Chapter 1: Projects in Contemporary Organizations

Concept Check: Section 1.1

1. _____ are broken down into _______, which can be further broken down into _______.
a. Projects, programs, tasks
b. Projects, tasks, programs
c. Programs, projects, tasks
d. Programs, tasks, projects

Ans: c
Section: 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.

2. The “Triple Constraint” is also referred to as “________________.”

a. Triple Threat
b. Iron Fist
c. Triple Triangle
d. Iron Triangle

Ans: d
Section 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.

3. Project management today is:

a. a new technique invented to address complex problems.
b. a complex set of methods involving multiple stakeholders.
c. only useful for large organizations.
d. a flexible method for managing large or small endeavors.

Ans: d
Section: 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.

4. What are the three primary objectives of projects?

a. Make money, satisfy the customer, keep employees busy
b. Follow specifications, satisfy the boss, beat the competition
c. Stay within budget, within time constraints, within scope
d. Be profitable, maintain reputation, avoid bad publicity

Ans: c
Section: 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.
5. The two primary tasks of the Project Manager are what?
a. Staying within budget and scope
b. Staying on time and within budget
c. Achieving access and impact for the organization
d. Managing tradeoffs and anticipating and addressing risks to the project

Ans: d
Section: 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.

6. A universal characteristic of all projects is that projects are:

a. over budget.
b. short on time.
c. unique.
d. difficult.

Ans: c
Section 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.

7. What is a “quasi-project”?
a. A project with variable outcomes matrix
b. A situation in which all of the three primary project objectives are ill-defined
c. Quick, uncomplicated, active service initiatives
d. Recently added activity-reporting matrix

Ans: b
Section: 1.1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.1 Compare and contrast a true project, a quasi-project, and a nonproject.

Concept Check: Section 1.2

1. Most of the credit for developing project management techniques belongs to:
a. the military.
b. project managers worldwide.
c. large multinational organizations in the US.
d. the Project Management Institute.

Ans: a
Section: Section 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.
2. Actual experience with project management indicates that _________ organizations using it
claim to experience better customer relations and increase in their ROI.
a. very few
b. about 50 percent of
c. all of the
d. a majority of

Ans: d
Section: 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.

3. A common negative aspect of implementing PM is:

a. declining profits.
b. increased conflict within the organization.
c. greater organizational complexity.
d. problems with industry partners.

Ans: c
Section: 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.

4. Project management is __________.

a. easy when things go well
b. difficult even when everything goes well
c. easy because of the processes that can be implemented
d. sometimes difficult due to help we can get from project managers

Ans: b
Section: 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.

5. As of 2017, PMI has approximately ____________ members.

a. 30,000
b. 450,000
c. 725,000
d. 1,000,000

Ans: b
Section: 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.
6. As of 2017, there are ___________ PMI certifications.
a. 2
b. 6
c. 8.
d. 12

Ans: b
Section: 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.

7. One well-known effort to improve project management is the creation of a formal ______ in
many organizations, which is responsible for the evaluation and improvement of an organization’s
project management “maturity,” or skill and experience in managing projects.
a. project management office
b. program management office
c. project management consortium
d. Chief Project Manager position

Ans: a
Section: 1.2
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project management.

Concept Check: Section: 1.3

1. The “_______________” pattern of slow-rapid-slow progress toward the project goal is

common.
a. increasingly demanding
b. up-down-up
c. curved
d. stretched-S

Ans: d
Section: 1.3
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.3 Recognize the varieties of project life cycles.

2. Project management has resulted in an overall ____.

a. decline in the use of traditional hierarchical management.
b. increase in Process Improvement Programs.
c. growth of US industrial output.
d. popularity of MBA programs.

Ans: a
Section: 1.3
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.3 Recognize the varieties of project life cycles.

3. The largest amount of effort applied to a project is during the ________ phase.
a. conception
b. planning, scheduling, monitoring, and control
c. selection
d. evaluation and termination

Ans: b
Section: 1.3
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.3 Recognize the varieties of project life cycles.

4. __________ decreases as the project moves toward completion.

a. Salary expense
b. Budget
c. Uncertainty
d. Uniqueness

Ans: c
Section: 1.3
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.3 Recognize the varieties of project life cycles.

Concept Check: Section: 1.4

1. One of the major factors in determining the success of a project is having a clear set of _____.
a. goals
b. hierarchical connections
c. project managers
d. needs

Ans: a
Section: 1.4
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.4 Recognize the phases of a project.

2. Even though the project is complete and delivered to the user/customer, it is still important to
___.
a. plan for a revised project
b. plan for program adjustments
c. understand user requirements
d. realize the full benefits from the project’s outputs and tasks involved with this effort.

Ans: d
Section: 1.4
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Objective: 1.4 Recognize the phases of a project.