Information Technology Project Management

A. True/False/Fill-in-the-blanks ( point each). Highlight your response

1. T/F. The question of What, Why and How can always be found in the Project Charter.

2. T/F. Poor requirements are hardly ever the major cause of a project failure

3. T/F. Just like the management theories, the logic theories are integral to effective project management

4. T/F. The core principles of Project Management are different from other disciplines

5. T/F. A project can be anything, it does not really have to have any restrictions, at all

B. Multiple Choices – Highlight true. (points each)

1. A Gantt Chart:

a) Does not the show the explicit relationship among tasks

b) Can be used for reporting projects’ progress

c) Can be used for Planning

d) All of the Above

2. A WBS can be developed using the following tools:

a) MS Project

b) Word and other Office Packages

c) Excel or any other Spreadsheet Software

d) Any of the above

e) Only 1) and 3)

3. The three features or attributes that distinguish between functional managers and project managers are:

a) Chain of Authority, Skill Sets Managed, and Established Relationships.

b) Management of professionals, Budget and Schedule

c) Stakeholders Relationships, Legal Authority, Project Social Environment

d) None of the Above

Short and Concise Questions. ( points each for getting the central idea down)

1.   Elaborate on three differences between management of operations and management of projects within an organization. Give a practical example to illustrate each of the three differences and identify references.

2.  Compare and contrast the terms: goals, requirements, and deliverables as related to IT projects. Give a practical example of each term to illustrate the criteria for each definition. Be sure to indicate how each term differs from the others. ( points)

3. Consider the use of four types of charts as applied to project management:

1) Milestone Chart

2) Flow Chart

3) Gantt Chart

4) Network Diagram

Describe the format or content of each type of chart and give a practical example of when and how each of the four types of chart would be used for an IT project.

4.  1) Identify the top three reasons for information systems project failure as described by Olson (2014).

2) Provide at least one example of a typical situation related to each of the three reasons.

3) Describe published approaches a project manager can take to avoid or mitigate each of the three failure modes identified in part 1 of this topic.

ITEC 640 – Midterm – Fall 2020 2