File: ch03, Chapter 3: The Project Manager
Revised by Dwayne Whitten - July, 2008
Multiple Choice
1. A project manager is responsible for planning, ________, budgeting, directing,
organizing, and controlling the project.
a) Drafting
b) Funding
c) Insuring
d) Staffing
Ans: d
Response: Refer to section 3.1.
Level: easy
2. It is obvious that project managers need to be good at ____________, as project
success is dependent on support of senior management.
a) Politics
b) Persuasion
c) Win-lose competitions
d) Strategy
Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 3.2, acquiring and motivating personnel
Level: difficult
3. According to the authors, a Type 2 project is
a) Well understood but not routine
b) Well understood and routine
c) Not well understood and not routine
d) Not well understood but routine
Ans: c
Response: Refer to section 3.2, failure and the risk and fear of failure
Level: easy
4. The project manager needs to possess technical and ________ credibility.
a) Informal
b) Administrative
c) Formal
d) Financial
Ans: b
Response: Refer to section 3.3, credibility
Level:
5. The project manager's responsibilities are broad and fall primarily into the three
separate areas of responsibilities to the ________, to the project, to the client, and to the
members of the project team.
a) Parent organization
b) Investors
c) Interveners
d) Special-interest groups
Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 3.1, project responsibilities
Level: easy
6. The project manager must make tradeoffs between project progress and process - that
is, between the _______________ functions.
a) technical and managerial
b) managerial and process
c) technical and process
d) process and project
Ans: a
Response: Refer to section 3.2, making project goal trade-offs
Level: easy
7. During the ________ stage, cost, schedule, and performance are all equally important.
a) buildup
b) formation
c) main
d) phaseout
Ans: b
Response: Refer to Table 3-1
Level: easy
8. Which of the following is not one of the environments in which projects are
conducted?
a) political
b) legal
c) economic
d) stress
Ans: d
Response: Refer to section 3.4
Level: easy
Short Answer
9. During the ________ stage of the project lifecycle, there is no significant difference in
the importance that project managers place on the three goals of cost, time, and
performance.
Ans: Design or formation stage.
Response: Refer to section 3.2, making project goal trade-offs
Level: intermediate
10. A set of interrelated components that accept inputs and produce outputs in a
purposeful manner is called a ________.
Ans: system.
Response: Refer to section 3.1.
Level: easy
11. During the buildup stage of a project lifecycle, __________is the dominant goal of
many project managers.
Ans: schedule.
Response: Refer to section 3.2, making project goal trade-offs.
Level: intermediate
12. Culture contains the following four elements: technology, language, arts, and ______.
Ans: institutions.
Response: Refer to section 3.4
Level: intermediate
13. Arts are the aspect of culture that communicates the ________ of the culture.
Ans: aesthetic values.
Response: Refer to section 3.4
Level: easy
True/False
14. The functional manager is responsible for deciding what resources will be devoted to
accomplishing the task.
Ans: True
Response: Refer to section 3.1.
Level: easy
15. The project manager is usually a facilitator and a generalist possessing a reasonable
level of technical knowledge.
Ans: True
Response: Refer to section 3.1.
Level: easy
16. Type 1 projects usually fail because they are late or over budget.
Ans: False
Response: Refer to section 3.2, failure and the risk and fear of failure (They fail because
they are not organized to handle unexpected crises and deviations from plan and/or do not
have the appropriate expertise to do so.)
Level: intermediate
17. In a Type 2 project, the so-called planning problems usually result from an inability
to plan unknown unknowns.
Ans: False
Response: Refer to section 3.2, failure and the risk and fear of failure (They fail b/c of
planning problems including failure to define the mission carefully.)
Level: intermediate
18. Drive to complete the task is the most important of all the characteristics desirable in
a project manager.
Ans: True
Response: Refer to section 3.3, selecting the project manager.
Level: easy