COSC 305 Midterm Exam

The midterm exam will consist of multiple choice, short answer and long answer q
uestions. It will cover all
materials up to and including chapter 10 (including Milestones - p.78).
Multiple choice
-all topics covered
Short answer
* -project management fundamentals and the project environment
* -framework concepts WROTE NOTES
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-PMBOK vs APM (questions on PMBOK knowledge area and APM) WROTE NOTES
-Project phases WROTE NOTES
-Challenges in project
-Project charter
-Mythical man month/Denver airport
-Definitions & terminology
-Project life cycle
-Stakeholder management
-Project planning
-Requirement requirements
-Cultural factors in projects

Short answer and MC (est. 30 marks)

Long answer (est. 30 marks)
* -NPV, IRR and payback (financial)
* -WBS (all aspects)
* -Risk analysis
* -Stakeholder Analysis, Influence/Impact grids, Cooperation/Threat grid, Stakeh
older analysis table, Stakeholder
* communications table
-Lab concepts
1 mark for bonus questions
*Calculators will be permitted during the exam (required)
*One single sided sheet of personal notes will be allowed (not to contain printe
d copies of class notes)
Major Topics:
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Project management overview

Components of project management
Project failures
Mythical man month
Key terminology for project management
Defining a project (i.e. what is a project in the most formal definition)
What a project is not
Key players in projects
Requirements for projects and project definitions
Competing project constraints: cost, scope, quality, risk, resources, time

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* The project management triad (triple constraint)
* Trade-offs with the pm triad

* PM experience and added value: application knowledge and areas of experience f

or PM s
* Understanding the project environment
* Cultural factors and challenges in project management
* Influence and leadership in projects
* Motivation, negotiation and problem solving in projects
* Project lifecycle initiation, planning, implementation and closure
* Frameworks for project management
* History of project management and the PMI WROTE NOTES
* Framework concepts WROTE NOTES
* PMBOK overview WROTE NOTES
* PMBOK key knowledge areas (integration, scope, time/schedule, costs, quality,
HR, communications, risk,
* procurement, stakeholders) WROTE NOTES
* -What falls under each category and implication/meaning?
* -What are the constraints and challenges is each area?
* PM Star model WROTE NOTES
* PMI waterfall project lifecycle (what happens in each phase) vs APM WROTE NOTE
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* APM structure, similarities and differences to PMI WROTE NOTES
* APM product development and project planning WROTE NOTES
* Burndown WROTE NOTES
* Stakeholder Management
* Identification of stakeholders (who they are, concerns and how to manage)
* Stakeholder interactions and stakeholder management
* Developing a stakeholder management plan
* Challenges with stakeholder management
* Relating to stakeholders
* Tools for stakeholder analysis (lecture and lab materials)
* -steps and results
* -stakeholder analysis table
* -communications plan
* Organizational culture
* PM s checklist for cultural considerations
* Team challenges with varying cultures WROTE NOTES
* Team conflict identification and management WROTE NOTES
* Milestones during project initiation
* Business case --function/purpose during project initiation
* Roles of the project sponsor
* Objectives --project initiation
* Defining objectives (criteria and measurability)
* Decision matrices and weighted decision matrices
* Financial analysis techniques (ROI, NPV, discount rate, rate of return, paybac
k period and discounted
* payback period)
* Payback analysis
* Project charter --requirements, contents and purpose
* -all items including assumptions, risk, scope, milestones, deliverables, budge
ting, approval,
* stakeholder analysis
* Project planning --purpose, objectives and deliverables
* Project planning process key items (summary what happens in each phase, etc)
* Scope planning
* Preparing the Work Breakdown Structure

* Project schedule development

* Resource planning

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Budget planning
Procurement planning
Risk management
Quality planning
Communication planning
Stakeholder management planning
Scope planning --key activities and deliverables
Defining project scope and deliverables
Requirement requirements (characteristics and measurability)
Types of requirements (all)
Software requirement specifications
Measuring requirements
Scope Input --techniques for evaluation
Scope input --sources
Requirement traceability matrix
The WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) --terminology and purpose
Creating a WBS --requirements, work packages, etc
Scope Statement
Project schedule planning
-Deliverables
-Task dependencies
-Task predecessors
-Leads and lags
-Milestones

* Lab concepts:
* Project failures - Denver airport project failure (general concepts and statem
ents regarding failure)
* Project planning and stakeholder analysis tools --QUAD chart, assumption state
ments, Stakeholder
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analysis table, Risk assessment grid

Details stakeholder analysis --Influence/Impact grids, Cooperation/Threat grid
Stakeholder analysis table,
stakeholder communications table
Project charter --Key sections and requirements for a project charter; purpose
and function of each
* Financial Analysis and WBS - Payback, NPV, and IRR. Creation of a WBS (key req
uirements and
* components) and scope statement.