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Advanced Multi Project Management Achieving Outstanding Speed And Results With Predictability 1st Edition Gerald I. Kendall , Kathleen M. Austin - Solutions
How might project management software show scope creep or variability during execution in a Gantt chart? Based on your answer, do you think that a Gantt chart is useful for quickly grasping these kinds of issues?
How should a software package prioritize the project tasks across all projects?
One multi-project organization has 37 projects active, with an average of 200 tasks for each project. Projects span 20 weeks in average duration.There are 25 resource pools and each has an average share of the project work. If you were a manager of one resource pool, how many of those tasks would
How is visual management different from traditional project reporting?
Give two examples of questions each type of user might have during project execution and what the software would need to provide to answer those questions.
Who are the key users of multi-project software during execution?
Why is portfolio management capability helpful in project management software? Based on your answer, for what type(s) of organization would it be mandatory?
Today, even if project management software does not have cloud-like capabilities, people can collaborate in planning projects by using webbased meeting facilities. What is the difference between that mode of collaboration and the description of cloud-like facilities?
What are the two ways of aligning projects within a multi-project management system? Given these two ways, is it better to align by portfolio of projects or across all portfolios?
What data does a project template contain, and what data should it not contain?
Since many project tasks do not execute as planned (i.e., in the same estimated time frame or within the same dates), what is the value of software providing a resource management view across all projects?
Why is it vital for project management software to be learnable within two hours?
When you compare the number of iPhone application users and the number of, for example, word processing users in an organization with the number of project management software users, how do you explain that there is typically such a small number of project management software users?
If you were a director of a PMO or a senior manager responsible for enterprise resource loading and planning, explain how you would get data from functional areas that have historically not been cooperative in providing such data.
What are the pros and cons of modeling plans for project resources beyond the one-year time horizon?
If an organization does not have the project resource data for the medium to long term available, but wants to do some proactive modeling to see if it might have issues, explain how you would do this and have some reports available within a week.
When project tasks are given to managers and supervisors, as an emergency measure to recover from falling behind, what are the possible negative consequences? How would you prevent such negative consequences from occurring?
Many organizations have few or no alternatives to having people work extra hours when projects fall behind. Explain why you think this is true and how to bring an organization to consider other alternatives.
Why do the authors claim that an organization only needs to do enterprise-wide planning for a few resource skill sets and not every skill set?
In the way that the authors define short-, medium-, and long-term project resource planning horizons, what are the key differences between short and medium term? What are the key differences between short and long term?
Why do the authors single out operations as needing special attention in that function’s alignment to the multi-project world?
Pick one company in one industry and speculate on what your answers(as a senior manager) might be to the four questions asked during a periodic review.
Why is a periodic review of operations flow and productivity necessary as a result of project implementations?
The chapter emphasizes the need for sister projects that take operations considerations into account. What is the concept of a sister project, and how do you identify whether or not such a subproject is needed?
What makes it so difficult for operations managers to dedicate resources to projects?
The chapter highlights three steps to bring synergy between operations and projects. Explain how each step is a win-win for the managers within operations and the managers of projects.
Explain, through an example, how a non-operations project could have a significant impact on operations.
What kind of statistics do the authors recommend gathering? Provide an example of what those statistics might tell a senior manager and what changes could result that would improve project flow.
The year is 2011. A company that supplies products to the housing industry has several major projects lined up to improve the productivity of its plant production facilities around the world. Currently, due to the ongoing recession in the housing industry, the plants have excess capacity.To
If supervisors are forbidden from doing project tasks, won’t there be negative effects? If you believe there would be negative effects, how would you prevent them from happening?
Assuming that managers are able to free up time, how do the authors suggest that time be used?
What are the different ways that managers could free up 20% of their time?
How might an organization implement a freeze of some projects in its environment? That is, how might an organization decide which projects to freeze and which ones to keep active? Who would need to be involved?Who would need to buy into freezing some projects, and why?
Why do you think supervisors and managers in many organizations spend a large percentage (e.g., over 25%) of their time firefighting?
Based on this chapter’s discussion of project pipelines, how far into the future would you like to see project work in the pipeline—three months, six months, a year, longer than a year? Explain your answer.
Explain the role of a capacity elevation team. Given that role, what types of people should be on the team? Who (what job function/level in the company) should chair the team?
What process addresses the issue of support groups not responding quickly enough to project needs or to holding up project progress?What one change is required in the way that support groups respond today that would make this process effective?
Resource pools often have less capacity to do project work than their managers assume they have, even taking into account all of their other responsibilities. Why is that?
Assume you are talking to a resource manager. Explain why that manager, looking at a histogram produced by software, should consider 67%to indicate a fully utilized resource skill set.
If you are going to create a resource pool (skills description and quantities of people available), the authors suggest you limit the number of different skill sets modeled in projects. Why shouldn’t you create a resource pool for the entire organization (assuming that the time it takes to create
The authors claim that until you change the way that project work is planned and executed, an organization cannot really know what to do about its resources. Explain what you believe the authors’ logic to be.
Why do you think that many project improvement processes yield minimal(
What should the team conducting the review process do when a project does not deliver expected results in a marketing/new product project?In an internal improvement project? For how long a period of time should the team monitor the project results after project completion?
Should this project review process be incorporated into a general senior management review of the organization? Explain your answer.
Describe the five minimal components of a project portfolio review process.
If an organization already has achieved an excellent success rate with projects and is at or near the top of its industry, should it forgo the review process covered in this chapter?
The chapter cites a study highlighting a high failure rate of projects to achieve their goals. What actions do the authors suggest an organization take to overcome this situation?
What is wrong with reviewing all of the projects in a multi-project portfolio?Why do the authors insist on reviewing only exceptions?
What are the three main reasons that stage gate processes take so long, and what do the authors suggest be done about it?
In many stage gate systems, the front-end ideation or discovery phase is not considered part of the stage gate process. Explain why not and why the authors consider it so important to include.
Why should an executive or senior manager make himself/herself available within 48 hours for a stage gate meeting?
Describe four ideas the authors suggested for improving the stage gate process or eliminating the current negative side effects.
What did the authors mean when they insisted that you must not confuse project work with stage gate work?
What negative side effects can be caused by a stage gate process?
What are the benefits to having a stage gate process?
Why would an organization ever need more than one full kit meeting before entering a major new phase of a project?
Why do the authors claim that full kits are needed? Explain the current situation without full kits and the underlying causes.
If a full kit template has been designed for major, new, engineered-toorder products, how long do you think it should take to customize it for a specific project—hours, days, or weeks?
The authors indicated that full kits were not needed for every type of project. Describe one type of project that would likely not be a good candidate for this process.
Why do the authors insist that a senior manager be appointed as the full kit manager? What do you think would happen if a more junior person were to hold this responsibility?
Explain the difference between a stage gate process and a full kit process.
Describe the four major components of the full kit process.
What is a benefit to holding daily fast-track issue resolution meetings first thing in the morning?
If a blocking issue cannot be resolved in 24 hours, what should happen?
Who is expected to resolve all blocking issues?
Who should attend these daily fast-track issue resolution meetings?
What is a daily fast-track issue resolution meeting?
What is lost anytime a task stops or slows down?
Once a task starts, what is the goal?
True or false? A contractual milestone buffer can be found during and at the end of the project.
What do contractual milestone buffers protect?
True or false? The process for determining task priorities is based on the project’s priority to the organization.
If a task start is delayed, what should the resource manager do?
What if all required resources are not currently available to start a ready to start task?
When should a resource manager assign a resource to a path start task?
Resource managers are responsible for what?
True or false? The contractual milestone buffer(s), if any, and project buffer are managed the same.
When a non-critical chain of tasks causes the most penetration into the project buffer, what should the project manager do? What if it causes penetration into the green region of the project buffer?
The length of the buffer required is based on what?
True or false? The project buffer stays static (the same size) throughout the project.
Which of the following statements are incorrect?a. Assume task variability exists.b. Buffer penetration can only be in one direction.c. We expect buffer penetration.d. We do not expect to use all of the project buffer.e. Time buffers have three regions.f. Project due date is at the left side of the
What time buffers are managed during project execution?
Project priorities are only used when?
When does project activation take place?
In Figure 30.1, what is the scheduled start date for task J?
True or false? All tasks have scheduled start and finish dates.
The date determined from alignment and its associated what ifs is called what?
What insulates multiple projects from variability?
What insulates a project from variability?
What three things do project stakeholders expect of every project?
Arbitrarily reducing the size of feeding buffer(s) and/or the project buffer in order to reduce the project duration is not recommended. Why not?
Why not just remove a feeding buffer and add that time to the project buffer?
What types of what if analysis would be useful to executives? Explain with examples.
True or false? Do not modify contractual milestones.
When making changes to the planned project, don’t forget to:a. Remove buffers, re-resolve resource contention, re-identify the critical chain/critical pathb. Make required buffer adjustmentsc. Leave buffer sizes and placements as isd. All of the abovee. Only a and b above
When considering adding additional resources and/or higher skilled resources, you must weigh the impact of this on what three things?
What project planning step do you return to when synchronization does not support a customer’s due date?
Why do we need two checks? What if a project only passes one of the checks?
What are the checks for effective synchronization?
Where is the synchronization buffer placed? Why?
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