Oral Exam Question Flashcards
What is the iron triangle?
-its a model of the constraints of PJ Management
→ quality is constraint by PJ’s budget, time and scope
What are the limitations of the iron triangle?
- short term focus
- only between contractor and customer → does not look at external stakeholders
- is focussed on PJ Management succes and not PJ succes
My construction company build a school in city X. Now, I won the contract to build the same school in city Y. Is this still a project?
Yes, aber warum?
What is a programme?
-Related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities that are managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually
-many PJ’s have the same goal
→ WC planning. Creating the stadiums is a programm
Bonus: what is a portfolio?
→ is a group of different programs and/or projects within the same organization, which may be related or unrelated to one another
→ focuss on the strategic view of a company
L2: Who are project stakeholders? (in major – complex projects)
- Public stakeholders
- Industrial stakeholders
- Financial stakeholders
- Other stakeholders
L2: Explain Mitchell framework
→ model looks at how vocal, visible and important a stakeholder is, allowing you to create a typology of stakeholders to whom you should pay attention
3 attributes used:
- Power
- Legitimacy
- Urgency
L3: What is a “Functional Organisation”? Which are strengths and Weaknesses?
→ Companies are structured by grouping people performing similar activities into departments
example: Politecnico di Milano
strenghs:
- due to developed structure it requires no disruption or change to firm’s design
- development of in-depth knowledge and intelectual capital
- allows standard career paths
weakness:
- difficult to achieve cross-functional cooperation
- lack of customer focus
- longer time to complete projects
- varying interest or commitment
L3: What’s the difference between bulk material and equipment?
-bulk material: pipes
→ standart for projects
equipment: turbine
→ is produced for the PJ
L3: What is it and Why is it useful to have a “close-out report”?
The purpose of project closeout is to assess the project and derive any lessons learned and best practices to be applied to future projects
- capture data
- risk
- 10 suppliers
- 2 were good (i can hire them again)
- 3 were bad (never again)
-real cost/time
L4: What is an “Organisation Breakdown structure?”
- structural structure of people involved on the PJ
- Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS) is a hierarchical relationship of the organization, including subcontractors, responsible for managing a designated scope of work within the work breakdown structure (WBS)
L4: What is the “Scope Creep”?
-added work from the customer
→ one thing is ok, but if there are many it kills PJ success
-do it, because of good relationship + thinking they can handle one more thing
L4: What is “Gold Plating”?
→ making changig/AC to a PJ that are outside of the original agreed-upon scope
→ more things dont mean the customer likes them
→ if he does not, further delays/extra costs come with it
L5: What’s the difference between economic and financial analysis?
→ financial: focussed on cash flow equivalent
→ econmical; focussed on goods and services + implication
L5: What the WACC?
→ Weighted average cost of capital
L5: How many IRR in a PJ? Why?
- we can have 0,1,2,3 to number of i
→ depending on the number of solutions possible of the equation - more “i” could be possible, but just one IRR makes sense
→ plot your cash flow!!!
Why does the economy of scale exist?
→ progress of learning
→ larger scale of production leads to lower average costs
(e.g. two pipes: double diameter → double cost, but four times as much flow → half unitary costs)
When should you use the factorial estimate?
→ you want to combine different ways to desgining a PJ. Therefore you can use different factors to see the outcome?
L6: When should you use the analytical estimate?
→ when you have the time, and the clearenace about the PJ:
-all relevant data
→ cost estimation is a cost for the company
L7/8
How is it possible to “Crashing projects”
and when do you stop it?
→ accelarating the PJ
- methods;
-add more resources
→ but increases cost
- work overtime
- improve existing resources’ productivity
-change work methods/resoucres
-compromise quality/reduce PJ scope
-institute fast-tracking (risk)
→ can cause overlapping
Stop when:
- target completition time is reached
- crashing cost exceeds penalty cost
L7/8 Whats difference in using “AC on nodes” instead of “AC on Arrow”
→ AC are either written on the nodes or on the arroiws
-Problem: AC on arrow are dummy activities that dont give information how long something really takes.
→ only one link: Finish to start
What are the 4 types of links in real life?
- start to start
→ allow you to start (but not forced) (e.g. when crane is there, u can start construction) - start to finish
- finish to finish
- finish to start
(enables the next AC to start
L7/8 In resources levelling, what’s the difference (and consequence) between “Fixed duration (time) vs Fixed units (resources)”?
- Fixed duration (WC cant postpone deadline)
- Fixed units (e.g. Software team with 10 workers)
L9 Why using a structured system like CSCS/EV?
→ shows how the PJ is actually going in terms of timing and budget
L10: Difference between Risk and Uncertainty
Risk: has certain impact and likelihood
L10: How can u minimize risk in PJ?
- use more standart tech (process and producs)
- use experienced suppliers/teams
- reduce phase overlap
- start construction with a complete desgin
- less complex process
- conduct more tests
- buy material in advande
Whicht are the implications in using Task Contingency vs Managerial Contingency?
What was the dark side in the past and now?
-it was different back then
→ socially contructed: Some things are build by society (vegetarians are good, seen by society)
