UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS 2009/2010
SECOND YEAR EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF
SCIENCE IN GEOSPATIAL ENGINEERING
FGS 701: GIS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
DATE: 17 FEBRUARY 2010
TIME: 9.00 A.M. - 12.00 NOON
INSTRUCTIONS
i)
Answer question ONE and any other 3 questions.
ii)
Show all your workings and reasoning.
iii)
State any assumptions made.
iv)
Marks for each correct answer are given in brackets.
v)
Good luck!
QUESTION ONE
a)
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a structured formula
that is used in the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
Outline the generic project scope of a GIS project using the following subheadings:• Production
• Finance
b)

Management

Stakeholders
(8 marks)
Describe how you would assess the financial feasibility of a GIS project using the
following sub-headings:-

Current situation analysis

Formulation of strategic change alternatives

Selection of the optimal change alternative using the Net Present Value
(NPV) method (8 marks)
c)
PMBOK requires that you engage the key stakeholders throughout the project
cycle. Describe how you could engage GIS project stakeholders using the
following sub headings;

The 5 forces model to identify the key stakeholders and their requirements

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method to verify stakeholder
requirements.

The PMBOK project change control procedure

The post project review stakeholder requirements management audit and
lessons learnt.
(9 marks)
QUESTION TWO
Project time management is one of the 9 key areas in Project Management Body of
knowledge (PMBOK).
a) Using a sketch explain a typical GIS project work breakdown structure (WBS) by giving
the following:
• Type of project
• The project phases
• The product breakdown structure
• The financial breakdown structure
• The management breakdown structure
• The stakeholder requirements breakdown structure (8 marks)
b) Describe how the following project time management operations are performed:
• Resource allocation based on resource smoothing or resource leveling
techniques
• Estimation of the task pessimistic, expected and optimistic durations using
either the analogous or the parametric estimation method
(use one estimation method, and not both).
• Optimizing a project schedule using Ms Project Professional, project crashing
and sensitivity analysis techniques. (12 marks)
c) How would you use the schedule performance index (SPI) to:
• Report project milestone achievement
• Predict likely project future performance
• Request for changes in the project schedule
(5 marks)
QUESTION THREE
Project cost and procurement management are key to the successful completion of a
project.
a)
By using examples show the differences between the following pairs of project costs:
• Material and labour costs
• Direct and indirect costs
• Fixed and variable costs
• Controllable and uncontrollable costs (9 marks)
b) Compare and contrast the following types of project procurement systems:
• Lump-sum versus Re-imbursable cost project contracts
• Cost plus percent versus Cost plus fixed project contracts (8 marks)
d) Suppose you are working as a GIS project consultant. A GIS project bid is announced
through the newspaper. Explain how you would perform your Bid/No Bid analysis by
considering the following factors:
• The project scope requirements
• The project time requirements
• The project cost requirements
• The project quality requirements (8 marks)
QUESTION FOUR
Ultimately all project management is about quality or customer satisfaction.
a)
What are the main customer satisfaction parameters of a typical Six Sigma
project? (8 marks)
b)
Using the project logical framework, explain how the project objectives can be
strategically aligned with organizational objectives. (9 marks)
c)
How is the Failure Mode Effects Criticality Analysis (FMECA) technique used
to manage the project risks?
(8 marks)
QUESTION FIVE
Substantial amount of communications occurs during a one-year PMBOK project
cycle. Using examples to illustrate your reasoning, answer the following questions:
What are the generic contents of a project system boundary document
a)
(Project in-and-out-of scope document) (5 marks)
What are the generic contents of a project assumptions and constraints
b)
statement? (5 marks)
c)
What are the generic content of a project urgency statement? ("Do
something" versus "Do Nothing" project option analysis statement).(5 marks)
d)
What is the generic content and purpose of the project charter document?
(5 marks)
e)
What is the generic content and purpose of the project monitoring and
evaluation plan? (5 marks)