Week 4

Question 1

Disruptive innovation

Answer 1

New offering that disrupts an existing market eventually making older products obsolete

Question 2

Radical innovation

Answer 2

Big change to previous products as opposed to incremental innovation

Question 3

Iron triangle

Answer 3

Interdependence between cost, time and scope
Impacts workload you can generated -> effect on tasks -> process -> competencies -> people -> equipment you use
Impacts the whole project process

Question 4

Waterfall model

Answer 4

Traditional approach to project management
Good for repeatable projects

Design -> Build -> Test -> Release

Question 5

Agile process

Answer 5

For projects with an element of innovation
Develop a minimum viable product (MVP)
Improved through continuous improvement

Design -> Build -> Release -> Design

Question 6

Agile life cycle

Answer 6

Envisioning, speculating, exploring, adapting and closing

Envisioning and closing only occurse once, the rest are iterative

Question 7

Project champion benefits

Answer 7

Having someone fight for the project
Easier to gain access to resources
Comminicate across areas of a firm easily

Question 8

Project champion disadvantages

Answer 8

Role of champion may cloud judgement

Others may fear challenging your decisions

Question 9

Project champion definition

Answer 9

Usually a senior executive who makes the case for a project

Harder to argue for something new and innovative because of the risk that the project could fail as opposed to something established
Innovative projects require a form of commitment from everyone involved

Question 10

Other ways to gain commitment for an innovative project

Answer 10

Customers (best placed to identify requirements, some may be gate-keepers e.g. B2C companies)
Suppliers (can improve design, efficiency, costs et al.)

Question 11

Project definition

Answer 11

Temporary endeavour to create a unique product, service or result
Complex, one-time proceses; they’re not ad-hoc nor do they have a clear life cycle
Limited by their budget/schedule and aim to resolve customer-focused goals
Tied to your strategic direction, and cross organisational boundaries

Question 12

Processes definition

Answer 12

Processes are different from projects
Processes are repeatable, ongoing, well-established and encompass several objects.
Projects are the opposite

Question 13

Projects can be related to process example

Answer 13

Toyota Lean Manufacturing Project

Question 14

Project life cycle

Answer 14

Conceptualisation -> Planning -> Execution -> Termination

Man hours of work increases as the project develops but drops during termination

Question 15

Project manager responsibilities

Answer 15

Select a team to complete the project
Develop project objectives and a plan for execution
Perform risk assessment activities, and estimate costs/time
Schedule people and manage project resources

Question 16

Project stakeholders definition

Answer 16

All individuals or groups who have an active stake in the project and can potentially impact its development
Internal or external
e.g. management, accountants, team members, clients, competitors, suppliers, activist groups et al.

Question 17

Organisational culture impact on project management

Answer 17

Autocratic vs democratic
Telling vs participating vs delegating
Motivation

Question 18

Screening projects

Answer 18

Risk (technical, financial, safety, quality, legal)
Commercial (expected return, payback method, NPV, outlay) (Payback method and NPV used to look at expected profits instead of return on investment)
Internal operating requirements (training employees, workforce size, operations)
Additional (patent protection, impact on image, strategic fit)

Question 19

Leader manager difference

Answer 19

Leader does the right thing, inspires trust, innovates and focuses on long-term potential
Manager does things right, demands respect, administers and focuses on the short-term bottom line

Question 20

Project Management Institute’s “Code of Ethics” for project managers

Answer 20

Responsibility
Respect
Fairness
Ethics

Question 21

WBS

Answer 21

At the start of the project, manager should produce a scope statement, leading to a WBS (Work breakdown structure)
Hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the project deliverables

Question 22

WBS purposes

Answer 22

Echoes your objectives
Acts as an organisation chart
Creates logic for tackling costs/scheduling
Communicates the status of the project to stakeholders
Improves communication
Demonstrates a control structure

Question 23

WBS work packages

Answer 23

Work packages form the lowest part of a WBS
Usually are a deliverable result with 1 owner
Expressed in terms of labour hours, time, cost, risk et al.

Question 24

Tuckman 4 phases of team formation

Answer 24

Forming, storming, norming, performing (and adjourning with increasing maturity)

Question 25

Conflict start

Answer 25

Process begins when you perceive someone has frustrated, or is about to frustrate a major concern of yours

Sources:
Organisational: Reward systems, scarce resources, uncertainty, differentiation
Interpersonal: Faulty attributions, faulty communications and personal grudges/prejudices

Question 26

Resolving conflict

Answer 26

Principled neogitation 
Separating people from the problem
Focusing on your interests
Finding a mutual solution 
Using objective information

Question 27

Conflict timeline

Answer 27

Latent conflict -> Conflict emergence -> Conflict escalation -> Hurting (Stalemate) -> De-escalation/Negotiation -> Dispute settlement -> Post-conflict peacebuilding

Question 28

Trends in projects

Answer 28

Past trends in projects focused on changes to our industrialised society
Current trends focus on our information society

Question 29

Quadruple constraints of project success

Answer 29

Budget
Client acceptance
Time
Performance

Question 30

Emotional intelligence characteristics

Answer 30

Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Empathy
Motivation
Social skills

Question 31

Organisational breakdown structure

Answer 31

Links costs, activities and responsibilities

Question 32

Conflict management views

Answer 32

Tradtitional
Behavioural
Interactionist

Question 33

Scope statement goal criteria

Answer 33

Cost
Schedule
Performance
Deliverables
Review and approval "gates"

Question 34

Scope statement

Answer 34

Goal criteria
Management plan for project
Work breakdown structure
Scope baseline