Software Project Management (MG6088) - Unit 1 Question Bank Analysis

This document presents a comprehensive question bank for the Software Project Management (SPM) course, specifically focusing on Unit 1. It covers essential topics such as project evaluation and planning, cost-benefit analysis, risk evaluation, and project management methodologies. The questions are categorized into Part A and Part B, providing a structured approach to learning the key concepts. The document includes definitions, explanations, and examples related to various aspects of software project management, aiming to help students understand the core principles and prepare for their examinations. The content is derived from the VIVEKANANDHA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN curriculum, making it a valuable resource for students enrolled in the MG6088 Software Project Management course.

VIVEKANANDHA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
FOR WOMEN
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
MG6088 SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Question Bank
REGULATION -2013
IV- YEAR –CSE (VIII-SEMESTER)
UNIT-I
STAFF INCHARGE HOD DEAN

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MG6088 Software Project Management
UNIT I
PROJECT EVALUATION AND PROJECT PLANNING
PART A
1. What are the steps in cost-benefit analysis? (Nov/Dec 2018)
Answer:
Cost –benefit analysis consists of two steps
• Identifying and estimating all of the costs and benefits of carrying out the project
and operating the delivered application. It includes development cost of system,
Operating cost of system, Benefits obtained by system.
• Expressing these costs and benefits in common units.
2. Define the term management control. (Nov/Dec 2018)
Answer:
• Management Control System is defined a ‘set of policies and procedures designed
to keep operations going according to plan.
3. What is the need of software project management? (APR/MAY 2018)
Answer:
• Software project management is the art and science of planning and leading
software projects.
• It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are
planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.
4. Define software quality metrics. (APR/MAY 2018)
Answer:
• A software quality metric is a standard of measure of a dgree to which a
software system or process possesses some property . Evenif a metric is not a
measurements(metrics are function , while measurements are the numbers
obtained by the application of metric).
• The goal is obtaining objective, reproducible and quantifiable measurements ,
which may have numerous valuable applications in scheduleand budget
planning, cost estimation , quality assurance, testing, software debugging ,
software performance optimization, and optimal personnel task assignment.
5. What is cost benefits analysis? (NOV/DEC2017)
Answer:
• It can be explained as a procedure for estimating all costs involved and
possible profits to be derived from a business opportunity or proposal.
Importance of Software Project Management – Activities Methodologies – Categorization of
Software Projects – Setting objectives – Management Principles – Management Control –
Project portfolio Management – Cost-benefit evaluation technology – Risk evaluation –
Strategic program Management – Stepwise Project Planning.

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Cost –benefit analysis consists of two steps
• Identifying and estimating all of the costs and benefits of carrying out the
project and operating the delivered application. It includes development
cost of system, Operating cost of system, Benefits obtained by system.
• Expressing these costs and benefits in common units.
6. Outline the need for risk evaluation. (NOV /DEC 2017)
Answer:
• Risk assessment also involves a risk analysis process to develop an
understanding of the risk and to provide input to the subsequent risk evaluation.
• The risk analysis comprises of qualitative, semi-qualitative or quantitative
estimations of risk levels.
7. Define software project management. (APR/MAY 2017)
Answer:
• The general management skills like planning , organizing, scheduling, directing,
controlling and Software project management is the art and science of planning
and leading software projects.
• It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are
planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.
8. What is software project planning? (APR/MAY 2017)
Answer:
• Software project planning is task, which is performed before the production of
software actually starts.
• It is there for the software production but involves no concrete activity that has
any direction connection with software production; rather it is a set of multiple
processes, which facilitates software production.
9. Define software project management.
Answer:
• Software project management is the art and science of planning and leading
software projects.
• It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are
planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.
10. Outline the need for feasibility study.
Answer:
• This investigates whether a prospective project is worth starting – that it
has a valid business case. Information is gathered about the requirements
of the proposed application. Requirements elicitation can, at least
initially, be complex and difficult.

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• The client and other stakeholders may be aware of the problems they
wish to overcome and the aims they wish to pursue, but not be sure
about the means of achievement.
11. What are the characteristics of a project?
Answer:
• Non-routine tasks are involved
• Planning is required
• Specific objectives are to be met
• The project has a predetermined time span
• Work is carried out for someone other than yourself
• Work involves several specialism
• People are formed into temporary work group
• Work is carried out in several phases
• Resources available are constrained
• The project is large and complex.
12. What are the characteristics that make software projects different from
other projects?
Answer:
• Invisibility - When a physical artifact is being constructed the progress being
made can actually be seen. With Software, progress is not immediately visible.
• Complexity - software products contain more complexity than other
engineered artifacts.
• Conformity - The ‘traditional’ engineer is usually working with physical.
These physical systems can have some complexity, but are governed by
physical laws that are consistent. Software developers have to conform to the
requirements of human clients. It is not just that individual can be
inconsistent.
• Flexibility - The ease with which software can be changed is usually seen as
one of its strengths.
13. List the various ways to categorize software projects.
Answer:
• Compulsory versus voluntary projects
• Information systems versus embedded systems
• Outsourced projects
• Object driven versus product driven development
14. Who are project stakeholders?
Answer:
These are people who have a stake or interest in the project. Stakeholders can be
categorized as:
• Internal to the project team

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• External to the project team but within the same organization
• External to both the project and the organization.
15. What is project steering committee? What are their roles?
Answer:
• Overall authority over the project is often termed as project steering
committee or project management board.
• The project manager runs the project on a day-to-day basis, but
regularly reports to the steering committee.
Roles:
• Setting, monitoring and modifying objectives.
• The project manager runs the project on a day-to-day basis, but
regularly reports to the steering committee.
16. What are the activities of management?
Answer:
• Planning –deciding what is to be done.
• Organizing – making arrangements.
• Staffing-selecting the right people for the job
• Directing-giving instructions.
• Monitoring – checking on progress
• Controlling- taking action to remedy hold-ups
• Innovating-coming up with new solutions.
• Representing – liaising with clients, users , developers , suppliers
17. Define SMART.
Answer:
• S – specific, that is, concrete and well-defined
• M – measurable, that is, satisfaction of the objective can be objectively judged
• A – achievable, that is, it is within the power of the individual or group concerned
to meet the target
• R – relevant, the objective must relevant to the true purpose of the project
• T – time constrained: there is defined point in time by which the objective should
be achieved
18. What is Goals/sub-objectives?
Answer:
• A goal can be allocated to an individual. Individual may have the capability of
achieving goal, but not the objective on their own.
• A more appropriate goal or subobjective for the software developers would be to
keep development costs within a certain budget.
• e.g. Objective – user satisfaction with software product , Analyst goal – accurate
requirements and Developer goal – software that is reliable

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19. What is Project portfolio Management?
Answer:
• Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is the centralized management of the
processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project
management offices(PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or
proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics.
20. What is objective of a project?
Answer:
• Informally, the objective of a project can be defined by completing the statement:
The project will be regarded as a success “if……….” Rather like post-conditions
for the project, Focus on what will be put in place, rather than how activities will
be carried out. e.g. ‘a new payroll application will be operational by 4th April’ not
‘design and code a new payroll application’
20. What is Return on investment?
Answer:
• It provides a way of comparing the net profitability to the investment required.
• A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to
compare the efficiency of a number of different investments
Disadvantages
• It takes no account of the timing of the cash flows.
• Rate of returns bears no relationship to the interest rates offered or changed by
bank.
• ROI = average annual profit * 100
------------------------------------
Total investment
• Average annual profit = net profit
-----------------------------
Total no. of years
21. Identify the sequence of stages involved in a typical project life cycle.
(APR/MAY 2019)
Answer:
• Initiation,
• Planning,
• Execution,
• Monitoring &
• Control and Closure
22. Mention the need of cost-benefit analysis. (APR/MAY 2019)
Answer:
A cost-benefit analysis can help to illustrate ways that your company can increase
software sales, revenue and ultimately profits.

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Every part of the software development process offers opportunities to streamline
operations, reduce costs, or improve performance if the right information is made
available.
23) Define risk. (NOV/Dec 2019)
Risk is an expectation of loss, a potential problem that may or may not occur in the
future. It is generally caused due to lack of information, control or time.A possibility
of suffering from loss in software development process is called a software risk. Loss
can be anything, increase in production cost, development of poor quality software,
not being able to complete the project on time. Software risk exists because the
future is uncertain and there are many known and unknown things that cannot be
incorporated in the project plan. A software risk can be of two types (a) internal
risks that are within the control of the project manager and (2) external risks that
are beyond the control of project manager
PART B
1) How does Project Management Methodology differ for simple projects and
complex projects? Explain in detail. (Nov/Dec 2018)(13m)
Answer:
When a Dam or a building is constructed, the progress is visible. It is not easy to
make changes once the construction has started.
The Dam or building project has adequate specification and carried out by people
knowledgeable in the specific domain area with established standards.
But ina software project
• The progress is immediately not visible- invisibility.
• High degree of flexibility s expected as the typical customer keeps changing
his requirements
• Limited knowledge on application domain , still expected to complete keeps
the project with expert level competence.
• Lack of quality standards and measures
In addition the above , software companies may also face the following
difficulties
1. Poor planning and estimation
2. Poor role definition
3. Poor or lack of documentation
4. Lack of commitment from team members
5. Limited technical expertise
6. Commitment of unrealistic delivery dates, leading to delivery deadline
pressure
7. Remote management
The number of software projects which failed due to one or combination
of reasons mentioned above is far higher than non IT projects.
Project management
PMI standards committee in their , “A Guide to the project management body of
knowledge” (1996) defines the project management as “the application of

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knowledge, skills ”tools and technology to project activities to eet or exceed stake
holders needs and expectations from a project”.
More elaborately,
• “The general management skills like planning, organizing, schedule
directing, controlling and tracking are applied in a project to achieve the
project goal in a predetermined time frame and within the budgeted cost” is
called the project management.
• Project Management is the discipline of planning , organizing , and
management resources to bring about the successful completion of specific
projects goals and objectives.
• A project is a finite endeavour- having specific endeaver having specific
start and completeion dates undertaken to create a unique product or
service which bings about beneficial change or added value.
Why project management for software project?
• Due to this very nature of complexity and high cost involved the software
projects need to be managed to make it successful and profitable.
Unfortunately, the stanish group, U.S. report which analysed 13,522
projects in 2003 concluded that 82% of the project were late and 43%
exceeded budget.
• The report also identifies “Lack of scientific approach to manage project and
its risks “ as a major reason for software project failure. This clearly
justifies why software projects need scientific proven approaches to
manage projects.
THE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN MANAGEMENT
It has been suggested that management involves the following activities:
• ● Planning – deciding what is to be done;
● Organizing – making arrangements;
● Staffing – selecting the right people for the job etc;
● Directing – giving instructions;
● Monitoring – checking on progress;
● Controlling – taking action to remedy hold-ups;
● Innovating – coming up with new solutions
●Representing – liaising with clients, users, developer, suppliers and other

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Stakeholders
1. Planning:
• Planning refers to determination of future course of action to achieve desired
goals. It means deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it
and who is to do it.
• It is an “executive action that embodies the skills of anticipating, influencing
and controlling the nature and direction of change”. Planning precedes all
other functions of a manager.
A planning process involves the following steps:
(1) Being aware of opportunities or developments marks the beginning of planning
process. This involves assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the environment
in
and outside the business organisation.
(2) Determination of goals for the organisation and the individual organisational
units
in the light of new opportunities developments.
(3) Establishment of critical planning premises regarding the internal and external
environments in which the plans will operate. This involves identification of
strengths
and weaknesses of the business enterprise in terms of products, markets,
processes, technologies, personnel, etc.
(4) Identification of the alternative courses of action to achieve the objectives.
(5) Evaluation of the alternative courses of action in the light of their impact on
achievement of the objectives.
(6) Selection of the best alternative course of action.
(7) Formulation of the derivative plans for supporting the plan.
• It may be noted that each of the above steps in the planning process requires
a lot of information regarding the internal and external environment in which
the plans have to operate. The information regarding the external

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environment includes economic trends, technological changes, availability
and cost of various resources, etc.
• The information regarding the internal environment includes sales forecasts,
financial resources and plans, state of availability of resources in the
company, etc.
• A manager also needs various tools for analysis of the information regarding
the environment.
2. Organizing:
• Organizing involves analysis of activities to be performed to meet the
requirements of plan, grouping them so that they could be assigned to people
or groups of people in organisational units and delegation of authority to use
organisation’s resources to perform the responsibilities so assigned.
• Organizing relates to the people, tasks and technology. Since these factors
differ from organisation to organisation, there is no typical organisational
design that would be suitable for all organisations.
• The organisation structure has to be designed according to the specific
requirements and conditions of the organisation. As the people, tasks and
technology are subject to dynamics of environment, the organisations are
restructured in the light of changing business environment.
• Organisation structures and information systems are closely related to each
other. If the organisation structure is the body of the business enterprise,
information system is its nervous system.
• The organisation structure should be designed keeping in view the natural
flow of information in the business enterprise. The performance measurement
schemes must match the flow of information and the organisation structure.
• Ideally, any change in information systems should cause corresponding
change in the organisation structure; otherwise the information systems
would not be able to reflect the plans of the business.
• For example, the advancements in data base technologies and use of
distributed information systems are having their own impact on the way
organisation structures are designed today.
3. Staffing:
• Staffing is the process of manning the organisation structure. A manager
should ensure that the right type of people fill up the positions in the
organisation structure.
• Staffing involves selection, appraisal and development of personnel in the
organisation. The common mistake that a manager commits is to ignore the
staffing activity, leaving it to personnel department.
• The staffing activity is too important to be routinized in the personnel department.
As the manager’s performance depends, to a great extent, on the performance of his
sub-ordinates, any neglect of staffing function could adversely affect the managerial
effectiveness. With the increasing interdependence of various functions, appraisal of
staff is becoming more complex.

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• There is a need to use more advanced techniques of performance appraisal. These
techniques can be applied with the help of IT infrastructure.
4. Directing:
• Directing involves instructing, guiding and inspiring people in the
organisation to put in their best to achieve the common goals of the
organisation. Thus, directing relates to the process of motivating, leading and
communicating with the people in the organisation in order to achieve the
objectives of the company.
• Dissemination of information plays a crucial role in directing the efforts of
people in the enterprise. In a business enterprise with operations spread over
a wide geographical area, the personnel have to be mobile and are likely to be
located far away from other members of the team and the immediate superior
in the managerial hierarchy. Directing the subordinates, thus, becomes
difficult because the communication may be quite expensive and may not
reach the destination in time.
• Today, the information systems are the vehicles of formal communication.
• The facility of e-mail and use of the Intranet has transformed the way formal
communication takes place in business enterprises.
• Seamless flow of information across various departments with the help of
information systems can also help in reducing the communication gaps that
are many-a-time the main cause of employee dissatisfaction.
5. Controlling:
• Controlling is a process that analyses whether the actions are being taken as
per plans and takes corrective action to make them to conform to plans.
Thus, planning is the basis of controlling.
• It focuses on activities that are being performed and the outcomes of these
activities in terms of their impact on the achievement of plan objectives.
• Increasing size of the business enterprises has made all the more a difficult
activity Increased competition in the market requires greater delegation of
work and decentralisation of decision making in order to ensure quicker
response in the operations of the business enterprise.
• Thus, controlling plays an important role in ensuring efficiency and
effectiveness of the enterprise. The information systems play an important
role in the control process.
• These systems not only help in measuring the performance of operations but
also help in identifying deviations of performance from plans.
• The comparison between planned and actual performance is then analysed
with the help of information systems to identify reasons for deviations.
• The environmental information is used to identify such reasons. Information
regarding what actions are being taken or what is happening in the internal
and external environments of business is essential for exercising control.
Earlier, most of such information used to come by way of personal
observation by the manager. Increasing size of the business enterprise has
made personal observation a very difficult form of control.

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• There is greater reliance on written reports. With the business becoming more
knowledge intensive activity and composition of personnel of the enterprise
getting dominated by knowledge workers, the measurement of performance is
becoming more complex. Simple tabular reports with regard to achievement of
quantified goals are not adequate for controlling.
• Controlling function uses information regarding the planned performance and
actual performance to arrive at deviations. Efficient information systems not
only identify these deviations but also help in analysing the deviations to
pinpoint reasons for deviation. They also help in modifying the plans quickly
in the light of the feedback.
• The concept of flexible budgeting has become popular due to availability of
better information processing facilities. With the availability of real time
information systems, the information regarding performance flows quickly.
This helps in exercising control quickly, resulting in lower cost of planning
mistakes.
Problem with software projects are:
∗ Poor estimates and plans.
∗ Lack of quality standards and measures.
∗ Lack of guidance about making organizational decisions.
∗ Lack of techniques to make progress visible.
∗ Incorrect success criteria.
• Problems occur from time to time and fixing them in a timely fashion is essential to
achieve correctness of a system and avoid delayed deliveries of products.
• The above list looks at the project from the manager’s point of view. What about the
staff who make up the members of the project team?
• Below is a list of the problems identified by a number of Computing and Information
Systems degree students who had just completed a year’s industrial placement.
2) List the type of critical risks in project planning. (Nov/Dec 2018) )(13m)