PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam Questions

Project Scenario

Calendar Project (Note: The companies and people within the scenario are fictional.)

There has been a reduction in fie number of orders at the MNO Manufacturing Company due in part to the increased marketing activities of its competitors. To help counter this, the company has decided to create a promotional calendar for next year for all its current and prospective customers. The end product of this project will be a prepared calendar pack, ready for printing. The design of the calendar will be similar to one sent out previously, and must reflect the company image as described in the existing corporate branding standards. Another project is currently producing a new company logo when is to be printed on each page of the promotional calendar. The prepared calendar pack will consist of:

Design for each month - correctly showing at public holidays and new company logo

Selected photographs- 12 professionally-produced photographs, showing different members of staff

Selected paper and selected envelope - for printing and mailing the calendar

Chosen label design - a competition to design a label will be held as part of this project

List of customers - names and addresses of customers to whom the calendar will be sent.

The project is currently in initiation and will have two further stages:

Stage 2 will include tie activities to:

Create the customer fast using information from the Accounts and Marketing departments

Confirm compliance with the Data Protection Legislation

Create a design for each month - this will be done by the internal creative team

Select and appoint a professional photographer

Gather photograph design ideas from previous project and agree photographic session schedule

Prepare a production cost forecast

Select paper and envelope.

Stage 3 will include the activities to:

Produce and select tie professionally-taken photographs

Hold the label design competition and choose the label design

Assemble the prepared calendar pack.

A production cost forecast, based on the options and costs for the paper, envelope, printing and marketing of the calendar is to be produced in stage 2. However, the actual production and distribution of the calendars is not within the scope of the project. The product cost forecast will be reviewed by the Project Board to determine whether tie project should continue.

It is now 05 October and the prepared calendar pack must be delivered to the print company by 30 November, to enable printing and distribution of the calendar in time for Christmas. The cost of the activities to develop the specialist products and the cost of the project management activities are estimated to be 20,000. There is a project time tolerance of +1 week /-2 weeks and a project cost tolerance of +6,000 / -6,000. A change budget of 500 has been allocated but there is no risk budget.

The team member collating the list of customers has now forecast that it will NOT be complete by the end of this stage as originally planned, due to a number of new prospective customers' details not yet being available. What action should the team member take?

Scenario

A photographer from Portraits Ltd, a professional photographic company, has taken on the role of Team Manager after taking some time to understand the requirements of the project. A contract for their services has been set up and is being monitored by the Purchasing Manager and a Work Package has been agreed. This contract specifies that the photographer must arrange a meeting with the Engineering Manager to establish a schedule for the photo sessions to minimize the impact on the Engineering staff. This meeting should have occurred by now.

The Engineering Manager was made aware of this requirement but when asked he reported that he has received no communication from the photographer. The Project Manager has tried to call the photographer and has had no response. The Project Manager believes there is a risk that Portraits Ltd are overbooking work and prioritizing other clients' work. If Portraits ltd do not deliver on schedule the project will be delayed and the expected benefits will be reduced.

The contract is to be reviewed and Portraits Ltd reminded of their agreement.

The project is now in stage 2. The Project Manager has heard about the possibility of a competitor also producing a calendar to be delivered earlier than the target date for this project. There is a threat that the early release of a competitor's calendar may weaken the impact of the MNO Manufacturing Company calendar, thereby reducing the anticipated benefits of the Calendar project.

Which 2 statements should be recorded under the Proximity heading?

Project Scenario -- Health and Safety Training Project:

ABC Company is a well-established training company that uses a standard model to develop training materials and deliver courses to customers.

ABC Company has commissioned a project in response to recent changes in government legislation relating to health and safety on construction sites. The project will deliver ''capability to provide health and safety training'', including the materials needed for classroom-based training and e-learning. The expected benefits for construction companies include a reduction in lost days and legal costs due to accidents.

The e-learning course will be developed by a specialist external consultancy. The materials for classroom-based training will be delivered by ABC Company's development team. All course materials will be piloted before they are used. ABC Company will deliver training to its customers and also hopes to sell the course materials to other training companies as part of their operational business. ABC Company will use their own sales and marketing departments to promote the courses.

The legislation requires construction companies to comply with the new legislation within two years. The course materials and trainers have to be accredited by a government agency before courses can be delivered. ABC Company is planning to deliver pilot courses within five months of starting the project.

The ABC Company standard development model for new courses recommends the following stages:

End of the Project scenario.

Additional Information:

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) founded the company five years ago. Under her leadership, ABC Company has grown quickly into a successful training company. It delivers a range of accredited professional training.

The Finance Director is also a founder member of ABC Company and is responsible for authorizing budgets for the Operations and Development Teams. She authorizes all large contracts personally.

The Purchasing Manager reports to the Finance Director and is responsible for managing and monitoring supplier contracts.

The Operations Director is responsible for the delivery off all training and for the training development budget. His department organizes courses, venues and trainers. They work with the Product and the Sales teams to provide a comprehensive training schedule. ABC Company's IT manager reports to the Operations Director.

The Business Development Director has recently been appointed to identify new training needs and propose new products. She will work with the Operations. Director to ensure a cost-conscious approach and that appropriate development technologies are used for the health and safety course.

The Training Development Manager reports to the Business Development Director and is responsible for developing training materials and gaining accreditation, in accordance with the standard course development model. Course developers in his team have skills in a range of development technologies and are allocated to projects as needed.

The Training Delivery Manager, who reports to the Operations Director, is responsible for ensuring that internal and external trainers deliver ABC Company training courses to the required standard. He also checks course materials to ensure they are fit for purpose and of the required quality.

The Central Services Director has responsibility for corporate communications, facilities management and configuration management. He recently led a project to consolidate all company quality systems into one quality management system and set up a corporate quality department, now managed by the Corporate Quality Manager.

The Corporate Document Manager reports to the Central Services Director. She helped establish the company's document management system and now operates it across the business. She manages a team of administrators and contracts staff when workload is high.

The Sales Director joined ABC Company two months ago and is keen to establish himself by suggesting new markets for the courses and material. All account managers and the marketing team report to him. They promote existing training courses to other training companies and existing customers.

End of the additional information.

Use the 'Additional Information' in the Scenario Booklet to answer this question.

The Operations Director is the executive for the project and has proposed that a senior course developer be appointed as project manager. The course developer works in the Training Development Manager's team and has a good understanding of the standard course development model. The course developer was a team manager on a previous project for which the Operations Director was the executive.

Is this proposed appointment appropriate, and why?

Which statement is an appropriate entry for the Initiation Stage Plan?

During which process would the stage tolerances be set?