Midterm Review
SE503
Advanced Project Management
Exam Content
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Closed book, no notes
Target time 2 hours
Total points 200
Multiple choice 25 x 2 points = 50 points
Short answer and problems 90 points
Discussion questions 60 points
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Compare traditional project management and
Critical Chain
Closed book, no notes-Target time 2 hours-Total
points 200
Multiple choice 25 x 2 points = 50 points
-Planned Task duration always add safty-time within
(T/F)
-PERT uses three-point-estimates (T/F)
Short answer and problems 90 points
-What is the relationship between Critical Path and
Critical Chain?
Discussion questions 60 points
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-Compare traditional project management and Critical
Chain
Project Management
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PM history
What is a project?
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Project elements
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Project types
Scope, budget, schedule, resources, environment
Project life cycle
What is project success?
Project terminology
Project Justification
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Project types
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Sacred cow
Market driven
Necessary
Economic
Project value
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Economic return on investment
Kano value model
Traditional Project Management
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Organize Effort
Plan Work (Scope, Budget, Schedule)
Obtain and Manage Resources
Resolve Conflicts and Problems
Control Technical Quality
Control Budget
Control Schedule
Critical Path Method
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Tasks
Milestones
Logical relationships between tasks
Project network
Critical path
Slack
Contracting
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Single contractor
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Fixed bid
Time and material
Incentive fee
Which is best?
Multiple contractors
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Work for the common good
Incentive fee pool contract
PM Issues
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Most projects “fail”
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Scope (quantity or quality) of work
Budget overruns
Schedule delays
Finishing on-time (or early) is a big advantage
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Return on investment
Market entry
Resource usage
Uncertainty
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Difficult estimates/padding/safety
Hard to make a firm plan
Triggers behavior response
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Student’s syndrome
Parkinson’s law
Uncertainty modeling
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Normal distribution, Beta, triangle, PERT
Assumption of independence
Traditional approach
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Firm plan
Focus on cost often leads to bad decisions
Focus on schedule leads to early start
Percent complete progress reporting
No global focus on return on investment
Theory of Constraints
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Measurements T, I, and OE
Statistical fluctuations, dependent events
Synchronize and balance flow
Optimize globally
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Identify, Exploit, Subordinate, Elevate, Repeat
Nelson Wood Shims
Critical Chain
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Two-point estimates
Project and feeder buffers (collected safety)
Resource buffers (more feeder buffers and
wake-up call)
Monitor and manage buffers
Progress report work remaining
Use TOC on bottleneck resources
Reduces Parkinson’s, Students syndrome
Good Luck!