Deck 29: Systems Development Project Management

Question 1

________ is a knowledge area that concerns contracts with outside vendors for services, materials, and outsourcing of functions.

A) Communications management
B) Quality management
C) Project integration
D) Procurement management

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®) Guide identifies those practices that are known to be effective for different situations and briefly describes their use.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

What is the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®) Guide for project management?

Answer 3

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®) Guide, compiled by the Project Management Institute (PMI), contains what many believe are the best project management processes, practices, and techniques. The document does not describe the details of each practice or technique but instead identifies those practices that are known to be effective for different situations and briefly describes their use. Versions of this document are denoted by the year in which they are published. As of 2015, the current version is "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®) Guide, Fifth Edition."
PMBOK^® Guide is organized according to a grid, which shows five process groups and nine knowledge areas. The process groups refer to different stages in the life of a project. The nine knowledge areas refer to factors to be managed throughout the life of the project.

Question 4

Which of the following is a technique that stipulates phases and processes for constructing information systems (IS) but does NOT address the management of large-scale projects?

A) systems development life cycle
B) rapid application development
C) agile software development
D) structured system analysis

Question 5

In the context of a systems development project, which of the following statements is TRUE of the relationships between requirements, cost, and time?

A) Increasing the time for the completion of a project always increases the cost of the project.
B) Increasing the cost of a project will always reduce the time required to finish the project.
C) Reducing the requirements in a project rarely affects the time required to finish the project.
D) Reducing the number of requirements in a project reduces the overall cost of the project.

Question 6

Systems development projects require the balancing of three critical drivers: requirements, cost, and ________.

A) scope
B) time
C) performance
D) value

Question 7

In the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®) Guide, the different stages in the life of a project are referred to as ________.

A) configuration controls
B) knowledge areas
C) process groups
D) resource zones

Question 8

________ is a knowledge area that concerns the methods, media, and schedules for exchanging information with the project's sponsors within a team and with others who have an interest in the progress of the project.

A) Procurement management
B) Communications management
C) Quality management
D) Project integration

Question 9

Which of the following statements is TRUE of large-scale systems development projects?

A) They use simple computer programs to ensure consistency and speed in development.
B) They use development teams of less than 20 members to reduce complexity.
C) Their development can involve the integration of services from several companies.
D) Their development is carried out in a single site to ensure consistency.

Question 10

The development of large-scale systems can involve the integration of products and services from different companies.

Question 11

What are the characteristics of information systems (IS) in large-scale systems development projects?

Question 12

Increasing the cost of a project can reduce the time required to complete the project up to a certain point, beyond which, the time required would increase due to ________.

A) economies of scale
B) diseconomies of scale
C) economies of scope
D) diseconomies of scope

Question 13

Larger projects with longer development intervals will find it easier to meet baseline requirements.

Question 14

Large-scale systems development requires extended development intervals as long as five or six years.

Question 15

________ is the knowledge area that refers to the management of an entire project and the construction of the final product.

A) Project integration
B) Project management
C) Procurement management
D) Quality management

Question 16

Knowledge areas of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®) Guide refer to the factors in a project that need to be managed throughout the life of the project.

Question 17

Which of the following is a characteristic of large-scale systems development projects?

A) short development intervals
B) single development site
C) avoidance of system localization
D) 50-100 development team members

Question 18

Pete, a civil engineer, is appointed to build a state-of-the-art office building. He begins planning the design and construction of the building with his team. He estimates that the building would take six months to build and assigns work and material accordingly to the workers. In this scenario, Pete is specifying the ________.

A) baseline
B) data model
C) line of code
D) scatter plot

Question 19

What are the trade-offs in a systems development project's requirements, cost, and time?

Question 20

The time involved in a project can always be reduced by increasing cost.

Question 21

A ________ defines the boundaries of a system in a work breakdown structure (WBS).

A) trade-off
B) code
C) scope
D) scale

Question 22

The critical path determines the earliest date by considering the shortest path through the network of activities.

Question 23

Each task in a systems development project should culminate in one or more ________.

A) deliverables
B) zones
C) segments
D) designs

Question 24

A(n) ________ is a hierarchy of the tasks required to complete a project.

A) scatter plot
B) work breakdown structure
C) encryption algorithm
D) virtual model

Question 25

Odell is the lead software developer for a new security system that needs to be urgently developed for a client. The client is insistent that the software be as infallible as possible, therefore, Odell would have to plan the systems development with precision. Which of the following activities would be Odell's biggest challenge while planning?

A) creating
B) scheduling
C) analyzing
D) testing

Question 26

Scheduling a large-scale project is more difficult than scheduling individual projects.

Question 27

Unexpected events are a minor hurdle and are rarely considered while managing a large-scale systems development project.

Question 28

In case of task dependencies in a project, all tasks must begin and end at the same time.

Question 29

What is a critical path? How is a critical path analysis done?

Question 30

One approach businesses take to address scheduling challenges in large-scale systems is avoiding the development of software in-house.

Question 31

The biggest challenge in planning large-scale systems development is scheduling. Describe the three approaches that organizations can take to address this challenge.

Question 32

A(n) ________ is the sequence of activities that determine the earliest date by which a project can be completed.

A) Gantt chart
B) critical path
C) encryption algorithm
D) scatter plot

Question 33

A function point is a feature or function of a new program.

Question 34

Prototypes are examples of deliverables in a systems development project.

Question 35

Which of the following tools shows the tasks, dates, and dependencies in a project?

A) Gantt chart
B) exception report
C) push report
D) DPlot

Question 36

The smaller and shorter a project, the greater the chance of disruption due to unanticipated events.

Question 37

________ refers to a set of management policies, practices, and tools that developers use to maintain control over a project's resources.

A) Perceptual mapping
B) Coordination control
C) Critical path analysis
D) Configuration control

Question 38

A well-managed project will never face problems of diseconomies of scale.

Question 39

Baseline work breakdown structures can be used for monitoring a project.

Question 40

The challenges of managing large-scale systems development projects arise from ________.

A) economies of scale
B) economies of scope
C) increase in configuration control
D) lack of coordination

Question 41

A project generally begins with a ________ that outlines the tasks to be accomplished, the labor needed, and who is assigned to the tasks.

A) economies of scale
B) a good plan
C) baseline
D) a point of entry

Question 42

________ is the process by which users agree to one set of conditions, then add a bit more, then add a bit more, and so forth.

A) Requirements creep
B) Diseconomies of scale
C) Configuration control
D) Coordination

Question 43

Because it is easy to do, project managers do very well at balancing time, costs, and requirements.

Question 44

________ is inherent in all projects.

A) Overbudgeting
B) Risk
C) Difficulty in gathering requirements
D) Acquiring technical staff

Question 45

All of these are project management processes EXCEPT ________.

A) initiating
B) planning
C) closing
D) training

Question 46

The biggest challenge in planning systems development is ________.

A) creating budgets
B) dealing with management
C) scheduling
D) testing

Question 47

The single most important tool for large scale projects is the work breakdown structure.

Question 48

Information systems exist to help organizations achieve their goals and objectives.

Question 49

A new task has been added to the project and the project manager must shorten the ________, the sequence of activities that determine the earliest date the project can be completed, so the project will finish on time.

A) Gantt chart
B) critical path
C) goals and objectives
D) scope

Question 50

The Project Management Institute is an international origination specializing in best practices.

Question 51

Formalized project management is not necessary for large scale projects.

Question 52

Software is thought-stuff.

Question 53

If project managers do not how long a project will take, they can estimate the number of lines of code that need to be written.

Question 54

What are the biggest challenges for managing a large-scale systems development project?

Question 55

Taking responsibility for requirements is the single most important task a user can perform for a large-scale development project.

Question 56

Which of the following is a type of deliverable?

A) prototype
B) critical path
C) encryption algorithm
D) goal

Question 57

Describe the user's responsibility in a systems development project.

Question 58

If a project is running behind, it is best to add overtimes because cost is not a big factor in project management.

Question 59

Requirements creep is the process by which a project manager reduces his or her responsibilities for requirements through miniscule rollbacks.

Question 60

________ is good for schedule uncertainties because requirements are managed to fit within the time available.

A) A work break down structure
B) Scrum
C) System analysis
D) Testing