The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the record company requires the cost-benefit analysis of every project to be recorded in a document called a 'project rationale'. The executive is preparing the draft 'project rationale' as part of the pre-project phase. Which principle is being applied, and why?

During the initiation stage, the Vice President stated that attendance at launch events held on Monday evenings is low, and on previous projects this had resulted in lower album sales. As a result, the launch event for this album will be held later in the week. Which principle is being applied, and why?

Towards the end of stage 2, the project manager realized that not all of the ‘recorded sample songs' would be completed before the end of the stage. The project manager decided to move the remaining work to stage 3. This enabled the project manager to report that stage 2 was completed within time tolerance. Is this an appropriate application of the 'manage by stages' principle, and why?

The record company's finance director has asked the executive to ensure that work packages agreed with team managers are signed off by the project board before the team starts the work. Is this an appropriate application of the 'manage by stages' principle?

At the end of stage 2, the risk that production costs could exceed the sales for the music album is estimated to be high, as all of the cost tolerance for stage 2 has been used. As a result, the project manager has defined tight cost and time tolerances for the work packages to produce the 'artwork' and record the album during stage 3. Which principle is being applied, and why?

The Graphic Designer appointed by the external agency is the team manager responsible for creation of the 'artwork'. Before assigning a work package to the Graphic Designer, the project manager ensured that the 'artwork' product description attached to the work package had measurable and prioritized features defined in it. Is this an appropriate application of the 'focus on products' principle, and why?

The Music Album Project team has identified that another department within the company is producing a similar album of the same type of music. As it is only a small company, it cannot resource two similar album projects. Which principle should have been applied more effectively to avoid this situation, and why?

It was found that one of the songs approved for the album had quality issues even though a quality inspection was carried out. It was therefore decided that a further objective check of recording quality should be conducted by the studio for the songs that are yet to be approved. Is this an appropriate application of the 'learn from experience' principle, and why?

Use the 'Additional Information' in the Scenario Booklet to answer this question. The project's products are being delivered by both external suppliers and record company staff. A member of the recording studio staff has been appointed as a senior supplier on the project board. It has also been decided that the Vice President of the record company, who is the executive for the project, will also be a senior supplier, representing the record company. Is this an appropriate application of the 'defined roles and responsibilities' principle, and why?

The project manager has been recruited from a large, multi-national record company. To reduce the time spent on the initiation stage, the project manager decided to use PRINCE2 management approaches from projects at the previous company. Is this appropriate, and why?

The executive has appointed the company's finance manager to provide business assurance, to monitor whether the album sales will exceed the production costs as the project progresses through each stage. How well does this apply the 'manage by exception' principle, and why?

The record company is concerned that the songs to be included on the album should be agreed before work on the 'recorded album' starts. Therefore, the project board has decided that no changes to the list of songs will be accepted after the work package has been agreed. Which principle is being applied when making this decision, and why?

During the 'initiating a project' process, the Vice President (VP) estimated that the Music Album Project should generate sales that exceed production costs. However, the sales estimate may be too high, and therefore the record company may not make a profit. The VP will undertake business assurance and the Marketing Manager, who is the senior user, will undertake user assurance. Is it appropriate for the VP to be responsible for assessing the effect of low sales on the business case, and why?

The Vice President (VP) was appointed as executive of the Music Album Project, which is now closing. During the project, extra funding was required and approved by the CEO. However, this funding was given on the condition that, when closing the project, the executive prepares an end project report showing the results of the project against its planned targets in the business case. Is this an appropriate condition, and why?

During the project, the CEO decides that the project should become a pilot project within a programme to establish new ways to launch new singers quickly into the market. Which action is appropriate, and why?

During stage 1, when preparing the communication management approach, the project manager included the record company's Marketing Manager as a stakeholder. The Marketing Manager will be checking with focus groups that the music in the album has a market. Without a market for the album there will be no business justification for the project to continue. How well does this action apply the organization theme, and why?

The product description for the 'launch event plan' was updated at the end of stage 3 to include more detailed quality criteria. The 'launch event plan' was created during stage 4. The 'launch event plan' was then approved by the project manager after checking that it met the defined quality criteria. Is this an appropriate way to manage quality, and why?

The album will be recorded by an external supplier. The project manager is concerned that the record company will have no access to check the quality of the recorded songs before the album is completed. Therefore, the project manager has requested that the contract with the supplier includes a requirement to review the quality of the songs after each one is recorded. Is this appropriate, and why?

During stage 3, it was decided to change the design of the 'artwork' to attract attention and help promote sales. The project board agreed to pay for the change using the change budget. The project plan was later updated to show the amount of change budget still available to the project. Was it appropriate to update the project plan, and why?

The project is in the initiation stage. In consultation with the senior user, the project manager has made some changes to the description of the final product 'album ready for launch'. The project manager's next task is to plan the project. Which action demonstrates the project manager's immediate priority, and why?

The singer has signed a contract with the record company and will sing at a large international festival on a Friday night. This may increase international sales of the album. However, the audience is usually bigger on a Saturday. The project manager has negotiated for the singer to perform on Saturday, rather than Friday. Has the project manager enhanced the opportunity to increase album sales, and why?

The Marketing Director will analyze the opinions of focus groups to check that the album will be marketable and generate sufficient sales. At the end of the initiation stage, the following risk was recorded in the risk register: "There is a threat that the project will be no longer viable which would result in the project needing to be stopped." How well does this identify the risk, and why?

The recording studio has carried out improvements and can now deliver recordings to a higher quality than specified in the product description for the 'recorded album'. The Recording Studio Manager has recorded the songs to the new improved standard, at no additional cost. This change has no other impact on the project. How should the project manager categorize this issue, and why?

During stage 3, the project board grants a concession to permit the use of 'artwork' that does not fully meet the quality criteria. As a result, the project manager has updated the product description for the ‘artwork’. Is this action appropriate, and why?

The work package for the 'launch event plan' is in progress and checkpoint reports are being produced every two weeks. The project manager has reviewed the issue register and is concerned about the number of issues related to this work package. Which action should the project manager take, and why?

The songs have been recorded and meet the minimum quality requirements. However, the team manager recommends that they are re-recorded as better quality songs may improve album sales. Rerecording will cause the stage to exceed its time tolerance. As a result, the project manager has raised an issue to the project board. Is this action appropriate, and why?

The record company wants to keep the project confidential in order to avoid another record company launching a similar album at the same time. During the 'starting up a project' process, the project manager discusses the project with colleagues who have experience of keeping a project confidential. Their experiences are used to develop the draft project approach. Is this appropriate, and why?

The project is approaching the end of the initiation stage. The project manager has requested that the project board meet to 'authorize the project'. The project manager has prepared a set of slides showing the project controls, the business case and the scope of the project, to present to the project board. How well is the 'authorize the project' activity being carried out?

At the beginning of stage 3, the singer suggested that a video could be taken during the recording of the songs and used at the launch of the album to promote sales. This change can be accommodated in stage 3 and has been approved. The recording studio has agreed to record the video. As a result, the project manager has created a product description for the product 'recorded video', and amended the work package for the studio. Are the project manager's actions appropriate, and why?

The Graphic Designer contracted to create the 'artwork' in stage 3 will be following an agile approach. The project manager is acting as the team manager for the work package and has produced a team plan. Why is the use of a team plan appropriate?

The 'artwork' will be delivered by a graphic design company using an agile delivery approach. The work package is being negotiated before work on the 'artwork' commences. Who should approve the work package for the 'artwork'?

The Music Album Project will be part of a programme for the record company to sell a different type of music. The project is now in the 'initiating a project' process and the project manager has requested support from the programme office when producing the risk management approach. Which statement explains why this is an appropriate way to produce the risk management approach?

The Music Album Project will be part of a programme for the record company to sell a different type of music. As a result, the team manager for the 'launch event plan' work package has been asked to provide weekly checkpoint reports directly to the programme manager. This will allow the programme manager to monitor the launch of the music. Is it appropriate for the team manager to send the programme manager checkpoint reports, and why?

Stage 3 is in exception. The project board has requested an exception plan from the project manager, who has triggered the 'managing a stage boundary' process as a result. Which action is OPTIONAL?

A stage-level exception was identified while recording the sample songs. As a result, the project board instructed the project manager to prematurely close the stage and create a plan to combine the remainder of stage 2 together with the production of the 'recorded album' and the 'artwork'. Which activity should the project manager carry out in order to produce the combined plan?

During stage 2, it is found that the graphics design company is in financial difficulty. As a result, another supplier is selected to produce the 'artwork' and their account manager is asked to join the project board as a senior supplier with immediate effect. Is this appropriate, and why?

The Music Album Project has delivered the 'album ready for launch'. When closing the project, the project manager considers that the Recording Studio Manager has been an excellent team manager. As a result, the project manager prepares a recommendation that the Recording Studio Manager should be contracted to record future albums. In which activity of the 'closing a project' process should this recommendation be submitted for approval?

The project is now being closed. Which action should the project manager take during the 'evaluate the project' activity?

During the initiation stage, a risk was recorded that sales of the singer's album might impact sales of other albums produced by the record company. Therefore, when this risk was reviewed during project closure, a follow-on action recommendation was made for the record company's audit department to report on the impact during post-project benefit reviews. Is this appropriate, and why?