ME or MEng Master of Engineering Master of Engineering Management 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An engineering manager is conducting a stakeholder analysis. Which group should typically receive the most intensive engagement strategy?
- Low power, low interest stakeholders
- High power, high interest stakeholders (Correct answer)
- Low power, high interest stakeholders
- High power, low interest stakeholders
Correct answer: High power, high interest stakeholders
High power / high interest stakeholders can both block the project and are engaged enough to do so — they require the most active management and communication.
Question 2: Which contract type transfers the most cost risk to the contractor rather than the buyer?
- Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)
- Time and Materials (T&M)
- Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Correct answer)
- Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF)
Correct answer: Firm Fixed Price (FFP)
Under FFP, the contractor bears all cost overrun risk because the price is locked regardless of actual expenses, incentivizing efficient performance.
Question 3: A Six Sigma project is in the 'Analyze' phase of DMAIC. The primary goal of this phase is to:
- Define the problem statement and project charter
- Implement and validate the proposed solution
- Identify and verify the root causes of the defect (Correct answer)
- Establish control charts to sustain improvements
Correct answer: Identify and verify the root causes of the defect
The Analyze phase uses tools like fishbone diagrams, regression, and hypothesis tests to determine and confirm the true root causes driving process defects.
Question 4: Engineering managers applying the Theory of Constraints (TOC) should focus improvement efforts on:
- The process step with the highest labor cost
- The system's bottleneck resource that limits throughput (Correct answer)
- Every process step simultaneously to maximize efficiency
- The step with the highest defect rate
Correct answer: The system's bottleneck resource that limits throughput
TOC holds that every system has at least one constraint limiting its output; improving non-bottleneck steps provides no throughput gain until the constraint is addressed.
Question 5: When conducting a cost-benefit analysis for a capital project, which discount rate should an engineering manager typically use?
- The project's internal rate of return (IRR)
- The company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC) (Correct answer)
- The current prime lending rate
- The historical project average return
Correct answer: The company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
WACC represents the minimum return required by the firm's investors and is the standard hurdle rate for discounting future cash flows in NPV analysis.
Question 6: In technology roadmapping, the primary purpose of a product-technology roadmap is to:
- Document the current state of competitor products
- Align technology development timelines with future product needs (Correct answer)
- Certify that engineering designs meet customer specifications
- Track daily progress of engineering team deliverables
Correct answer: Align technology development timelines with future product needs
Technology roadmaps link anticipated product requirements to the R&D investments and capability milestones needed to fulfill them at the right time.
Question 7: An engineering manager implementing an Agile approach in a hardware development program should recognize that the biggest adaptation challenge is:
- Writing user stories for mechanical components
- Accommodating long physical prototype and test cycles within sprint cadences (Correct answer)
- Convincing software developers to join hardware teams
- Eliminating the need for a project manager
Correct answer: Accommodating long physical prototype and test cycles within sprint cadences
Hardware iterations involve physical build, test, and redesign cycles that take weeks or months, making short sprint cadences difficult to apply without adaptation.
ME or MEng Master of Engineering Master of Engineering Management 4
An engineering manager is conducting a stakeholder analysis.
Which group should typically receive the most intensive engagement strategy?