MGO 634 F20 Quiz 1 of 10 Fall 2015

Name: ____________ __________________ Grade: _____/ 10

(PRINT): Last First
Please answer 10 of the following 12 multiple choice questions by selecting the best answer, from
among other possible “good” answers, by CIRCLING the letter next to it.

Chapter 1: Projects in Contemporary Organizations

1. The authors identify three forces that combine to mandate the use of teams to solve problems.
Identify the force that the authors named.
a) explosion in the growth of certified project managers
b) worldwide acceptance of the Project Management Institute
c) interaction of supply and demand
d) evolution of worldwide competitive markets for the production and consumption of goods and
services
Ans: D, Section reference: Introduction, Level: easy, Bloom’s: Comprehension
2. Identify the example that would not usually be considered a project.
a) building a house
b) developing a computer software application program
c) hosting a wedding reception
d) assembly line manufacturing of automobiles
Ans: D, Section reference: 1.1 The Definition of a “Project”, Level: intermediate Bloom’s:
Comprehension
3. According to the authors, the prime objectives of project management are
a) scope, cost, time
b) quality, scope, schedule
c) customer satisfaction, budget, schedule
d) cost, quality, customer satisfaction
Ans: A, Section reference: 1.1 The Definition of a “Project, “Level: easy, Bloom’s:
Comprehension

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MGO 634 F20 Quiz 1 of 10 Fall 2015

4. Who, according to the authors, has played a significant role in the development of techniques
for project management?
a) European navigators
b) trader community
c) brokerage firms
d) the military
Ans: D, Section reference: 1.1 The Definition of a “Project,” Level: easy Bloom’s:
Comprehension
5. The military uses the term __________ to refer to an exceptionally large, long-range objective
that is broken down into a set of projects.
a) task
b) program
c) subproject
d) campaign
Ans: B, Section reference: 1.1 The Definition of a “Project,” Level: easy, Bloom’s: Knowledge
6. The attributes that characterize a project are __________.
a) purpose, repetition, interdependencies, consistency, uncertainty, conflict, and one-time
occurrence
b) lifecycle, schedule, cost, uncertainty, independence, uniqueness, and purpose
c) resources, uniqueness, conflict, interdependencies, one-time occurrence, and finite duration,
d) purpose, lifecycle, conflict, certainty, independence, performance, and finite duration
Ans: C, Section Reference: 1.1 The Definition of a “Project,” Level: easy Bloom’s:
Comprehension
7. The “stretched-S” pattern observed during the project lifecycle, for the most part, is a result of
the _________.
a) changing levels of resources used during successive stages of the project lifecycle
b) changing attitudes of the people who work in the project.
c) difficulty in performing the individual activities of a project.
d) principle that work expands to fill the allotted time

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MGO 634 F20 Quiz 1 of 10 Fall 2015

Ans: A, Section Reference: 1.3 The Project Life Cycle, Level: easy Bloom’s: Comprehension
8. The conventional project lifecycle can be described as a pattern characterized by
____________.
a) parabolic progress
b) logarithmic progress
c) slow-rapid-slow progress
d) extremely slow progress
Ans: C, Section reference: 1.1 The Definition of a “Project,” Level: easy Bloom’s:
Comprehension

THE NEXT FOUR QUESTIONS ARE BASED ON THE PAPERS SUSAN DOW
PRESENTED IN HER GUEST LECTURE FOR YOUR READING

9. & 10.

Engle, Paul. “The Seven Deadly Sins of Project Management.” Industrial Engineer: IE. Vol. 46
Issue 9 (Sept. 1, 2014): p20.

9. The author identified the following three “Sins” in the front list of his article:
a) . Not having a comprehensive project plan, Failing to break projects into chunks & Under-
skilled project managers
.b) Working long hours to make it happen, Just do it yourself & No-excuse project management.
c) Trust your gut, Get something going now & “Ready, Fire, Aim!”
d) Stick to your plan, Go along to get along & Keep your resume updated.

Ans. A.

10. Successful project managers over the long-term master the skill, practice, and know:
a) to develop a broad range of skills, including critical thinking skills, organization, and the
ability to work with people.
b) That the most important relates to the ability to implement change successfully. Projects that
don’t involve significant change probably do not add enough value to justify the cost and time.
c) Accepting a project with little management support is a pending failure.
d) All of the above.

Ans. D.

11. & 12.

2 of 2: Edmondson, Amy. ”Strategies for Learning From Failure”. Harvard
Business Review. April 2011. Pp. 48-55.

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MGO 634 F20 Quiz 1 of 10 Fall 2015

11. Building a reliable “Learning Culture” requires changing the way leadership thinks about,
and treats “Failure.” After all, people don’t fail, their experiments do!
According to the author, in order to support such a paradigm shift to embrace failure in order to
“Squeeze” the learning from it, management needs to:
a) Determine clearly what happened and who did it.
b) Report those failures that will most certainly be picked up anyway by the client’s QA
Department.
c) Institute a new paradigm, that to competitively succeed for the long run, we need to
recognize the inevitability of failure(s) in today’s complex work environs. Those who
catch, correct, and learn from failure before others do win.
d) Reward those who get it out the door on time.

Ans. C.

12. People need a clear understanding of the types of failures that can be expected to occur in
certain types of work environs, for certain types of work. Some ways to do this might include:
a) Requiring earlier-than-usual project phase gate reviews, i.e. at 10 to 15% complete, versus
starting at 30%.
b) Inviting 2nd-party internal project audits to both learn where the work really is, as well as
foster deeper internal cross-discipline relationships.
c) Recognize the long-term sensitivities for “Speaking up and out” early, and so until confidence
builds that management has no longer a “Guillotine for the innocent,” let comments arrive
anonymously.
d) All of the above.

Ans. D.