IPA IP 2020 Question 42
A question IPA Japan published in 令和2年度 10月 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問42, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
Same question on ITPEC: Nov 2021 Q57
After the detailed design of an information system is complete, it is decided to outsource programming to an outsourcing contractor with clearly defined specifications, deliverables, and scope of work. Which of the following is the most appropriate management activity of the project manager of the ordering company?
Explanation
Request periodic progress reports and check the quality of the completed program — with a contract for defined deliverables, the orderer manages results, not the contractor's staff.
The programming is contracted out with clear specifications, deliverables and scope: a contract for work, in which the contractor promises to complete the programs and directs its own staff to do so. The ordering company's project manager therefore follows progress through the contractor's reports and inspects the quality of what is delivered. How the work is done and by whom stays the contractor's business.
Answer (a)
Why not others:
- •(b) — checking the details of the contractor's activities and demanding that low-productivity staff be replaced interferes with the contractor's own management of its people
- •(c) — managing clock-in and clock-out times of the contractor's staff is labour management, which belongs to their employer, the contractor
- •(d) — giving work directly to the contractor's staff is only allowed under worker dispatch; under a contract for work it is disguised contracting, and a specification change must be agreed with the contractor through change control
Key rule: Under a contract for work the orderer controls scope, progress reports and acceptance of deliverables, and gives no direct instructions to the contractor's workers.
Project Management · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.