Deck 4: Organizational Capability: Structure, Culture and Roles

Question 1

Projectized organizations are especially effective at helping team members to maintain their discipline-specific competencies.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In "personal cultures" people display an attitude that collaboration is satisfying and stimulating.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The project sponsor should pick the project manager and core team members (sometimes with the help of the project manager and/or others).

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A scrum master is a project manager who serves and leads in a collaborative,facilitating manner.

Question 5

A functional organization is an organization structure in which staff is grouped by areas of specialization,and the project manager has limited authority to assign work and apply resources.

Question 6

A project manager demonstrates integrity in ways that include making honest decisions,protecting people,defending core values,leading major change,showing respect,establishing a culture of honesty,and displaying total commitment to project and people.

Question 7

While differing in details,all of the major types of project life cycle models have a series of exactly four phases with activities that need to be completed and approvals that must be received before the project can proceed to the next phase.

Question 8

On an Agile project the steering team is often responsible for ensuring that the needs and wants of the various constituents in the customer organization are identified and prioritized and that project progress and decisions continually support the customer's desires.

Question 9

When the project sponsor and manager are determining how to create the project culture,ethics should be an important consideration.

Question 10

Organizational culture consists of values,social rituals,symbols,work ethics,organizational behavior,beliefs,and practices that are shared among members of the organization and are taught to new members.

Question 11

In a projectized organization the project manager has extensive authority for budgets,personnel and other decision-making issues.

Question 12

A matrix organization is any organization in which the project manager or project team leader actually shares responsibility for the project with a number of individual functional managers.

Question 13

In a functional organization workers can learn readily from others in their discipline and keep their skills sharp.

Question 14

A form of matrix organization in which the functional manager and project manager have equal amounts of power is called a weak matrix.

Question 15

In "role cultures" reliable workers follow formal designations of responsibility with utmost respect for regulations and laws.

Question 16

The decision to kill a project if needed is typically reached jointly through agreement between the project customer and the project contractor.

Question 17

If the project scope is hard to define early in the project and/or much change is expected,an Agile project management approach often works better.

Question 18

In a projectized organization most people are assigned to a project and report upward through the project manager.

Question 19

Hallmarks of "personal cultures" are skill-based assignments,self-motivated workers,and more deference paid to knowledge than to formal authority.

Question 20

In a projectized organization the functional manager has complete,or very close to complete,power over the project team.

Question 21

It is generally neither necessary nor useful to have every single function represented on the core project team,as that would make communications and scheduling meetings more difficult.

Question 22

Project planning teams use project life cycle models because various types of projects have differing demands.Which of the following sequences of stages is most appropriate for a life cycle model for construction projects? 

A) define - measure - analyze - improve - control 
B) concept definition - demonstration - development - production 
C) pre-planning - design - procurement - construction - start up 
D) concept - requirements - design - code - test - turnover

Question 23

Which of the following characteristics is NOT associated with a functional organization?​ 

A) Everyone in the organization reports up through one and only one supervisor. 
B) Resources are easily shared between departments and projects. 
C) There are clear lines of authority according to type of work. 
D) Staff is grouped by areas of specialization.

Question 24

In agile projects,the individual who leads in a collaborative manner by guiding teams and removing obstacles to their progress is called the: 

A) project manager 
B) sponsor 
C) scrum master 
D) facilitator

Question 25

Which of the following organizational structures runs contrary to the unity of command principle - that each employee works for a single supervisor?​ 

A) functional organization 
B) projectized organization 
C) matrix organization 
D) siloed organization

Question 26

The project life cycle where project teams plan in short bursts (generally of one to four weeks),often called sprints or iterations,is referred to as _________: 

A) Construction project life cycle 
B) Predictive, plan-driven project life cycle 
C) Adaptive, change-driven project life cycle 
D) Process improvement life cycle

Question 27

Which of the following organizational structures is designed to achieve a balance of task focus and technical capability?​ 

A) functional organization 
B) projectized organization 
C) matrix organization 
D) siloed organization

Question 28

Which of the following is an advantage associated with managing projects in a functional organization?​ 

A) Traditional department barriers are reduced. 
B) Unity of command - all workers understand clearly what they need to do because only one "boss" is giving them instructions. 
C) Rapid communication between the various functions working on the project. 
D) Combines task focus with technical capability.

Question 29

Which of the following is a disadvantage associated with managing projects in a projectized organization?​ 

A) Response times and decision making are slow. 
B) Team members assigned to a project are often underutilized and have idle time. 
C) Team members have difficulty focusing on project issues. 
D) Traditional department barriers are reduced.

Question 30

All of the following are advantages associated with managing projects in a projectized organization EXCEPT:​ 

A) One boss - the project manager 
B) Response times and decision making are swift. 
C) Departmental barriers are reduced. 
D) Workers know they will still have a job when they finish work on a project.

Question 31

Project planning teams use project life cycle models because various types of projects have differing demands.Which of the following sequences of stages is most appropriate for a life cycle model for research and development (R & D)projects? 

A) define - measure - analyze - improve - control 
B) project envisioning - requirements gathering - incremental implementation - production release 
C) pre-planning - design - procurement - construction - start up 
D) idea generation - idea screening - concept development - validation - transition

Question 32

During project execution,the project sponsor's responsibilities include all of these EXCEPT: 

A) ensure communications 
B) charter the project 
C) nurture key stakeholders 
D) ensure quality

Question 33

Which of the following is an advantage associated with the matrix organization?​ 

A) Increased knowledge transfer between projects. 
B) Unity of command - one "boss" for each employee. 
C) Shorter response times and quicker decisions. 
D) Hard to monitor and control.

Question 34

According to PMI's "Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct",project managers should exhibit all of the following behaviors EXCEPT:​ 

A) authority - exert economic and political power 
B) fairness - make decisions and act impartially 
C) honesty - understand the truth and act in a truthful manner 
D) responsibility - take ownership for decisions

Question 35

Which of the following executive roles is responsible for overall priority setting,project selection and prioritization,general guidance and encouragement? 

A) Steering Team 
B) Sponsor 
C) Project Management Office 
D) Chief Projects Officer

Question 36

Through shared values,organizational cultures can informally do all the following EXCEPT:​ 

A) motivate the ethical actions and communications of managers and subordinates. 
B) determine how people are treated, controlled and rewarded. 
C) establish how cooperation, competition, conflict and decision making are handled. 
D) eliminate politics in the workplace

Question 37

Projectized organizations often adopt which of the following techniques where project team members are physically placed close to one another to improve communications and working relationships?​ 

A) collaboration 
B) co-location 
C) coordination 
D) consolidation

Question 38

Team members on agile projects need strong direction from the sponsor and project manager.

Question 39

When trying to understand a corporate culture,it is helpful to understand the types of power that are used.In "power cultures":​ 

A) workers closely follow their appointed roles. 
B) supervisors exert a great deal of economic and political power. 
C) more deference is paid to knowledge than to formal authority. 
D) display an attitude that collaboration is satisfying and stimulating.

Question 40

Some organizational culture characteristics make project success more likely.These characteristics include all of the following EXCEPT:​ 

A) collaboration to meet organizational goals 
B) lack of appreciation for project management 
C) engagement of stakeholders 
D) teamwork across cultures

Question 41

Subject matter experts often perform specific project activities when necessary.Which of the following statements regarding subject matter experts is accurate?​ 

A) The number of subject matter experts is generally limited to fewer than the number of core team members. 
B) The subject matter experts are typically assigned to the project from start to finish. 
C) The subject matter experts may not relate strongly to a project due to the temporary nature of their involvement. 
D) Subject matter experts are brought in for meetings and for performing specific project activities when necessary.

Question 42

Responsibilities of the Chief Projects Officer (CPO)for each individual serving on a project team include all of the following EXCEPT:​ 

A) that they follow the detailed project plan that the CPO has created. 
B) that they capture lessons learned from completed projects. 
C) that they use templates and standards when appropriate. 
D) that they receive the training they need.

Question 43

How would the role of a project manager be different in an agile project life cycle,versus a plan-driven or traditional project life cycle?

Question 44

Describe the role of the steering team with respect to projects.

Question 45

In agile projects,overall planning is at a high level,and only the near-term work is planned in detail.The project work is conducted in iterations (sprints)that are normally: 

A) no more than one calendar year 
B) a variable length depending on project scope 
C) a fixed length of two or four weeks 
D) assigned to one person on the team

Question 46

Which of the following are among the challenges faced by project managers?​ 

A) They frequently have more authority than responsibility. 
B) They must effectively deal with networks of people both within and outside the parent company. 
C) They must learn how to accomplish project work unilaterally - on their own. 
D) They are not allowed to be flexible about how the project should be accomplished.

Question 47

Which of the following roles and attributes do NOT describe the core team members on a project?​ 

A) Core team members often make project decisions jointly with the project manager. 
B) Core team members are the small group of people who are usually on the project from start to finish. 
C) Core team members join the project on a temporary basis to perform specific project activities as necessary. 
D) Core team members may supervise the work of subject matter experts who are brought in on an as-needed basis.

Question 48

The PMI "Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct" provides guidelines for ethical behavior by project management practitioners.It describes four main values that should guide a project manager's actions.List these four values and give one example per value of why it should guide a project manager's actions.

Question 49

The Chief Projects Officer responsibilities include ensuring that the steering team does all of the following EXCEPT:​ 

A) captures lessons learned from completed projects 
B) selects appropriate project sponsors and teams 
C) monitors and controls the implementation of projects 
D) ensures enough resources (people, money, and other resources) are available to perform the projects

Question 50

There are several tasks that a project customer can do to enhance the probability of success.Which of the following are generally performed independent of the project manager?​ 

A) conduct kick-off meeting 
B) develop clear requirements 
C) prioritize project 
D) write and sign the project charter