Understand the Terms and Concepts Relating to the Portfolio Definition Cycle MOP-PRACTITIONER Practice Questions (Page 7)

Questions 31–35

1. 31expert · hard

   A pharmaceutical firm has three strategic drivers: 'accelerate time-to-market', 'reduce R&D cost', and 'expand into emerging markets'. The portfolio office has scored 25 initiatives against these drivers. However, the R&D director argues that the scoring is unfair because 'reduce R&D cost' is a cost driver, not a growth driver, and should be weighted lower. The CEO wants a defensible ranking that reflects the relative importance of the drivers without being distorted by one director's preference. What is the most appropriate response?

   • ARemove 'reduce R&D cost' from the analysis because it is a cost driver
   • BUse three point estimating to score each initiative's contribution to each driver
   • CRe-run the analysis weighting all three drivers equally to avoid conflict
   • DUse driver-based strategic contribution analysis with driver weights agreed by the whole board, not by one director
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 32foundation · easy

   In driver-based strategic contribution analysis, what is a 'driver'?

   • AA person responsible for implementing a project
   • BA financial metric such as return on investment
   • CA software tool used to manage the portfolio
   • DA key factor that influences the achievement of the organization's strategic objectives
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4. 33foundation · easy

   What is a key to success in the 'understand' practice of the portfolio definition cycle?

   • AEngaging with key stakeholders to understand the organization's strategic context
   • BFinalizing the portfolio without any further changes
   • CDelegating all analysis to external consultants
   • DFocusing only on financial data and ignoring qualitative factors
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5. 34application · medium

   A government agency must prioritize 15 infrastructure projects. The steering group cannot agree on a single metric: some members value economic benefit, others environmental impact, others political urgency. The portfolio office needs a structured method that lets the group explicitly weight these differing criteria and then rank the projects. Which technique should they use?

   • AClear line of sight planning to map each project to a single corporate objective
   • BThree point estimating to produce a best, likely, and worst case for each project
   • CMulti-criteria analysis with agreed criteria weights and a scoring scale
   • DReference class forecasting to benchmark each project against comparable past schemes
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
6. 35foundation · easy

   What is a key feature of clear line of sight planning?

   • AIt is a technique for estimating the duration of projects
   • BIt focuses only on financial benefits and ignores non-financial objectives
   • CIt is used only at the end of the portfolio definition cycle
   • DIt creates a direct link between strategic objectives and portfolio components
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first