Download Project Management Fundamentals: Key Concepts and Definitions and more Quizzes Project Management in PDF only on Docsity!
CTC/ITC 310 Program Management California State University Dominguez Hills Assignment 1 – What Is a Project
1. Define portfolio. Projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives. 2. Describe project value and how it is perceived by customers, organizations, or society? ⚫ The worth, importance, or usefulness of something. ⚫ Different stakeholders perceive value in different ways. Customers can define value as the ability to use specific features or functions of a product. ⚫ Organizations can focus on business value as determined with financial metrics, such as the benefits less the cost of achieving those benefits. ⚫ Societal value can include the contribution to groups of people, communities, or the environment. 3. List two tangible and two intangible examples of business value. ⚫ Tangible: ⚫ Monetary assets ⚫ Stockholder equity ⚫ Utility ⚫ Market share ⚫ Improved efficiency ⚫ Regulatory compliance ⚫ Intangible: ⚫ Goodwill ⚫ Brand recognition ⚫ Public benefit ⚫ Future positioning 4. What types of information is passed from Programs and Projects to Portfolios? Performance information and progress. 5. Define Tailoring Tailoring is used to create processes within the framework that are appropriate for the project.
6. List five internal and five external elements of the Enterprise Environment. ⚫ Internal factors include: ⚫ Process assets ⚫ Governance documentation ⚫ Data assets ⚫ Knowledge assets ⚫ Organizational culture, structure, and processes ⚫ Geographic distribution of facilities and resources ⚫ Company infrastructure – computers, networks, management software systems, financial systems, support personnel, knowledge base ⚫ Resource availability – including financial, physical, etc. ⚫ Employee capabilities – expertise and competence ⚫ Stakeholder risk tolerance ⚫ External factors include: ⚫ Marketplace conditions including competitors, market share, brand recognition, technology trends, and trademarks. ⚫ Social and cultural influences and issues including political climate, regional customs and traditions, public holidays and events, codes of conduct, ethics, and perceptions. ⚫ The regulatory environment including national and regional laws and regulations related to security, data protection, business conduct, employment, licensing, and procurement. ⚫ Commercial databases including standardized cost estimating data and industry risk study information. ⚫ Academic research including industry studies, publications, and benchmarking results. ⚫ Industry standards related to products, production, environment, quality, and workmanship. ⚫ Financial considerations including currency exchange rates, interest rates, inflation, taxes, and tariffs. ⚫ The physical environment including working conditions and even weather. 7. What are the five characteristics of contemporary project management? The five characteristics of contemporary project management are: - High Speed ➢ There is a need to get to market faster - High Rate of Change ➢ Market Conditions are changing, and competition is constant ➢ Companies may change organizational structures and sponsors may disappear - Lower Costs ➢ Many markets are very cost competitive - Increasing Complexity ➢ Most projects are building complex systems or unique products ➢ Most of the simple problems have been solved - More Uncertainty ➢ It is harder to see the end design and results of a complex at the outset 8. Define scope. Scope is a statement that defines the boundaries of the project. ⚫ It tells not only what will be done, but also what will not be done. ⚫ Scope may also be referred to as a document of understanding, a scoping statement, a project initiation document, or a project request form.
Extra Questions
- List 3 ways that a project can end. (6) o Objectives have been met o The project’s objectives cannot be met o Funding dries up o The project is no longer needed o Some legal reason (i.e. it is violating a patent)
- List three reasons that a project may be started. (6) o Create a new product o Fix or improve a product, process or service o Satisfy a stakeholder need or requirement o Meet a legal or regulatory requirement o Implement a business change
- What is meant by Progressive Elaboration? (2) o Progressive elaboration is the process of starting out with a top-level plan and adding more details as more information becomes available.
- Describe the two flavors of quality. (4) o Product quality is the quality of the deliverable from the project. o As used here “product” includes tangible artifacts like hardware and software as well as business processes. o Process quality is the quality of the project management process itself. o The focus is on how well the project management process works and how it can be improved. o Continuous quality improvement and process quality management are the tools used to measure process quality.
- Describe two key differences between a project in a functional organization and a project in a projectized organization. (4) - Functional • Projectized
- Staff members are grouped by specialty
- Staff is recruited and reports to the project
- Small to medium sized projects • Medium to larger sized projects
- Directed towards a specific skill or product type
- Cross-disciplinary with requirements for many different types of skills
- Employees may be physically scattered
- Colocation more likely, at least for subprojects within the project
- Employees are central to the organization and their careers are likely to be looked after more carefully
- Emphasis and project delivery, with employees more on their own at the end of the project if there is no follow on
