Q. The "muddiest" item in this module was the actual frequency and use of auditing reports. I've worked on several different projects for a few different companies and have never seen one done. Maybe the projects I've worked on were too small or I didn't stick around long enough? But, either way, it seems like quite an expensive process. How often are they typically done and how big does the project have to be to warrant one?
A. Auditing is required by the higher ups, i.e., someone above the PM. Everyone loathes an audit. For an internal audit, people are sometimes drafted from other departments or divisions; these people usually loathe it as well. Because of this, all concerned will avoid them. There are really only two ways they happen. First, in a company that does lots of projects, they are a hard and fast company rule. In companies that have this rule it is usually because of the next reason. Second, the company's clients (often governments) or the financial supporters of the company (lenders or venture capitalists) demand them.

Q.Muddiest - These chapters seemed pretty straightforward. Some of the modeling seems a little out there to me, but I've had that sort of issue in the class all semester. In my head I accept that it's necessary. In my gut, I keep thinking that they are making things more complicated than they have to be.
A. Well…they're not all that complicated mathematically, when you are given the numbers to use. Actually getting meaningful numbers can be a great practical problem. The greater problem is using the result, and having everyone understand that these are only tools in the PM's decision-making toolkit. They are input to a process, not the " right answer."

Q. What is a project risk assessment? I understand it is the evaluation of the project and whether it will fail or lose money, but how is the assessment done? What factors and information go into the development of the assessment? What criteria are used to determine low, medium and high risk? I have done risk assessments for safety issues before- that used a matrix format.
A. This relates back to Chapter 2, Project Selection. You could make a matrix with Company need for the project on one axis and financial risk on the other.

Where we first assign priority and risk independently to each project. Then determine where it fits in the matrix. Finally fund the green first, then the yellow if there is money, finally the red. Not a bad way to organize risks.

Q. I have always been told that auditors were the people sent to bayonet the wounded (and strip the bodies) and I had little knowledge to confirm or refute such information. I appreciated the chapter on auditing / evaluating and was eager to learn the processes by which the PM can better work with (control?) auditors.
A. "Manage" would be a better term than "control." The auditors have to be independent, or there is no point. But it is very important to manage the audit visit - put the best foot forward. Murphy's Law, however, dictates that audit will come at the worst time, when the PM and key staff are busy with other things.

Q. The least clear item in this module was the excerpt on Nucor's Approach to Termination by Addition on pages 542-543. The idea that this company can be successful using the approach of creating positions for its project personnel in the end result of the project itself is sound; however, in this specific example, how they were able to achieve a successful project given the lack of any experience by its construction management team in building steel mills is something that at face value I find hard to comprehend.
A. So do I. The best explanation is that the "suppliers" the article mentions are actually design-build suppliers of major steel manufacturing components.