E2 Project and Relationship Management Questions and Answers

The means by which competitive advantage might be gained differs, depending on whether a resource based approach or a positioning approach is adopted.

Which of the following options characterises the resource based approach?

Select ALL that apply:

The advantages of embedding the finance function within the business unit include which THREE of the following?

Which THREE of the following would be considered as reasonable expectations of the mentoring process, for the mentee?

What are the disadvantages of a divisional organisational structure? Select ALL that apply.

A pharmaceutical organisation, whilst developing a drug for the remedy of a cold, discovered by carrying out research tests that the drug made people feel drowsy.

It decided to market this product as a night time cold remedy.

Which of the following best describes this organisation ' s approach to strategy?

The new Chief Executive of P Company has recently announced that there will be significant changes made to how the company operates. He has stated that his vision for the company cannot be achieved within the existing organisational paradigm.

Although the changes are significant, due to increased competitive pressures, the Chief Executive has commented that changes will need to be made quickly.

Which of the following types of change will occur in P Company?

Which of the following are influential drivers of outsourcing?

Select ALL that apply.

Identify ways in which an orgnisation can undertake qualitative research.

Select ALL that apply.

Leading and developing a high performing team that has only recently come together is a challenge requiring leaders to prioritise different issues and adopt different styles and tactics at different stages of team development.

At one point the leader will need to:-

   • confirm personal roles and responsibilities,

   • plan the workload and agree working practices,

   • ensure all sources of conflict have been resolved, and

   • motivate team members to deliver their full potential.

With respect to the Tuckman model of team development, which is the stage where these leadership actions are most appropriate?

An organisation manufacturing cosmetics was set up five years ago and has since grown considerably.

The organisation did not have clear strategies and as such any approaches emerged. The directors feel a new way to strategy setting would be more appropriate; one that could offer a more thorough, intended, deliberate approach.

Which of the following is a suitable approach to developing strategy for this organisation?

The manager of Company A has decided to upgrade the IT systems in 18 months time. Although the employees understand the need and benefits from the change there is still some resistance from fear of the unknown and a question mark over the security of their jobs.

Which TWO of the methods below for dealing with change are most appropriate under these circumstances?

Kumari is about to start her new roie in the secretarial function of a law firm.

Which of the following is likely to be key part of her job?

A building project for developing new homes to customers ' own specification is behind schedule and will incur penalty payments if the next milestone is not achieved on time.

Which of the following strategies would be appropriate in order to get the project back on track and that will not compromise customer satisfaction and could still minimse the overall cost of development?

Select All that apply.

The ability to negotiate is an important management skill. Which approach to negotiation is less likely to result in future further conflict?

Which TWO of the planning tools listed below show the minimum completion time of a project?

The task of C the project manager and his management team is to implement a new examination system. The success of the project depends on the expertise, skill and commitment of both C ' s project team and that of examiners contracted to produce examination material in a radically new format.

Which of the following leadership styles should C adopt in order to gain maximum commitment from both his project team and from the examiners contracted to produce the new examination material?

A publishing business prints thousands of books every week. The Managing Director employed Taylor ' s Principles of Scientific Management in order to run the business efficiently. Which of the following would not have

been initiatives he would have introduced into the business?

Select ALL that apply.

An insurance group is contemplating a proposal to outsource its customer call centre. The centre is currently managed as an internal function. Before taking a strategic decision, the group directors are assessing not only the long term operating costs but all the transaction costs associated with a change to an external provider.

In the context of this proposal, what are the transaction costs that would need to be considered by the directors?

Select ALL that apply.

The Finance Director in an organisation has suffered from some criticism in her management approach, in particular her poor communication methods. For example, using finance jargon in her emails and sending messages out of normal office working hours.

This has lead to some of the members of staff being demotivated.

Which of the following possible recommendations would improve the communication situation present in this organisaion?

Select ALL that apply.

KK manufactures mobile phones and it possesses an inimitable resource in the mobile phone market in which it currently competes.

Which of the following  best describes this type of resource?

 Which of the following does NOT describe the theory of the transformational super-leader?

WBS organisation has recruited a new project manager to manage the implementation of a new accounting package for its UK division.

The previous project manager created a hostile environment for the team involved in developing the new system.

How could the new project manager foster a more motivated team environment?

Charles Handy described organisational culture as:

The concept of core competences is key to successful outsourcing strategy. Organisations should:

The purpose of PEST analysis is described by which of the following?

What event occurs between the second and third stages of Gido and Clement ' s Project Life Cycle?

A number of managers in an organisation approach change using a variety of techniques. Manager A focuses on staff training. Manager B provides large bonuses for effective project management. Manager C

restructures his team to reduce headcount. Manager D lays out the financial problems in the business and why change is unavoidable. Manager E calls his team together to openly discuss the issues. Manager F calls

for ideas from his team to make the change happen.

Based on Beer and Nohria ' s change theory, which of these managers can be described as Theory 0 managers?

Select ALL that apply.

A company displaying creativity in its workforce, and an ability to react to the dynamic environment in which it operates, is most likely to avoid which of the approaches to strategy formulation listed below?

Examine the network diagram shown and identify ALL of the statements below that are true.

Michael Porter argued that nations can develop advanced business environments that are conducive to business development and lead to firms from one nation gaining a competitive advantage over firms from other countries. Porter used a diamond shaped diagram as the basis of a framework to illustrate and analyse the determinants that lead to national advantage.

Which of the following factors are present within the diamond framework?

Select ALL that apply.

Which of the following statements relate to Handy ' s role culture?

Select ALL that apply.

DD is in charge of a group of twelve people involved in complex work. The group work together amicably and DD ' s leadership is valued. DD is supported by KK, who often deals with the group on behalf of DD.

Recently KK resigned for family reasons, along with another member of the group who became despondent with change and DD has now recruited new members to the group.

DD has found the group dynamics have changed and various members complain about what they are expected to do.

Which of the following is the least appropriate approach that DD should adopt to ensure the group reverts back to its former cohesiveness?

JJ is the project manager implementing a new software system in the customer services department of a large manufacturing organisation.

As part of the new ways of working, JJ is introducing changes to the working hours of the customer services team.

The customer services team is not happy with the changes and is complaining that it does not report to JJ, so why should it have to adapt its working hours.

This is an example of:

Which of the following statements does NOT help characterise Quinn ' s notion of logical incrementalism?

An organisation undertakes a planned strategy and it is currently at the stage of completing a strategic analysis.

It has defined what it is seeking to achieve, identified the strengths and weaknesses of the company and has undertaken a corporate appraisal.

What stage of its strategic analysis has the organisation failed to carry out?

Which of the following statements relating to negotiation are incorrect?

Select ALL that apply.

GG, the new CEO in an organisation, was surprised to find out that the company does not undertake competitor analysis. He was told that, as the organisation operates in a very dynamic market,  things change too quickly to make analysis worthwhile.

Choose from the following the option that presents why competitor analysis is important.

Q has been appointed as the Commercial Director of a medium-sized publishing company that is facing strong competitive pressures in difficult trading conditions. Q is surprised to find that the firm is pursuing the formal/rational approach to strategy development.

Q is now preparing a presentation to the Board to change the basis of strategy development to an emergent approach.

Which THREE arguments could Q use in the presentation?

Four orthopaedic surgeons in a busy hospital department have very different work habits. Each has their own team of medical technicians who are used to the surgeons ' personal preferences and are very comfortable with their routines; they basically do the same things every day. This way of working has gone on for several years.

When a new administration manager suggested that they train all of the technicians to work with all the surgeons this led to significant resistance from all of the parties involved. The technicians were concerned that they would no longer be able to perform their usual daily tasks.

On the basis of the scenario what would be the main cause of their resistance?

Which of the following best describes the resource based view of strategy?

There are many implications for an organisation when using PRINCE 2 for managing projects. Which of the following statements are correct?

A Company is undertaking a project for the first time and has given the Finance Manager the task of managing the project. He has been advised to use PERT, as it will help him with his Critical Path Analysis (CPA).

What information will the calculation using PERT provide the Finance Manager with to use in his CPA?

Every project has constraints. When running a project it is critical that the constraints are known.

What are the primary constraints in a project?

Which of the following options contains the four criteria of a unique resource identified by Barney (1991) ?

Several researchers have identified strong connections between corporate culture and resistance to organisational change.

Which TWO of the following are likely to be most resistant to organisational change:

X is a major energy company and has discovered substantial onshore shale gas reserves in a rural part of the country. With new " fracking " technology, underground gas production could be profitable, provide jobs for local people and boost the local economy. This would require the purchase of large areas of land, without which the projects could not proceed.

Although local landowners were generally pleased to sell land to X at high prices, the reactions of local residents were less favourable as they were very concerned about the environmental impact.

Although their powers were limited, their influence on local councils was more significant. Every new fracking site was subject to strict planning controls and local councils controlled this process.

Using Mendelow ' s stakeholder management theory, which stakeholder group should be categorised as high interest/low power - with a strategy of " keep informed " (unless their power and influence start to increase)?

Which of the following best describes a shared service centre (SSC)?

The role of competitor analysis, according to Wilson and Gilligan is threefold.

Which of the following does NOT apply?

According to Hofstede (1990) a company that values tradition, education and training is said to have which of the following cultural dimensions?

The B Car Company is considering a joint venture with a company in Country X. It is undertaking a political risk analysis at both a micro and macro level. Which of the following is a micro level risk?

Hersey and Blanchard developed a theory of situational leadership which suggested that successful leaders should change their leadership style according to the maturity of the subordinates they are leading. This includes an assessment of their professional ability and their readiness to undertake set tasks.

Based on this theory, which leadership style would be best suited to a subordinate showing the highest levels of maturity, readiness, ability and willingness to tackle the work available?

Max is a quiet member of staff who likes to receive all the details before making decisions in the workplace.

He is very satisfied with the way he works currently and is reluctant to change the way he works when you suggest implementing a new system to deal with enquiries. These changes form a major part of his work allocation.

Which would be the most appropriate methods to deal with any resistance to change you may experience from Max?

Select ALL that apply.

What is the main use of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument?

The functions of mentoring include which THREE of the following?

Porter ' s Value Chain model is divided into two main categories. From the choices below identify the TWO categories:

Many companies use Critical Path Analysis (CPA) to manage projects.

Which TWO of the options below could be identified from a CPA diagram? 

Which THREE of the following are advantages of empowerment?

Many public companies remain committed to the rational approach to strategic decision making believing that the long term advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Which TWO of the following factors are considered to be advantages of the rational approach?

A leader of a new project at a marketing agency believes that good leadership requires focus on both the task needs and individual needs.

Based on Adair ' s action-centered leadership theory, which of the following skills is the leader less likely to have due to this?

Select ALL that apply.

Bob is the Finance Director of a manufacturing business selling luggage sucn as suitcases. He decides to undertake a business process re-engineering of the credit control function in order to achieve dramatic

improvements.

What wouldn ' t be classed as the main improvements bob expects to deliver?

Select ALL that apply.