Project management midterm Answers – Flashcards

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Many organizations claim that using project management provides advantages, such as ________ .
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Higher profit margins Shorter development times Improved customer relations *All of the above
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According to the Project Management Institute, a(n) ________ is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
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Project
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If the vice president of sales initiates a project to improve direct product sales using the Internet, he or she might be the ________ .
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Project Sponser
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To create a successful project, a project manager must consider scope, time, and cost and balance these often-competing goals. This is sometimes referred to in project management as the ________ .
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Triple constraint
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________ are the people involved in or affected by project activities and include the project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents of the project.
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Stakeholders
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Project ________ management involves defining and managing all the work required to complete the project successfully.
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Scope
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Project ________ management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for which it was undertaken
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Quality
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Project ________ management involves generating, collecting, disseminating, and storing project information.
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Communication
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Project ________ management is an overarching function that affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas.
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Integration
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Motivation techniques, empathic listening, team building exercises, resource histograms, and project management charts are examples of the tools and techniques project managers can use in project ________ management.
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Human resources
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In many organizations, project managers also support an emerging business strategy of project ________ management, in which organizations group and manage projects as a portfolio of investments that contributed to the entire enterprise's success.
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portfolio
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Which of the following helps projects succeed?
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Executive support
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Which IT project portfolio category helps transform business?
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venture
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Generally, a(n) ________ focuses on long-term goals and big-picture objectives, while inspiring people to reach those goals.
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leader
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Generally, a(n) ________ often deals with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals.
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manager
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A(n) ________ is a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format.
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gantt chart
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Members of the Navy Polaris missile/submarine project first used ________ in 1958 to help managers model the relationships among project tasks.
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network diagrams
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A 2010 study found that _______ percent of U.S. companies have PMOs, growing significantly from percentages in prior surveys.
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84
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Project ________ management involves acquiring goods and services for a project from outside the performing organization.
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procurement
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Microsoft Project is the most widely used project management software today and is an example of a ________ tool.
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midrange
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To handle complex situations effectively, project managers need to take a holistic view of a project and understand how it relates to the larger organization. ________ describes this holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization.
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Systems thinking
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________ addresses the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with creating, maintaining, and making a change to a system.
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systems management
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Which of the following best describes a problem-solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system, dividing it into its components, and then identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs?
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systems analysis
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Which of the following is an overall model for thinking about things as systems?
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systems philosophy
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The idea of addressing the three spheres of systems management - business, ________ , and technology - can have a huge impact on selecting and managing projects successfully.
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organization
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Which organizational frame is very rational and focuses on coordination and control?
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structural frame
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The ________ frame recognizes that there are often mismatches between the needs of the organization and the needs of individuals and groups and works to resolve any potential problems.
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human resources
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What is most important about any event in an organization is not what actually happened, but what it means. This philosophy describes the ________ frame
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symbolic
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A(n) ________ organizational structure is the hierarchy most people think of when picturing an organizational chart.
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functional
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An organization that uses a ________ organizational structure earns revenue primarily from performing projects for other groups under contract. These companies often hire people specifically to work on particular projects.
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project
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Project managers in ________ organizational structures have staff from various functional areas working on their projects.
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matrix
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In organizational culture, the degree to which the organization monitors and responds to changes in the external environment describes a(n) ________ .
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open-system focus
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Some projects have a senior manager called a(n) ________ who acts as a key proponent for a project.
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champion
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A(n) ________ is a collection of project phases.
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project life cycle
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In the ________ life cycle phase, the project team creates a definitive or very accurate cost estimate, delivers the required work, and provides performance reports to stakeholders.
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implementation
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In a(n) ________ life cycle, the project team spends a large portion of the project effort attempting to clarify the requirements of the entire system and then producing a design.
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predictive
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Important attributes of the ________ life cycle model are that the projects are mission driven and component based, using time-based cycles to meet target dates.
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Adaptive software development (ASD)
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The waterfall, spiral, incremental build, prototype, and Rapid Application Development (RAD) models are examples of a(n) ________ life cycle model.
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predictive
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Known as phase exits or kill points, ________ are very important for keeping projects on track and determining if they should be continued, redirected, or terminated.
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Management reviews
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Which of the following is NOT important for project managers to address on global projects?
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time management
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Project management ________ progress from initiation activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and closing activities.
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process groups
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Which project management process group includes devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project address the organization's needs?
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Planning
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Examples of the ________ project management process group include acquiring and developing the project team, performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and conducting procurements.
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Executing
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________ processes take place during each phase of a project. Therefore, you cannot equate process groups with project phases.
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initiating
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A common ________ process is performance reporting, where project stakeholders can identify any necessary changes that may be required to keep the project on track.
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monitoring and controlling
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Archiving project files, documenting lessons learned, and receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the phase or project are all activities often involved in which project management process group?
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closing
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The level of activity and length of each process group varies for every project. Normally, the ________ processes require the most resources and time, followed by the planning processes.
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executing
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The ________ processes are usually the shortest and require the least amount of resources and time.
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initiating and closing
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Research suggests that companies working to implement best practices should spend at least ________ percent of project time in initiating and planning.
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20
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If changes to the project objectives or plans are required, ________ processes ensure that these changes are made efficiently and effectively to meet stakeholder needs and expectations.
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monitoring and controlling
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The majority of project management processes occur as part of the ________ process group.
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planning
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A(n) ________ describes how things should be done, and different organizations often have different ways of doing things.
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methodology
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Which of the following is an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members?
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Rational Unified Process (RUP)
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An organization may initiate information technology projects for several reasons, but the most important reason is to ________ .
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support buisness objectives
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A business case often includes which of the following?
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Critical assumptions and constraints Preliminary project requirements Schedule estimates **All of the above
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Which of the following is an output of project initiation?
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project charter
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Which of the following is a common output of the planning process?
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Creating the project management plan
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Which of the following is a common output of the closing process?
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lessons-learned report
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The ________ process involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services and bringing the project, or project phase, to an orderly end.
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closing
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Which of the following is an output of the monitoring and controlling processes?
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change requests
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Project ________ management involves coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project's life cycle.
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integration
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Which of the following primary processes of integration management involves identifying, evaluating, and managing changes throughout the project life cycle?
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performing integrated change control
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Which of the following primary processes of integration management involves carrying out the project management plan by performing the activities included in it?
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Directing and managing project execution
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Which of the following primary processes of integration management involves overseeing activities to meet the performance objectives of the project?
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Monitoring and controlling the project work
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________ management involves identifying and managing the points of interaction between various elements of the project.
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interface
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Which of the following involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services?
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strategic planning
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After identifying strategic goals, the next step in the planning process for selecting information technology projects is to perform a(n) ________ .
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business area analysis
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One method for selecting projects based on broad organizational needs is to determine whether they first meet three important criteria: need, ________ , and will.
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funding
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It is often easier to get approval and funding for projects that address ________ because the organization must respond to these categories of projects to avoid hurting their business.
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problems or directives
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An organization should consider only projects with a positive ________ if financial value is a key criterion for project selection.
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net present value
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Which of the following describes benefits minus costs or income minus expenses?
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cash flow
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Which of the following is also called the capitalization rate or opportunity cost of capital?
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discount rate
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In net present value (NPV) analysis, the ________ is a multiplier for each year based on the discount rate and year.
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discount factor
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________ is the result of subtracting the project costs from the benefits and then dividing by the costs.
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return on investment(ROI)
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You can determine a project's ________ by finding what discount rate results in an NPV of zero for the project.
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Internal rate of return (IRR)
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A(n) ________ is a tool that provides a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria. These criteria can include factors such as meeting broad organizational need or addressing problems, opportunities, or directives.
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Weighted scoring model
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A(n) ________ is a methodology that converts an organization's value drivers, such as customer service, innovation, operational efficiency, and financial performance, to a series of defined metrics.
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Balanced scorecard
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After top management decides on which projects to pursue, it needs to create and distribute documentation to authorize project initiation. This documentation can take many forms, but one common form is the
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Project charter
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A(n) ________ consists of an approved project management plan plus approved changes.
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Baseline
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________ is a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes to a project.
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A change control board (CCB)
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The term ______ describes a product produced as part of a project.
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deliverable
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scope refers to:
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the work involved in creating the products and the processes used to create them.
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_____ involves reviewing the project charter, requirements documents, and organizational process assets to create a scope statement, adding more information as requirements are developed and change requests are approved.
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defining scope
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_____ involves formalizing acceptance of the project deliverables and during this phase the key project stakeholders, such as the customer and sponsor for the project, inspect and then formally accept the deliverables.
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validating scope
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Creating the WBS is a subprocess associated with the _____ process in project scope management.
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planning
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The ______ documents how project needs will be analyzed, documented, and managed.
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requirements management plan
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Generating ideas by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products inside or outside the performing organization is known as _____.
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benchmarking
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A(n) _____ is a table that lists requirements, their various attributes, and the status of the requirements to ensure that all are addressed.
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requirements traceability matrix
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The main technique used in creating a WBS is _____, which involves subdividing project deliverables into smaller pieces.
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decomposition
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A(n) ____ is a task at the lowest level of the WBS.
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work package
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The _____ should list and describe all of the deliverables required for the project.
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scope statement
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In the _____approach for constructing a WBS, you use a similar project's WBS as a starting point.
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analogy
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The _____ approach for constructing a WBS involves refining the work into greater and greater levels of detail.
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top-down
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In the _____ approach, team members first identify as many specific tasks related to the project as possible and then aggregate the specific tasks and organize them into summary activities, or higher levels in the WBS.
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bottom-up
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The _____ technique for creating a WBS uses branches radiating from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas instead of writing down tasks in a list or immediately trying to create a structure for tasks.
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mind mapping
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Which of the following is recommended for the creation of a good WBS?
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A unit of work should appear at only one place in the WBS.
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Scope creep refers to:
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the tendency for project scope to keep getting bigger and bigger.
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_____ involves formal acceptance of the completed project scope by the stakeholders.
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Scope validation
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_____ refers to the difference between planned and actual performance.
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Variance
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_____ refers to the process of developing a working replica of the system or some aspect of the system.
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prototyping
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