What is project integration management?
It involves coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project's life cycle.
Why do successful leaders look at the strategic plan of the organization?
To determine what types of projects will provide the most value.
What does strategic planning involve?
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.
What does SWOT stand for, and why is it called Internal-External analysis?
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization; opportunities and threats are external factors.
What is a mind map?
A technique that uses branches radiating out from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas; it helps in identifying potential projects.
What three things do organizations do in project selection, as part of strategic planning?
Identify potential projects; use realistic methods to select which projects to work on; formalize project initiation by issuing a project charter.
List the four methods for selecting projects.
Focusing on broad organizational needs; categorizing IT projects; performing financial analyses; using a weighted scoring model.
Define problem, opportunity and directive as project categories.
Problem: undesirable situations that prevent an organization from achieving its goals. Opportunity: chances to improve the organization. Directive: new requirements imposed by management, government, or some external influence.
What are the three primary methods for determining the projected financial value of projects?
Net present value (NPV) analysis; return on investment (ROI); payback analysis.
Define net present value (NPV).
A method of calculating the expected net monetary gain or loss from a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time.
Give the NPV formula and what each symbol means.
NPV = Σ (t = 0 … n) A_t / (1 + r)^t, where t is the year of the cash flow, n is the last year, A is the amount of cash flow each year, and r is the discount rate.
How is the discount factor for a year calculated?
Discount factor = 1 / (1 + r)^t. At 8%: year 0 = 1, year 1 = .93, year 2 = .86, year 3 = .79.
How is NPV calculated from discounted values?
NPV = Σ discount benefits − Σ discount costs.
How is ROI calculated, and which project is better?
ROI = NPV / total discount costs. The higher the ROI, the better project to select.
What is payback analysis, and when does payback occur?
The amount of time an investment takes to recover its initial cost. Payback occurs when the net cumulative discounted benefits equal the costs.
What is the payback formula when cash inflows are even?
Payback period = initial investment / net cash flow per period (e.g. $25,000 / $10,000 = 2.5 years).
What is the payback formula when cash inflows are uneven, and what are A, B and C?
Payback = A + (B / C). A: last period with a negative cumulative cash flow. B: absolute value of cumulative net cash flow at the end of A. C: total cash inflow during the period following A.
What is a weighted scoring model?
A tool that provides a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria.
What are the four steps to create a weighted scoring model?
1) Identify criteria important to project selection. 2) Assign weights (percentages) to each criterion so they add up to 100%. 3) Assign scores to each criterion for each project. 4) Multiply the scores by the weights and get the total weighted scores.
What is a project charter?
A document that formally authorizes the work to begin on a project and provides an overview of objectives and resource requirements; key stakeholders sign it; it is a key output of the initiation process.
What is a project management plan?
A document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a project's execution and control; it should be dynamic, flexible and subject to change.
Define organizational process assets and enterprise environmental factors.
Organizational process assets: the plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization. Enterprise environmental factors: influences not under the control of the project team that affect the project, e.g. government rules and industrial standards.
What are the outputs of directing and managing project work?
Work performance data; change requests; project management plan updates; project documents updates.
What is integrated change control, and what are its outputs?
Identifying, evaluating, and managing changes throughout the project life cycle. Outputs: approved change requests, a change log, updates to the project management plan and to project documents.
What does closing a project or phase involve?
Finalize all activities and transfer the completed or cancelled work to appropriate people.