2020 Nov12 Examination Period
Faculty of Information Technology
FIT2002 Mock Exam 1
2 hours 10 mins
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Instructions
Information
Answer all questions in this exam.
This exam contributes to 50% for the unit assessment This exam consists of FOUR (4) parts:
Part A: 20 multiple choice questions worth 1 mark each. Part B: 5 questions worth 2 marks each.
Part C: Case Study with 3 sub-parts
Part D: 4 questions with sub-parts
Subtotal 20 marks Subtotal 10 marks
Subtotal 15 marks Subtotal 35 marks
Total 80 marks
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Part A: Multiple Choice Questions
Information
PART A: (20 questions x 1 mark each = 20 marks)
There are 20 multiple choice questions. Attempt all questions. Correct response score 1 mark, NO marks are deducted for incorrect
Question 1
Which of the following is true of projects?
Select one:
a. They are permanent in nature.
b. They are developed using regressive elaboration.
c. They have an indefinite beginning and end. d. They have a unique purpose.
Question 2
response.
Mark
Steve, an engineer in a construction company, is at present working on a home construction project. The home
is being built for the Robinson’s family, the owners of the home. Steve is working with his project team and Mark support staff to ensure the project is completed on time. In such a scenario, the project sponsor is .
Select one:
a. the project team
b. Steve
c. the support staff
d. the Robinson family
Question 3
A preliminary or rough cost estimate is developed in the _ phase of the project life cycle, and an overview of the work involved is created.
Select one:
a. acquisition
b. concept
c. close-out
d. implementation
Mark
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Question 4
Which of the following is true of the agile approach to software
Select one:
a. In the agile method, requirements and solutions evolve through
b. Agile is a predictive model of software development.
development?
collaboration.
1
Mark
c. An agile approach sets scope goals, but leaves time and cost goals flexible.
d. In the agile approach, requirements must be clearly expressed early in the life
Question 5
Which one of the following statements is TRUE?
cycle.
Select one:
a. It is more expensive to make major changes to a project during the earlier phases.
b. The WBS provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.
c. The last phase of the traditional project life cycle is the implementation phase. d. A project manager’s primary role is to provide the funding for a project.
Question 6
_ involves identifying and controlling the functional and physical design characteristics of products and their Mark support documentation, and ensures that the descriptions of the project’s products are correct and complete. Select one: a. Project time management b. NPV analysis c. Configuration management d. Project management information systems Question 7 _ involves building individual and group skills to enhance project
Select one:
a. Developing the human resource plan
b. Developing the project team
c. Acquiring the project team d. Managing the project team
performance.
Mark
Mark
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Question 8
Which one of the following statements is TRUE?
Select one:
a. The lower the earned monetary value calculation for a project, the higher the chances of project
b. The tasks in a WBS must be developed as a sequential list of steps.
success.
1
Mark
c. According to the symbolic frame, the most important aspect of any event in an organization is not what actually happened, but what it means.
d. Internal stakeholders include groups affected by the project such as government officials or concerned citizens.
Question 9
Which of the following types of dependencies are inherent in the nature of work being performed on a project?
Select one:
a. Discretionary
b. Mandatory c. External
d. Random
Question 10
How many communication channel(s) do we need for a to a team of
Select one: a. 1
b. 9 c. 10 d. 36
Question 11
_ is the degree to which a system performs its intended
Select one:
a. Reliability
b. Validity
c. Maintainability d. Functionality
Mark
function.
nine?
Mark
Mark
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Question 12
At the bottom of Maslow’s structure are _ needs. Select one: a. esteem b. self-actualisation c. physiological d. social Question 13 Projects must operate in a broad organizational environment, and project managers need to consider projects within the greater organizational context. describes this holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization.
Select one:
a. Linear analysis
b. Systems thinking c. Reductionism
d. The silo approach
Question 14
The procurement statements of work are an output of the __ process of project procurement management.
Select one:
a. planning
b. executing
c. monitoring and controlling d. closing
Question 15
Which of the following is true of tangible costs?
Select one:
a. They cannot be calculated in monetary terms.
b. They can be easily measured.
c. They are difficult to quantify.
d. Their examples include goodwill and prestige.
Mark
1
1
Mark
Mark
Mark
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Question 16
Which of the following processes in project time management involves identifying the specific tasks that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables?
Mark
Select one:
a. Defining activities
b. Sequencing activities
c. Developing the schedule
d. Estimating activity durations
Information
Question 17 – 20 refers to the following scenario:
You are given the following information of a project: Initial Investment: 26,000
Cost of capital: 15%
The following table shows the cash flow for this project:
Question 17
What is the total discounted benefits for the above-mentioned
Select one:
a. $11,400
b. $34,980 c. $55,100 d. $80,000
project?
Mark
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Question 18
What is the total discounted costs for the above-mentioned
Select one:
a. $2,280
b. $6,996 c. $49,840 d. $57,000
Question 19
What is the NPV (Net Present Value) for the above-mentioned
Select one:
a. $5,260
b. $9,120 c. $23,000 d. $27,984
Question 20
What is the ROI (Return on Investment) for the above-mentioned
Select one: a. 0.11%
b. 0.4% c. 4% d. 11%
project?
Mark
project?
Mark
project?
Mark
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Part B: Short Essay Questions
Information
PART B (10 marks)
This section consists of five (5) short answer questions worth 2 marks each. Answer all questions.
Question 21
Briefly describe the process of initiating a project.
Initiating process involves defining and authorising a project or project phase. At the initiating phase of a project, it may include recognizing and starting a new project where a project charter is developed and it may also involve identifying the project stakeholders. (1 mark per valid point)
Question 22
What is design of experiments? When is it used?
Design of experiments is a technique that helps identify which variables have the most influence on the overall outcome of a process. Design of experiments may be used during the ‘plan quality management’ process to determine the best combination of materials and equipment that will produce the most reliable product and their impact on cost of quality. You can also apply design of experiments to project management issues such as cost and schedule trade-offs. (1 mark per valid point)
Question 23
Briefly describe two (2) types of cost estimates.
Any 2 of the following:
A rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate provides an
estimate of what a project will cost. This type of estimate is done very early in a project or even before a project is officially started.
A budgetary estimate is used to allocate money into an organization’s budget. Many organizations develop budgets at least two years into the future. Budgetary estimates are made one to two years prior to project completion.
A definitive estimate provides an accurate estimate of project costs. Definitive estimates are used for making many purchasing decisions for which accurate estimates are required and for estimating final project costs.
Marks
Marks
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Marks
Part B: Short Essay Questions
Question 24
What is involve when developing the schedule and what is a schedule baseline?
Developing the schedule involves working out the activities, the duration and the dependencies between the activities (basically sequencing and scheduling)
Baseline is taking a screenshot the original schedule plan of the project so we can track our progress when there are any changes happening during the project.
Question 25
Would you use a Gantt Chart in Agile Project Management? Why/Why not?
In Agile project, requirements are normally vague and so cannot have exact detailed schedule of whole project. And so, in most cases, we would expect requirements to change often which affects the schedule. As such, it’s probably not suitable (or a waste of time) to use Gantt chart to plan everything outright at the start. It would probably be more appropriate to plan at every sprint and monitor progress using burn- down charts. (1 mark per valid point).
Marks
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Information
PART C (4 + 6 + 5 = 15 marks)
This part consists of three (3) sub-questions worth 15 marks in total. Answer all questions.
Question 26
Case Study
15
Marks
Recently, several banks have started offering customers remote deposit capture. With this new
customers do not have to physically go to banks or ATM machines to deposit checks anymore. Instead, they can send checks as a scanned image through an Internet portal provided by the bank. This technology can save banks and customers time and money making the transactions. Blue Bank is considering implementing this new service. To use it, customers need a remote capture account with Blue Bank and a special scanner to get the necessary images to make the electronic deposit. Once the account is established in the system, customers will be able to scan all of their checks anytime and anywhere by accessing the Blue Bank service through the Internet, logging in, and scanning the checks. The service should be as easy as sending an attachment in an email. Of course, this new application has to be very reliable, secure, and easy to use. It must be integrated into the current Blue Bank Website, and the Website must also provide the ability for customers to purchase the special scanner. Blue Bank will set up the scanner-purchasing ability with several appropriate hardware vendors and sell the devices at its physical banks as well. Blue Bank is not sure yet what to charge for the scanners or service. The Website will also provide online technical support and instructions showing customers how to set up and use the new scanner and service. Support will be provided 24/7 via the Website and telephone.
a) Based on the case study, briefly describe one requirement for each of the category listed below: (4 marks)
Technical Requirement Performance Requirement
Security Requirement Business Requirement
Ability to scan cheques into the system
service,
System must be easy to use and allow customers perform transaction quickly and easily
Ability to upload scanned cheques securely.
Able to provide good 24/7 customer support via website or by phone.
b) Identify three (3) distinct potential risks for the project based on the category given. State briefly what would be the trigger and how will the risk impact the success of the project. Briefly discuss a response strategy for each risk. (6 marks)
Name of Risk Description Category Trigger Impact Response Strategy
Scanners Faulty
Scanners are not working properly causing errors
Technology
Customers complaints
May have a medium to high impact if customers view it as a risk and do not want to use it.
Risk mitigation – source out good and reliable suppliers
Low adoption rate from customer
The customers are not using the new system as expected
Business/ Marketing
New system has low usage
May have a medium to high impact if customers do not buy in to the new technology.
Risk mitigation – having adequate advertisement /marketing
Team member lacking technical skills
Team members have never worked on a project like this before
People (Human resource)
PM identifies team is taking too long to produce deliverables
May have a low to medium impact as the project may be delayed.
Risk avoidance – ensuring staff has the right technical skills or provide appropriate training
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c) Briefly describe the four basic response strategies for positive risks? In your opinion, what response strategy should the bank adopt if there is a good uptake of this new technology? (5 marks)
Risk exploitation is doing whatever you can to exploit the situation to make sure the positive risk happens.
Risk sharing or allocating ownership of the risk to another party for example forming partnership with another company.
Risk acceptance is when the project team does not take any actions towards the risk.
Risk enhancement is maximizing the opportunity by identifying key drivers of the positive risk.
If there is a good uptake of the new technology, the bank can exploit the situation by organising some news coverage of the project or to involve some media coverage to ensure greater publicity.
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Part D: Calculation
Information
PART D (8+ 8 + 4 + 15 = 35 marks)
This section consists of four (4) questions worth 35 marks in total. Answer all questions.
Question 27
Earned Value Management (8 marks)
Assume a 6 months software project is budgeted for $40,000. At the end of the 4th month, the project was evaluated and it was estimated that only 50% of the work was actually completed. At this point, they have already spent $22,000.
a) Calculate the Cost Variance, Schedule Variance, Cost Performance Index and Schedule
Performance Index for this project as at the end of the 4th month. (4
PV (BCWS) = (Planned % Complete) x (Project Budget) = 4/6 x 40,000 = $26,667
EV (BCWP) = (Actual % Complete) x (Project Budget) = 50% x 40,000 = $20,000
AC (ACWP) = $22,000
marks)
CV = EV – AC
= 20,000 – 22,000 = –$2,000 (over budget)
CPI = EV / AC
= 20,000 / 22,000 = 0.909
That means the project is spending about 1/0.909*100 ≈ 110% over budget. (can at this stage estimate revised project cost is 40,000 * 1.1 = $44,000)
SV = EV – PV
= 20,000 – 26,667
= –$6,667 (behind schedule)
SPI = EV / PV
= 20,000 / 26,667
= 0.75
That means the project has only achieved ≈ 75% of its intended schedule.
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b) Based on the performance to date, what would be the total estimated cost to complete this project (assuming there are no further delays after the 4th month). (1 mark)
• ETC = (BAC – EV)/CPI = (40000-20000)/0.909 = 22,000
• EAC = AC + ETC = 22,000 + 22,000 = 44,000
c) Based on your calculation in a) and b), discuss the situation and your recommendation. (3 marks)
Based on CPI and SPI values, the project is having a 10% cost overrun and 25% behind planned schedule. Therefore, the project is doing a slightly better job in terms of its budget, and the project team should do enough necessary adjustment in its schedule based on the nature of the project, organisational culture, project priorities, and the triple constraint.
The estimated cost to complete the project will be an additional $22,000, which is $4,000 more than what was budgeted.
If the project has a tight schedule constraint, they may have to apply more resources to avoid slipping in its schedule.
Marks
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Question 28
Project Network Diagram (8 marks)
8
Marks
Using the above information:
Draw a project network diagram using the activity on node
Include all calculations (estimated time and floats for each activity) on the project network. Highlight the critical path.
IndicaFtIeT2w00h2a–tPisrotjehcet Mshaonartgemstepntossible time needed to complete this project.Monash University
Question 29
Answer the following questions based on the project network diagram that you draw in Question 28.
a) What is the effect on Activity E and the project duration if Activity B is delayed by 2 days? Why? (1 mark)
- will not affect activity E as E has a float of 5 days
- but will affect the project duration – possibly delaying the project by 2 days
b) What is the effect on the project duration if activity A is delayed by 2 days? Why? (1 mark)
Will not affect the project duration as Activity A has 2 days of float but will push A into the critical path.
method.
c) What is the importance of correct scheduling? Discuss why you would use the Activity-on-Arrow and when you would use the Activity-on-Node techniques. (3 marks)
With correct scheduling, we can continuously track the project progress to ensure it does not go over the original schedule. A correct scheduling allows us to track it more precisely.
Activity on arrow: use it for big networks (however, it needs dummy activities for start-to-start and end-to-end dependencies) Activity on node: use if for complex networks with uncommon dependencies.
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Question 30
Network Compression
Your company has received a Request for Quotation to develop an application for a MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) System. Deadline for this project is very tight and delaying it would have serious repercussions. You identify that once you win the tender, you would only have a maximum of 45 weeks before the ‘go-live’ date. You have planned out the job and have drawn the project network as shown below. The activity durations depicted in the network diagram are for the “All Normal” situation where the duration estimates are the normal duration required to work on a certain activity. However, if there is a need to shorten the duration to meet the 45-weeks deadline, you may have to hire more resources and incur additional cost.
You have worked out the additional costs and the compression options are shown below in the usual notation. The “All Normal” cost for this project is estimated to be $500,000.
a) Perform the “All normal” calculation on the network diagram and put the values in the response template below. (4 marks)
b) Carry out project compression calculations, using the response templates given. Stop the calculations when you have achieved the 45-week target. (9 marks)
c) Calculate the minimum price you would quote to develop the MOOC systems, if you are to deliver this project within 45 weeks and making a 40% profit margin. (2 marks)
15
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Question 30
Network Compression
Solution:
a) Perform the “All Normal” calculation on the network diagram below.
15
All Normal:
2
6/450
2 23 D 48 2 25 25 50
(4 marks)
0 0 2
1 3/250
00 4
A 23 2 23 25
0 0 B 10 0 01010 3
1010 G 4010 20 30 50
50 650
3/275
0 10 E 30 0
4/500 5
C 16 4 16 20
10 20 30
4 16 F 26 4 20 10 30
0 30 H 50 0 30 20 50
4
b) Carry out project compression calculations, using the templates given. Stop the calculations when you have achieved the 45-week target. (Note you are given extra templates and you
may not need to use all of them.)
(9 marks)
Compression: 1
E by 2 days @ 275/week =
550 2
6/450
0 23 D 48 0 23 25 48
0 0 0
1 3/250
00 2
A 23 0 23 23
0 0 B 10 0 01010 3
8
10 G 40 8 18 30 48
48 648
1/275
0 10 E 28 0
2/275
10 18 28
2 16 F 26 2 18 10 28
4/500 5
C 16 2 16 18
0 28 H 48 0 28 20 48
4
Page 17 of 19
Question 30
Network Compression
Compression: 2
E by 1 week @ 275/wk = 275 D by 1 week @ 450/wk = 450
15
0 0 A 23 0 0 23 23
0 0 B 10 0
1 01010 3
7
10 G 40 7 17 30 47
47 647
725 2
5/450 1/450
0 23 D 47 0 23 24 47
3/250
0 0 C 16 1 1 16 17
Compression: 3
D by 2 weeks @ 450/wk = H by 2 weeks @ 500/wk =
0 0 A 23 0 0 23 23
10
1
17 27
16 F 26 1 17 10 27
4/500 5
0/275
0 10 E 27 0
3/275
0 27 H 47 0 27 20 47
4
900 1000
1900
2
0 23 D 45 0 23 22 45
3/450
3/450
0 0 B 10 0
1 01010 3
5
10 G 40 5 15 30 45
45 645
3/250
0 0 C 16 1 1 16 17
0
2/500
2/500
0/275
0 10 E 27
3/275
10 17 27
1 16 F 17 10
5
0 27 H 45 0 27 18 45
4
26 1 27
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Question 30
Network Compression
c) Calculate the minimum price you would quote to develop the MOOC systems, if you are to deliver this project within 45 weeks and making a 40% profit margin. (2 marks)
15
All Normal project cost: To achieve 45 weeks: Cost of Compression 1 = Cost of Compression 2 = Cost of Compression 3 =
Total project cost:
Minimum price to quote (for 40% margin): = $ 704,445
$ 500,000
550
725
1900 (Note: only require to compress 2 weeks to achieve 45 weeks)
3175
$ 503,175
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