Chapter 3: The Project Management Process Groups: A Case Study

TRUE/FALSE

	1.	Decisions and actions taken in one knowledge area at a certain time rarely affect other knowledge areas.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	78

	2.	Initiating processes take place during each phase of a project.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	3.	Initiating processes are not required to end a project.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	4.	The level of activity and length of each process group varies for every project.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	79-80

	5.	Initiating and closing tasks are usually the longest and require the most amount of resources and time.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	80

	6.	Research suggests that companies working to implement best practices should spend less than 10 percent of project time in initiating and planning.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	81

	7.	The executing process group generally requires the most resources.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	82

	8.	Monitoring and controlling processes overlap all of the other project management process groups.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	82

	9.	Key outcomes of the executing process group are formal acceptance of the work and creation of closing documents.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	82

	10.	The majority of organizations develop their own internal information technology project management methodologies.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	85

	11.	You cannot tailor RUP to include the PMBOK process groups.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	85

	12.	DMAIC is used to improve an existing business process.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	86

	13.	An organization should put considerable thought into project selection to ensure that it initiates the right kinds of projects for the right reasons.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	14.	In the long-term view, it is better to have a huge success on an unimportant project than to have a moderate success on an important project.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	15.	Information technology is usually a support function in an organization.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	16.	Information systems must support the firm’s business goals, such as developing its own intranet site applications.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	17.	An organization may initiate information technology projects for several reasons, but the most important reason is to support business objectives.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	18.	It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project after it officially starts.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	19.	A stakeholder management strategy is an approach to help increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	93

	20.	Some project managers do not even write down stakeholder information because they do not consider stakeholder management as a crucial part of their jobs.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	93

	21.	The kick-off meeting is always held before the business case and project charter are completed.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	95

	22.	A milestone list is an output list associated with the Project Scope Management knowledge area.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	97

	23.	The WBS provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	104

	24.	Project initiation involves taking the actions necessary to ensure that activities in the project plan are completed.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	106

	25.	Executing the project includes work required to introduce any new hardware, software, and procedures into normal operations.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	106

	26.	The products of the project are produced during project implementation, and it usually takes the least amount of resources to accomplish this process.

ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	106

	27.	Human resource issues often occur during project execution, especially conflicts.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	107

	28.	The process of acquiring a project team falls under the Project Human Resource Management knowledge area.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	108

	29.	In addition to progress reports, an important tool for monitoring and controlling a project is using project management software.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	114

	30.	Even though many information technology projects are canceled before completion, it is still important to formally close any project and reflect on what can be learned to improve future projects.

ANS:	T	PTS:	1	REF:	114

MULTIPLE CHOICE

	1.	Projects involve ____ project management process groups.
a.	three	c.	eight	
b.	five	d.	ten	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	78

	2.	____ include defining and authorizing a project or project phase.
a.	Initiating processes	c.	Executing processes	
b.	Planning processes	d.	Monitoring and controlling processes	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	3.	____ include devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project addresses the organization’s needs.
a.	Initiating processes	c.	Executing processes	
b.	Planning processes	d.	Monitoring and controlling processes	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	4.	Examples of ____ include acquiring and developing the project team, performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and conducting procurements.
a.	monitoring and controlling processes	c.	planning processes	
b.	executing processes	d.	initiating processes	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	5.	A common ____ is reporting performance, where project stakeholders can identify any necessary changes that may be required to keep the project on track.
a.	executing process	c.	monitoring and controlling process	
b.	closing process	d.	planning process	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	6.	Administrative activities are often involved in ____, such as archiving project files, closing out contracts, documenting lessons learned, and receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the phase or project.
a.	monitoring and controlling processes	c.	initiating processes	
b.	executing processes	d.	closing processes	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	79

	7.	During ____ processes for a new project, the organization recognizes that a new project exists, and completes a project charter as part of this recognition.
a.	initiating	c.	opening	
b.	planning	d.	controlling	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	81

	8.	____ is crucial in information technology projects because once a project team implements a new system, it takes a considerable amount of effort to change the system.
a.	Initiating	c.	Executing	
b.	Planning	d.	Closing	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	81

	9.	The project integration management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activities of developing project charters.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	83

	10.	The project scope management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activities of scope verification and scope control.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	83

	11.	The project time management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activity of schedule control.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	83

	12.	____ is a planning process falling under the Project Integration Management knowledge area.
a.	Schedule development	c.	Create WBS	
b.	Develop project management plan	d.	Quality planning	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	83

	13.	____ is a planning process falling under the Project Scope Management knowledge area.
a.	Schedule development	c.	Create WBS	
b.	Develop project management plan	d.	Quality planning	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	83

	14.	____ is a monitoring and controlling process.
a.	Develop project team	c.	Risk response planning	
b.	Request seller responses	d.	Integrated change control	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	83

	15.	The project cost management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activities of estimating costs and budget determination.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	84

	16.	The project communications management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activity of information distribution.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	84

	17.	The project procurement management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activity of administering procurements.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	84

	18.	The project procurement management knowledge area maps to the ____ process group through the activities conducting procurements.
a.	initiating	c.	executing	
b.	planning	d.	monitoring and controlling	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	84

	19.	____ is an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members.
a.	RAP	c.	RUP	
b.	RIP	d.	ROP	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	85

	20.	____ should serve as the foundation for deciding which projects to pursue.
a.	Strategic planning	c.	Successful past projects	
b.	Project managers	d.	Employee abilities	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	21.	An organization may initiate information technology projects for several reasons, but the most important reason is to support ____.
a.	financial security	c.	technological advances	
b.	business objectives	d.	shareholders	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	87

	22.	A ____ is a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders.
a.	stakeholder register	c.	stakeholder directory	
b.	stakeholder list	d.	stakeholder contact list	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	92

	23.	A ____ is an approach to help increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project.
a.	stakeholder management plan	c.	stakeholder management strategy	
b.	stakeholder strategy	d.	stakeholder management list	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	93

	24.	A ____ is a meeting held at the beginning of a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project, and discuss future plans.
a.	kick-off party	c.	kick-off meeting	
b.	launch meeting	d.	project launch meeting	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	95

	25.	The ____ is often held after the business case and project charter are completed, but it could be held sooner, as needed.
a.	kick-off project	c.	launch meeting	
b.	kick-off meeting	d.	launch project	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	95

	26.	It is good practice to focus on the ____ of meetings.
a.	flow	c.	agenda	
b.	planning	d.	results	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	96

	27.	Quality metrics are an output of project ____.
a.	cost management	c.	integration management	
b.	scope management	d.	quality management	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	98

	28.	The ____ provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.
a.	WSB	c.	WBS	
b.	project team analysis	d.	project tool	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	104

	29.	____ the project involves taking the actions necessary to ensure that activities in the project plan are completed.
a.	Executing	c.	Starting	
b.	Initiating	d.	Coordinating	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	106

	30.	The ____ process involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services and bringing the project, or project phase, to an orderly end.
a.	ending	c.	developing	
b.	closing	d.	completing	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	114

COMPLETION

	1.	A(n) ____________________ is a series of actions directed toward a particular result.

ANS:	process

PTS:	1	REF:	79

	2.	___________________________________ progress from initiation activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and closing activities.

ANS:	Project management process groups

PTS:	1	REF:	79

	3.	The ____________________ plan coordinates and encompasses information from all other plans.

ANS:	project management

PTS:	1	REF:	79

	4.	Each of the five project management ____________________ is characterized by the completion of certain tasks.

ANS:	process groups

PTS:	1	REF:	81

	5.	The ideal outcome of the monitoring and  ____________________ process group is to complete a project successfully by delivering the agreed-upon project scope within time, cost, and quality constraints.

ANS:	controlling

PTS:	1	REF:	82

	6.	Many of the project management processes occur as part of the ____________________ process group.

ANS:	planning

PTS:	1	REF:	83

	7.	A(n) ____________________ describes how things should be done.

ANS:	methodology

PTS:	1	REF:	85

	8.	Ideally, the ____________________ would be involved in initiating a project, but often the project manager is selected after many initiation decisions have already been made.

ANS:	project manager

PTS:	1	REF:	87

	9.	Developing a(n) ____________________ to share its project management knowledge could help a company reduce internal costs by working more effectively.

ANS:	intranet

PTS:	1	REF:	87

	10.	____________________ are people involved in or affected by project activities and include the project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents to the project.

ANS:	Stakeholders

PTS:	1	REF:	92

	11.	A(n) ___________________________________ includes basic information such as stakeholder names, level of interest in the project, level of influence on the project, and potential management strategies for gaining support or reducing obstacles from that particular stakeholder.	

ANS:	stakeholder management strategy

PTS:	1	REF:	93

	12.	____________________ is often the most difficult and unappreciated process in project management.

ANS:	Planning

PTS:	1	REF:	96

	13.	The main purpose of project plans is to ____________________ project execution.

ANS:	guide

PTS:	1	REF:	96

	14.	A(n) ____________________ is the output of risk identification planning.

ANS:	risk register

PTS:	1	REF:	98

	15.	The ______________________________ is a very important tool in project management because it provides the basis for deciding how to do the work.

ANS:	
WBS
work breakdown structure
work breakdown structure (WBS)

PTS:	1	REF:	104

	16.	____________________ the project includes work required to introduce any new hardware, software, and procedures into normal operations.

ANS:	Executing

PTS:	1	REF:	106

	17.	The process of information distribution falls under the ___________________________________ knowledge area.

ANS:	
project communications
project communications management

PTS:	1	REF:	108

	18.	____________________ and controlling is the process of measuring progress toward project objectives, monitoring deviation from the plan, and taking corrective action to match progress with the plan.

ANS:	Monitoring

PTS:	1	REF:	111

ESSAY

	1.	List and describe the five process management groups.

ANS:	
Initiating processes include defining and authorizing a project or project phase. Initiating processes take place during each phase of a project. Therefore, you cannot equate process groups with project phases. Recall that there can be different project phases, but all projects will include all five process groups. For example, project managers and teams should reexamine the business need for the project during every phase of the project life cycle to determine if the project is worth continuing. Initiating processes are also required to end a project. Someone must initiate activities to ensure that the project team completes all the work, documents lessons learned, assigns project resources, and that the customer accepts the work.

Planning processes include devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project addresses the organization’s needs. There are several plans for projects, such as the scope management plan, schedule management plan, cost management plan, procurement management plan, and so on, defining each knowledge area as it relates to the project at that point in time. For example, a project team must develop a plan to define the work that needs to be done for the project, to schedule activities related to that work, to estimate costs for performing the work, to decide what resources to procure to accomplish the work, and so on. To account for changing conditions on the project and in the organization, project teams often revise plans during each phase of the project life cycle.

Executing processes include coordinating people and other resources to carry out the various plans and produce the products, services, or results of the project or phase. Examples of executing processes include acquiring and developing the project team, performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and conducting procurements.

Monitoring and controlling processes include regularly measuring and monitoring progress to ensure that the project team meets the project objectives. The project manager and staff monitor and measure progress against the plans and take corrective action when necessary. A common monitoring and controlling process is reporting performance, where project stakeholders can identify any necessary changes that may be required to keep the project on track.

Closing processes include formalizing acceptance of the project or project phase and ending it efficiently. Administrative activities are often involved in this process group, such as archiving project files, closing out contracts, documenting lessons learned, and receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the phase or project.

PTS:	1	REF:	79

	2.	What is a methodology and what are some methodologies other than the PMBOK Guide do organizations use as a basis for project management methodology?

ANS:	
A methodology describes how things should be done, and different organizations often have different ways of doing things.

In addition to using the PMBOK® Guide as a basis for project management methodology,
many organizations use others, such as the following:

• PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2): Originally developed for information technology projects, PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management methodology by the U.K. Office of Government Commerce (OCG). It is the de facto standard in the United Kingdom and is used in over 50 countries. (See www.prince2.com for more information.) PRINCE2 defines 45 separate subprocesses and organizes these into eight process groups as follows:
1. Starting Up a Project
2. Planning
3. Initiating a Project
4. Directing a Project
5. Controlling a Stage
6. Managing Product Delivery
7. Managing Stage Boundaries
8. Closing a Project

• Agile methodologies: Agile software development is a form of adaptive software development. All agile methodologies include an iterative workflow and incremental delivery of software in short iterations. Several popular agile methodologies include extreme programming, scrum, feature driven development, lean software development, Agile Unified Process (AUP), Crystal, and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM). (See Web sites like www.agilealliance.org and the Suggested Readings on the companion Web site for this text for more information.)

• Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework: RUP is an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members. According to RUP expert Bill Cottrell, “RUP embodies industry-standard management and technical methods and techniques to provide a software engineering process particularly suited to creating and maintaining component-based software system solutions.” Cottrell explains that you can tailor RUP to include the PMBOK process groups, since several customers asked for that capability. There are several other project management methodologies specifically for software development projects such as Joint Application Development (JAD) and Rapid Application Development (RAD). (See Web sites such as www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/rup for more information.)

• Six Sigma methodologies: Many organizations have projects underway that use Six Sigma methodologies. The work of many project quality experts contributed to the development of today’s Six Sigma principles. Two main methodologies are used on Six Sigma projects: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) is used to improve an existing business process, and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify) is used to create new product or process designs to achieve predictable, defect-free performance.

PTS:	1	REF:	85-86

	3.	Describe the process of initiating a project and the issues involved.

ANS:	
In project management, initiating includes recognizing and starting a new project. An organization should put considerable thought into project selection to ensure that it initiates the right kinds of projects for the right reasons. It is better to have a moderate or even small amount of success on an important project than huge success on one that is unimportant. The selection of projects for initiation, therefore, is crucial, as is the selection of project managers. Ideally, the project manager would be involved in initiating a project, but often the project manager is selected after many initiation decisions have already been made. Organizations must also understand and plan for the ongoing support that is often required after implementing a new system or other product or service resulting from a project.

It is important to remember that strategic planning should serve as the foundation for deciding which projects to pursue. The organization’s strategic plan expresses the vision, mission, goals, objectives, and strategies of the organization. It also provides the basis for information technology project planning. Information technology is usually a support function in an organization, so it is critical that the people initiating information technology projects understand how those projects relate to current and future needs of the organization. Information systems must support the firm’s business goals, such as providing consulting services more effectively and efficiently.

An organization may initiate information technology projects for several reasons, but the most important reason is to support business objectives. Providing a good return on investment at a reasonable level of risk is also important, especially in tough economic times.

PTS:	1	REF:	87

	4.	What is a work breakdown structure?

ANS:	
The WBS is a very important tool in project management because it provides the basis for deciding how to do the work. The WBS also provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

PTS:	1	REF:	104