Chapter 3 - Project Management Foundations

Question 1

Define Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFS) in the context of project management?

Answer 1

EEF’s are outside the control of the project team but impact its work like an organization’s culture, technology, and external governmental standards, rules, and regulations.

Question 2

Define Organizational Process Assets in the context of project management?

Answer 2

OPAs are an organization’s processes, procedures, and policies, along with organizational knowledge repositories - things within the organization that can facilitate project management and product development. A project manager and team use these and update them for the organization.

Question 3

Is this an example of operational or project work?

A person who processes payroll every month may consider this a monthly project.

Answer 3

Operational as it does have a distinct beginning and end but rather repeats in the same way each month.

Question 4

Is this an example of operational or project work?

An insurance company’s internal project to develop a new caseload tracking system is completed. The organisation decides to add new features to the caseload tracking system after it is in operation.

Answer 4

Project work as it is a totally new feature not bug fixing or repeatable work.

Question 5

For the exam what characteristics should you assume a project has? (4)

Answer 5

1. it is a temporary endeavour with a beginning and an end
2. It creates a unique product, service, or result
3. It is undertaken to drive a chance in a product or process from a current state to a future state, to achieve a specific objective
4. It is undertaken to create business value for the organisation and its stakeholders. The benefit may be tangible, intangible or both.

Question 6

What are the reasons that a project may be chosen among many possible business endeavours? (3)

Answer 6

1. Stakeholder needs and requests for new or improved products or services, often initiated by market forces or by the stakeholders themselves.
2. Improvements to the performing organisations business or technology strategies and/or their products or services
3. Satisfy regulatory, legal or social requirements

Question 6

Define portfolio management

Answer 6

A portfolio includes programs, projects, and related operational work, all prioritized and implemented to achieve a specific business objective.

Programs and projects that make up a portfolio may not be related, other than by their relationship to this common business objective. A portfolio may also include smaller, subsidiary portfolios. Combining programs, projects, and operations into one or more portfolios helps to manage the dependencies between them and the individual projects. It also optimizes the use of resources, enhances the value they produce for the organization and its stakeholders, and reduces risk. The work of an organization comprises one or multiple portfolios. A project is included in a portfolio based on potential return on investment, strategic benefits, alignment with corporate strategy, and other factors critical to organizational success.

Question 6

What makes up a program?

Answer 6

A program is a group of related, sub-projects and other program-related activities, organized and managed into a coordinated set of efforts. In addition to work required to complete each individual project, the program also includes a program managers coordination and management activities.

Question 7

Define Organizational project management (OPM)

Answer 7

Organizational project management (OPM) serves as a guide or driver for project, program, and portfolio management as well as other organizational practices. It is a framework for keeping the organization focused on overall strategy. OPM provides direction for how portfolios programs projects, and operational work should be prioritized, managed, executed, and measured to best achieve business objectives and value for the organization and its stakeholders.

Question 8

What happens when a project no longer aligns with the organizational strategy

Answer 8

If a project no longer aligns with organizational strategy, the project may be changed mid-course to bring it into alignment, or it may be terminated.

Question 9

What is meant by the term organisational governance?

Answer 9

Organisational governance refers to the way an organisation sets the policies and procedures for how work will be performed to meet business objectives and to support decision-making.

Question 10

How does governance differ between predictive and adaptive projects?

Answer 10

Plan-driven governance typically involves formal documentation and upfront analysis and agreement. Agile governance, in contract, is generally less structured but still aligns with the necessary policies of the organisation.

Question 11

What are the advantages (4) and disadvantages (3) to a functional organization structure?

Answer 11

Advantages
- Easier management of specialists
- Team members report to only one supervisor
- Similar resources are centralized, as the company is grouped by specialties
- Clearly defined career paths in areas of work specialization
Disadvantages
- People place more emphasis on their functional specialty to the detriment of the project
- Limited career path in project management
- The project manager has little or no authority

Question 12

What are the advantages (4) and disadvantages (4) to a Project-oriented organization structure?

Answer 12

Advantages
- Efficient project organization
- Team loyalty to the project
- More efficient communications than functional organisations
- Project manager has more power to make decisions

Disadvantages
- No “home” for team members when project is completed
- Lack of specialization in disciplines
- Duplication of facilities and job functions
- May result in less efficient use of resources

Question 13

What are the advantages (7) and disadvantages (6) to a matrix organization structure?

Answer 13

Advantages
- Highly visible project objectives
- Improved project manager control over resources (as compared to functional)
- More support from functional areas
- Maximum utilization of scarce resources
- Better coordination
- Better horizontal and vertical dissemination of information
- Team members maintain a “home”

Disadvantages
- Extra administration is required
- Project team members have more than one manager
- More complex to monitor and control
- Resource allocation is more complex
- Extensive policies and procedures are needed
- Functional managers may have different priorities than project

Question 14

In a balanced matrix organisation structure where does the power lie?

Answer 14

between functional and project manager

Question 15

In a strong matrix organisation structure where does the power lie?

Answer 15

power rests with project manager

Question 16

In a weak matrix organisation structure where does the power lie?

Answer 16

Power rests with functional manager, and the power of the project manager is more like a coordinator or expediter