Information Technology Project Management 9th Edition Kathy Schwalbe - Solutions

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Describe a situation in your life in which you performed needs identification.
Download the RFP, and based on what you learned in this chapter, revise it. Highlight the areas you revised. What makes your revised RFP better than the original?
Locate a website that provides suggestions for developing RFPs. Compare and contrast this with what was presented in the chapter.
Which elements of a project charter would you use to help plan if you have a project that does not require a project charter? Why?
Perform a Web search for software systems that can help you develop an RFP. Provide the Web address and a brief summary for three of the systems you found. Download a demo copy of at least one, if possible.
Develop an RFP for a real-world project such as landscaping the grounds surrounding a nearby business office, building a deck for your house, or holding a big graduation celebration. Be creative in specifying your needs. Feel free to come up with unique ideas for the RFP.
Based on the results of your search, find a sample proposal that has been posted on the Web. What company or organization developed the proposal, and what objective was it trying to accomplish?
Evaluate the effectiveness of this proposal based on information you have studied in this chapter. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal. Are there any items missing from the proposal that should have been included?
Based on what you have learned in this chapter, download the proposal and revise it. Highlight the areas you revised. What makes your revised proposal better than the original?
Locate a website that provides suggestions for developing effective proposals. Compare and contrast this information with what was presented in the chapter.
Explore and describe at least three software packages that can help you write effective proposals. What features do these packages provide? Download a demo copy of at least one, if possible.
Visit the website of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). Explore the site to learn more about certifications, memberships, publications, awards, events, and educational opportunities.
Describe a project scope document. Why is it important to clearly define the project scope?
Look at the IPMA link called “Young Crew.” Young Crew is a key component of IPMA’s strategy for nurturing the project management leaders of tomorrow. Describe what you found.
What is a work breakdown structure? What is a responsibility assignment matrix? How are they related?
The International Journal of Project Management is an IPMA publication. Go to the journal’s home page or go to the website of Elsevier Science Direct and search for the journal. Click on the “Sample Issue” link. Print out a list of articles from the sample issue.
Within the search tool to the website of Elsevier Science Direct, perform a quick search using the keyword “Planning.” Provide a list of what you found. Next, click on a year or topic filter and describe the filter selected and what you found.
Why does the scheduling function depend on the planning function? Which one must be done first? Why?
For exercises 2 through 5, visit the website for the organization Mind Tools. Explore the site. What kind of information does it provide?
Why might a contractor prefer to state a project completion time in terms of number of days after the project starts rather than a specific date? Give some examples of instances when this would be appropriate.
On the “Home” page, explore the “What’s New?” links. Describe what you find.
Explore the topics in the “Toolkit” link for Project Management. Read through a topic that interests you. Provide a one-page summary.
Explore the “Newsletter Archives” and click on the “Newsletter Sign Up” link to subscribe to the free newsletter. In addition, under the “More Resources” link, click on “Videos,” read an article and watch a video that interests you and provide a one-page summary.
From your experience, describe how you have used a project control process. If you did not use continual monitoring of the progress, how would it have helped improve the project’s success if you did use it?
Describe how you would apply the four steps of schedule control to a project. If the project needs to be accelerated, what kinds of activities would be the primary focus? Why?
Describe why it is necessary to develop a baseline budget for a project.
Why is it necessary to track actual and committed costs once a project starts?
How does project risk change as a project progresses? What changes are made to the risk assessment matrix as the changes occur?
List several questions that you would ask during a post project evaluation and describe changes that you would make in your next project to improve based upon possible responses to the questions.
List several lessons learned from a project in which you were a project team member or project manager. How will these lessons learned inform your future projects?
What leadership skills have project managers with whom you have worked possessed? How can you develop these leadership skills?
Describe how being rewarded or not being rewarded has changed how you worked on a project. Were there other rewards that would have been more appropriate for you or your team members?
Describe a time when negotiation resulted in a win-lose outcome. What changes could have been made to make the result a win-win outcome?
Why is it important to manage changes during a project? How are changes initiated? Give some specific examples.
Think of a project on which you have worked. Describe what made the project manager for that project effective or ineffective. How could the project manager have done a better job?
List 20 statements (of no more than six words) such as “Thank you” or “Good job” of what you might say to thank or compliment someone on your project team.
What are the benefits of a project kickoff meeting? From your project experience, describe how the project kickoff meeting for one project could have been improved.
With one or several friends, conduct a brainstorming session and list as many uses of a paperclip as you can.
Discuss the risk utility function and risk preference chart in Figure 11-2. Would you rate yourself as being risk-averse, risk-neutral, or risk-seeking? Give examples of each approach from different aspects of your life, such as your current job, your personal finances, romances, and eating
Suppose your college or organization is considering a project to develop an information system that would allow all employees, students, and customers to access and maintain their own human resources information, such as address, marital status, and tax information. The main benefits of the system
Review a document related to risk management, such as the Microsoft Security Risk Management Guide. Does this guide address most of the topics related to risk management planning, as described in this text? Document your analysis in a short paper.
What are some questions that should be addressed in a risk management plan?
Suppose that your organization is deciding which of four projects to bid on, as summarized in the following table. Assume that all up-front investments are not recovered, so they are shown as negative profits. Draw a diagram and calculate the EMV for each project. Write a few paragraphs explaining
Research risk management software. Are many products available? What are the main advantages of using them in managing projects? What are the main disadvantages? Write a short paper to discuss your findings, and include at least three references.
Describe how to use a probability/impact matrix and the Top Ten Risk Item Tracking approaches for performing qualitative risk analysis. How could you use each technique on a project?
Find an example of a company that took a big risk on an IT project and succeeded. In addition, find an example of a company that took a big risk and failed. Summarize each project and situation in a short paper. In the paper, you should also discuss whether you believe that anything besides luck
Search the Internet for the term IT outsourcing and find at least two articles that discuss outsourcing. Summarize the articles and answer the following questions:• What are the main types of goods and services being outsourced?• Why are the organizations in the articles choosing to
Explain the make-or-buy decision process and describe how to perform the financial calculations in the simple lease-or-buy example provided in this chapter.
Interview someone who was involved in an IT procurement process, such as a manager in your organization’s IT department, and have the person explain the process that was followed. Alternatively, find an article describing an IT procurement in an organization. Write a paper describing the
What are the main types of contracts if you decide to outsource? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Search online for samples of IT contracts. Use search phrases like “IT contract” or “sample contract.” Analyze the key features of the contract. What type of contract was used, and why? Review the language and clauses in the contract. What are some of the key clauses? List questions you
Review a sample RFP for an IT project. Write a paper summarizing the purpose of the RFP and how well you think it describes the work required.
How can organizations use a weighted scoring model to evaluate proposals as part of seller selection?
List two suggestions for ensuring adequate change control on projects that involve outside contracts.
Research the topic of understanding body language. What are some common body movements that can help you understand how people are really feeling? What does it mean if someone looks up a lot when talking versus looking down or side to side? What does it mean when people cross their arms, touch
Several issues have arisen on the Global Treps Project. Ashok, your team member in India, broke his wrist playing tennis yesterday and cannot work on the project at all for three weeks. His work, which involves helping to edit the videos, starts in one week, so you need to reassign it to
Use the following data to answer the questions that follow.Average velocity = (Remaining effort Day 1 - Remaining effort Current Day)/(Current Day 2 Day 1) Estimated completion date 5 Current Day 1 (Remaining effort/Average velocity)a. Create a burndown chart for the given data using Excel or the
What courses in your educational program address the development of communications skills? What skills do you think employers are looking for? Do you think there should be more emphasis on communications skills in your degree program?
Find examples of how project teams use new technologies to communicate project information. Which technologies seem to be most effective? Document your findings in a short paper, citing at least three references.
Discuss the importance of understanding tone of voice and body language in comprehending the meaning of what people say. Give examples of how the same words said in different ways have totally different meanings.
How many different communication channels does a project team with six people have? How many more communication channels would there be if the team grew to 10 people?
Review the templates for various project documents provided in this chapter. Pick one of them and apply it to a project of your choice. Make suggestions for improving the template.
Explain why you agree or disagree with some of the suggestions in this chapter for improving project communications, such as creating a communications management plan, stakeholder analysis, or performance reports. What other suggestions do you have?
Research new software products that assist in communications management for large projects. Write a short paper summarizing your findings. Include websites for software vendors and your opinion of some of the products.
Provide examples of when you would use at least three of the Seven Basic Tools of Quality on an IT project.
Based on the list you created for Task 1, determine how you will measure progress on meeting the requirements. For example, you might have people take a survey after they view the online training videos to collect feedback.Data from in Task 1Develop a list of quality standards or requirements
Assume that you have completed three months of the project. The BAC was $120,000 for this six-month project. You can also make the following assumptions:PV = $60,000EV = $55,000AC = $50,000a. What is the cost variance, schedule variance, cost performance index (CPI), and schedule performance index
Interview someone who uses some of the techniques discussed in this chapter. How does the person feel about network diagrams, critical path analysis, Gantt charts, critical chain scheduling, Scrum, using project management software, and managing the personnel issues involved in project schedule
Read at least two of the first five references cited in this chapter with statistics about the importance of IT and project management. Create a short paper or presentation summarizing which information is most interesting and intriguing to you and why.
Find someone who works as a project manager or someone who works on projects involving IT, such as a worker in your school’s IT department or a project manager active in a professional group, like PMI. Prepare several interview questions to learn more about projects and project management, and
Write a paper summarizing key information available on the PMI’s website (www.pmi.org). Also read and summarize two recent reports from PMI, including “Pulse of the Profession®: Success Rates Rise: Transforming the High Cost of Low Performance: (2017).
Find any example of a real project with a real project manager. Feel free to use projects in the media (such as the Olympics, television shows, or movies) or a project from your work, if applicable. Write a paper describing the project in terms of its scope, time, and cost goals. Also describe
Watch a free online video on the history of project management created by Mark Kozak-Holland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1uxCBx2-UQ). Summarize how the project management knowledge areas can be applied to building the Giza Pyramid Project.
Research articles and tools on project portfolio management. Summarize the advantages of performing project portfolio management as well as challenges.
Skim through Appendix A on Microsoft Project 2016 (available on the Companion website for this text). Review information about Project 2016 from the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com). Research three other project management software tools, including at least one smartphone app. Write a paper
Discuss ethical decisions that project managers often face. Do you think a professional code of ethics makes it easier to work in an ethical manner?
Research information about PMP® and CAPM® certifications. Find at least two articles on this topic. What are benefits of certification in general? Do you think it is worthwhile for most project managers to get certified? Is it something you would consider? Write a paper summarizing your findings
Review PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Find and summarize two articles related to ethics in project management.
Summarize the three-sphere model for systems management in your own words. Then use your own project experience or interview someone who recently completed an IT project, and list several business, technology, and organizational issues addressed during the project. Which issues were most important
Apply the four frames of organizations to a possible project that involves the development of a new technology like mobile banking, online retail, or social media. Work with two other class members in a virtual environment on this exercise. Write a short paper or presentation that summarizes your
Research the trend of using virtual teams. Review the information on team role theory from www.belbin.com and other related sources. Write a summary of your findings, and cite at least three references. Also include any personal experience and your opinion on the topic. For example, what role(s)
Research the agile movement as it applies to software development and other types of projects. See how many books and websites are available on the topic. Is there evidence to show that agile projects are more successful than others? What agile principles can be applied to all types of projects?
Write a short summary of an article that discusses the importance of top management support for successful IT projects. Your summary should include your opinion on this topic.
Watch videos about Scrum and Kanban by Axosoft or other organizations. Summarize what you learned and any questions you have in a short paper. Try to find answers to your questions and cite your sources.
Review the Opening and Closing case about Tom Walters tablet project. Also find at least two articles about the NFL’s adoption of tablets. Using the four frames of organizations presented in this chapter, contrast the structural, human resource, political, and symbolic frames as they relate to
Research a project management method, such as PRINCE2, Agile, RUP, or Six Sigma, and how organizations use it, citing at least two references. Why do you think organizations spend time and money tailoring a methodology to their environment? Write a summary of your findings and your opinion on the
Review the sample documents provided for JWD Consulting to answer the following questions. What was the success criteria for this project? What was the estimated discounted life cycle ROI? Describe three key product-related deliverables. What were the top three risks? Did the project meet scope,
What are some of the typical challenges project teams face during each of the five process groups? You can frame your discussion based on a project described in one of the feature boxes in this chapter (e.g., the What Went Right? or What Went Wrong? feature). You can also frame your discussion on
What are the main differences between the two versions of the JWD Consulting case study? When should you use a more prescriptive or agile approach? Do you think users of the JWD Consulting intranet site would prefer one release of the software or several incremental ones? What are some pros and
Review the product backlog, sprint backlog, and burndown chart provided in this chapter. Read articles or watch a video about using a Scrum method that mentions these artifacts. Write a short paper that describes more details about how to create these artifacts; cite at least two references.
You are a project consultant for the ACME Company and are helping to develop an agile method using Scrum. The company has always used predictive project management methods for software development, but company managers have heard that Agile can have significant advantages if implemented properly.
Review at least two surveys about the use of agile methodologies, such as the annual survey on the state of agile by VersionOne. Also find a critical analysis of these surveys as they are sponsored by companies that sell agile products or surveys. Summarize your findings in a short paper.
Summarize each of the proposed projects using a simple table format suitable for presentation to top management. Include the name of each project, identify how each one supports business strategies, assess the potential financial benefits and other benefits of each project, and provide your initial
Perform a financial analysis for a project using the format provided in Figure 4-5. Assume that the projected costs and benefits for this project are spread over four years as follows: Estimated costs are $300,000 in Year 1 and $40,000 each year in Years 2, 3, and 4. Estimated benefits are $0 in
Prepare a draft project charter and an assumption log for the Global Treps project. Assume that the project will take six months to complete and have a budget of $130,000. Use the project charter template provided in this text and the sample project charter provided in Table 4-1 as guides. For the
Describe project integration management. How does it relate to the project life cycle, stakeholders, and the other project management knowledge areas?
Write a short paper based on the chapter’s opening case. Answer the following questions:a. What do you think the real problem was in this case?b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?d. What should top management have
Economic inequality is a huge issue. A recent study found that the world’s 80 wealthiest individuals own as much as the entire world’s poorest 3.5 billion people. The richest 1 percent of the world’s population control half of the world’s total wealth. Many individuals, corporations,
Evaluate the four projects by preparing a weighted scoring model using the template provided on the Companion website for this text. Develop at least four criteria, assign weights to each criterion, assign scores, and then calculate the weighted scores. Print the spreadsheet and bar chart with the
Download a free trial of MindView mind mapping software from www.matchware.com or similar software and create a mind map of a SWOT analysis for your organization. Include at least two strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and then provide ideas for at least three potential projects.

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Information Technology Project Management 9th Edition Kathy Schwalbe - Solutions

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