Test Bank Chapter 7 Monitoring and Controlling the Project - Project Management Practice 6e Complete Test Bank by Jack R. Meredith. DOCX document preview.
Chapter 7: Monitoring and Controlling the Project
True/False
1. Project monitoring and control can be thought of as opposite sides of project selection and planning.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
2. Control is the collection, recording, and reporting of project information.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
3. The purpose of control is to ensure that all interested parties have the information they need.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
4. The most important use of data gathered from monitoring is learning from mistakes.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
5. The most important use of data gathered from monitoring is control.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
6. The plan-monitor-control cycle constitutes a “closed loop” process.
Level: medium
7. It is often the case with particularly challenging or uncertain projects that the planning-monitoring-controlling effort is minimized so that the “real work” can be done.
Level: easy
8. In order to manage for overall project success, control should be exercised at a very high and aggregated level and not get bogged down with unnecessary details.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
9. In order to manage for overall project success, control must be exercised at the detailed work level for each aspect of project performance.
Level: medium
10. Mechanisms to gather and store data rarely need to be designed.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
11. One way of linking planning and control is to monitor project progress on the MSP Gantt chart.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
12. Too often, intensity of activity is measured instead of results.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
13. A common mistake is to focus too much on results and not enough on the intensity of activity.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
14. Statistical quality control techniques can be helpful for determining what size variances are significant.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
15. An important use of data analysis is to identify who to properly blame for poor project performance.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
16. Frequent blame is considered a good motivational tool to keep project team members on track.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
17. Everyone associated with the project should receive the same information.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
18. In general, it is preferable to have periodic reports.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
19. An overload of reporting is just as dangerous as underreporting.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
20. Exception reports are prepared to disseminate the results of a special study.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
21. Exception reports are primarily intended for unexpected situations.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
22. Project review meetings are always important.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
23. Weekly progress report meetings should be rarely held.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
24. Remarks should be directly attributed to individuals in the meeting minutes.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
25. To maximize efficiency, project team meetings should follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
26. Earned value is a measure for overall project progress in terms of performance, budget and schedule.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
27. Lower expenditures than expected at a given point in time is always good.
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
28. According to the text, there is no satisfactory way to measure accurately the percent of completion of most tasks.
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
29. The percentage of an activity’s budget actually spent by a given date is typically a of that activity’s completion.
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
30. The key to setting up a monitoring system is to identify the special characteristics of scope, cost and time that need to be controlled in order to achieve the project goals.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
31. Monitoring is the direct connection between project planning and control.
Response: see section 7.1
Level: medium
32. Earned Value is a measure of overall project progress in terms of performance, budget, and schedule.
Response: see section 7.3
Level: medium
33. Earned value (EV) of a task is the budgeted cost of the work actually performed.
Response: see section 7.3
Level: medium
34. The 50-50 approach for estimating progress overstates the EV of tasks that are near completion and understates the EV of tasks that have recently begun.
Response: see section 7.3
Level: medium
35. Control systems that make use of all five components of project control are called cybernetic control systems.
Response: see section 7.5
Level: medium
36. The go/no-go control takes the form of tests (sensors) to determine if some specific precondition (standard and comparator) has been met before permission is granted to continue (decision maker and effector).
Response: see section 7.5
Level: medium
Multiple Choice
37. Which of the following is not an objective mentioned in the text for data gathered from monitoring?
a) promoting team members
b) keeping management informed
c) auditing
d) learning from mistakes
e) control
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
38. The plan-monitor-control cycle is best described as…
a) an open loop process
c) an ad-hoc process
d) an informal process
e) a hierarchical process
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
39. The cost/spending variance is calculated as…
a) AC - EV
b) EV- PV
c) PV - EV
d) AC - PV
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
40. Estimated (remaining cost) to completion (ETC) is calculated as…
a) (BAC – EV)/CPI
b) (BAC – EV)/SPI
c) (BAC + EV)/CPI
d) (BAC + EV)/SPI
e) (BAC – AC)/CPI
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
a) it is desirable to have negative variances for both schedule and spending.
b) it is desirable to have positive variances for both schedule and spending.
c) the schedule variance should be positive and the spending variance negative.
d) the schedule variance should be negative and the spending variance positive.
e) ideally both variances would equal zero.
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
42. Which of the following is not a tool used to aid the PM in project control?
a) variance analysis
b) trend projections
c) earned value analysis
d) control charts
e) discounted cash flow analysis
Response: See section 7.5
Level: medium
43. The most common source of changes to a project based on the natural tendency of the client and project team members to improve the project’s output is called…
a) scope creep
b) projectitis
c) multitasking
d) dynamic scoping
e) unfreezing
Response: See section 7.6
Level: medium
44. The first step in setting up a monitoring system is to:
a) identify personnel
b) identify all project milestones
c) identify key factors to be controlled
d) identify reports required
e) develop a change request form
Response: See section 7.1
Level: medium
45. David, an architect, is in charge of executing a housing project. He appoints Charles to collect, record, and report all the necessary information to David and other relevant stakeholders. In this scenario, Charles will be engaged in _____ the project.
a) scoping
b) monitoring
c) planning
d) controlling
e) scheduling
Response: See section 7.1
Level: difficult
46. Nadia, an intern in a restoration firm, collects data on a project involving the remodeling of an monument and sends the collected information to Maria, her supervisor. Maria uses this data to estimate the project's progress. After finding that the project is behind schedule, she makes small changes to the tasks involved in the project to bring the performance into agreement with the plan. In this scenario, Maria is engaged in _____ the project.
a) monitoring
b) planning
c) scoping
d) controlling
e) analyzing
Response: See section 7.1
Level: difficult
47. Mauvin Maz, a fashion boutique, found that its newly acquired batch of raw materials did not meet the company's quality standards and was affecting the quality of its final products. In order to prevent any financial loss due to this problem, the top managers of Mauvin Maz decided to release a report to the workers asking them to stop using the newly acquired raw materials until a formal quality check is conducted. In this scenario, Mauvin Maz most likely released a(n) _____.
b) periodic report
d) routine report
e) resource report
Response: See section 7.2
Level: difficult
48. Renuit Mec, a footwear manufacturing company, produces 10,000 shoes per day. In an average, about 200 shoes have more than one defect. However, the company has found that its newly installed machines are producing more defective products than the older machines. In order to prevent the production of more defective products, Renuit Mec releases a report to its employees asking them to stop using the newly installed machines. In this scenario, Renuit Mec most likely released a(n) _____.
a) periodic report
d) resource report
Response: See section 7.2
Level: difficult
49. The accountants of Junis Plex, a textile company, used to calculate the company's taxable income manually. However, the management recently adopted a software program that requires only few inputs from the accountants which automatically calculates the taxes owed by the company. The management releases a report for all its operations managers that provides specific instructions on how to use this software. Which of the following types of reports has Junis Plex used to inform its project managers of the new software program?
b) A semi-periodic report
e) A resource report
Response: See section 7.2
Level: difficult
50. To calculate the variable in its economic growth, Nunclemen Inc., a pharmaceutical company, collects data on the sales of its products based on how many doctors prescribe its medicines to their patients. However, a research study conducted by the company shows that pharmacists are a more reliable source than doctors. Nunclemen submits a report of this finding to all its stakeholders to review. Which of the following types of reports has the company used to inform its stakeholders of the results of the research study?
a) A resource report
b) A special analysis report
c) A routine report
d) An exception report
e) A semi-periodic report
Response: See section 7.2
Level: difficult
51. Robert, a baker, receives an order for preparing 10 cakes in one day. He is given a budget of $5,000. In six hours, he bakes two-thirds of the order and spends $3,600. Calculate the schedule performance index from the given scenario.
a) 0.55
b) 0.33
c) 0.25
d) 0.66
e) 0.75
Response: See section 7.3
Level: difficult
52. Kimberley, a project manager in a software development company, is assigned a new project. She is given a budget of $500,000 and a span of six months to complete the project. In three months, she is able to complete 50 percent of the project. In this scenario, the earned value of the work completed is _____.
a) $350,000
b) $300,000
c) $250,000
d) $200,000
e) $150,000
Response: See section 7.3
Level: difficult
53. Walter, a luthier, is assigned with the task of building 20 guitars in six months. He is given a budget of $1,500,000 to buy the necessary raw materials required for building 20 guitars of same quality. In a period of four months, Walter is able to complete 75 percent of the work and spends $1,250,000 in the process. The project that Walter is working on has a spending variance of _____.
a) $350,000
b) $150,000
c) $430,000
d) $125,000
e) $500,000
Response: See section 7.3
Level: difficult
54. Paulina, a fashion designer, has a new project that requires her to make five dresses in seven days. A sum of $2,000 is allotted to her to fund the entire project. In three days, she completes one-third of the work and spends $1,200. Calculate the cost performance index from the given scenario.
a) 0.55
b) 0.75
c) 0.33
d) 0.66
e) 0.25
Response: See section 7.3
Level: difficult
Short Answer
55. Explain why project monitoring and control can be thought to be opposite sides of project selection and planning.
Response: See section 7.1
56. List and briefly describe the three distinct types of reports.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
57. List the benefits of reports beyond the purpose of control.
- They help maintain the visibility of the projects, and the project teams, to top management, functional managers, colleagues, and clients.
- Finally, unless a project is a disaster, status reports help keep the project team motivated.
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
58. What actions can you take to help avoid the common problems associated with meetings?
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
59. Define the terms monitoring and control.
Response: See section 7.1
Level: easy
60. What is the best way to estimate percent completion of activities for finding earned value?
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
61. What is earned value?
Response: See section 7.3
Level: easy
62. Explain how an earned value chart can be used to help monitor and control a project.
Response: See section 7.1 and 7.3
Level: medium
Response: See section 7.4
Level: medium
64. What are the two primary purposes of control?
Response: See section 7.4
Level: easy
65. Explain why virtual projects may be necessary?
Response: See section 7.2
Level: medium
66. State the formula for CPI. Explain what CPI means and its relevance to monitoring and controlling a project.
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
67. State the formula for SPI. Explain what SPI means and its relevance to monitoring and controlling a project.
Response: See section 7.3
Level: medium
68. All good project plans have a change control system as a component. Briefly explain the change control process.
Response: See section 7.6
Level: medium
Document Information
Connected Book
Project Management Practice 6e Complete Test Bank
By Jack R. Meredith