Factors. The successful completion of an ongoing R&D project is
What data are needed to run the mathematical programming model (2)? How would you go about collecting these data?
Identify a new product that is based on an innovation in technology, and draw up a strategic technical plan for its development. Be sure to discuss the risk factors at each stage, and indicate how
Assume that you are in charge of a round-trip mission to Mars. The goal is to spend 3 months on the planet’s surface performing experiments and collecting data that will be used to help set up a
The transonic airplane, now on the drawing board, is intended to be a commercial transport operating between continents at supersonic speeds. It will fly a ballistic trajectory and be able to reach
Consider the problem of trying to decide which tasks to fund in parallel to achieve a given technical objective. For example, the objective might be to develop a low-cost rechargeable battery to
Choose a new technology, describe its major features, and explain how you would apply the total quality management principles to an R&D project aimed at commercialization . What is different about
For which aspects of project management are computers most useful? Explain.
Are there aspects of project management for which computer support cannot be used?
Which aspects of project management can be supported by a database system?
What improvements or changes in Microsoft Project would you recommend?
To simplify Microsoft Project, which features would you eliminate?
Write a report on the software package Microsoft Project or another one with which you are familiar. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the package as a tool for supporting the study of
Develop a software selection methodology for the project “Design of a New Space Laboratory for Crystal Manufacture.” Use the methodology to assess Microsoft Project’s ability to support the
Obtain a project management software package with which you are not familiar. For the example project determine how much time is required to learn its basic functions, including data entry, critical
Develop a spreadsheet application for project scheduling that calculates the early start, early finish, late start, late finish, total slack, and free slack for each activity.
Develop a spreadsheet application for resource management within an OBS-WBS framework. The application should present planned use, cost of resources, actual use and cost, and the deviations for each
Develop a PERT program on a spreadsheet that is based on the three time estimates for each activity. Your program should be able to calculate the probability of completing the project by a given date.
You have been asked to choose the project management software to be used as a teaching aid for a project management course. a. Write the software specifications for such a package. b. What might be
Develop a benchmark project to be used to evaluate the suitability of software packages as a teaching aid in project management studies.
Discuss the following comment and develop a numerical example to validate your remarks: “The purchasing price of a project management software package is a negligible issue as long as the price is
Develop a flow diagram that shows how project termination decisions should be made.
Explain the difference between termination by integration and termination by inclusion using an example for each process.
In what ways does the termination phase of a project differ from the closedown of a failed company? What are the similarities?
How might the input requirements differ for a project control system versus an audit team evaluating the process that accompanied a project termination decision?
In what way should the planning of the project termination phase be influenced by personnel considerations?
Why do some projects that are clearly “losers” seem to go on forever? Can you identify a few at the national level? State level? Local level?
What is the most important information that a final report should contain?
Several years ago, the U.S. Congress canceled funding for the development of a battery powered electric vehicle. Do you think that was a good decision? Can you imagine what the pros and cons were?
Assume that you are working for a computer manufacturer as a software engineer and that you are told abruptly that your project will be canceled within 4 weeks. List the questions that you would have
Identify the closeout costs for a big project, such as the International Space Station after it becomes operational but before it is occupied or a nuclear power plant that is,say,90% complete.
Many people in and out of government have proposed sunset laws for all projects and agencies. That is, after a fixed amount of time, a project or an agency would be closed down unless sufficient
List the political and sociological reasons that a project might continue to be supported even though it cannot be justified economically. Can you identify such a project in your private life?
Develop guidelines for writing a project final report.
Write a job description for a project termination manager.
Develop a “generic” project termination plan that is based on the list of activities presented in the chapter. What are the precedence relations among these activities? Develop a linear
Develop a CBS for the termination phase, assuming that only activities that are not related to the substance of the project are performed in that phase.
Identify two projects (local or national) that were terminated prematurely. a. Analyze the reasons that each was canceled. b. Compare the results of the two cases.
Explain the difference between a project and a batch-oriented production system.
Describe three projects, one whose emphasis is on technology, one with emphasis on cost, and one with emphasis on scheduling.
Identify a project that is “risk free.” Explain why this project is not subject to risk (low probability of undesired results, low cost of undesired results, or both).
In the text, it is stated that a project manager needs a blend of technical, administrative, and interpersonal skills. What attributes do you believe are desirable in an engineering specialist
Write a job description for a project manager.
Identify a project with which you are familiar, and describe its life-cycle phases and between 5 and 10 of the most important activities in each phase of its life cycle.
Find a recent news article on an ongoing project, evaluate the management’s performance, and explain how the project could be better organized and managed.
Analyze the factors that affect the success of projects as a function of the project’s life cycle. Explain in which phase of the life cycle each factor is most important, and why.
In a matrix management structure, the person responsible for a specific activity on a specific project has two bosses. What considerations in a well-run matrix organization reduce the resulting
Outline a strategy for effective communication between project personnel and the customer (client).
Select a project and discuss what you think are the interfaces between the engineers and the managers assigned to the project.
The project plan is the basis for monitoring, controlling, and evaluating the project’s success once it has started. List the principal components or contents of a project plan.
What type of production system would be associated with the following processes? a. A production line for window assemblies b. A special order of 150 window assemblies c. Supplying 1,000 window
You decided to start a self-service restaurant. Identify the stages of this project and the type of production system involved in each stage, from startup until the restaurant is running well enough
Select two products and two services and describe the needs that generated them. Give examples of other products and services that could satisfy those needs equally well.
You have placed an emergency order for materials from a company that is located 2,000 miles away. You were told that it will be shipped by truck and will arrive within 48 hours, the time at which the
Your plumber recommends that you replace your cast iron pipes with copper pipes. He claims that although the price for the job is $7,000, he has to add $2,000 for unforeseen expenses. Discuss his
In statistical analysis, the coefficient of variation is considered to be a measure of uncertainty. It is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. Select an activity, say, driving
Specify the type of uncertainties involved in completing each of the following activities successfully. a. Writing a term paper on a subject that does not fall within your field of study b.
Your professor told you that the different departments in the school of business are organized in a matrix structure. Functional areas include organizational behavior, mathematics (operations
Provide an organizational structure for a school of business administration that reflects either a functional orientation or a product orientation.
Assume that a recreational park is to be built in your community and that the city council has given you the responsibility of selecting a project manager to lead the effort. Write a job description
The following list of activities is relevant to almost any project. Identify the phase in which each is typically performed, and order them in the correct sequence. • Developing the network •
Drawing from your personal experience, give two examples for each of the following situations. a. The original idea was attractive but not sufficiently important to invest in. b. The idea was
List two projects with which either you or your organization is involved that are currently in each of the various life-cycle phases.
Select three national, state, or local projects (e.g., construction of a new airport) that were completed successfully and identify the factors that affected their success. Discuss the attending
Identify three projects that have failed, and discuss the reasons for their failure.
Explain what a project life cycle is.
Draw a diagram showing the spiral life-cycle model for a particular project.
Draw a diagram showing the waterfall life-cycle model for a particular project.
Discuss the pros and cons of the spiral project life-cycle model and the waterfall project life-cycle model.
How are the processes in the PMBOK related to each other? Give a specific example.
How are the processes in the PMBOK related to the project life cycle? Give a specific example.
If time to market is the most important competitive advantage for an organization, then which life-cycle model should it use for its projects? Explain.
What are the main deliverables of project integration?
What are the relationships between a learning organization and the project management processes?

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