Deck 2: The Organizational Context: Strategy, structure, and Culture

Question 1

The weather station model of the project management office (PMO)uses the PMO as only a tracking and monitoring device.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Any group that provides raw materials or other resources that the project team needs to complete the project are ________.

Answer 2

suppliers

Question 3

Stakeholder analysis looks at a project's customers and determines whether their needs are being met.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Policies and procedures are examples of an organization's external environment.

Question 5

External stakeholders that are groups external to the project but still possess the power to effectively disrupt the project's development are ________.

Question 6

Organizational culture can be influenced a variety of ways,including by reward systems and key organizational members.

Question 7

Developing vision and mission statements is an important tactical step in project management.

Question 8

________ are all individuals or groups who can potentially impact a project's development.

Question 9

Strategy,goals,and programs support the organizational mission.

Question 10

One element of strategic management is cross-functional decision making.

Question 11

Technology,environment,rules,and reward systems can all contribute to a company's culture.

Question 12

An important step in stakeholder management is the assessment of your own capabilities.

Question 13

Typically,organizational culture consists of formally written rules and guidelines that members can refer to as needed.

Question 14

A project organization does not have functional departments.

Question 15

The resource pool model of the project management office (PMO)works best when the PMO is generally viewed as a Level 1 support structure.

Question 16

The same project managed in the same fashion may succeed in one organization but fail in another.

Question 17

The resource pool model of the project management office (PMO)provides skilled labor to an organization's projects.

Question 18

A project management office is designed to oversee or improve the management of projects without stripping responsibility from the project manager.

Question 19

Most companies are well suited to allow for successful completion of projects in conjunction with other ongoing corporate activities.

Question 20

Suppliers and competitors are possible intervenor groups in a project.

Question 21

Which of the following is an external stakeholder group?

A)project team members
B)top management
C)accountants
D)environmental groups

Question 22

The first step in the project stakeholder management cycle is to ________.

Question 23

Which of the following is an internal project stakeholder group?

A)clients
B)suppliers
C)functional managers
D)competitors

Question 24

A strategic perspective on project management might ask which of the following questions prior to undertaking a project?

A)What is our corporate culture?
B)Does this project support the company vision?
C)Do we have the necessary budget for this project?
D)Can we define the problem?

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT an element of strategic management?

A)formulating cross-functional decisions
B)implementing cross-functional decisions
C)evaluating cross-functional decisions
D)eliminating cross-functional decisions

Question 26

________ designates formal reporting relationships,including the number of levels in the hierarchy and the span of control of managers and supervisors.

Question 27

Creating action plans to address the needs of various stakeholder groups is part of the ________ step of Block's framework for stakeholder management.

A)define the problem
B)test and refine the solutions
C)develop solutions
D)identify the goals of the principal actors

Question 28

Which statement about stakeholders is best?

A)Stakeholders wield considerable power.
B)Stakeholders can potentially impact project development.
C)Stakeholders are external to a company.
D)By definition,clients are not stakeholders,they are customers.

Question 29

The first step in Block's framework of the political process as applied to stakeholder management is to:

A)assess your own capabilities.
B)assess the environment.
C)identify the goals of the principal actors.
D)define the problem.

Question 30

Which of the following statements about clients is best?

A)Client refers to the entire customer organization.
B)Clients are concerned with receiving the project as quickly as they can possibly get it.
C)Client groups tend to have similar agendas.
D)A single presentation is best when dealing with all client groups in an organization so that everyone hears exactly the same message.

Question 31

The group that provides raw materials or resources that the project team needs to complete the project is:

A)suppliers.
B)intervenor groups.
C)top management.
D)functional managers.

Question 32

Which of these strategic elements exists at a higher level than the others?

A)programs
B)objectives
C)goals
D)strategies

Question 33

The management department at the university decides to add a new program in restaurant,hotel,and institutional management.As part of the development process they hold focus groups consisting of area business leaders,current and former students,and restaurant and hotel owners.These groups can be described as:

A)project leaders.
B)project workers.
C)stakeholders.
D)clients.

Question 34

Functional departments maintain control over their resources and are responsible for managing their components of the project in a(n)________.

Question 35

A strategic element that contains formally titled initiatives such as the Customer Survey Project,the Small Business Alliance Project,and the Employee Relations Project is most likely a:

A)mission.
B)strategy.
C)goal.
D)program.

Question 36

The ________ form of the project management office has the goal of maintaining and providing trained and skilled project professional as they are needed.

Question 37

External stakeholders that are external to a project but possess the power to effectively disrupt the project's development are:

A)intervenor groups.
B)environmental groups.
C)stressor groups.
D)special-interest groups.

Question 38

A strategic element consisting of statements such as "a 5% increase in freshman to sophomore retention" and "a 10% increase in the six-year graduation rate" is best described as a:

A)goal.
B)program.
C)strategy.
D)mission.

Question 39

The highest priority among strategic choice elements is:

A)objective.
B)strategy.
C)mission.
D)goal.

Question 40

________ is the term for the tendency for employees to become fixated on their concerns and work assignments to the exclusion of the needs of other departments.

Question 41

John Drone toils endlessly at Hurts Corporation on his routine assignment and also on a number of project teams.His annual evaluation features input from his line manager and each of the project managers,all of whom have equal say in how his 12-hour work day is partitioned.John Drone is employed by a:

A)functional organization.
B)project organization.
C)cross-functional organization.
D)matrix organization.

Question 42

The tendency of employees in a functionally organized company to become fixated on their own concerns and work assignments to the exclusion of the needs of other departments is known as:

A)layering.
B)myopia.
C)nepotism.
D)siloing.

Question 43

A functional organization structure is a plus for project management because:

A)functional siloing often exists.
B)it allows for standard career paths.
C)there is high customer focus.
D)commitment to project success is high and unwavering.

Question 44

Span of control refers to:

A)the number of departments involved in a project.
B)the number of days that the project manager is allowed to complete the project.
C)the number of employees one person supervises.
D)the number of levels from top to bottom in an organization.

Question 45

Cleland's project stakeholder management cycle:

A)requires all stakeholders to be identified and locked in as a first step.
B)is used to identify only internal stakeholders.
C)is used to identify only external stakeholders.
D)is a recurring cycle that allows new stakeholders to be considered at any time.

Question 46

A major player in the software industry stumbles from one new edition of its operating system and office automation package to another.As soon as one package is released,the programmers and developers have two weeks to latch onto a different team that is updating a different package.Failure to find another team to work for means an end to their employment.This organizational structure is best classified as a:

A)functional organization.
B)matrix organization
C)project organization.
D)flexible organization.

Question 47

Companies that are structured by grouping people performing similar activities into departments are:

A)project organizations.
B)functional organizations.
C)matrix organizations
D)departmental organizations.

Question 48

Organizational structure identifies the grouping of individuals into:

A)organizations.
B)companies.
C)silos.
D)departments.

Question 49

Which statement about organization for project management is best?

A)The overall structure of the organization specifies how project team members should communicate with the project manager.
B)The internal project team structure specifies the arrangement of all units or interest groups participating in the development of the project.
C)Two distinct organizational structures operate simultaneously within the project management context: the organizational structure and the project team structure.
D)All of these statements are correct.

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT an element of organizational structure?

A)well-articulated mission,vision,and value statements
B)formal reporting relationships
C)grouping together of individuals into departments
D)systems designed to ensure effective communication

Question 51

Probably the most common type of organizational structure today is:

A)project.
B)functional.
C)matrix.
D)organic.

Question 52

Economic conditions are a part of an organization's:

A)external environment.
B)stakeholders.
C)organizational hierarchy.
D)organizational structure.

Question 53

A project structure for an organization is a peach when you consider how well it:

A)creates legions of project management experts.
B)maintains a pooled supply of intellectual capital.
C)assuages the fear of unemployment by project team members once the project has ended.
D)fosters loyalty to the overall organization by project team members.

Question 54

All major decisions and authority are under the control of the project manager in a:

A)matrix structure.
B)functional structure.
C)project structure.
D)process structure.

Question 55

Individuals are commonly organized into departments for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A)seniority.
B)function.
C)product.
D)geography.

Question 56

The functional structure is well-suited when:

A)there are low levels of external uncertainty.
B)there is high instability in the environment.
C)project coordination is assigned to the lowest levels in an organization.
D)there must be rapid response to external opportunities and threats.

Question 57

In general,the poorest organizational structure when it comes to managing projects is probably the:

A)matrix structure.
B)functional structure.
C)project structure.
D)process structure.

Question 58

The University of Puhonicks hires several professors that specialize in accounting,management,and economics and clusters each into one of three departments.The dean has obviously decided to group employees by:

A)function.
B)geography.
C)project.
D)product.

Question 59

A functional organization structure is a weakness for project management because:

A)in-depth knowledge and intellectual capital development are enabled.
B)no disruption or changes to a firm's design are necessitated by projects developed within this structure.
C)priorities among functional departments may be different and competing.
D)standard career paths are enabled so team members only perform their duties as needed.

Question 60

Believe it or not,project structures have weaknesses when it comes to project management! One of the primary weaknesses has to do with:

A)rapid response to market opportunities.
B)communication across the organization and among functional groups.
C)effective and speedy decision making.
D)the low cost of setting up and maintaining project teams.

Question 61

The PMO is used to maintain and provide a cadre of skilled and trained project professionals as needed under the:

A)control tower model.
B)cadre model.
C)weather station model.
D)resource pool model.

Question 62

A major weakness of a matrix organizational structure for project management occurs when:

A)the environment is dynamic.
B)resources are scarce and shared between functional responsibilities and the competing project.
C)the number of human resource coordination meetings is considered.
D)one considers the dual importance of project management and functional efficiency.

Question 63

The weather station model performs the invaluable function of:

A)keeping an eye on project status without influencing the project.
B)establishing standards for managing projects.
C)enforcing the adherence to accepted protocols for project management.
D)improving the current state of project management procedures.

Question 64

The Larson and Gobeli study that compared projects that had been managed in a variety of structural types revealed that construction projects tended to be most effectively executed when the organizational structure was a:

A)project organization.
B)balanced matrix.
C)project matrix.
D)functional matrix.

Question 65

The belief that organizations can sometimes gain tremendous benefit from creating a fully dedicated project organization is captured by the term:

A)heavyweight project organization.
B)matrix organization.
C)benevolent society.
D)leveraged benefits.

Question 66

The project manager controls most of the project activities and functions,including the assignment and control of project resources in the:

A)strong matrix.
B)weak matrix.
C)dual matrix.
D)primal matrix.

Question 67

The greatest advantage of a PMO is that:

A)it is essentially another layer of oversight within the organization.
B)it helps an organization develop project management skills.
C)it serves as a bottleneck for communication across the organization.
D)all project management skills are located at one point in an organization.

Question 68

The PMO is used as a tracking and monitoring device under the:

A)control tower model.
B)resource pool model.
C)weather station model.
D)radar model.

Question 69

The solution to external and internal problems that has worked consistently for a group and that is therefore taught to new members as the correct way to perceive,think about,and feel in relation to these problems is known as:

A)groupthink.
B)socialization.
C)organizational culture.
D)a frame of reference.

Question 70

The PMO is used to protect and support the skill of project management under the:

A)resource pool model.
B)weather station model.
C)control tower model.
D)project model.

Question 71

The Larson and Gobeli study that compared projects that had been managed in a variety of structural types revealed that new product development projects tended to be most effectively executed when the organizational structure was a:

A)project matrix.
B)project organization.
C)balanced matrix.
D)functional matrix.

Question 72

The weak matrix is sometimes called the:

A)red pill matrix.
B)project matrix.
C)functional matrix.
D)departmental matrix.

Question 73

A dual hierarchy is the salient feature of a:

A)project structure.
B)matrix structure.
C)functional structure.
D)bi-modal structure.

Question 74

The Larson and Gobeli study that compared projects that had been managed in a variety of structural types revealed that both new product development and construction projects tended to be least effectively executed when the organizational structure was a:

A)project matrix.
B)project organization.
C)balanced matrix.
D)functional organization.

Question 75

A PMO is NOT used:

A)as a resource center.
B)to act as a central repository for project documentation.
C)to replace the project manager as being responsible for the project.
D)as the place where project management improvements are identified and then disseminated to the rest of the organization.

Question 76

Staffing fluctuations associated with project completion and initiation are most likely to occur in organizations that are:

A)functionally structured.
B)project structured.
C)matrix structured.
D)process structured.

Question 77

A matrix organization for project management has a distinct advantage because:

A)dual hierarchies mean two bosses.
B)a significant amount of time is spent negotiating the sharing of critical resources.
C)workers must reconcile competing project and functional demands.
D)project importance is enhanced by setting authority equal to that of functional departments.

Question 78

The manager of the Super Burrito Project is in the midst of an important project team meeting but Fred Fromage,the representative from the Cheese department,is nowhere to be found.After a brief investigation it is determined that Fred's manager in the Cheese department has other plans for Fred's time and efforts over the next several days and he simply won't be available for Super Burrito Project work.The organizational structure being used here is unquestionably a:

A)strong matrix.
B)weak matrix.
C)project organization.
D)chevre organization.

Question 79

Centralized units within an organization or department that oversee or improve the management of projects are called:

A)project management offices.
B)PERT units.
C)tiger teams.
D)central clearinghouses.

Question 80

The strong matrix is also known as the:

A)functional matrix.
B)primal matrix.
C)dual matrix.
D)project matrix.