McGill University

Course CIVE 324 – Project Construction Management

Subject Matter Review

Assignment No. 2

1. What are the main responsibilities of the project manager to his or her firm?

2. Name the categories of skills that should be considered in the selection or

nomination of a project manager.

3. Why must a project manager be a generalist rather than a specialist?

4. Discuss the project manager’s responsibilities toward the project team

members.

5. What are the major differences between functional managers and project
managers?

6. What are some conflicts that are bound to occur between parties that have
legitimate interests in the project?

7. Give some major guidelines for choosing an organization form for a project.

8. What do you think may be the purpose of a Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS)? How might a WBS aid a project manager in organizing a project?

9. A successful project plan must contain several key elements. List these
elements and briefly describe the composition of each.

10. What percentage of the total project effort should be devoted to planning and
describe why.

11. As discussed in class, the work environment of a project manager can have a
significant impact on his or her ability to manage projects. Describe factors
that may help or hinder the work of a project manager in each of the following
organizational structures: functional organization, discipline organization and
matrix organization.

12. You are a project manager for a project and have just compiled all the design
work packages and found that the costs exceed the approved budget.
Describe the options that you would consider to manage the discrepancy.

List all references used to respond to this assignment.