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

Question 1

What are the essential components of corporate strategy and how are they related?

Answer 1

The essential components of corporate strategy are mission,objectives,strategy,goals,and programs.A hierarchical model is presented in the chapter where mission resides at the tip of a pyramid,objectives that more formally define the mission support it,and strategy,goals,and programs underlie the objectives.These strategic elements must align with each other in order for an organization to be successful long term.

Question 2

Develop a TOWS matrix for a Fortune 100 firm that has announced a new project within the past year.Demonstrate how the new project,which could be any revenue-generating new product or service,fits or doesn't fit the organization based on your TOWS analysis.

Answer 2

Examples will vary,but the TOWS analysis must contain the elements of Threats,Opportunities,Weaknesses,and Strengths.Ideally the matrix should reference specific internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats and the project offered as an example should reference at least some of these elements specifically.

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

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 5

One purpose of a mission statement is to:

A) Establish a sense of what the organization hopes to accomplish.
B) Explain the company's reason for existence.
C) Support the tactical plans of the organization.
D) Explicitly enumerate the projects in the company's portfolio.

Question 6

What is strategic management and what role do projects play in it?

Question 7

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

Question 8

Define the term stakeholder and discuss the major groups of stakeholders.

Question 9

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 10

Strategy,goals,and programs support the organizational mission.

Question 11

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

A) Programs
B) Objectives
C) Goals
D) Strategies

Question 12

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

Question 13

The highest priority among strategic choice elements is:

A) Objective.
B) Strategy.
C) Mission.
D) Goal.

Question 14

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

Question 15

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 16

What is meant by the statement,"successful project management is contextual"?

Question 17

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 18

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 19

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

Question 20

Which of the following is descriptive of a vision statement?

A) Inspirational
B) Functional
C) Supportive
D) Critical

Question 21

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

Question 22

Describe the ways that individuals are grouped within an organization.

Question 23

What are Block's six steps to stakeholder management and what should be accomplished in each step?

Question 24

The assistant to the manager did not report to the assistant manager,only to the manager.This reporting relationship was clearly delineated in the:

A) Company culture.
B) Organizational structure.
C) Stakeholder analysis.
D) Company mission statement.

Question 25

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 26

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 27

Consider your current major and the courses that comprise it.From the perspective of your university,and more specifically,from the department that "owns" this major,identify the stakeholders of this major.List the stakeholders in two categories,internal and external and assess the environment and the goals of each of these stakeholders.

Question 28

Which of the following is an internal project stakeholder group?

A) Clients
B) Suppliers
C) Functional managers
D) Competitors

Question 29

Sketch the Cleland project stakeholder management cycle and discuss the salient elements.

Question 30

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 31

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 32

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 33

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

A) Seniority.
B) Function.
C) Product.
D) Geography.

Question 34

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

Question 35

Suppliers and competitors are possible intervenor groups in a project.

Question 36

Which of the following is an external stakeholder group?

A) Project team members
B) Top management
C) Internal accountants
D) Environmental groups

Question 37

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 38

Which of the following statements about clients is BEST?

A) Client refers to the entire customer organization.
B) Clients tend to be 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 39

What are the elements of organizational structure?

Question 40

Organizational structure identifies the grouping of individuals into:

A) Organizations.
B) Companies.
C) Silos.
D) Departments.

Question 41

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 42

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 43

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 44

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 45

One thing that organizational structure must include is:

A) The design of systems for effective communication.
B) The standards of performance for all employees.
C) The expected outcomes for all projects in the company portfolio.
D) The mission and vision statements.

Question 46

Probably the most common type of organizational structure today is:

A) Project.
B) Functional.
C) Matrix.
D) Organic.

Question 47

A dual hierarchy is the salient feature of a:

A) Project structure.
B) Matrix structure.
C) Functional structure.
D) Bi-modal structure.

Question 48

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 49

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 50

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 51

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 52

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 53

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 54

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 55

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 56

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 57

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 58

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 59

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 60

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 61

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

Question 62

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 63

What is a pure project structure for an organization? What are the advantages of using this structure?

Question 64

A typical PMO could supply a company's project manager with assistance in:

A) Composing a project culture document.
B) Establishing organizational structure.
C) Crafting a mission statement.
D) Resource allocation.

Question 65

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 66

Consider your weekly routine and how it might be managed as a pure project structure.What changes would be required for you to convert from a process mentality to a project mentality?

Question 67

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

Question 68

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 69

What are the three types of organizations presented by the author and how are they different?

Question 70

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 71

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a functional structure to manage a project?

Question 72

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 73

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

Question 74

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 75

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

Question 76

Describe the two forms of a matrix organization and indicate the advantages of each for project management.

Question 77

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 78

A typical PMO could supply a company's project manager with assistance in:

A) Activity scheduling.
B) Establishing organizational structure.
C) Crafting a mission statement.
D) Day-to-day process improvement.

Question 79

A project organization does not have functional departments.

Question 80

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.