Integration Mgmt.

Question 1

What is the process of integration management?

Answer 1

Develop Project Charter
Develop Project Management Plan
Direct and Manage Project Work
Manage Project Knowledge
Monitor and Control Project Work
Perform Integrated Change Control
Close Project or Phase

Question 2

What is the Develop Project Charter process?

What are the Outputs?

Answer 2

Creating the project charter, which involves planning the project at a high level to assess whether it is feasible within the given constraints

Outputs:
Project Charter
Assumption log

Question 3

What is the Develop Project Management Plan process?

What is its output?

Answer 3

The process of creating a project management plan that is bought into, approved, realistic, and formal

Outputs:
Project management plan

Question 4

What are the key outputs of the Direct and Manage Project Work process?

Answer 4

Issue log
Deliverables
Work performance data
Change requests
Updates to the project management plan and project documents
Updates to organizational process assets

Question 5

What is the key output of the Manage Project Knowledge process?

Answer 5

The lessons learned register

Question 6

What are the key outputs of the Monitor and Control Project Work process

Answer 6

Change requests
Work performance reports
Updates to the project management plan and project documents

Question 7

What are the key outputs of the Close Project or Phase process

Answer 7

A project manager must get formal acceptance of the project and its deliverables, issue a final report that shows the project has been successful, issue the final lessons learned, and index and archive all the project records

Question 8

Explain the project manager’s role as an integrator

Answer 8

Pulling all of the pieces of the project into a cohesive whole that gets the project done faster, cheaper, and with fewer resources, while meeting project objectives

Question 9

What are the two major categories of project selection methods?

Answer 9

Benefit measurement methods (comparative)

Constrained optimization methods (mathematical)

Question 10

What are the economic measures for selecting a project?

Answer 10

Return on investment
Present value
Net present value
Internal rate of return
Payback period 
Cost-benefit analysis

Question 11

Define present value

Define net present value (NPV). How is it interpreted?

Answer 11

Present value: The value today of future cash flows

Net present value: The present value of total benefits (income or revenue) minus costs over many time periods

Generally, if the net present value of a project is positive, the investment is a good choice - unless an even better investment opportunity exists

Question 12

Define internal rate of return (IRR)

How is it interpreted?

Answer 12

The rate at which a project’s inflows and outflows are equal (i.e. the rate of return of an investment in a project)

The higher the IRR, the better

Question 13

Define payback period

How is it interpreted?

Answer 13

The length of time it takes for the organization to recover its investment in the project before it starts accumulating profit

Payback period is likely to be one of only several financial factors used in selecting a project; in some cases, the best choice might be a project that has a longer payback period

Question 14

Define cost-benefit analysis

What is the result of this analysis?

How is it interpreted?

Answer 14

Comparing the expected costs of a project to the potential benefits it could bring the organization

The benefit-cost ratio (BCR)

The higher the BCR, the better

Question 15

What concept is concerned with whether the project returns to the company more value than the initiative costs?

Answer 15

Economic value added (EVA)

Question 16

Define opportunity cost

Define sunk costs

Answer 16

Opportunity cost: The opportunity given up by selecting one project over another (i.e. the value of the project not selected)

Sunk costs: Expended costs

Sunk costs should not be considered when deciding whether to continue with a troubled project

Question 17

Define the law of diminishing returns.

Define working capital

Answer 17

Law of diminishing returns: After a certain point, adding more input will not result in a proportional increase in productivity

Working capital: An organization’s current assets minus its current liabilities (e.g. the amount of money the company has available to invest, including investing in projects)

Question 18

What are the two types of depreciation?

Answer 18

Straight-line depreciation: Depreciate the same amount each time period

Accelerated depreciation: Depreciates faster than straight-line depreciation

Question 19

What is a business case?

Answer 19

The justification for a project or initiative

Explains why the project was selected, how it fits into the organization’s strategic goals, and how it will bring business value to the organization

Question 20

What is the purpose of a benefits management plan?

Answer 20

To capture the organization’s desired benefits from a project, whether economic or intangible, and how those benefits will be maximized and sustained

Question 21

What are constraints?

What are assumptions?

Answer 21

Constraints: Factors that limit the team’s options, such as limits on resources, budget, schedule, and scope

Assumptions: Thangs that are assumed to be true but that may not be true

Question 22

What is included in a project charter?

Answer 22

Project title and description
Project manager assigned and authority level
Business case
Preassigned resources
Key stakeholder list
Stakeholder requirements as known
High-level product description and key deliverables
High-level assumptions
High-level constraints
Links the project to the ongoing work of the organization
Project approval requirements
Overall project risks
Project exit criteria

Question 23

What is included in the assumption log?

Answer 23

An assumption log contains a list of all assumptions and constraints that relate to the project

Question 24

What is included in a project management plan?

Answer 24

Project life cycle
Project management processes that will be used on the project
Development approach
Management reviews
Knowledge area management plan
Scope, schedule, and cost baselines
Requirements management plan
Change management plan
Change control system
Configuration management plan
Configuration management system

Question 25

What are baseline?

What three elements make up the performance measurement baseline?

Answer 25

The parts of the project management plan that are used to compare the project’s actual performance against planned performance

Schedule baseline
Scope baseline
Cost baseline

Question 26

What is a change management plan?

Answer 26

The change management plan describes how changes will be managed and controlled

Question 27

What is a configuration management system?

What is the purpose of a change control system?

Answer 27

Configuration management system: Contains the organization’s standardized configuration management tools, processes and procedures that can be used to track and control the evolution of the project documentation

Change control system: To track and control changes and includes standardized forms, reports, processes, procedures, and software

Both of these are part of the project management information system (PMIS)

Question 28

What is a configuration management plan?

Answer 28

A plan to make sure everyone knows what version of the scope, schedule, and other components of the project management plan are the latest versions

It defines the naming conventions, the version control system, document storage and retrieval system, and how you will manage the changes to the documentation.

Question 29

What are project documents?

Answer 29

Any project-related documents that aren’t part of the project management plan, including:

Assumption log
Issue log
Cost and duration estimates
Lessons learned register
Project schedule and resource calendars
Quality reports
Resource requirements and requirements documentation
Any other such documentation.

Question 30

What is a kickoff meeting?

When does it occur?

Answer 30

A meeting of the key parties involves in the project (customers, sellers, the project team, senior management, functional management, and the sponsor) to make sure everyone is “on the same page”

Before the Develop Project Management Plan process is completed

Question 31

What is a work authorization system?

Answer 31

The project manager’s system for authorizing the start of work packages or activities

Is ensures work is only started when a formal authorization is given

Question 32

What is required for successful knowledge management?

What are the types of knowledge?

Answer 32

An organizational culture of trust in which the project manager and stakeholders exchange knowledge without fear of judgment

Types of knowledge:
Explicit knowledge: Fact-based, and can be easily communicated through words and symbols
Tacit knowledge: Includes emotions, experience, and ability, which are more difficult to communicate clearly

Question 33

Information management tools and techniques apply to which type of knowledge?

Answer 33

Explicit

Question 34

What do lessons learned describe?

Answer 34

What went right, what went wrong, and what would be done differently if the project could be redone

Question 35

What are change requests?

What are the three main categories of change requests?

Answer 35

Formal requests to change parts of the project after the project management plan is approved

Corrective action, preventative action, defect repair

Question 36

What are corrective actions?

What are preventive actions?

Answer 36

Corrective: Actions taken to bring expected future project performance in line with the project management plan

Preventive: Actions taken to deal with anticipated or possible deviations from the performance measurement baseline and other metrics

Question 37

What is defect repair?

Answer 37

Rework required when a components of the project does not meet specifications

Question 38

What is a change control board?

Who might be on a change control board?

Answer 38

The group responsible for reviewing and analyzing change requests in accordance with the change management plan for the project

May include the project manager, customer, experts, sponsor, functional managers, and others

For the exam, assume that most projects have change control boards, with the exception of change-driven projects

Question 39

What steps are involved in the process for making changes to a project?

Answer 39

• Evaluate the impact: Evaluate (assess) the impact of the change on all aspects of the project
• Identify options: This can include cutting the other activities, compressing the schedule by crashing or fast tracking, or looking at other options.
• Get the change request approved internally
• Get customer buy-in (if required)