SOLUTION MANUAL - Project Management:
The Managerial Process 8th Edition by Erik W.
Larson & Clifford F. Gray
COMPLETE CHAPTERS 1-16| VERIFIED
STUDY GUIDE FOR A+ PASS
Page | 1
, Chapter 1: Modern Project Management
Chapter Outline
1. What Is a Project?
A. What a Project Is Not
B. Program versus Project
C. The Project Life Cycle
D. The Project Manager
E. Being Part of a Project Team
2. Agile Project Management
3. Current Drivers of Project Management
A. Compression of the Product Life Cycle
B. Knowledge Explosion
C. Triple Bottom Line (Planet, People, Profit)
D. Increased Customer Focus
E. Small Projects Represent Big Problems
4. Project Management Today: A Socio-Technical Approach
5. Summary
6. Text Overview
7. Key Terms
8. Review Questions
9. Snapshot from Practice: Discussion Questions
Page | 2
,10. Exercises
11. Case 1.1: A Day in the Life—2019
12. Case 1.2: The Hokies Lunch Group
Chapter Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
LO 1-1 Understand why project management is crucial in today’s world.
LO 1-2 Distinguish a project from routine operations.
LO 1-3 Identify the different stages of a project life cycle.
LO 1-4 Describe how Agile PM is different from traditional PM.
LO 1-5 Understand that managing projects involves balancing the technical and sociocultural dimensions of
the project.
Review Questions
1. Define a project. What are five characteristics which help differentiate projects from other functions carried
out in the daily operations of the organization?
A project is a complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resource, and specifications.
Differentiating characteristics of projects from routine, repetitive daily work are below:
a. A defined lifespan
b. A well-defined objective
c. Typically involves people from several disciplines
d. A project life cycle
e. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.
2. What are some of the key environmental forces that have changed the way projects are managed? What has
been the effect of these forces on the management of projects?
Some environmental forces that have changed the way we manage projects are the product life cycle,
knowledge growth, global competition, organization downsizing, technology changes, time-to-market. The
impact of these forces is more projects per organization, project teams responsible for implementing projects,
Page | 3
, accountability, changing organization structures, need for rapid completion of projects, linking projects to
organization strategy and customers, prioritizing projects to conserve organization resources, alliances with
external organizations, and so on.
3. Describe the four phases of the traditional project life cycle. Which phase do you think would be most the
difficult one to complete?
1. Defining: Project specifications objectives are defined, and teams are formed with major
responsibilities assigned. Much of this is referred to as defining the Scope of a project.
2. Planning: The creation of a comprehensive plan that includes schedules, budgets, staffing and risk
assessment.
3. Executing: Work begins, deliverables are produced, and progress is monitored.
4. Closing: Putting the project to bed includes customer delivery, post project review or audit, and
redeployment of project team. problematic. Disagreements at the customer acceptance can lead to rework,
tension and in many cases litigation. Veteran project managers answer to this question would be ―It all
depends.
4. What kinds of projects is Agile PM best suited for and why?
R&D work, technological breakthroughs, and creative endeavors.
5. The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides to the same coin. Explain.
The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides of the same coin because
successful project managers are skillful in both areas. The point is successful project managers need to be very
comfortable and skillful in both areas.
Snapshot from Practice: Discussion Questions
1.1 The Project Management Institute
1. If you were a student interested in pursuing a career in project management how important do you think
being CAPM would be?
There is no data available on the value of the CAPM in the job market. Experts suggest at a minimum it
demonstrates a strong interest in project management and a good understanding of the project management
processes. Given the growing demand for people to work on projects, the CAPM may just separate you from
other applicants.
2. How valuable do you think being a certified PMP is?
Reliable data is hard to find. PMI reported that the median salary for a PMP is $108,200. Non-certified project
managers, on the other hand, showed a median income of $91,000. According to a different survey, eighty
percent of high-performing projects used PMP certified project managers.
Page | 4
The Managerial Process 8th Edition by Erik W.
Larson & Clifford F. Gray
COMPLETE CHAPTERS 1-16| VERIFIED
STUDY GUIDE FOR A+ PASS
Page | 1
, Chapter 1: Modern Project Management
Chapter Outline
1. What Is a Project?
A. What a Project Is Not
B. Program versus Project
C. The Project Life Cycle
D. The Project Manager
E. Being Part of a Project Team
2. Agile Project Management
3. Current Drivers of Project Management
A. Compression of the Product Life Cycle
B. Knowledge Explosion
C. Triple Bottom Line (Planet, People, Profit)
D. Increased Customer Focus
E. Small Projects Represent Big Problems
4. Project Management Today: A Socio-Technical Approach
5. Summary
6. Text Overview
7. Key Terms
8. Review Questions
9. Snapshot from Practice: Discussion Questions
Page | 2
,10. Exercises
11. Case 1.1: A Day in the Life—2019
12. Case 1.2: The Hokies Lunch Group
Chapter Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
LO 1-1 Understand why project management is crucial in today’s world.
LO 1-2 Distinguish a project from routine operations.
LO 1-3 Identify the different stages of a project life cycle.
LO 1-4 Describe how Agile PM is different from traditional PM.
LO 1-5 Understand that managing projects involves balancing the technical and sociocultural dimensions of
the project.
Review Questions
1. Define a project. What are five characteristics which help differentiate projects from other functions carried
out in the daily operations of the organization?
A project is a complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resource, and specifications.
Differentiating characteristics of projects from routine, repetitive daily work are below:
a. A defined lifespan
b. A well-defined objective
c. Typically involves people from several disciplines
d. A project life cycle
e. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.
2. What are some of the key environmental forces that have changed the way projects are managed? What has
been the effect of these forces on the management of projects?
Some environmental forces that have changed the way we manage projects are the product life cycle,
knowledge growth, global competition, organization downsizing, technology changes, time-to-market. The
impact of these forces is more projects per organization, project teams responsible for implementing projects,
Page | 3
, accountability, changing organization structures, need for rapid completion of projects, linking projects to
organization strategy and customers, prioritizing projects to conserve organization resources, alliances with
external organizations, and so on.
3. Describe the four phases of the traditional project life cycle. Which phase do you think would be most the
difficult one to complete?
1. Defining: Project specifications objectives are defined, and teams are formed with major
responsibilities assigned. Much of this is referred to as defining the Scope of a project.
2. Planning: The creation of a comprehensive plan that includes schedules, budgets, staffing and risk
assessment.
3. Executing: Work begins, deliverables are produced, and progress is monitored.
4. Closing: Putting the project to bed includes customer delivery, post project review or audit, and
redeployment of project team. problematic. Disagreements at the customer acceptance can lead to rework,
tension and in many cases litigation. Veteran project managers answer to this question would be ―It all
depends.
4. What kinds of projects is Agile PM best suited for and why?
R&D work, technological breakthroughs, and creative endeavors.
5. The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides to the same coin. Explain.
The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides of the same coin because
successful project managers are skillful in both areas. The point is successful project managers need to be very
comfortable and skillful in both areas.
Snapshot from Practice: Discussion Questions
1.1 The Project Management Institute
1. If you were a student interested in pursuing a career in project management how important do you think
being CAPM would be?
There is no data available on the value of the CAPM in the job market. Experts suggest at a minimum it
demonstrates a strong interest in project management and a good understanding of the project management
processes. Given the growing demand for people to work on projects, the CAPM may just separate you from
other applicants.
2. How valuable do you think being a certified PMP is?
Reliable data is hard to find. PMI reported that the median salary for a PMP is $108,200. Non-certified project
managers, on the other hand, showed a median income of $91,000. According to a different survey, eighty
percent of high-performing projects used PMP certified project managers.
Page | 4
