Midterm Makeup — Chapter 1 (Slides & Textbook) Flashcards
What is the Project Management Institute (PMI)?
An organization that was founded in 1969 that has grown to become the leading nonprofit professional association in the area of project management. In addition, PMI establishes many project management standards and provides seminars, educational programs, and professional certifications that are recognized globally. It also maintains the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK© Guide) that provides commonly used definitions for a project and a project manager.
What is a project manager?
The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives. (p. 16)
What is a project?
A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. (p. 3)
What are project attributes?
Projects can be large or small, short or long in duration, or relatively cheap or expensive; however, all projects share some common attributes.
- Time Frame
- Purpose
- Ownership
- Resources
- Project Roles
- Risks and Assumptions
- Interdependent Tasks
- Organizational Change
- Organizational Environment
What is a project’s ‘time frame’?
Because a project is a temporary endeavour, it must have a definite beginning and end. Some projects must begin on a specific date, and the date of its completion must be estimated. On the other hand, some projects have an immovable date that defines when the project must be completed. In this case, it becomes necessary to work backwards to determine a date when the project should start. Regardless, a project ends when all the promised work is completed and the organization’s expectations are met, or it can be terminated prematurely when the work or expectations cannot be met. While a project is temporary, the product, service, or system created by the project can have either a brief or lasting impact.
What is a project’s ‘purpose’?
Projects are undertaken to accomplish something. A project must also create something unique. This could be a new product, service, system, or an enhancement to an existing product, service, or system. For IT projects, this could include engineering or building a custom solution or integrating and implementing an existing third party’s product or system. Regardless, a project must have a clear goal that defines the value of the project to the organization. This is important for setting expectations, defining the work to be done, setting direction for the project team, and developing a schedule and budget. A clear (and measurable) project goal can be used after the project is completed to evaluate its overall success.
What are a project’s ‘resources’?
All projects require resources. Resources include time, money, people, facilities, and technology. Although resources provide a means for achieving the project’s goal and completing the work, they can be a constraint as most organizational resources are limited. Subsequently, project resources must be managed and controlled to ensure a project achieves its anticipated organizational value to its internal or external customers.
What is is a project’s ‘ownership’?
A project can have many stakeholders that include people, groups, or other organizations that have a vested interest in the project’s success or failure. In many cases, the product, service, or system will be developed for stakeholders other than those involved directly with the project team. Projects undertaken within an organization support internal customers such as a high-level manager, often called a sponsor, a business unit, or a group of users, while external projects developed by third parties such as consultants or other IT-service providers support external customers, often called clients. At the completion of most projects, ownership of the product, service, or system is transferred from the project team to the customer, client, or user group.
What are ‘project roles’?
All projects require people with skill sets that include both technical and nontechnical (soft) skills. The technical skills required will be determined largely by the product, service, or system that is to be built or implemented. On the other hand, nontechnical or soft skills can be just as important to the success of the project. These skills focus more on interpersonal skills such as the ability to communicate not only with fellow team members, but also with users, customers, or the client.
What is a project manager or leader?
The project manager or team leader is responsible for ensuring that all the project management processes and processes associated with the creation of the product, service, or system are in place and carried out efficiently and effectively.
What is a project sponsor?
The project sponsor may be the client, customer, or high-level executive who plays the role of champion for the project by providing resources, making project-related decisions, giving direction, and publicly supporting the project when needed.
What are Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)?
A subject matter expert may be a user or a person who has specific knowledge, expertise, or insight in a specific functional area needed to support the project. For example, if the organization wishes to develop a system to support tax decisions, having a tax expert either as part of the project team or available to the team to share his or her expertise can be more productive than having the technical people trying to learn tax accounting.
What are Technical Experts (TEs)?
Technical expertise is needed when engineering or building a product, service, or system. Technical experts may include database analysts, network specialists, engineers, programmers, graphic artists, and so forth.
Describe project ‘Risks and Assumptions’:
All projects include an element of risk, and some projects entail more risk than others. Risk can arise from many sources, both internal and external to the project. For example, internal risks may arise from the way the project work is estimated to cost or the time to be completed. Another internal risk could be a key member of the project team leaving in the middle of the project to take another job. External risks, on the other hand, could arise from dependencies on other contractors, project teams, or suppliers. Assumptions are different forms of risk that are introduced to the project as a result of forecasts or predictions. They are what we use to estimate schedule and budget. For example, a project manager may need to hire a programmer. While estimating the project’s budget, the project manager may make an assumption that this programmer’s salary will be $75,000 a year. If this assumption is too low and the programmer is hired for more than $75,000 a year, then the project’s budget will be higher than what the project manager estimated and the project may run the risk of being over budget.
Describe ‘Interdependent Tasks’:
The work to deliver a product, service, or system requires many interdependent tasks or activities. For example, a network cannot be installed until a server and other hardware is delivered, or important requirements cannot be incorporated into the design of a product or an application (app) unless a key customer or user is interviewed. Often the delay of one task can affect other subsequent, dependent tasks. As a result, the project’s schedule may slip, and the project will not meet its planned deadline. In addition, projects can be characterized by progressive elaboration whereby the details of a project become clearer as more informa tion becomes available. For example, the features and functionality of a new smartphone app may be defined at a high or an abstract level early on in the project but become defined in much greater detail later on as the project team and user/customer work more closely together during the design phase.
What is an ‘Organizational Change’?
New products, services, or systems are planned organizational change. Change must be understood and managed because a project can alter how people work or how they related to one another. Because not everyone likes or is in favour of change, the potential for resistance and conflict exists. This is where a new IT-based product or solution could end up being a technical success but an organizational failure. Subsequently, the potential value of the project may not be fully realized.
What is an ‘Organizational Environment’?
Projects operate in an environment larger than the project itself. Organizations choose or select projects for a number of reasons, and the projects chosen can impact the organization. It is especially important for the project manager and team to understand the organization’s culture, environment, politics, and structure. These organizational variables influence the selection, funding, and support of a project. The project team must understand the organizational variables and the political climate within the organization so that potential issues that could impede the project can be recognized and handled appropriately.
How does the Project Management Body of Knowledge(PMBOK© Guide) define project management?
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK© Guide) defines project management as (1). Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. (p. 5)
A project is undertaken to create…
… something new or unique, as well as to enhance an existing product, service, or system.
What is a project portfolio?
A project portfolio is comprised of a collection of diverse projects.
TRUE OR FALSE: Organizations often fund more than one project at any given time.
TRUE
Organizations often fund more than one project at any given time.
What is an organization’s ideal project portfolio?
A portfolio of projects should be managed collectively so as to align with the organization’s strategy and overall plan to achieve competitive advantage.
What are some examples of an imbalanced project portfolio?
- Too many large, risky projects.
2. A portfolio of low-risk projects using soon-to-be obsolete technologies that cater only to a single business unit.
TRUE OR FALSE: Some projects within the portfolio may be independent and not directly related to one another.
TRUE
Some projects within the portfolio may be independent and not directly related to one another.
What is a ‘program’? (p. 4)
Some projects are managed as a PROGRAM where the projects’ activities are coordinated so that the benefits of the program are greater than the sum benefits of the individual projects. Projects that are part of a PROGRAM have a common outcome or capability. While a project may not be part of a program, a program will include more than one project.
EXAMPLE: An organization may approve a project to move its existing data center to a new building. On its own, this could be an individual project. However, if the project to move the data center is part of a strategic plan to integrate a new supply chain system and customer support system, then a single project that includes moving the data center and development of two systems may be too risky. Instead of planning and managing the data center move, supply chain system, and customer support system as one large project, it may be wiser and saner to coordinate this collectively as a program of three interdependent projects. Each project would have its own project manager, team, budget, schedule, and so forth with a shared governance structure in place for resolving issues and conflicts and to ensure that each project aligns with the overall success of the program.
What is The Polaris project’s significance to modern-day project management?
Modern-day project management is often credited to the U.S. Navy’s Polaris missile project undertaken in the early 1950s to deter potential Soviet nuclear aggression. The Polaris project was strategically important, complex, and risky, so the Navy needed to ensure it was managed well from concept through deployment. This new approach included a set of tools to manage projects and was viewed by many as a success. As a result, other organizations in various industries began to adopt this new approach as way to define, manage, and execute work with the hope of achieving similar success.
According to Richard Nolan, what are the three dominant eras for the use of the computer in business from 1960 to 2000?
- The electronic data processing (EDP) era.
- the micro era
- The network era.
What does ‘EDP’ stand for?
the ‘Electronic Data Processing’ era
What characterized EDP era?
The EDP era began in the early 1960s and was characterized by the purchase of the first centralized mainframe or a minicomputer by large organizations.
The IT projects during the EDP era focused generally on automating various organizational transactions such as general accounting tasks, inventory management, and production scheduling. The manager of this technology resource was often called the data processing (DP) manager and usually reported to the head accounting or a financial manager. The goal of using technology was to improve efficiency and reduce costs by automating many of the manual or clerical tasks performed by people. The use of computer technology was similar to the ways that farmers or engineers applied steam engine technology to mechanize agriculture. The process remained relatively unchanged, while the means for realizing the process became more efficient. Subsequently, IT projects during this era were generally structured, so a structured, formalized approach similar to the one used on the Polaris project was effective.
Describe the IT projects during the EDP era:
The IT projects during the EDP era focused generally on automating various organizational transactions such as general accounting tasks, inventory management, and production scheduling.
The IT projects during the EDP era focused generally on automating various organizational transactions such as general accounting tasks, inventory management, and production scheduling. The manager of this technology resource was often called the _________ and usually reported to the head accounting or a financial manager.
data processing (DP) manager
What was the goal of using technology in the Electronic Data Processing era?
The goal of using technology was to improve efficiency and reduce costs by automating many of the manual or clerical tasks performed by people. The use of computer technology was similar to the ways that farmers or engineers applied steam engine technology to mechanize agriculture. The process remained relatively unchanged, while the means for realizing the process became more efficient. Subsequently, IT projects during this era were generally structured, so a structured, formalized approach similar to the one used on the Polaris project was effective.
TRUE OR FALSE: Because the requirements of a business process such as payroll were fairly stable, changing the requirements was not a major issue and large multiyear projects were common.
TRUE
Because the requirements of a business process such as payroll were fairly stable, changing the requirements was not a major issue and large multiyear projects were common.
What is an ‘information silo’? What is its significance to the EDP (Electronic Data Processing) era?
An information silo, or a group of such silos, is an insular management system in which one information system or subsystem is incapable of reciprocal operation with others that are, or should be, related.
in many cases, legacy systems created information silos, as projects supported specific business functions that often employed different technology platforms, programming languages, and standards for data.
What signaled the beginning of the micro era?
In the early 1980s, the IBM personal computer (PC) and its subsequent clones signaled the beginning of the micro era.
In the micro era, what were the issues with the transition or integration from a centralized computer to the PC?
the transition or integration from a centralized computer to the PC did not happen immediately or without conflict. The often uncontrolled proliferation of the PC in many organizations challenged the centralized control of many management information system (MIS) managers. For example, the first PCs cost less than $5,000, and many functional department managers had the authority to bypass the MIS manager and purchase these machines directly for their department. This often led to the rise of user-developed, independent systems that replicated data throughout the organization. Security, data integrity, maintenance, training, support, standards, and the sharing of data became a rightful concern. The organization often had an IT resource that was split between a centralized computer and a collection of decentralized user-managed PCs. The organization needed to regain control of its IT resource while using IT strategically. Many organizations created a new position called the chief information officer (CIO) to expand the role of IT within the organization. While the DP manager often reported to the head accounting or financial manager, the CIO often reported to the chief executive officer (CEO). Therefore, IT increasingly became viewed as more than just a tool for automating low-level transactions and more of a tool for supporting the knowledge worker.
What does the term “infomate” mean?
Shoshana Zuboff (4) coined the term “infomate” to describe the role of computers in the micro era. The computer no longer remained under the direct control of the IT function and its spread throughout the various levels of the organization made IT ubiquitous. IT projects had to take more of an organizational view so that policies, standards, and controls become a part of all systems in order for existing mainframe or minicomputer applications to coexist or integrate with a growing surge of PCs. Moreover, a project manager and team could no longer rely on stable business processes, requirements, or technology that would allow for longer project schedules; otherwise, they would face the risk of implementing an obsolete IT solution. Shorter project horizons that crossed functional lines became the norm, while software development methodologies attempted to shorten the development life cycle.
What is the ARPANET and when was it developed?
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a defense project called ARPANET allowed university researchers and scientists to share information with one another even in the event of a nuclear war. By the mid-1980s, this network of computers became known as the Internet and led to the network era that began around 1995.
What was the original name for the project that led to what we now know as internet?
the ARPANET
In the network era, IT projects focused primarily on the challenge of creating…
… an IT infrastructure to support many business partners, strategic alliances, vendors, and customers.
What are some characteristics of ‘the network era’ in the 1990s?
A digital convergence or the integration of data, voice, graphics, and video that allowed for innovative ways to deliver new products and services to customers worldwide. While micro-era projects tended to focus on an organization’s internal network, the network era extended this network externally. Network-era projects not only faced the challenge of coordination and control, but also how to support a dynamic business strategy and new organizational structures. The IT project team needed to understand new and evolving technologies as well as the organization and its competitive environment. As witnessed by the rise and fall of many dot com businesses in the late 1990s, the benefits and risks of managing IT projects were much higher than in the first two eras. Project schedules and the time to develop IT solutions had to be shortened as many projects had to be completed in a few weeks or a few months.
The combination of a global network infrastructure and lowering of political barriers in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to a rise of _______.
globalization
According to Thomas L. Friedman, the world has become _____ so that it is possible for people and organizations to work with almost anyone in any place and at any time.
flatter (p. 6)
What are some results of globalization in the 2000s in regards to IT projects?
Many organizations outsourced and offshored business processes, projects, and even entire business units. As a result of globalization, projects began to cross time zones as well as organizational and cultural boundaries. Instead of working and meeting at the same time and place, a virtual team with project members working in different places and time zones became common. Instead of relying on stable requirements, new project management approaches and development methodologies acknowledged that many product and system requirements cannot be defined upfront and, once defined, often change.
What does ERP stand for?
enterprise resource planning
