Chapter 2: The Environment In Which Projects Operate

Question 1

Which of the following is not a type of control and influence used by the project management office:

A. Supportive
B. Directive
C. Suggestive
D. Controlling

Answer 1

C. Suggestive

Question 2

Which of the following is not an example of an organization’s internal enterprise environmental factors:

A. Infrastructure
B. Organizational culture, structure, and governance
C. The offices that are used by the PMO
D. Information technology software

Answer 2

C. The offices that are used by the PMO

Question 3

XYZ company is undertaking a project to identify how to lay out the equipment in their packing and dispatch area. It is common practice in the organization for project team members to receive bonus pay when a project is completed on time. This common experience is known as:

A. Regulations, policies, methods and procedures
B. Shared vision, mission, values, beliefs and expectations
C. Organizational culture, structure, and governance
D. Operating environments

Answer 3

C. Organizational culture, structure, and governance

Question 4

The YUI company manufactures food products. When projects take place the project manager has a low level of authority, a low level of access to resources and is usually appointed on a part-time basis. This is an example of which type of organizational structure:

A. Balanced matrix
B. Strong matrix
C. Project-oriented
D. Weak matrix

Answer 4

D. Weak matrix

Question 5

The KLM company produces power systems for electricity suppliers to consumers. Their company is structured into different departments for manufacturing, engineering, Human Resources, finance, sales, etc. This is an example of which organization type:

A. Balanced matrix
B. Weak matrix
C. Organic or simple
D. Functional

Answer 5

D. Functional

Question 6

Which of the following is not an organizational process asset?

A. Artifacts and practices that can be used to govern the project
B. Organizational policies, processes and procedures
C. Lessons learned and historical information
D. The organization’s culture and style

Answer 6

D. The organization’s culture and style

Question 7

An organization’s change control procedures, including the steps by which performing organizations standards, policies, plans, and procedures or any project documents will be modified, and how any changes will be approved and validated are typically used to support which major process group:

A. Closing
B. None of these
C. Executing, Monitoring and Controlling
D. Initiating and Planning

Answer 7

C. Executing, Monitoring and Controlling

Question 8

Issue and defect management data bases are known as part of an organization’s:

A. Organizational conscience
B. Organizational knowledge repositories
C. Corporate history
D. Organizational memory package

Answer 8

B. Organizational knowledge repositories

Question 9

Which of the following is not an example of an enterprise environmental factor:

A. The political climate
B. Stakeholders risk tolerances
C. Completed schedules, risk data and earned value data
D. Company work authorization systems

Answer 9

C. Completed schedules, risk data and earned value data

Question 10

The QPR company has been constructing office buildings for many years. Recently, new building regulations have meant that the company has had to change the way that it does its project work. This is an example of the impact of:

A. Organizational process assets
B. Project conditions
C. Enterprise environmental factors
D. Project methodology

Answer 10

C. Enterprise environmental factors

Question 11

A collection of various components that together can produce results not obtainable by the individual components alone is known as:

A. A collective
B. An organization
C. A system
D. A network

Answer 11

C. A system

Question 12

The framework, functions, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a unique product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic and operational goals is known as:

A. The project methodology
B. The project approval framework
C. The project governance framework
D. The project management structure

Answer 12

C. The project governance framework

Question 13

Contracting and purchasing constraints, approved providers and subcontractors, and collaboration agreements are examples of:

A. Infrastructure
B. Employee capability
C. Resource availability
D. Organizational culture, structure, and governance

Answer 13

C. Resource availability

Question 14

Company TUV have established a project team that has members in various locations around the world. The team use Skype to conference with each other and Dropbox to share documents and files that are relevant to their project. They rarely meet face to face. This type of team is known as:

A. A temporary team
B. A part time team
C. A co-located team
D. A virtual team

Answer 14

D. A virtual team

Question 15

Which of the following is not a principle of a system:

A. Systems are dynamic
B. Systems are non-linear in responsiveness
C. Systems can be optimized
D. Systems are static

Answer 15

D. Systems are static

Question 16

Which of the following is an enterprise environmental factor that is not external to the organization:

A. Financial considerations
B. Marketplace conditions
C. Academic research
D. Information technology software

Answer 16

D. Information technology software

Question 17

Which of the following is not an initiative and planning process or procedure for conducting project work:

A. Preapproved supplier lists and various types of contractual agreements
B. Guidelines and criteria for tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes and procedures to satisfy the specific needs of the project
C. Financial controls procedures
D. Product and project life cycles, methods, and procedures

Answer 17

C. Financial controls procedures

Question 18

Which of the following is not a key function of principle of management:

A. Systems can be optimized
B. Paid fairly for work performed
C. Authority given to perform work
D. Unity of command

Answer 18

A. Systems can be optimized

Question 19

Which of the following is a characteristic of a strong matrix organizational structure:

A. The project manager’s authority is moderate to high
B. The project manager’s authority is high to almost total
C. The project manager’s authority is low
D. The project manager’s authority is low to moderate

Answer 19

A. The project manager’s authority is moderate to high

Question 20

Constraints on projects are imposed by the organization through:

A. The project manager
B. The structure and governance framework
C. The external governance framework
D. Organizational management

Answer 20

B. The structure and governance framework

Question 21

Define: Enterprise environmental factors (EEFs)

Answer 21

Factors that exist in the environment in which the project is being conducted, either inside the organization (internal EEFs) or outside it (external EEFs), which may influence the project activity and which the project team and the project manager have no control over

Question 22

Define: Organizational process assets

Answer 22

Appearing frequently as inputs to processes in the PMBOK, they include such things as previous project plans and processes for recruitment. They are divided into Processes, Policies, and Procedures and Organizational Knowledge Repositories

Question 23

Define: Processes, Policies, and Procedures

Answer 23

Organizational process assets that are not usually changed by the work that is done on the project, such as processes used for recruiting project team members or sourcing suppliers of project materials

Question 24

Define: Organizational Knowledge Repositories

Answer 24

Organizational process assets that the project itself may contribute to, such as new documentation, procedures, and policies. New and current projects may benefit from these as well, such as from previous project plans

Question 25

Define: Organizational systems

Answer 25

PMBOK provides an introduction to this field and basic guidance. These are combinations of factors that interact and create results. These determine the culture of the organization and what it can achieve

Question 26

Define: Governance of the organization

Answer 26

The elements that are intended to influence the behaviour of the people within the organizational system. It includes the jobs that people do, the structure that is used to organize their relationships with each other and how people are directed and communicated with

Question 27

Define: Framework of governance

Answer 27

How authority appears in the organization, including the rules, policies, procedures, and norms that govern people’s activity as well as the relationships, systems, and processes that they work within. Determines many aspects of organizational activity including its objectives, the risks it will take, and the performance that it will achieve

Question 28

Define: Management elements

Answer 28

Exist within the framework of governance and the organization structure. These include, for example, how job roles are defined, the levels of authority that each person has, workplace safety and morale, etc

Question 29

Define: Organizational structures

Answer 29

These depend on many factors, including the organizational objectives, costs, how people will be managed (authority, responsibility, communications), people’s physical location, etc. These structures vary in power and resources that the project manager has and influence how they will do their job

Question 30

Define: Organic organizational structures

Answer 30

Also referred to as simple, in these structures people work together with little authority over each other. Project managers have little authority in these typically small organizations

Question 31

Define: Formal organizational structures

Answer 31

Projects are rarely conducted in these operationally focused organizations

Question 32

Define: Functional organizational structures

Answer 32

Managers of these organizations have more power and resources than project managers. These organizations are larger structures that can exist in multi-national organizations. The project team will often be people over whom the project manager has less authority

Question 33

Define: Virtual organizational structures

Answer 33

These organizations are common with various levels of authority for project managers

Question 34

Define: Matrix organizational structures

Answer 34

These organizational structures fall in the middle of the function-to-projectized spectrum

Question 35

Define: Weak matrix organizational structures

Answer 35

Matrix structures that are more functionally oriented

Question 36

Define: Strong matrix organizational structures

Answer 36

Matrix structures that are more projectized

Question 37

Define: Balanced matrix organizational structures

Answer 37

Matrix organizations in the middle of weak and strong matrices

Question 38

Define: Projectized organizational structures

Answer 38

The project manager will have significantly more power in this organizational structure, with the project team mainly reporting to them. The project manager will typically have access to more resources, usually with full time administrative support

Question 39

Define: Hybrid organizational structures

Answer 39

This organizational structure combines different structures

Question 40

Define: Project Management Office (PMO)

Answer 40

1. Support the project activity that takes place inside the organization. They manager the standardization of how projects are managed in the organization and provide resources to projects to help them do their work, including project methodologies, tools, and techniques
2. Usually monitor the performance of projects, assessing their contribution to strategic objectives of the organization and providing reports for the organization’s decision-making structures
3. They may have the authority and responsibility to intervene in projects to make their alignment with strategic objectives more effective. Some have the authority to terminate projects if required
4. In comparison to the project manager, who is responsible for managing an individual project, they are focused on the portfolio of projects to align with the organization’s strategic goals