Term XXXXXXXXXXFinal Take-home Exam
Question Pape
Project Management Concepts – PPMP20007
Instructions and Guidelines
This exam will be made available on Friday 12th June 2020 at 9:00am AEST through the Assessment tab of the Moodle unit website.
1. The take-home exam should take you 3 hours to complete. However, you will be given a 24-hour timeframe, during which time you will need to download the exam question paper from the unit’s Moodle website, complete your answers to the question paper in the answer template provided and upload your completed answer template in the submission area in Moodle. You should commence work on the assessment item as soon as it is available.
2. The unit coordinator will be accessible for any exam-related queries for a period of three hours after the release of the exam. The unit coordinator can be reached at that time via email ( XXXXXXXXXX) and also through the following zoom link URL: https:
cqu.zoom.us/j/ XXXXXXXXXX
3. Check your email during the day of the exam and before you submit the paper in case there is any additional information.
4. Your typed answer script in Microsoft Word file format (in the template provided) must be uploaded with your answers by Saturday 13th June 2020 AT 9:00am AEST. The submission link will become unavailable after this time. Any submission after the deadline may not be accepted.
5. Any draft files will be automatically submitted by the system when the deadline for the submission is reached. Note: Do not rely on this. Make sure you press the submit button when you are ready to submit your work.
6. Please ensure that you submit the co
ect file. Anyone submitting the “wrong file” can contact the unit coordinator with a copy of the co
ect file in an email. That file must be sent before the submission deadline.
7. All submissions will be processed via Turnitin®.
8. You are required to do your own work and to maintain academic integrity. If the marker suspects a
each of academic integrity, you may be requested to attend a real-time interview via Zoom to confirm your understanding of your submission. Inability to explain or justify given solutions may result in allegations of academic misconduct.
9. Read the questions thoroughly and answer the question being asked as completely and as clearly as possible.
10. Provide answers in your own words. Answers must not be in note form.
11. DO NOT copy/paste any part of your answers from the internet, your text book, lecture slides, tutorials or any other source.
12. Do not use any paraphrasing/spin bot
e-writing tools. You will be awarded 0 marks if you use such tools.
13. There is NO need to provide in-text citations or references for your answers.
14. For any technology-related issues, please contact the Technology and Services Assistance Centre (TASAC) via the details provided through this link (https:
www.cqu.edu.au/about-us/structure/directorates/information-and-technology)
15. If you are unable to take the exam on the specified date due to illness or some other exceptional circumstances, you need to apply for a Defe
ed Assessment via the Assessment Extension Request Link on the Moodle unit page and supply the necessary documentation. Be aware that Defe
ed Assessment applications will be refused if there are not sufficient grounds and/or supporting documentation. Note also that a Defe
ed Assessment is NOT a normal extension. Should your application be accepted, you will be required to take a different assessment at a specified time up to several weeks after the Term 1 grades are certified. This will mean you will not receive a Term 1 grade at the normal certification time.
For further details. please refer to the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework), which can be accessed through this link (https:
www.cqu.edu.au/policy)
16. The marks for your assessed answer script will be made available on Certification of Grades day (10 July). Like a regular exam, the assessed answer script will not be returned to you, unless you apply to see it as part of the first step of the review of grade process, which is an informal consultation.
TOTAL 50 MARKS
Attempt all 10 questions in the Microsoft Word template provided.
Question 1 6 Marks
a) You are the manager of a small resort in Central Queensland. The owners want to change the focus of the resort from a family destination to an eco-tourism resort. The following projects have been identified for the resort. Classify each one as compliance, strategic or operational and give your reason for each classification. (2 marks)
· Update all the smoke detectors and safety equipment to meet the new regulations
· Launch a new promotional campaign with Qantas
· Develop 3 new nature hiking trails
· Convert the swimming pool heating system from gas to solar power
) With the use of an example, explain what is meant by scope creep. In your answer discuss the impact of scope creep. (2 marks)
c) Explain why it is difficult to perform a truly independent, objective, project review even with a trained facilitator. Describe what can be done to improve the likelihood of a truly independent, objective, project review. (2 marks)
Question 2 4 Marks
You work for a mobile phone company. Your research and development team believe that they have an affordable, innovative new idea that would be very attractive to potential customers and give your company a significant market advantage. You are to recommend the most appropriate project management structure for this project (functional structure, matrix, dedicated team). What would you recommend and why? Discuss any assumptions that you made about this scenario that lead to your recommendation. What additional information would you want to have to help you make your recommendation and in what ways would that information influence your decision?
Question 3 4 Marks
Compare and contrast the management of negative risks and positive risks.
Question 4 4 Marks
a) In what ways is the role of the conductor of an orchestra a metaphor for the role of a project manager? (3 marks)
) What aspects of the project management role are not captured by this metaphor? (1 mark)
(Larson & Gray, 2017)
Question 5 5 Marks
a) Explain why a project manager should emphasise group rewards over individual rewards. (3 marks)
) You are the project manager for a new project with a team of people who have not worked together prior to this project. You have passed the stage where people have become acquainted and have had their roles and the roles of the other team members clarified. Your expectations in terms of processes and behaviour have also been explained and everyone has been assigned their specific tasks. Although some work has commenced on the project you are observing a high degree of internal conflict and some staff are challenging some of your procedures and expectations. Explain why this might be happening and what you should do. (2 marks)
Question 6 5 Marks
The function point count for a software project was calculated to be 1080.
a) Historical data for projects of this type indicates that six function points equals one person month. Assume that for this project it is possible for five people to work productively on the project simultaneously. What is the minimum estimated project duration for this project? Show all your working and explain each of the steps involved in calculating the minimum duration. (1 mark)
) If the project must be completed in 12 months, what is the minimum number of people that will be needed for this project? You must explain your working.
(1 mark)
c) In part (b) you calculated the minimum number of people to complete the project in 12 months. Explain why it is unlikely that you will be able to achieve the 12 month deadline with the number of workers you calculated in part (b). (3 marks)
Question 7 5 Marks
Will Fence is a large timber and Christmas tree farmer who is attending a project management class. When the class topic came to earned value he was perplexed. He was unclear about whether or not what he does in practice is earned value.
This is what Will does:
Each summer, Will hires a crew of workers to shear fields of Christmas trees for the coming holiday season. Shearing entails having a worker use a large machete to shear the
anches of the tree into a nice, cone-shaped tree. His approach is as follows:
Step 1: He counts the number of Douglas Fir Christmas trees in the field (i.e. 24,000).
Step 2: He agrees on a contract lump sum to pay for shearing for the whole field of trees (the contract is $30,000).
Step 3: When a request for partial payment for the work completed so far a
ives (after 5 days work), Will counts the number of trees actually sheared (i.e. 6,000 trees). He then works out the percentage of trees actually sheared and multiplies the percentage completed by the total contract amount to calculate the partial payment to be made at that time. (For the data so far, this would be 6,000 trees out of 24000 trees which means 25% of the trees have been sheared. 25% of the total contract is 25% of 30000, so the partial payment will be $7,500)
a) Is Will over, on, or below cost and is Will using earned value? Explain. (3 marks)
) How can Will set up a schedule variance? XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
XXXXXXXXXXLarson & Gray, 2017)
Question 8 4 Marks
Factors that influence the successful adoption of an agile project management methodology may be categorized as follows:
· Organisational
· Group
· Individual
· Project
For each category provide at least two factors that would promote the successful adoption of an agile project management methodology. Give reasons for your answers.
Question 9 XXXXXXXXXXMarks
Part (b) of this question refers to the network diagram below.
a) The project manager can use a network diagram like the one above to ca
y out a forward pass and backward pass to calculate, among other things, the ES/EF and LS/LF times for each of the activities in the project.
i. What additional information will the project manager be able to determine about the project schedule after performing these calculations? Why is this information important to the project manager? (2 marks)
ii. What else does the project manager need to know to complete the project schedule and how might this additional information impact on the results from part (i)? Explain. XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Question 9 continued over page
Question 9 continued
) This question refers to the network diagram at the start of this question.
i. You are required to shorten the duration of the project in the network diagram above by 1 week less than its earliest finish time. Only the activities in the following table