Project Management Compared to Project Portfolio Management

Information Technology Project Management, Sixth Edition

SKILL PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS

Project/program management 60%Business process management 55%Business analysis 53%Application development 52%Database management 49%Security 42%Enterprise architect 41%Strategist/internal consultant 40%

Table 1-4. Top IT Skills (partial list)

Phases of the Traditional Project Life Cycle

Waterfall model for SDLCRequirements analysis and specification

Design and specification

Code and module testing

Integration and system testing

Delivery and maintenance

A systems approach

Information Technology Project Management, Sixth Edition

Systems Approach

Systems philosophy

Systems management

Systems Analysis

Business organization technology

Structural frame

HR frame

Political frame

Symbol frame

functional

project

matrix

Planning, Execution & Contol

Percentage of Time Spent on Each Process Group

Information Technology Strategic Planning Process

1. Approximately what percentage of the wortd's gross domestic product is spent on projects?a. 10 percentb. 25 percentc. 50 percentd. 75 percent

Mind Map of a SWOT Analysis to Help Identify Potential Projects

Project Scope Management Processes

b. 25 percent

1. 2. Which of the following is a I'IOt a potential advantage of using good project management?

a. Shorter developmenttimes

b. Higher workermorale

c. Lower cost of capital

d. Higher profitmargins

c. Lower cost of capital

2. 3. A ___ is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.a . programb processc. projectd . portfolio

c. project

3. 4. Which of the following is not an attribute of a project?a. projects are uniqueb. projects are developed using progressive elaborationc. projects have a primary customer or sponsord. projects involve little uncertainty

d. projects involve little uncertainty

4. 5. Which of the following is not part of the triple constraint of project management?a. meeting scope goalsb. meeting time goalsc. meeting corrmunications goalsd. meeting cost goals

c. meeting corrmunications goals

5. 6 . ___ is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.a. Project managementb. Program managementc. Project portfolio management d. Requirements management

a. Project management

6. 7. Project portfolio management addresses ___ goals of an organization, while projectmanagement addresses ___ goa • .a. strategic, tacticalb. tactical, strategicc. internal, externald. external, internal

a. strategic, tactical

7. 8. Several application development projects done for the same functional group might best bemanaged as part of a ___ "a. portfoliob. programc. investmentd. collaborative

b. program

8. 9. Which of the following is not one of the top ten skills or competencies of an effective projectmanager?a. people skillsb. leadershipc. integr~yd. technical skills

d. technical skills

9. 10. What is the certification program called that tile Project Management Inst~ute provides?a. Certified Project Manager (CPM)b. Project Management Professional (PMP)c. Project Management Expert (PME)d. Project Management Mentor (PMM)

b. Project Management Professional (PMP)

10. 1. Which of the following is not part of the three-sphere model for systems management?a. businessb. informationc. technologyd_ orQ8.nization

b. information

11. 2. Which of the four frames of organizations addresses how meetings are run, employee dresscodes, and expected work hours?a. structuralb. human resourcesc. politicald. symbolic

d. symbolic

12. 3. Personnel in a ___ organizational structure often report to two or more bosses.a. functionalb. projectc. matrixd. hybrid

c. matrix

13. 4. Project work is most successful in an organizational culture where ali of the following characteristics are high except ___ .a. member ident~yb. group emphasisc. risk toleranced. control

d. control

14. 5. A ___ is a product or service, sucI1 as a tecl1nical report, a training session, or hardware,produced or provided as part of a project.a . deliverableb. product c. work packaged. tangible goal

a . deliverable

15. 6. Which of the following is not a phase of the tradit ional project me cycle?a. systems analysisb. concepto. developmentd . illl'lementation

a. systems analysis

16. 7. What is the term used to describe a framework of the phases involved in developing informationsystems?a. systems development life cycleb. rapid application developmentc. predictive IWe cycled. extreme programming

a. systems development life cycle

17. 8. Another name for a phase exit is a ~_ point.a. reviewb. stageo. meetingd . kill

d . kill

18. 9. The nature of information technology projects is different from projects in many other iooustriesbecause they are very ~~_.a. expensiveb. technicalc. diversed. challenging

c. diverse

19. 10. What term is used to describe when an organization acquires goods and/or sources froman outside source in another country?a . globalizationb. offshoringo. exportingd . global sourcing

b. offshoring

20. 1. A ___ is a series of actions directed toward a particular result. ,.

a. goalb. process

c. pland. project

b. process

21. 2. ___ processes include coordinating people and other resources to carry out the projectplans and produce the products, services, or results 01 the project or phase.a. In~iatingb. Planningc Executingd . Monitoring and controlling ,. Closing

c Executing

22. 3. Which process group normally requires the most resources and time?a. In~iatingb. Planningc. Executingd. Monitoring and controlling e. Closing

c. Executing

23. 4. What methodology was developed in the U.K. , defines 45 separate subprocesses, and organizesthese into eight process groups?a. Six Sigmab. RUPc. PMBO~ Guided. PRINCE2

d. PRINCE2

24. 5. Which of the following outputs is often completed before initiating a project?a. stakeholder registerb. business casec. project charter

d . kick-off meeting

b. business case

25. 6. A work breakdown structure, project schedule, and cost estimates are outputs of the ___ process.a. initiatingb. planningc. executingd. monitoring and controllinge. closing

b. planning

26. 7. Initiating involves developing a project charter, which is part of the project ___ managementknowledge area.a. integrationb. scopec. communicationsd. risk

a. integration

27. 8. ___ involves measuring progress toward project objectives and taking corrective actions.a . Initiatingb. Planningc. Executingd. Monitoring and controllinge Closing

d. Monitoring and controlling

28. 9. What type of report do project teams create to reflect on what went right and what wentwrong with the project?a. lessons-learned reportb. progress reportc . final project repoltd. bUsiness case

a. lessons-learned report

29. 10. Many peopleuse ___ to havea standard format for preparing various project management documents.a. methodologiesb. templatesc. project management softwared. standards

b. templates

30. 1. Which of the following processes is not part of project integration management?a. develop the project business caseb. develop the project charterc. develop the project management pland . close the project or phase

a. develop the project business case

31. 2. What is the last step in the four-stage planning process for selecting information technologyprojects?a. information technology strategy planningb. business area analysisc. mind mappingd . resource allocation

d . resource allocation

32. 3. Which of the following is not a best practice for new product development rojects?a. align projects and resources with business strategyb. select projects that will take less than two years to provide paybackc. focus on customer needs in identifying projectsd . assign project managers to lead projects

b. select projects that will take less than two years to provide payback

33. 4. A new government law requires an organization to report data in a new way. Underwhich category would a new information system project to provide this data fall?a. problemb. opportunityc. directived. regulation

c. directive

34. 5. If estimates for total discounted benefits for a project are $120,000 and total discounted costsare $100,000, what is tI1e estimated return on investment (RDI )?a. $20,000b. $120,000c. 20 percentd. 120 percent

c. 20 percent

35. 6. A is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on theproject's objectives and management.a. project charterI). coulraGIc. business cased. project management plan

a. project charter

36. 7. Which 01 the lollowing ~ems is not nomlally induded in a project charter?a. the name 01 the project managerb. budget inlormationc. stakeholder signaturesd. a Gantt chart

d. a Gantt chart

37. 8. __ ,-_ ensures that the descriptions 01 the projecrs products are oorrect and complete.a. Configuration managementb. Integrated change oontrolc. Integration managementd. A change control board

a. Configuration management

38. 9. Which 01 the lollowing is not a suggestion lor perlomling integrated change oontrol?a. use good configuration managementb. mininize changec. establisha formal change control systemd. view project management as a process of oonstant oommunication and negotiation

b. mininize change

39. 10. What tool and technique is used for all of the other project integration management processes?a. project management softwareb. templatesc. expert judgmentd. all of the above

b. expert judgment

1 . ________________ refer(s) to all the work involved in creating the products of the projectand the processes used to create them.a. Deliverablesb. Milestonesc. Scoped. Product development

2. Which tool or technique for collecting requirements is often the most expensive and time

consuming?

a. interviews

b. focus groups

c. survey s

d. observation

3. A ___________ is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that

defines the total scope of the project.

a. scope statement

b. WBS

c. WBS dictionary

d. work package

4. What approach to developing a WBS involves writing down or drawing ideas in a nonlinear

format?

a. top-down

b. bottom-up

c. analogy

d. mind mapping

5. Assume you have a project with major categories called planning, analysis, design, and testing.

What level of the WBS would these items fall under?

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 3

6. Which of the following is not a best practice that can help in avoiding scope problems on

information technology projects?

a. Keep the scope realistic

b. Use off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever possible

c. Follow good project management processes

d. Don't involve too many users in scope management

7. What major restaurant chain terminated a large project after spending $1 70 million on it, primarily

because they realized the project scope was too much to handle?

a. Burger King

b. Pizza Hut

c. McDonald s

d. Taco Bell

8. Scope ____________ is often achieved by a customer inspection and then sign-off on key

deliverables.

a. verification

b. validation

c. completion

d. close-out

9. Which of the following is not a suggestion for improving user input?

a. Develop a good project selection process for information technology projects

b. Have users on the project team

c. Co-locate users with developers

d. Only have meetings as needed, not on a regular basis

1 0. Project management software helps y ou develop a ___________, which serves as a basis

for creating Gantt charts, assigning resources, and allocating costs.

a. project plan

b. schedule

c. WBS

d. deliverable

1- What is involved in project scope management, and why is good project scope management so important on information technology projects?

Project Scope management involves planning the project scope in a scope management plan, defining the project scope in a project scope statement, and developing a work breakdown structure (WBS) decomposing and outlining the tasks involved in the project and their planned completion times (Schwalbe, 2007).

Clients will always modify the requirements for a project at some point in the SDLC in such a way

that the scope will be impacted (Macronimous, 2008). It doesn’t matter how well designed the

prototypes, how thoroughly the requirements are documented, there is invariably a disconnect

between what the client actually needs and what they have helped define.

Chapter 1 Questions

Chapter 1.

1. Why is there a new or renewed interest in the field of project management.Organisations are realising that much of the work they do is actually project based and as more and

more of these projects end up with time, cost and scope over runs there is the increasing need for robust project management techniques within many organisations

2. What is a project, what are the main attributes? How is a project different from what most people do in their day to day jobs? What is the triple constraint?A project is a temporary endevour with the goal of producing a unique product, service or result. Most day to day jobs are process driven and to not have the discrete boudries required to define a project. The triple constraint is time, cost and scope.

3. What is project management? Briefly describe the project management framework, providing examples of stakeholders, knowledge areas, tools and techniques and project success factors.Project management is "the application of the knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements"project stakeholders are all those effected by the project. Project sponsor, customers, team memebers, suppliers, users. There are 9 project management knowledge areas according to the PMI PMBOK, these are

1. Scope2. Time3. Cost4. Quality5. Integration6. Communications7. HR8. Risk9. Procurement

Tools and techniques include the internal processes, templates, procedures, tools such as Gantt charts, project diagrams, flow charts, critical path analysis, software tools.Project success factors include meeting the triple constraint, the project has satisfied the customers expectations, the project made an overall less measureable goal of keeping a sponsor happy, saving money or providing a good return on investment.

4. What is a program? What is a project portfolio? Discuss the relationship between projects, programs and portfolio management and the contributions they make to the enterprise success. A program is a collection of related projects managed ina coordinated way to obtain benefits not available if they we to be managed individually. A project porfolio is a group of projects or programs managed as a portfolio of investments in order to meet strategic company's goal to contribute to the company's success. Project and programs are more focussed toward tactical goals with concern over how well projects are being run, are they on time and budget. Porfolio management is more focussed toward strategic goals where the overriding questions will be, are we doing the right projects, are we investing in the right areas.

5. What is the role of the project manager? What are the suggested skill for all project

managers and for information technology project managers? Why is leadership so important for project mangers? How is the job market for information technology project managers?The role of the project manager is the successful management of the planning, excecution, monitoring, controlling and closure of the project. Important skills for a project manager include leadership, management skill, knowledge of the required tools and techniques, HR skill, communications skills. Good leadership will provide motivation, direction and clarity to the efforts of the project team, statistics and experience show that goods leadership is resonsible more project success than any other single attribute. The requirement for IT project managers is strong, a quick comparison on Seek showed over 1500 IT project amd programme manager vacancies across Australia compared to 1100 Management Accountant, considering Management accounting is a sought skill.

6. Briefly describe some key events in the history of project management. What roles does the PMI and other professional societies play in helping the profession?

In 1917 Henry Gantt develops the Gantt chart. In 1946 the modern concept of project management began with the Manhattan Project, the project aimed at building the atomic bomb. During the cold war years of the 50s and 60s the military continued to be instrumental in developing project management techniques, in the 70s companies started to manage project with software tools. The PMI ensures quality of education, develops project management frame work and manages certification.

7. What functions can you perform with project management software? What are some of the names of low end, mid range and high end project management tools?Critical path analysis, develop Gantt charts.Low - Minuteman, Project KickstartMid - Microsoft ProjectHigh - MS Project Server, Primavera, VPMi Enterpirse online.

Chapter 2 Questions

1. What does it mean to take a systems view of a project? How does taking a systems view of a project apply to project manamgement?Taking a systems view means looking at the processes of an organisation as a set of interacting systems that do not exsist in isolation. Taking a systems view applies to project management as it ensures projects do not exist in isolation from the organisation and its other systems and that projects are focussed toward supporting organisational strategy. Project managers need to take a holistic view and see how their project fits within the greater context of the hole organisation.

2. Explain the 4 frames of an organisation. How can they help project managers understand the organisational context for their projects.

The 4 frames of an organisation are:

1. Structural. How an organisation is structured .i.e. org chart roles and responsibilities2. Human Resources. Focusses on prodcing harmony between the needs of the organisation and the

needs of the people. EG3. Political. Poltical frames make the argument that people in organisations are essentially coallitions of

interest groups or factions composed of various individuals4. Symbolic. Focussed on symbols and meanings and relates to a companies culture, dress etc. It looks

at the symbolic meaning of roles in meeting, as in who takes control, or in the presence of the CEO at a particular meeting, is this support or is it a threat?

Projects have to be run in the context of the organisation and how it operates. the PM would have to have a good understanding of the environment in which they are working and the signifigance of events and peoples actions.

3. Briefly explain the differences between functional, matrix and project organisations. Describe how each structure affects the management of the project.Functional organisations are departmentalised into functional areas of common knowledge. A projectised organisation arranges their staff into project teams of various the various skills required to complete projects. Projects are the main output of project organisations such as a construction company. A matrix organisation has a combination of both functional structure and project teams where an individula employee may have 2 managers simaltaneously, say there functional line manager and a Project manager for a project team they are a member of. For example a management Accountant will have a CFO as their functional manager but during ERP implentation they may also report to the project manager in charge of the ERP implementation.

The different organisations refelect the different power or infuence a project manager may have. In a functional organisation a PM would have very little or none, within a matrix org they would have more but not total since there would be dotted line reporting to the PM and a more direct report to a functional manager. In a project centric org, the PM would be the the full direct line report to all team members.

4. Describe how organisational cultureis related to project management. What type of culture promotes a strong project managment environment.Organisational culture has been described by Robbins and Judge in 10 characteristics. Depending on the degree to which an organisation may be strong or weak in a particular characteristic will have a large bearing on whether the organisation will be supportive of projects. The type of culture that supports a project management environment is:

1. Member Identity: The degree to which the employee identifies toward their profession or toward the organisation. An organisation where the employees identify toward the organisation is more conducive to projects.

2. Group emphasis: the degree to which the organisation operations are organised around group, an organisation high in group emphasis is far more supportive of projects.

3. People Focus: The degree to which people are taken into account when management decisions are made. a good project manager, indede any good manager, will balance the best interest of the employee with the best interest of the organisation.

4. Unit integration: The degree to which departments are encouraged to work together. High unit integration supports projects

5. Control: The degree to whcih rules, policies and direct supervision are required to manage staff. This needs to be balanced and depends significantly of the employee.

6. Risk Tolerance: The degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggresive and innovative. An organisation that has a high appertite for risk is required to best support projects as there is ingherent risks involved with project as they are unique by nature.

7. Reward criteria: the degree to which rewards such as promotions and salary increases are based on performance. Project teams tend to perform better when it is perceived their better efforts will be rewarded.

8. Conflict tolerance: The degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflict and greivences. Project oriented organisations require good communications that willencourage team memebers to discuss any conflict openly.

9. Means-End orientation: The degree to which management focusses on outcomes rather than techniques, tools and processes. Good project organisations are required to balance these and be rigorous with tools, techniques and processes but also focus on the output.

10. Open systems focus: The degree to which the organistation focusses on the external environment. As discussed in systems focus, project must have a holistic view of the organisation and as such are required to have a strong open systems focus.

Chapter 3 Discussion Questions

1. Briefly describe what happens in each of the five project management process groups (initiate, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing). What types of activities are done before initiating a project?Initiating defines and authorizes a project or project phase. Planning devises and maintains a workable scheme to ensure that the project addresses the organization’s needs. Executing coordinates people and other resources to carry out the various plans and produce the products, services, or results of the project or phase. Monitoring and Controlling regularly measures and monitors progress to ensure that the project team meets the project objective. Closing formalizes acceptance of the project or project phase and ending it efficiently.2. Approximately how much time do good project managers spend on each process group and why?Initiating-approximately 2%; Planning-approximately 21%; Executing-approximately 69%; Monitoring and Controlling-approximately 5%; Closing-approximately 3% They spend more time on executing the project because the actions necessary to complete the work are important to successfully complete the project. Planning is the most important process because it takes time planning to actually execute the projects needed to complete the full project successfully.3. Why do organizations need to tailor project management concepts, such as those found in the PMBOK® Guide, to create their own methodologies?Every industry and organization has different ways of doing things. The PMBOK® Guide is a standard that describes best practices, but it doesn’t fit perfectly into every organization’s methods in projects.4. What are some of the key outputs of each process group?Initiating Process-Stakeholder Register, Stakeholder Management Strategy, and the Project CharterPlanning Process-Team Contract, Project Scope Statement, WBS, Gantt Chart, and Risk Register Execution-Milestone Report, Change Requests, Deliverables, Project Management Plan updates,

Project Document updates, Work Performance Information, Project Staff assignments, and Organizational Process assets updatesMonitoring and Controlling-Weekly Progress Report, Change Requests, Updates, Procurement documentation, and Budget forecasts Closing-Final Product, Service, Organizational process assets updates, and Closed procurements5. What are some of the typical challenges project teams face during each of the five process groups?Some typical challenges project teams face can be getting the project charter signed and full cooperation from upper management, under appreciation of the planning process because most of the time spent is on executing and it mainly needs to focus on planning, there can be many problems with executing because some stakeholders may not meet the requirements of their task and are very much behind, not getting feedback from others in the team of what their duties are and if they have came across any problems that would need to be documented for future references, and finally the presentation can be disastrous because the team did not have everything completed and they didn’t meet the industries expectations, in which they would fail miserably.

CHAPTER 4 Project Integration Management

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Describe project integration management in your own words. How does project integration management relate to the project life cycle, stakeholders, and the other project management knowledge areas?

Project integration management means tying together all of the other aspects involved in a project to make it a success. Integration management relates to the project life cycle in that it is done in all of the project life cycle phases. As the project progresses, integration management becomes more focused. Integration management relates to stakeholders because it requires the project manager to know all of the project stakeholders, to know their interests and concerns about the project, and to manage relationships with them. Integration management pulls together information from all of the other knowledge areas.

2. Briefly describe the strategic planning process. Which project selection method(s) do you think organizations use most often for justifying information technology projects?

Strategic planning involves determining the long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services. One of the most popular aid in strategic planning is SWOT analysis.

After identifying strategic goals, the next step in the planning process for selecting information technology projects is to perform a business area analysis. This analysis outlines business processes

that are central to achieving strategic goals and helps determine which ones could most benefit from information technology. Then, the next step is to start defining potential information technology projects, their scope, benefits, and constraints. The last step in the planning process for selecting information technology projects is choosing which projects to do and assigning resources for working on them.

3. Summarize key work involved in each of the seven processes for project integration management.

Project integration management includes the following processes:

1. Developing the project charter involves working with stakeholders to create the document that formally authorizes a project. Project charters can have different formats, but they should include basic project information and signatures of key stakeholders.

2. Developing the preliminary project scope statement involves further work with stakeholders, especially users of the project’s products, services, or results, to develop the high-level scope requirements. A good preliminary project scope statement can help prevent scope creep.

3. Developing the project management plan involves coordinating all planning efforts to create a consistent, coherent document—the project management plan. The main purpose of project plans is to facilitate action.

4. Directing and managing project execution involves carrying out the project plans by performing the activities included in it. Project plan execution should require the majority of a project’s budget.

5. Monitoring and controlling project work is needed to meet the performance objectives of the project. The project team should continuously monitor project performance to assess the overall health of the project.

6. Integrated change control involves coordinating changes that affect the project’s deliverables and organizational process assets. A change control system often includes a change control board (CCB), configuration management, and a process for communicating changes.

7. Closing the project involves finalizing all project activities. It is important to follow good procedures to ensure that all project activities are completed and that the project sponsor accepts delivery of the final products, services, or results of the project.

4. Discuss the importance of following a well-integrated change control process on information technology projects.

It is important to follow a good integrated change control process on information technology projects to avoid scope creep, incompatibility problems, and to make effective use of resources and new technologies. Additional suggestions for managing integrated change control might include locating key project stakeholders, assigning users to project teams, and providing team-based incentives for effectively managing project changes.