File: ch13, Chapter 13: Project Termination

Multiple Choice

1. The termination stage of the project rarely has much impact on ________. a) Residual attitudes of the client towards the project b) Technical success or failure of the project c) Residual attitudes of senior management towards the project d) Residual attitudes of the project team towards the project Ans: b Response: Refer to chapter 13, introduction. Level: intermediate

2. When a decision is made to terminate a project by extinction, the most noticeable event is that ________. a) All activity on the substance of the project ceases b) All organizational activity related to the project ceases c) All further expenditures related to the project are immediately blocked d) All activity on the project ceases Ans: a Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by extinction. Level: intermediate

3. In termination by addition, project assets are ________. a) Liquidated b) Reassigned to another project c) Transferred from the dying project to the newly born division d) Retained in the existing project as a cost of doing business Ans: c Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by addition. Level: easy

4. In termination by integration, project assets are ________.

a) Liquidated b) Reassigned to another project c) Transferred from the dying project to the newly born division d) Distributed among the existing elements of the parent organization Ans: d Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by integration. Level: easy

5. In general, the problems of integration are ________ to the level of experience that the parent organization has had with the technology being integrated and to the successful integration of other projects, regardless of technology. a) Directly proportional b) Proportional c) Inversely proportional d) Unrelated Ans: c Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by integration. Level: easy

6. During the implementation of project termination, if personnel performance evaluations are required, they should be prepared by the ________. a) Termination manager b) Project manager c) Project manager or the immediate supervisor of each individual team member d) Project management office Ans: c Response: refer to section 13.1, the implementation process. Level: easy

7. During the implementation of project termination, the termination manager should ensure that ________. a) Delivery and implementation of project results were accomplished regardless of termination method b) Formal acceptance of the project is obtained from the project team c) Formal acceptance of the project is acknowledged by the client d) The project's documentation is shredded

Ans: c Response: Refer to section 13.3, the implementation process and to the output of scope verification described in the PMBOK Guidelines. Level: intermediate

8. Most studies have shown that the factors associated with project success or failure ________ the various types of projects. a) Are similar across different industries and b) Are different across different industries and c) Are similar across different industries but different for d) Are different across different industries but similar for Ans: b Response: Refer to the summary. Level: easy

Short Answer

9. The special case of termination by extinction wherein the project experiences a sudden demise even though obvious signals were lacking that death was imminent is known as ________. Ans: termination by murder Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by extinction. Level: easy

10. If a project is a major success and it is terminated by institutionalizing it as a formal part of the parent organization, this is an example of termination by ________. Ans: addition Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by addition. Level: easy

11. Termination by ________ is the most common way of dealing with successful projects, and the most complex.

Ans: integration Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by integration. Level: easy

12. Termination by ________ happens when decrements to the budget are large enough to prevent further progress on the project and to force the reassignment of many project team members. Ans: starvation Response: refer to section 13.1, termination by starvation. Level: easy

13. A ________ cost is not relevant to current investment decisions. Ans: sunk Response: Refer to section 13.3, the decision process. Level: easy

14. Special ________ managers are sometimes useful in completing the long and involved process of shutting down the project. Ans: termination Response: Refer to section 13.3, the implementation process. Level: easy

15. A good project management system will have a ________ that should be documented in the project final report. Ans: memory Response: Refer to section 13.4. Level: easy

16. The ________ section of the final project report is a comparison of what the project achieved with what the project tried to achieve. Ans: project performance

Response: Refer to section 13.4. Level: easy

17. The ________ section of the final project report contains a review of administrative practices. Ans: administrative performance Response: Refer to section 13.4. Level: easy

18. The ________ section of the final project report contains comments regarding how the organizational structure aided or impeded the progress of the project Ans: organizational structure Response: Refer to section 13.4. Level: easy

19. The fundamental purpose of the final project report is to ________ Ans: improve future projects Response: Refer to section 13.4. Level: easy

20. Bringing the project into the organization as a separate, ongoing entity is called ________. Ans: termination by addition Response: Refer to the glossary. Level: easy

21. The end of all activity on a project without extending it in some form is referred to as ________. Ans: extinction Response: Refer to the glossary. Level: intermediate

22. Bringing the project activities into the organization and distributing them among existing functions is referred to as ________. Ans: termination by integration Response: Refer to the glossary. Level: easy

23. Cutting a project's budget sufficiently to stop progress without actually killing the project is referred to as ________. Ans: termination by starvation Response: Refer to the glossary. Level: easy

24. The ________ is an administrator responsible for wrapping up the administrative details of a project. Ans: termination manager Response: Refer to the glossary. Level: easy

Essay

25. Discuss the conditions where it can be said that a project has been terminated. Ans: A project can be said to be terminated when work on the substance of the project has ceased or slowed to the point that further progress on the project is no longer possible, when the project has been indefinitely delayed, when its resources have been deployed to other projects, or when project personnel (especially the PM) become personae non gratae with senior management and in the company lunchroom. Response: Refer to section 13.1. Level: easy

26. Name the four fundamentally different ways to close out a project. Ans: The four fundamentally different ways to close out a project are: extinction, addition, integration, and starvation. Response: Refer to section 13.1. Level: easy

27. Identify some of the more important aspects of the transition from project to integrated operation that must be considered when the project functions are distributed. Ans: Aspects to consider include: personnel, manufacturing, accounting/finance, engineering, information systems/software, marketing, purchasing, distribution, legal, and administrative procedures. Response: Refer to section 13.1, termination by integration. Level: easy

28. Identify a few of the fundamental reasons why some projects fail to produce satisfactory results. Ans: Reasons include: a project organization is not required; there is insufficient support from senior management; the wrong person was selected as project manager; and a poor plan was used to execute a project. Response: Refer to section 13.2. Level: easy

29. Identify the two generic categories of decision-making models used for making project termination decisions. Ans: First, there are models that base the decision on the degree to which the project qualifies against the set of factors generally held to be associated with successful (or failed) projects. Second, there are models that base the decision on the degree to which the project meets the goals and objectives set for it. Response: Refer to section 13.3, the decision process. Level: easy