Questions Dump 1

Question 1

A project life cycle is a representation of the generally sequential and sometimes overlapping project phases that a project typically goes through. All of the following statements about the project life cycle are true EXCEPT:

A. Cost and staffing start low, increase toward the end, and drop rapidly near closing.

B. Project risk is highest at the beginning of the project and reduces as the project approaches its end.

C. Stakeholder influence is lowest at the start and increases as the project proceeds.

D. Cost of changes is low in the beginning but extremely high later in the project.

Answer 1

C

Explanation: Stakeholder influence is highest at the start and diminishes as the project proceeds.

Question 2

Which one of the following is generally considered to be the characteristic of operational works?

A. It is a continuing endeavor that produces many identical or nearly identical products or provides repetition.

B. It is temporary in nature and has a definite beginning and ending.

C. It is completed when its goals and objectives have been met and signed off by the stakeholders.

D. It is a unique undertaking.

Answer 2

Answer: A

Explanation: Operational works are ongoing and support the day-to-day functions of an organization. Operational work differs from project work as operational work is any continuing endeavor that produces many identical or nearly identical products or provides repetitive services (e.g., frying burgers, manufacturing cars, and teaching algebra).

Question 3

You are overseeing a project to implement a new video game console. Since everything is not known upfront, you take the approach of defining and developing the product by incremental steps and continually reviewing and adjusting processes, assumptions, requirements, and decisions throughout the project life cycle as the project progresses. You are engaged in which of the following?

A. Project selection

B. Monitoring & Controlling

C. Progressive elaboration

D. Decomposition

Answer 3

Answer: C

Explanation: Progressive elaboration is defined as moving forward in increments and adding more detail as the project progresses.

Question 4

You are managing a group of related or unrelated projects or programs and other works to achieve specific strategic business objectives and goals. You are a:

A. Program owner

B. Project manager

C. Program manager

D. Portfolio manager

Answer 4

Answer: D

Explanation: A portfolio can be generally described as a group of projects or programs and other works to achieve a specific strategic business goal. The programs may not be related other than the fact that they are helping to achieve the common strategic goal. A portfolio manager is usually assigned to manage these groups of projects, programs, and other works. Portfolio management encompasses identifying, prioritizing, authorizing, managing, and controlling the collection of projects, programs, other work, and sometimes other portfolios to achieve strategic business objectives. For example, a construction business has several business units such as retail, single and multifamily residential, and others. Collectively, all the programs, projects, and work within all of these business units make up the portfolio for this construction business.

Question 5

You took over a software development project from another project manager who just left the company. You realize that the project is in a mess as there is a lack of management control and the previous project manager managed the project without much project organization. You decided to develop specific work plans for each of the 30 work packages and soon realize that the plan would help each phase, but would not control the integration of those phases into a cohesive whole. To your surprise, you also find out that there are no clearly defined project deliverables. You are in a desperate need to organize the project as soon as you can. What will be the BEST course of action?

A. Capture lessons learned as you progress and update organizational process assets.

B. Report the poor condition of the project to management.

C. Adapt a life cycle approach to the project.

D. Develop a detailed description of project deliverables.

Answer 5

Answer: C

Explanation: Adapting a life cycle approach to effectively run the project will ensure overall control and successful completion of the deliverables. You may want to report the situation to management, but it will not really solve the issue. Capturing lessons learned will certainly assist with the subsequent phases, but would not really help with controlling the project. Developing a detailed description of the project deliverables would not improve control.

Question 6

What is the name of PMI’s organization maturity model for project management that helps to determine the level of ability of an organization to deliver the desired strategic outcomes in a reliable, controllable, and predictable manner?

A. ISO 9000

B. OPM3

C. Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM)

D. Six Sigma

Answer 6

Answer: B

Explanation: OPM3 is the PMI’s organizational project management maturity model. This model helps to determine the level of ability of an organization to deliver the desired strategic outcomes in a reliable, controllable, and predictable manner

Question 7

Success in portfolio management, which can be generally described as a group of projects or programs and other works to achieve a specific strategic business goal, is generally defined as:

A. Aggregate performance of all components (projects, programs, and other related work).

B. Control of changes to specific products and services.

C. Compliance with schedule, budget, and specifications requirements.

D. Realization of the business benefits and financial objectives.

Answer 7

Answer: A

Explanation: Portfolio management encompasses identifying, prioritizing, authorizing, managing, and controlling the collection of projects, programs, other work, and sometimes other portfolios to achieve strategic business objectives. It is generally associated with the relationships between components in the portfolio, effective resource management to protect priority components, and the aggregate results of the portfolio as they relate to strategic performance. The components may not be related other than the fact that they are helping to achieve the common strategic goal.

Question 8

Which one of the following is a strategy execution framework that keeps the entire organization focused on the overall strategy and provides guidance on how to prioritize, manage, execute, and measure projects, programs, portfolios, and other organizational work and practices to achieve a better result, improved performance, and a substantial advantage over the competitors?

A. Organizational Project Management (OPM)

B. Portfolio management

C. Program management

D. Process management

Answer 8

Answer: A

Explanation: Organizational Project Management (OPM) is a strategy execution framework that keeps the entire organization focused on the overall strategy. It provides guidance on how to prioritize, manage, execute, and measure projects, programs, portfolios, and other organizational work and practices to achieve a better result, improved performance, and a substantial advantage over the competitors. A portfolio can be generally described as a group of projects or programs and other works to achieve a specific strategic business goal. The programs may not be related other than the fact that they are helping to achieve the common strategic goal. A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to capitalize benefits and control what is not achievable by managing those projects individually. Program management is the centralized and coordinated management of a program to obtain the strategic objectives and benefits sought through the inception of the program. Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to satisfy project requirements.

Question 9

9. Which one of the following is the logical breakdown of what needs to be done to produce the project deliverables and is sometimes referred to as the performing organization’s methodology for projects?

A. Product life cycle

B. Project life cycle

C. Feedback loop

D. Product development

Answer 9

Answer: B

Explanation: The project life cycle is the logical breakdown of what needs to be done to produce the project deliverables, and sometimes it is referred to as the performing organization’s methodology for projects. On the other hand, a product life cycle consists of generally sequential, nonoverlapping product phases determined by the manufacturing and control needs of the organization. For instance, as predicted by Moore’s law, each year a microprocessor company introduces new models of processors that are faster and more powerful than their predecessors. Microprocessors that are obsolete or do not sell well are quickly retired from production. This product life cycle begins in R and D, extends to manufacturing, and finally ends with phase out.

Question 10

The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to satisfy the project needs by establishing project objectives, identifying project requirements, managing stakeholders, and balancing project constraints (i.e., cost, time, quality, scope, risk, and others) is referred to as:

A. Project management

B. Project administration

C. Project initiation

D. Project coordination

Answer 10

Answer: A

Explanation: Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to satisfy project requirements.

Question 11

All of the following are examples of Organizational Process Assets EXCEPT:

A. Organizational policies, procedures, and guidelines for any area such as safety, ethics, risk, financial, change control, reporting, and others.

B. Existing facilities and infrastructure.

C. Templates for common project documents such as WBS, network diagram, SOW, and contract.

D. Historical information and past lessons learned.

Answer 11

Answer: B

Explanation: Enterprise Environmental Factors are things that impact the project but are not part of the project itself. Existing facilities and infrastructure are Enterprise Environmental Factors.

Question 12

You are a team member working on a software application project. You realize that the project manager is choosing a project life cycle that has a predictive life cycle in which scope, schedule, and cost are determined in the early stage of the project prior to starting project work to produce the deliverables. This type of project life cycle is also known as:

A. Change-driven project life cycle

B. Adaptive project life cycle

C. Preferred project life cycle

D. Plan-driven project life cycle

Answer 12

Answer: D

Explanation: Plan-driven projects have a predictive life cycle in which scope, schedule, and cost are determined in the early stage of the project prior to starting project work to produce the deliverables. This predictive life cycle is also referred to as waterfall or traditional life cycle. For example, most construction projects are typically managed using this sort of predictive approach. A change-driven project life cycle usually has a varying level of initial planning for scope, schedule, and cost. An adaptive life cycle is a change-driven life cycle, and it is also referred to as an agile life cycle. An adaptive life cycle, as the name suggests, broadly defines the fixed scope, schedule, and cost with the clear understanding that they will be refined and adjusted as the project progresses. Preferred project life cycle is a made-up term.

Question 13

All project phases conclude with a review of the deliverables and related work (phase exits or stage gates or kill points) for the purpose of:

A. Determining if the project should continue and the next phase should be initiated.

B. Detecting defects and correcting errors.

C. Assessing project risks.

D. Enforcing formal control procedure of the project.

Answer 13

Answer: A

Explanation: At the conclusion of a project phase, the project manager and team should assess the performance of the project and determine if acceptable conditions exist to support a decision to continue or terminate the project. If the decision is to move forward with the project, then the decision is also made about whether the next phase should be initiated or not. Risk levels will vary as the project progresses, and the end of a phase is generally considered to be a good point to reassess risk. Project control procedures should be enforced throughout the project life cycle.

Question 14

You just completed a critical data center project for your organization. Currently the support team is conducting ongoing operations and maintenance to ensure that all routers, switches, firewalls, PCs, servers, and digital storage are operating as planned. A large portion of your project budget is allocated to maintenance and operations to run the data center smoothly. You will be sending out daily status updates and resolving issues but there is no need for planning or providing documentation. This ongoing operations and maintenance is extremely important to the products of your data center project and should be consider as:

A. Not a part of your project

B. An entirely separate project

C. A separate phase in your project life cycle

D. Activities in the closing process group

Answer 14

Answer: A

Explanation: Operations and maintenance are not considered to be temporary as they are ongoing. A project is always unique and temporary in nature. Thus, these activities should not be considered as a project or even part of a project.

Question 15

You have been assigned as project manager to implement a new and innovative smartphone application in a balanced matrix organizational structure. You experience difficulties in obtaining and assigning project resources in your project due to which one of the following factors?

A. The power and authority are shared between you and the functional manager, and you do not have full authority over the project and its funding.

B. Your role is like a coordinator or expeditor (communication coordinator or staff assistant).

C. You have no real authority and power.

D. The project budget is fully controlled by the functional manager.

Answer 15

Answer: A

Explanation: In a balanced matrix organization, the project manager is assigned full time, and the authority of the project manager is usually at an equal level with the functional manager. This can result in conflict regarding resource assignments and priorities and in the general management of the project. The control of the budget is shared between the project manager and the functional manager.

Question 16

You are managing a group of related or unrelated projects or programs and other works to achieve specific strategic business objectives and goals. You are a:

A. Program owner

B. Project manager

C. Program manager

D. Portfolio manager

Answer 16

Answer: D

Explanation: A portfolio can be generally described as a group of projects or programs and other works to achieve a specific strategic business goal. The programs may not be related other than the fact that they are helping to achieve the common strategic goal. A portfolio manager is usually assigned to manage these groups of projects, programs, and other works. Portfolio management encompasses identifying, prioritizing, authorizing, managing, and controlling the collection of projects, programs, other work, and sometimes other portfolios to achieve strategic business objectives. For example, a construction business has several business units such as retail, single and multifamily residential, and others. Collectively, all the programs, projects, and work within all of these business units make up the portfolio for this construction business.

Question 17

You are a member of a management team overseeing a critical construction project of constructing the tallest building in town. Your team, which is a subset of the project team, is responsible for project leadership and management activities. Which of the following statements is FALSE about your team?

A. Your team is responsible for managing people, which has been defined as being able to produce key results.

B. Your team is responsible for establishing mission and vision, aligning team members to the established direction, motivating individuals, and inspiring them.

C. Your team is responsible for project funding.

D. The management team should be aware of professional and ethical behaviors and ensure that team members are following them.

Answer 17

Answer: C

Explanation: The project sponsor usually assists with funding, not the project management team. The project management team is the subset of the project team responsible for project leadership and management activities. Project management is heavily dependent on managing people, which has been defined as being able to produce key results. On the other hand, leadership is all about establishing mission and vision, aligning team members to the established direction, motivating individuals, and inspiring them. The management team should be aware of professional and ethical behaviors and should ensure that team members are following them.

Question 18

A project manager overseeing a data center deployment project just completed negotiation unsuccessfully for three additional resources and extra reserve money for her project. During the negotiation, two of the functional managers were very skeptical about the request for additional resources and were reluctant to assign their resources due to other priorities. In this case, the conflict will require the assistance of which of the following to reach a solution?

A. Functional manager

B. Contractor

C. Project sponsor

D. Key customer

Answer 18

Answer: C

Explanation: Customers and contractors should not be allowed to be involved in internal resource-related disputes in most cases. All efforts should be given to resolve the conflicts at the lowest levels or authority whenever possible. In some cases, conflict requires the involvement of the project sponsor or senior management, especially when there is a major concern regarding resource assignments.

Question 19

A project manager is overseeing a complex custom CSM solution that has rigorous quality standards and tight schedule constraints. Since the project manager is working in a weak matrix environment, none of the resources are reporting to her functionally. She also does not have either the power or the budget to reward the team members to encourage and motivate them for their performance and contribution to the project. What kind of power should the project manager try to use in this type of situation?

A. Formal

B. Punishment

C. Referent

D. Expert

Answer 19

Answer: D

Explanation: Reward and Expert are the most effective forms of power, and Punishment/Penalty/Coercive should be used as the last resort only after all other forms have been exhausted. Since the project manager has no power or budget to reward the team members, she should use her expert power in this situation.

Question 20

You were asked by management to identify the root cause behind a project not performing well in your organization. You find out that the project manager is hardly in contact with the team members and often places one of his team members in charge for days at a time. The project manager also allows the team members to act as per their preferences and only gets involved with them if requested. This style of management is generally considered to be:

A. Delegating

B. Democratic or participative

C. Bureaucratic

D. Laissez-Faire

Answer 20

Answer: D

Explanation: A manager with a “hands-off” attitude toward the project is considered “Laissez-Faire.” With this style, management is not directly involved but manages and consults as required. This French term means “allow to act” or “leave alone.”

Question 21

You just got hired as a project manager in a software development project. What type of power can you use to gain the cooperation of others?

A. Punishment

B. Guilt-based

C. Pressure-based

D. Formal

Answer 21

Answer: D

Explanation: Reward and Expert are the most effective forms of power. Since you just hired, people may not know that you are an expert. Formal power is the only logical answer as the reward or expert power is not the option here.

Question 22

You have 13 team members in your automation project. One of your team members is not performing as he is missing general job skills. Training of team members in general job skills is the responsibility of the:

A. Project manager

B. Functional manager

C. Training director

D. Sponsor

Answer 22

Answer: B

Explanation: The project manager is responsible for making sure that the team is getting training on project specific skills and on the other hand, the functional manager is responsible for training in general job skills.

Question 23

A project manager is expected to use all kinds of ethical, interpersonal, managerial, and conceptual skills to analyze various situation and interact appropriately. Steve is a project manager for a project that is not going well. The project has a CPI of .83 and SPI of .78. The team members are not motivated and avoiding responsibilities whenever they can. Steve is trying to maintain his cool and be composed no matter what level of pressure he is under. Which of the following quality Steve mostly using in the situation?

A. Team building

B. Problem solving

C. Composure

D. Competence

Answer 23

Answer: C

Explanation: Steve has the composure quality as he can control his temper in kind of frustrating situations.

Question 24

24. Roger is very sensitive to ideas, customs, norms, believes, values, and social behavior of other cultures. What kind of personality does Roger have?

A. Courteous

B. Cultural

C. Emotional

D. Political

Answer 24

Answer: B

Explanation: Roger has a cultural personality as he is respectful to all kind of cultures. A courteous person is polite and considerate who applies appropriate behaviors and good manners. An emotional person is good at recognizing emotions. A political person has the ability to understand the significance of organizational politics and demonstrates political intelligence.

Question 25

Amenda is transformational, consultative, participative, and innovative and doesn’t mind taking risks but Michael is dictatorial, authoritative, and administrative and likes to control risks. Which of the following statement is true? A. Amenda is a manager and Michael is a leader B. Amenda is a leader and Michael is a manager C. Both of them are leaders D. Both of them are managers

Answer 25

Answer: B Explanation: A leader’s styles are transformational, consultative, participative, and innovative whereas a manager’s styles are dictatorial, authoritative, transactional, autocratic, consultative, democratic, and administrative. A leader takes risks but a manager likes to control risks.

Question 26

Which statement is FALSE regarding the Initiating Process Group? A. Cost and staffing start low, increase toward the end, and drop rapidly near closing. B. Project risk is highest at the beginning of the project and reduces as the project approaches its end. C. Stakeholder influence is highest at the start and diminishes as the project proceeds. D. The project manager and team are always identified as part of the Initiating Process Group.

Answer 26

Answer: D Explanation: The project manager is assigned during project initiating, but some of the team members will be acquired during Executing Process Group.

Question 27

All of the following will occur during project initiating EXCEPT: A. Creation of a Project Scope Statement. B. Identification of internal and external stakeholders. C. Development and review of the business case and a feasibility study. D. Assignment of the project manager to lead a project.

Answer 27

Answer: A Explanation: The project scope statement is an output of the Define Scope process and is part of the Planning Process Group.

Question 28

Which of the following will occur only during the Planning Process Group? A. Identify Stakeholders B. Develop Schedule C. Acquire Resources D. Validate Scope

Answer 28

Answer: B Explanation: Only Develop Schedule will occur during the Planning Process Group. Identify stakeholders occurs during initiating, Acquire Resources occurs during Executing, and validate Scope occurs during Monitoring & Controlling.

Question 29

Which of the following process groups consists of the processes to complete the work defined in the Project Management Plan and ultimately satisfies the project specifications and objectives? A. Planning Process Group B. Executing Process Group C. Initiating Process group D. Closing Process Group

Answer 29

Answer: B Explanation: The Executing Process Group is intended to ensure that the work defined in the project plan is performed.

Question 30

A Knowledge Area represents a complete set of activities, concepts, and terms that make up an area of specialization, project management field, or professional field. Each project management Knowledge Area is subdivided into which of the following? A. Best practices B. Policies C. Processes D. Guidelines

Answer 30

Answer: C Explanation: Each Project Management Knowledge Area is subdivided into specific processes, each of which is characterized by its inputs, tools & techniques, and outputs.

Question 31

All of the following should be done during the Closing Process Group EXCEPT: A. Formal sign-off and formal acceptance are received from the customers. B. Customer acceptance criteria are determined. C. Final versions of the lessons learned are compiled and made available for future projects. D. Completed project deliverables are handed off to operations and maintenance.

Answer 31

Answer: B Explanation: Customer acceptance criteria are determined during Initiating Process Group.

Question 32

In which process group does the team track, measure, inspect, monitor, verify, review, compare, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; ensure that the plan is working; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes? A. Monitoring & Controlling B. Closing C. Initiating D. Executing

Answer 32

Answer: A Explanation: During the Monitoring & Controlling Process Group, project performance is measured and analyzed, and needed changes are identified and approved.

Question 33

You are overseeing a project for your organization to implement a web-based application for accessing pay and tax information online. Currently, you are in the process of implementing approved changes, corrective actions, preventive actions, and defect repairs in the project. You are in which of the following process groups? A. Executing B. Monitoring & Controlling C. Planning D. Closing

Answer 33

Answer: A Explanation: Usually a project will enter the Executing Process Group when the planning is completed or the project management plan has been updated due to change requests, including defect repairs and corrective and preventive actions. The Executing Process Group involves coordinating people and resources as well as integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project management plan. These approved change requests for corrective actions, preventive actions, and defect repairs are implemented in the Executing Process Group.

Question 34

Which one of the following statements is FALSE about the Executing Process Group? A. This process group usually takes the most time and resources. B. The processes in this process group measure and analyze the progress and performance of the project, ensure that the plan is working, identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required, and initiate the corresponding changes. C. Corrective actions, preventive actions, and defect repairs are implemented in this process group. D. This process group consists of processes to complete the work defined in the project management plan and ultimately satisfies the project specifications and objectives.

Answer 34

Answer: B Explanation: The processes in the Monitoring & Controlling Process Group track, measure, inspect, monitor, verify, review, compare, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; ensure that the plan is working; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.

Question 35

The sponsor has just signed the project charter and assigned you as a project manager to oversee a project to implement a simulator for a local golf club. What should you do FIRST as the project manager? A. Focus on identifying and classifying the stakeholders in the project. B. Start working on the Project Management Plan. C. Develop the project schedule D. Create the WBS.

Answer 35

Answer: A Explanation: The Project Charter is created and the project manager is assigned during the Initiating Process Group. Stakeholder identification is also started during initiating and carried on throughout the project life cycle. It is essential to classify stakeholders according to their level of interest, influence, importance, and expectation at the early stage of the project as much as possible. Prior to jumping on planning, creating the WBS, and developing the project schedule, the project manager should focus on identifying and classifying the internal and external stakeholders in the project.

Question 36

You have been assigned to manage a project to design a new type of vinyl-based resilient floor material. You came up with a few orders of magnitude estimates, high-level risks, constraints, and assumptions for the project. What project Management Process Group are you in? A. Monitoring & Controlling B. Closing C. Initiating D. Planning

Answer 36

Answer: C Explanation: High-level risks, constraints, and assumptions are identified in the Project Charter, which is created during project Initiating. Usually, orders of magnitude estimates are done during the Initiating Process Group when not much information is available about the project.

Question 37

Which one of the following process groups consists of iterative and ongoing processes to establish the total scope of effort, to define the objectives, and to identify the course of action required to attain those objectives? A. Planning B. Executing C. Initiating D. Monitoring & Controlling

Answer 37

Answer: A Explanation: The Planning Process Group consists of iterative and ongoing processes to establish the total scope of effort to define the objectives and to identify the course of action required to attain those objectives.

Question 38

Which of the following process groups serve as inputs to each other? A. Initiating, Planning B. Initiating, Executing C. Executing, Monitoring & Controlling D. Monitoring & Controlling, Closing

Answer 38

Answer: C Explanation: The Executing Process Group and the Monitoring & Controlling Process Group serve as inputs to each other. The Planning Process Group and the Executing Process Group also feed each other.

Question 39

You are overseeing a construction project to construct a new fitness center at a local university. Currently, the team is working on collecting requirements and establishing estimates for the project. Which process group are you in? A. Initiating B. Executing C. Monitoring & Controlling D. Planning

Answer 39

Answer: D Explanation: Requirements are collected from the customers and other stakeholders, and estimates on time, cost, resources, and other things are made during the Planning Process Group.

Question 40

Which one of the following is not an outcome when a project is initiated properly in the Initiating Process Group? A. Authorizing the project manager to manage the project B. Defining the scope of the project C. Identifying the key stakeholders D. Understanding the goal, objective, and business need of the project

Answer 40

Answer: B Explanation: Detailed Project Scope will be defined during the Planning Process Group. The success of subsequent processes and activities greatly depends on the way a project is initiated. If a project is initiated properly, it would have a clear business need and feasibility, a clear goal, objective reasons for selecting this project over other possibilities, a clear direction for the scope, a project manager assigned, and a list of stakeholders for the project. On the other hand, if a project is not initiated properly, it could result in limited or a total lack of authority for the project manager as well as ambiguous goals or uncertainties as to why the project was initiated.

Question 41

You recently took over a project in the middle of executing from another project manager who left the organization. You became extremely worried to find out that a substantial amount of new change requests are coming from your key stakeholders, customers, and even from your manager. You are anxious that the changes will drastically increase the cost and time of the project, and you are not sure about how to process these incoming change requests. What should you refer to for any kind of help in this situation? A. The previous project manager who can provide guidance and relevant information B. The project charter to find out the key success criteria from the stakeholders C. The project requirements document to know more about the project requirements D. The Project Management Plan

Answer 41

Answer: D Explanation: Only the Project Management Plan contains the details about how to process, monitor, and control changes in a project.

Question 42

John, the project manager, is in the process of Develop Project Charter to develop a document to formally authorize a project or a phase and identify the business objectives and needs, current understanding of the stakeholders’ expectations, and the new product, service, or result that it is intended to satisfy. Which one of the following is NOT an input to this Develop Project Charter process? A. Enterprise Environmental Factors B. Business Documents – Business Case and Benefits Management Plan C. Agreements D. Project Management Plan

Answer 42

Answer: D Explanation: The Project Management Plan is developed later in the Develop Project Management Plan process, not in the Develop Project Charter process.

Question 43

Which one of the following is FALSE about change management in a project? A. “Influencing the factors that affect change” means determining the source of changes and fixing the root causes. B. Whenever there is a change request, the project manager should evaluate the impact on project objectives such as scope, time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and other factors. C. The project manager should make all the effort to prevent unnecessary changes in the project. D. The project manager should make the change happen as soon as possible to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Answer 43

Answer: D Explanation: The project manager should not implement any change request prior to evaluating the impact of the change and receiving approval from the Change Control Board.

Question 44

Your manager mentioned to you that the present value of a project is $350,000 and asked you to find out the future value that the project will have four years from now if the expected interest rate is 8 percent. What is the future value in this case? A. $350,000 B. $400,000 C. $476,000 D. $257,352

Answer 44

Answer: C Explanation: We know PV = FV/ (1 + r) n , FV = future value, r = interest rate, n = number of time periods. We can say that FV = PV ∗(1 + r) n. Thus, FV = $350,000 * (1+ .08) 4 = $350,000 *(1.08) 4 =$350,000 * 1.36 = $476,000

Question 45

Which one of the following statements is NOT true about the Project Management Plan? A. It is a single-approved document that defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed. B. It is developed through a series of integrated processes. C. It is progressively elaborated by updates and controlled and approved through the Perform Integrated Change Control process. D. It provides project inputs, tools & techniques, and outputs to be used on the project for the purpose of managing the product of the project.

Answer 45

Answer: D Explanation: The Project Management Plan, developed through a series of integrated processes, is a single-approved document that defines how the project is executed, how it is monitored and controlled, and how it is closed. Generally, the project plan is considered to be a guide that is expected to change throughout the project life cycle, and any such change should be controlled and approved through the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

Question 46

You are a technical specialist and domain expert working on an IT project to implement a new console video game. There is a change control process in place, and the project scope is already signed off by the sponsor and key stakeholders. While having a casual conversation with one of the stakeholders, you realize that a simple change in the design will add a great feature to the project. Since there is no visible impact, you made the change to the project without informing the project manager. What kind of reaction should you expect from the project manager? A. The project manager should simply ignore the change since it had no visible impact. B. You should be informed that your action was inconsistent with the change management plan, and this kind of unauthorized action should not be repeated again. C. The project manager should get the customer sign-off on the implemented change. D. You should be recognized for exceeding customer expectations without affecting the project cost or schedule.

Answer 46

Answer: B Explanation: It may seem like there is no visible impact on time and cost for a minor change, but it can result in significant scope creep and may impact other project constraints such as risk, customer satisfaction, quality, and other things. The change control process should be followed by everyone on the project team. A team member should consult with the project manager prior to making a design change to evaluate the possible impact on all the different constraints.

Question 47

You are approaching the end of your project and have been asked to release the resources so that they can be assigned to other projects. Before releasing the resources, you want to make sure that you have completed the necessary actions. Which of the following is the correct order of actions that you take during the closing process? A. Get formal acceptance, write lessons learned, release the team, and close the contract. B. Get formal acceptance, release the team, write lessons learned, and close the contract. C. Write lessons learned, release the team, get formal acceptance, and close the contract. D. Release the team, get formal acceptance, close the contract, and write lessons learned.

Answer 47

Answer: A Explanation: You should not release the team until the lessons learned are documented and added to the organizational process assets, as you need the team’s help with the lessons learned. Most contracts have payment terms that allow for some period of time before full payment is required; thus, the last thing you do on the project is close the contract.

Question 48

While overseeing the implementation of a new computer infrastructure at the local hospital, you notice that a substantial amount of change requests have originated from one single key stakeholder. The stakeholder is also insisting that all of his requests should be implemented as soon as possible. What will be your BEST course of action? A. Ask the sponsor to have a discussion with the key stakeholder and ask him not to request so many changes to the project. B. Call the stakeholder and request him not to send any more change requests. C. Have a meeting with the stakeholder to review the change process in the project and determine the causes of his changes. D. Assign a team member to work solely with the stakeholder to understand his needs and expectations.

Answer 48

Answer: C Explanation: The most appropriate action is to ensure that the stakeholder fully understands the project scope of work and the change control process. It is also very important to identify the root causes of his changes. You should have a meeting with the stakeholder first and get all the details prior to meeting with the sponsor about your concern.

Question 49

Which one of the following statements is FALSE about the Project Management Information System (PMIS)? A. It is incorporated as part of the Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) to several processes since it is part of the environment in which the project is performed. B. It is an automated system that can serve as a repository for information and a tool to assist with communication and with tracking documents and deliverables. C. It consists of the data sources and the tools & techniques used to gather, integrate, analyze, and disseminate the results of the combined outputs of the project management processes. D. It defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed

Answer 49

Answer: D Explanation: The Project Management Plan, not the Project Management Information System defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed. The Project Management Information System, which can be electronic or manual, is used to track project information and performance. Such information kept by these systems can include the tracking of time worked, project costs, and other factors that would be communicated to project stakeholders.

Question 50

Ashley is overseeing an IT project to implement a payroll system for a local doctor’s office. The project has twelve team members and nine stakeholders, and it is supposed to be completed in six months. Ashley was unaware that a modification request to the product specifications by one of the stakeholders was immediately implemented by the project team. During the final testing, Ashley was surprised to find out that there was a major variance between the actual test results and the planned results. Which one of the following is a contribution to this kind of adverse consequence? A. Poor Quality Management Plan B. Lack of commitment to the change control process C. Poor definition of the test plan D. Lack of adherence to the communication plan

Answer 50

Answer: B Explanation: There is no indication that there is anything wrong with the quality plan, test plan, or communication plan. The change control process was not properly followed in this case. Failure to follow the agreed-upon change control processes may create adverse risk situations and jeopardize the entire project.

Question 51

You have just been assigned as a project manager to implement a web-based accounting software for one of your clients. You have chosen a specific change-driven product development life cycle for the implementation of your project. As you are expecting many changes during the course of the project, you want to establish a robust configuration management system to describe the different versions and characteristics of the product, service, or result of the project and to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the description. Which of the following statements is FALSE about configuration management? A. It includes configuration identification, configuration status accounting, and configuration verification and audit B. It focuses on establishing and maintaining consistency of a product’s requirements C. It compares the actual project performance against the project management plan and determines whether any corrective or preventive actions are required D. Its purpose is to maintain integrity of the work product.

Answer 51

Answer: C Explanation: Comparing the actual project performance against the Project Management Plan and determine whether any corrective or preventive actions are required is done as a part of the Monitor and Control Project Work process. All the other statements are true regarding the configuration management process.

Question 52

You just received a change request from the customer, which will require an additional $2,000 and will also delay the project by two weeks. The customer mentioned that they were OK with the delay and were willing to pay for the extra amount as the new change will drastically improve their business automation. As per your organizational policy, you are supposed to get the project office’s approval for any change that will extend the project duration by more than a week. What should you do in this situation? A. Discuss the change with the project office. B. Do not allow the change since it would extend the project duration by more than one week. C. Allow the change and ask the team member to implement it since it will drastically help the customer and the customer is paying for the change anyway D. Advise the customer to take the change request to the project office and explain to them the importance of the change and his/her willingness to pay for it

Answer 52

Answer: A Explanation: Any kind of organizational policy, process, or guideline must be followed, and the project manager should discuss the change request with the project office. The project manager simply should not approve or deny a change request as the Change Control Board (CCB) is responsible for approving or denying a change request after evaluating it. The customer should not do the project manager’s job and take the change request to the project office.

Question 53

The Project Management Information System (PMIS), such as any automated system that can be utilized during the Direct and Manage Project Work process, will include all of the following EXCEPT: A. A tool & technique to identify the internal and external stakeholders. B. An information collection and distribution system. C. A configuration management system. D. A scheduling software tool.

Answer 53

Answer: A Explanation: Stakeholder identification is a continuous, complex, and manual process carried on by the project manager and the team members throughout the project. The Project Management Information System (PMIS) can be used for collecting and distributing information; describing the different versions and characteristics of the product, service, or result (Configuration Management System); and scheduling.

Question 54

One of your colleagues recently took over a project and expressed her concern to you about the new changes that may be streaming in from various sources. What is the best piece of advice you can offer her regarding changes and where she should devote most of her attention? A. Implementing changes as accurately as possible B. Tracking and recording all changes as accurately as possible C. Preventing unnecessary changes in the project as much as possible D. Informing the sponsor about all changes

Answer 54

Answer: C Explanation: The project manager should be focusing on all of these options, but he/she should be very proactive and always try to prevent the unnecessary changes as much as possible.

Question 55

Which one of the following is a subset of the Project Management Information System (PMIS) that describes the different versions and characteristics of the product, service, or result of the project and ensures accuracy and completeness of the description? A. Quality Control B. Configuration Management C. Scope Change Control D. Product Change Control

Answer 55

Answer: B Explanation: Configuration management system is a subset of the Project Management Information System (PMIS) and is specifically associated with changes to features, functions, and physical characteristics of a product or deliverable.

Question 56

You have been assigned as the project manager for a web-based application project to automate the sales and marketing processes for one of your clients. You have decided to utilize a Data Gathering Technique to identify the project and product requirements during the Collect Requirements process. All of the following are valid group creativity techniques EXCEPT: A. Focus Groups B. Brainstorming C. Questionnaires and Surveys D. Tornado Diagram

Answer 56

Answer: D Explanation: A Tornado diagram is not a component of the Group Creativity technique. It is mostly used during the Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis process to display the sensitivity analysis data in order to determine which risks have the most potential impact on a project. This diagram can be used to determine sensitivity in cost, time, and quality objectives and will be helpful to determine a detailed response plan for the elements with greater impacts.

Question 57

The Project Scope Statement that describes project deliverables and the work required to create them in detail, enables the project team to perform more detailed planning, guides the project team’s work during execution, and provides the baseline for evaluating changes includes all of the following EXCEPT: A. Detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B. Project constraints C. Project deliverables D. Product acceptance criteria

Answer 57

Answer: A Explanation: The detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is developed after the Project Scope Statement has been defined and accepted. The scope baseline consists of the Project Scope Statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary.

Question 58

Which one of the following are the unapproved and undocumented changes and what occurs when changes to the scope are not detected early enough or are not managed? A. Scope baseline B. Residual risks C. Scope creeps D. Variances

Answer 58

Answer: C Explanation: Scope creeps are the unapproved and undocumented changes, and they occur when changes to the scope are not detected early enough or managed. All these minor changes slowly add up and may have drastic impact on budget, schedule, and quality.

Question 59

You are the project manager for a cashier system project to produce cashier applications and software for the retail industry. You have recently discovered that one of your key competitors is also working on a similar project, but their new applications will include a computer-aided program and a web-based interface that your project does not offer. You have implemented a change request to update your project in order to include these exciting missing features. This is an example of which of the following? A. A change due to an error and omission in the business case B. A change due to a legal requirement and constraint C. A change due to an error or omission in the planning phase D. A change due to an external event

Answer 59

Answer: D Explanation: This is a change due to an external event mainly to remain competitive. The features that the competitors are offering were not included in the scope of the project; thus, they were never discussed during the initiation or planning phases. Due to the risk of losing a potential market, the project manager decided to include them in the project. Also, there was no legal requirement or constraint to include the missing features in this case.

Question 60

While trying to obtain the formal acceptance of the completed project scope and associated deliverables, with whom should the project manager validate the product? A. The sponsor, key stakeholders, and customers B. The customers C. The quality control team members D. The change control board members

Answer 60

Answer: A Explanation: The project manager should get the approval from the sponsor, key stakeholders, and the customers.

Question 61

The Scope Baseline, which consists of the Project Scope Statement, the WBS, and the WBS dictionary, is used as an input in all of the following processes EXCEPT: A. Determine Budget process B. Plan Procurement Management process C. Define Activities process D. Develop Team

Answer 61

Answer: D Explanation: Except for the Develop Team process, scope baseline is used as an input in all of the listed processes.

Question 62

Determining if the project scope has been completed by describing project deliverables and the work required to create them in detail, enabling the project team to perform more detailed planning, guiding the project team’s work during execution, providing the baseline for evaluating changes, and other factors relies mostly upon the use of: A. Statement of work B. Project plan C. Project charter D. Project Scope Statement

Answer 62

Answer: D Explanation: The statement of work generally precedes a contract and provides a narrative description of work to be completed. The project plan is derived from the Project Scope Statement. Once a project is selected or a contract is signed to perform a project, a project charter is created to formally authorize a project or a phase but is not a detailed plan. The scope statement answers the questions of what, why, who, where, and how and in combination with the work breakdown structure provides a detailed description of what must be accomplished.

Question 63

You are working as a project manager for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application to automate the accounting and financial processes for one of your key customers. Due to a mismatch with the customer’s requirement, you have been forced to redesign one of the major components. This is a significant setback since a substantial amount of code that has already been developed will have to be recoded to match the updated design. This rework has caused huge expenses, and you noticed a sign of extremely low morale among team members. Which of the following is TRUE in this situation? A. The team discovered this issue as a result of the Identify Risks process. B. The team did a poor job while creating the WBS. C. This problem was a result of poor scope definition D. The team carried on a rigorous Control Quality process and discovered the issue.

Answer 63

Answer: C Explanation: This problem was a direct result of scope misunderstanding due to poor scope definition. Obviously, the team did not utilize all the tools & techniques to collect requirements from the customers and also did not spend quality time defining and developing a detailed description of the project and product.

Question 64

While overseeing a construction project, you discovered that one of the team members, on her own initiative, added extra windows to increase air circulation and light in the basement. The original plan did not include the cost of these extra windows, but the team member thought they were absolutely required due to poor air circulation and low light in the basement. This is an example of which of the following? A. Value-added change B. Self-motivated team member C. Team member exceeding expectations D. Inefficient change control

Answer 64

Answer: D Explanation: This is an example of inefficient change control as the team should be focused on “all the work” and “only the work” needed to complete the project, not extra. The key objective should be to complete the project with the agreed- upon deliverables in time, with quality, and within budget. This kind of “gold plating” increases risk and uncertainties and introduces problems into the project and should be monitored and controlled by the project manager.

Question 65

After a major milestone release, some of the key stakeholders are not happy and complain that their requirements are not met. The project manager should have involved them in which of the following processes to ensure their approval for the release? A. Project Management Plan Development B. Identifying Constraints C. Validate Scope D. Schedule Management

Answer 65

Answer: C Explanation: Validate Scope is the process of formal acceptance of completed project scope and deliverables by stakeholders through a signature on paper or via an e-mail that specifically states project approval. Prior scope validation would have avoided the dissatisfaction of stakeholders after the milestone release.

Question 66

Which one of the following mostly includes the product acceptance criteria that outline requirements a project must meet before stakeholders accept the final product or service? A. Quality Management Plan B. Project Scope Statement C. Scope Management Plan D. Requirements Management Plan

Answer 66

Answer: B Explanation: The Project Scope Statement documents the characteristics and boundaries of the project and its associated products, results, and services in addition to the acceptance criteria.

Question 67

ITPro Consultancy, LLC has been offering cable TV, Internet, and phone services to its East Coast customers for almost five years now. Recently, they have initiated a project to introduce their service to the West Coast and have assigned a project manager. The project manager left the company, and you took over the project, as per the instruction of the CEO, when the project is almost ready to enter in execution. While reviewing the existing documents, you discovered that the team had done a great job in developing the requirements document and the Project Scope Statement, but there was no WBS. What should you do FIRST in this situation? A. Immediately inform management and provide them with relevant oversight. B. Politely request to be excused from the project. C. You should not enter execution until the WBS is created for the project. D. You should refer to the WBS dictionary for the required detail needed to continue to execution.

Answer 67

Answer: C Explanation: You should inform management and provide relevant oversight, but doing so will not resolve the issue immediately. You can refuse to manage a project in case there is a conflict of interest or an ethical concern but not in this kind of situation. A WBS dictionary is the detail of the work packages, so a WBS should be created first. You should always have a WBS since it is the foundational block to the initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing phases. Creating the WBS should not be a lengthy process that will require a long time; thus, you should take the time to create it prior to entering the execution.

Question 68

While discussing the scope in your project with the stakeholders and team members, you realized that all of the following statements are TRUE about scope EXCEPT: A. Product scope describes the features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result. B. Project Scope Management includes the processes concerned with “all the work” and “only the work” required to successfully deliver to the stakeholders’ expectations, manage changes, minimize surprises, and gain acceptance of the product in order to complete the project. C. Project scope describes work needed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions. D. The project team should go above and beyond the defined scope and impress the customers by implementing extra features that will be beneficial for them.

Answer 68

Answer: D Explanation: The project team should be concerned with “all the work” and “only the work” required to successfully complete the project and try to avoid extra work or gold plating in every way possible.

Question 69

Which one of the following is NOT true about the Define Scope process? A. It is the process of developing a comprehensive, detailed description of the project and product. B. Data Analysis is used as a tool & technique in this process. C. The requirements document is the key output in this process. D. A detailed Project Scope Statement that is created in this process is critical to project success and builds upon the additional analysis of requirements, major deliverables, assumptions, constraints, and other factors that are documented earlier in the project.

Answer 69

Answer: C Explanation: The requirements document is the output in the Collect Requirements process, not in the Define Scope process.

Question 70

You have been assigned as the project manager for a web-based application project to automate the recruiting process for one of your clients. You have decided to utilize a Voting Technique to generate, classify, prioritize, and drive decisions forward. All of the following are valid Voting techniques EXCEPT: A. The decision is based on the most influential block in a group even if a majority is not achieved. B. The decision is based on a single course of action decided by everyone in the group. C. The decision is based on the support from more than 50 percent of the members of the group. D. The decision is based on the largest block in a group even if a majority is not achieved.

Answer 70

Answer: A Explanation: The decision may be based on the largest block, not the most influential block in a group even if a majority is not achieved.

Question 71

One of your team members working on the project informed you that a work package will most likely require ten weeks to complete. In the best-case scenario, if everything goes well and there are no surprises, it will take eight weeks. Since he is involved in more than two projects and has several pending deliverables, this specific work package may take eighteen weeks to complete. Based on this information, what is the range of the work package? A. Eleven weeks to twelve weeks B. Eight weeks to ten weeks C. 9.34 weeks to 12.66 weeks D. Ten weeks to eighteen weeks

Answer 71

Answer: C Explanation: PERT allows the estimator to include three estimates: optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely, given by the equation: Expected Activity Duration (EAD) – Beta distribution = (O + M + P) / 6 = (8 + 4*10 + 18) / 6 = 11 weeks STD Dev = (P – O) / 6 = (18 – 8) / 6 = 1.66 Range = EAD – / + Std Dev Thus, the range is 11 – / + 1.66 = 9.34 to 12.66

Question 72

Your project sponsor is extremely disappointed with the project as it is over budget by $15,000 and also behind schedule by several weeks. The sponsor has asked you to take care of the situation immediately and do whatever it takes. While exploring different options to shorten the project duration, you decide to put some of the noncritical activities on hold so that some of the resources working on these activities can be assigned to the activities with the most schedule risk. You also asked for a couple of additional external resources to be added to the project. The sponsor agrees to pay the additional cost since time is now a critical factor. This is an example of which of the following? A. Crashing B. Fast-tracking C. Critical chain method D. Resource leveling

Answer 72

Answer: A Explanation: The best option here is to add additional resources to the project activities on the critical path to complete them quickly. Fast- tracking is the technique of doing critical path activities in parallel when they were originally planned in series. Resource leveling is used to produce a resource-limited schedule by letting the schedule slip and cost increase in order to deal with a limited amount of resources, resource availability, and other resource constraints. The critical chain method is another way to develop an approved, realistic, and resource-limited formal schedule. It provides a way to view and manage uncertainty when building the project schedule.

Question 73

A project manager is in the Sequence Activities process of identifying and documenting relationships among defined activities and arranging them in the order they must be performed. While in this process, the project manager decided to utilize a software tool to create a Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) network diagram. This network diagram creates a schematic display of the sequential and logical relationships, dependencies, and the order in which activities in a project must be performed. The project manager also added the duration of each activity in the network diagram to calculate the critical path. Which one of the following is FALSE about the critical path? A. It is the longest duration path through a network diagram B. It determines the shortest time to complete the project. C. The activities on the critical path represent the highest schedule risk in the project. D. The activities on the critical path represent critical functionality.

Answer 73

Answer: D Explanation: The activities on the critical path do not necessarily represent the critical functionalities in the project. The critical path is the longest duration path in the network diagram, and this duration is the shortest time needed to complete the project. The activities on the critical path have no buffer, and any delay in the critical path activities will delay the project; thus, the critical path activities represent the highest schedule risk.

Question 74

While reviewing your project resource histogram, you notice several peaks and valleys, as resources are not evenly distributed in your project. In order to evenly utilize resources as much as possible, you decide to move some activities from the week when you are using a lot of resources to the week when you are hardly using any. Which technique are you using in this case? A. Resource leveling B. Overtime C. Schedule compression D. Schedule control

Answer 74

Answer: A Explanation: Resource leveling is used to produce a resource-limited schedule by letting the schedule slip and cost increase in order to deal with a limited amount of resources, resource availability, and other resource constraints. It can be used when shared or critically required resources are only available at certain times, are in limited quantities, or when resources have been over allocated. We may have several peaks and valleys in our resource histogram. In order to level the resources, evenly utilize them as much as possible, or to keep resource usage at a constant level, we can move some of our activities from the week when we are using a lot of resources to the week when we are hardly using any.

Question 75

Which one of the following takes the progressive elaboration approach and plans the work in the near term in detail and future work in a higher level? A. Scope definition B. Rolling wave planning C. Decomposition D. SWOT analysis

Answer 75

Answer: B Explanation: The rolling wave planning takes the progressive elaboration approach and plans the work in the near term in detail and future work in a higher level. During the early strategic planning phase, work packages may be decomposed into less-defined milestone levels since all details are not available, and later they are decomposed into detailed activities. This kind of planning is usually used in IT and research projects but is very unlikely in construction projects where any unknowns are extremely expensive and destructive.

Question 76

Your team just finished the design activities for a software development project. You have ordered a server and a couple of PCs to set up the development environment and are waiting for the vendor to deliver to you so that the team can start the development work. The vendor informs you that it will take twelve days for the equipment delivery, set up, and configuration. The twelve days waiting time can be defined as: A. Mandatory dependency B. Lag C. Lead D. Internal dependency

Answer 76

Answer: B Explanation: A lag is an inserted waiting time between activities.

Question 77

Which one of the following estimating techniques uses mathematical models based on historical records from other projects and can produce higher levels of accuracy? A. One-point estimating B. Analogous estimating C. Parametric estimating D. Three-points estimating

Answer 77

Answer: C Explanation: This estimate uses mathematical models based on historical records from other projects. It utilizes the statistical relationship that exists between a series of historical data and a particular delineated list of other variables. Depending upon the quality of the underlying data, this estimate can produce higher levels of accuracy and can be used in conjunction with other estimates to provide estimates for the entire project or for specific segments of the project. Measures such as time per line of code, time per installation, and time per linear meter are considered in this type of estimate.

Question 78

One of your team members is always late completing his deliverables. In order to help him out with proper planning for his activities, you like to explore different options with him. You asked the team member to send you information about the total float and free float for all of his activities if there is any. How does free float differ from total float? A. Total float and free float are the same thing. B. Free float affects only the early start of the successor activities. C. Total float is the accumulated amount of free float. D. Subtracting the total float from the critical path duration will give the free float.

Answer 78

Answer: B Explanation: Total float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the project completion date. Free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the early start of its successor.

Question 79

You are managing a project that has the following activities: Your sponsor is very disappointed that the project is taking longer than he expected and asked you to shorten the project duration by at least two weeks. You decided to shorten Activity A first as it is not a very critical activity in the project and has the longest duration. What will be the impact of your decision? A. It will not shorten the duration of the project. B. It will shorten the duration of the project. C. It will create a new critical path. D. The project duration will be eighteen weeks now.

Answer 79

Answer: A Explanation: Shortening Activity A will have no impact on the project duration as it is not on the critical path. We have three paths here: Start, A, C, E, End = 16 wks Start, B, D, F, End = 15 wks Start, B, D, E, End = 20 wks We should not always look for the activity with the longest duration to cut as it will not shorten the duration of the project if the activity is not on the critical path. Shortening Activity A will not shorten the project duration as it is not on the critical path, and neither will a new critical path be created. To shorten the project duration, we should always try to shorten the duration of the activities on the critical path. Here the critical path is Start, B, D, E, End, which has a duration of twenty weeks. We can explore the option to shorten the duration of Activities B, D or E, but it is better to go for the first activity and shorten the duration of Activity B.

Question 80

A project manager is managing a web-based application project to automate the accounting processes of his organization. The project has an estimated budget of $120,000 and a duration of nine months. While reviewing the project, the project manager notices that activities were scheduled in sequential order but coding work was initiated twelve days earlier than planned. What type of relationship represents the start of the coding work to the completion of the design work? A. Finish-to-start relationship with a twelve-day lag B. Finish-to-start relationship with a twelve-day lead C. Start-to-finish with a twelve-day lag D. Start-to-finish with a twelve-day lead

Answer 80

Answer: B Explanation: A lead is an acceleration of the successor activity, or in other words, a successor activity getting a jump start. A lead may be added to start an activity before the predecessor activity is completed. There is a finish-to-start relationship between the design and coding, meaning that design work should be completed prior to starting coding. But in this case, coding work had a jump start as it was initiated twelve days before the design was completed. This can be shown as a finish-to-start relationship with twelve days lead.

Question 81

While working with your team members on activity sequencing, a team member identifies that even though a series of activities are planned to be completed in a specific sequence, they can be performed in parallel. What type of activity sequencing method may be utilized in this situation? A. Critical path B. Resource leveling method C. Monte Carlo simulation D. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

Answer 81

Answer: D Explanation: The precedence diagramming method creates a schematic display of the sequential and logical relationships of the project activities. Usually, it shows dependencies and the order in which activities in a project must be performed. Critical path is not a diagramming method.

Question 82

You are the project manager overseeing the implementation of a new computer infrastructure at the local hospital. Your sponsor has informed you that all the existing applications must work in the new infrastructure, and the project should be completed in three months. These are examples of: A. A lag B. A lead C. An estimation D. A constraint

Answer 82

Answer: D Explanation: These are examples of a constraint or limitation that limits options and eliminates alternatives in the project.

Question 83

You are successfully managing a software project to automate the business processes for one of your clients. A key stakeholder articulates her concern to you about the lack of relevant information on her team’s deliverables in the project status reports that you have been sending out. She is worried that her team has no visibility in this project and has requested you to look into the matter as soon as possible. What should you do FIRST in this situation? A. Revisit the information distribution process in your project. B. Have an urgent meeting with the stakeholders to understand what her team is working on. C. Ask the stakeholder to send the status of her team so that you can incorporate them in your report. D. Revisit your Communications Management Plan.

Answer 83

Answer: D Explanation: Since the stakeholder is receiving the status reports, there is no issue with the information distribution process. You should revisit your Communications Management Plan first to understand the information need, communications requirements, format, method, time frame, and frequency for the distribution of required information for this specific stakeholder. You may want to have an urgent meeting with the stakeholder once you have the details.

Question 84

A project manager overseeing an ERP implementation project planned to distribute large volumes of information about the project to a large audience. He decided to post the information in an online knowledge repository for access at the discretion of the stakeholders. This type of communication method is known as: A. Interactive communication B. Push communication C. Pull communication D. Expert judgment

Answer 84

Answer: C Explanation: Pull communication utilizes intranet sites, e-learning, knowledge repositories, and other types of accessible databases for a large volume of information or for a large audience who will be accessing the contents at their own discretion. Expert judgment generally refers to the input from subject matter experts. Interactive communication is between two or more parties performing a multidirectional exchange of information; in push communication, information is distributed, but it is not certified that the information reached its intended audience or was understood.

Question 85

As a project manager, you are required to report project performance to all your stakeholders on a regular basis. Which one of the following can utilize Earned Value Management (EVM) in its preparation for management? A. Status reports B. Trend reports C. Progress reports D. All of the above

Answer 85

Answer: D Explanation: Earned Value Management (EMV) terms such as Actual Cost (AC), Earned Value (EV), Planned Value (PV), Estimate at Completion (EAC), Estimate to Complete (ETC), Variance at Completion (VAC), and Budget at Completion (BAC) can be used for all kind of performance reports such as, status, trend, and progress reports.

Question 86

Which communication method is used essentially for prominent documents that go into project records? A. Informal verbal B. Informal written C. Formal verbal D. Formal written

Answer 86

Answer: D Explanation: Prominent records such as complex problems, the Project Management Plan, the Project Charter, important project communications, contracts, legal notices, and other items use the formal written method.

Question 87

In your project you are facing many multifaceted problems that need to be discussed and resolved. You have explored different communication methods to use in solving complex problems. Extensive use of which of the following methods will most likely assist in solving complex problems in your project? A. Nonverbal B. Verbal C. Written D. Paralingual

Answer 87

Answer: C Explanation: Both verbal and written communications should be used in solving complex problems. But in a written communication, your words will be documented and presented in the same form to everyone. In the case of the other methods listed, the same message will not be received by everyone; thus, they will not be as helpful as a written method.

Question 88

A project manager supervising a video conferencing implementation project has several internal and external stakeholders whom she needs to send project progress, status, and forecast reports to on a regular basis. The Project Manager is making sure she is sending information to specific recipients who need to know it. Even though she ensures that the information is distributed, she is not concerned with whether it reached or was understood by the intended audience. This type of communication method is known as: A. Interactive communication B. Push communication C. Expert judgment D. Pull communication

Answer 88

Answer: B Explanation: Push communication is a way of sending information to specific recipients who need to know it. This ensures that the information is distributed, but it is not concerned with whether it reached or was understood by the intended audience.

Question 89

A project manager is in the process of making relevant information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner as planned. The project manager is involved in which of the following processes? A. Plan Communications Management process B. Manage Communications process C. Monitor Communications process D. Distribute Information process

Answer 89

Answer: B Explanation: Manage Communications is the process of making relevant information available to the project stakeholders in a timely manner as planned by creating, collecting, storing, retrieving, and distributing project information. It is performed throughout the entire project life cycle and in all management processes.

Question 90

The sender-receiver model is a basic model of communication that demonstrates how information is sent from the sender and how it is received by the receiver. This model is designed to assist project managers and team members in improving their communication skills. This communication model highlights which one of the following? A. Horizontal communication B. Noise and feedback loops C. Downward communication D. Verbal and nonverbal communication

Answer 90

Answer: B Explanation: The sender-receiver model highlights awareness about the appropriate message to be delivered, the potential barriers or noises that may be encountered, and the significance of a feedback loop to improve delivery and understanding of a message.

Question 91

You are working on the Plan Risk Management process to decide how to approach, plan, and execute risk management activities. All of the following are inputs to the Plan Risk Management process EXCEPT: A. Stakeholder Register B. Project Charter C. Risk Register D. Project Management Plan

Answer 91

Answer: C Explanation: The risk register is an output of the Identify Risks process.

Question 92

You are delivering specialized medical equipment, which is worth $600,000. You have been delivering equipment for a while without much hassle or accidents in the past. This time you estimate that there is a 5 percent probability that the equipment could be damaged or lost. While exploring the possibility of transferring this risk to an insurance company, you found out the insurance premium is $15,000. What will be your BEST course of action? A. You do not have much information to make a decision. B. Do not buy the insurance premium. C. Develop a contingency plan. D. Buy the insurance premium.

Answer 92

Answer: D Explanation: The cost of probable loss or damage is $600,000 times 5 percent, which equals $30,000. The cost of the insurance premium is $15,000; therefore, you should purchase the insurance premium.

Question 93

Which one of the following is contained in the risk management plan and describes a risk category? A. Risk response plan B. Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) C. Risk register D. Watch list

Answer 93

Answer: B Explanation: Risk categories are a group of potential causes for risk and can be grouped into categories, such as technical, political, external, project, and environmental. In order to systematically identify risks to a consistent level of detail, we can use the form of a simple list of categories or a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). It’s a comprehensive way of ordering risks according to their source.

Question 94

One of your team members is always late completing his deliverables. You decided to keep an eye on this team member’s activities to avoid any delay in the project. While reviewing one of the activities of this team member, you found out that the activity has an early start of day 5, an early finish of day 12, a late start of day 15, and a late finish of day 22. The team member tells you that he needs an additional four days to complete the activity due to various reasons he can think of. Which one of the following statements is TRUE? A. This activity will delay the project. B. This activity will most probably not delay the project. C. The activity has a lag. D. The successor activity will be delayed.

Answer 94

Answer: B Explanation: There is not much information to determine if the activity has a lag or not. The float/buffer of this activity is Late Finish – Early Finish = 10 days. The activity is not on the critical path because it has a float or buffer of ten days. Even if the team member takes four additional days to complete the activity, it probably will have no impact on the project schedule or on the successor activity.

Question 95

Which one of the following analysis methods usually uses Monte Carlo simulation to simulate the outcome of a project by making use of three-point estimates (Optimistic, Pessimistic, Most Likely) for each activity, a huge number of simulated scheduling possibilities, or a few selected scenarios that are most likely, and the network diagram? A. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) B. What-if scenario analysis C. Critical chain method D. Resource leveling

Answer 95

Answer: B Explanation: What-if Scenario Analysis usually uses Monte Carlo simulation to simulate the outcome of a project by making use of three- point estimates (optimistic, pessimistic, most likely) for each activity, a huge number of simulated scheduling possibilities, or a few selected scenarios that are most likely, and the network diagram. The outcome of this analysis may be used to evaluate the project schedule under adverse conditions and to develop the preventive and contingency action plan to reduce the impact and probability of the unexpected situations.

Question 96

A project manager managing a recruitment automation application project just completed developing the schedule and requested stakeholders and the client for their approval. The sponsor has expressed her frustration about the unexpected long duration of the project and has demanded the schedule be compressed as much as possible. While exploring different options, you find out that you cannot really change the network diagram due to various constraints, but the sponsor has agreed to pay for additional personnel resources if needed. What will be your BEST option in this situation? A. Apply the critical chain method B. Fast-track the project and also apply the resource leveling method C. Crash the project D. Crash and fast-track the project

Answer 96

Answer: C Explanation: Fast-tracking is the technique of doing critical path activities in parallel when they were originally planned in series. Fast- tracking will not be an option in this case since you cannot change the network diagram, or in other words, you cannot perform activities in parallel that were originally planned to be completed in sequence. The best option here is to add additional resources to the project activities on the critical path to complete them quickly. Resource leveling is used to produce a resource-limited schedule by letting the schedule slip and cost increase in order to deal with a limited amount of resources, resource availability, and other resource constraints. The critical chain method is another way to develop an approved, realistic, resource-limited, and formal schedule. It provides a way to view and manage uncertainty when building the project schedule.

Question 97

For an IT project your EV = $130,500, PV = $125,500, and AC = $129,000. Which one of the following statements is TRUE? A. The project is behind schedule and over budget. B. The project is ahead of schedule and under budget. C. The project is behind schedule and under budget. D. The project is ahead of schedule and over budget.

Answer 97

Answer: B Explanation: The EV is greater than the PV, which indicates the project is ahead of schedule. The AC is smaller than the EV, which indicates the project is under budget.

Question 98

You recently took over a project from another project manager who left the organization. You find out that the project has a BAC = $45,000, PV = $30,000, cumulative AC = $25,000, and cumulative EV = $24,000. You decided to perform a forecasting analysis and calculated the values for EAC, ETC, TCPI, and VAC. Which of the following is NOT true? A. You will need $21,875 more to complete this project. B. The project will cost $46,875. C. The project performance is not good as TCPI is 1.05. D. The project will be under budget by $1,875.

Answer 98

Answer: D Explanation: We are given the following values: BAC = $45,000 PV = $30,000 Cumulative AC = 25,000 Cumulative EV = 24,000 We know EAC = BAC/CPIc ETC = EAC – AC VAC = BAC – EAC and TCPI = (BAC – EV) / (BAC – AC) CPIc = EVc/ACc Thus CPIc = $24,000/$25,000 = 0.96 So EAC = BAC/CPIc = $45,000/0.96 = $46,875 ETC = EAC – AC = $46,875 – $25,000 = $21,875 TCPI = (BAC – EV) / (BAC – AC) = (45,000 – 24,000) / (45,000 – 25,000) = 21,000 / 20,000 = 1.05 VAC= BAC – EAC = $45,000 – $46,875 = –$1,875 The project will cost $46,875 since the EAC is $46,875. The ETC is $21,875, so you will need $21,875 to complete the project. The VAC is –$1,875; thus, the project will be over budget by $1,875. The project performance is not good as TCPI is 1.05. All of the statements are true except D. The project is over budget by $ 1,875, not under budget.

Question 99

You are in the Determine Budget process of developing a budget or cost baseline and project funding requirements. All of the following are inputs in this process EXCEPT: A. Work performance data B. Cost Management Plan C. Activity cost estimates D. Project schedule

Answer 99

Answer: A Explanation: Work performance data is not an input in the Develop Budget process but an input in the Control Costs process.

Question 100

To develop an online accounting application for your software development project, you are working on figuring out the total funding requirements and periodic funding requirements of the project. Which of the following will help you the MOST in this case? A. Project budget and contingency reserves B. Funding limit reconciliation C. Cost baseline and management reserves D. Management reserves and contingency reserves

Answer 100

Answer: C Explanation: Total fund or cost budget = cost baseline + management reserves Cost baseline = project cost + contingency reserves The cost baseline is the project cost plus the contingency reserves, and the cost budget, or how much money the company should have available for the project, is the cost baseline plus the management reserves. The project manager determines, manages, and controls the contingency reserves, which will address the cost impact of the risks remaining during the Plan Risk Responses process. On the other hand, management reserves are funds to cover unforeseen risks or changes to the project. In this case, the cost baseline and the management reserves will be most helpful to calculate the total funding and periodic funding requirements. Funding limit reconciliation is the technique of reconciling the expenditure of funds with the funding limits set for the project. As per the variance between the expenditure of funds and planned limit, the activities can be rescheduled to level out the rate of expenditures.

Question 101

You are in the Determine Budget process of developing a budget or cost baseline and project funding requirements. All of the following are tools & techniques in this process EXCEPT: A. Cost aggregation B. Reserve analysis C. Funding limit reconciliation D. Performance review

Answer 101

Answer: D Explanation: Performance review is not a tool & technique in the Develop Budget process but a tool & technique in the Control Costs process.

Question 102

You are the project manager of a construction project that will take six months to complete and will cost $75,000/month. At the end of the third month, you were asked to find out the cumulative SPI for the project and report it to management. While reviewing the project status, you found that you have spent $80,000 in the first month, $72,000 in the second month, and $75,000 in the third month. You also found that the project was 15 percent complete at the end of first month, 35 percent complete at the end of second month, and 45 percent complete at the end of third month. If you planned to complete 50 percent of the work by this time, what is the cumulative SPI at the end of month three? A. 0.5 B. 0.9 C. 0.34 D. 1.1

Answer 102

Answer: B Explanation: We have BAC = 6 * $75,000 = $450,000 At the end of month three, we were supposed to finish 50 percent of the work. Thus, PV = BAC * Planned % Complete or PV = $450,000 * 50 percent = $225,000 Also, project work is 45 percent completed at the end of three months. Thus, EV = BAC * Actual % Complete or EV = $450,000 * 45 percent = $202,500 Both the PV and EV are cumulative values in three months. We know SPIc = EVc/PVc or SPIc = $202,500/$225,000 = 0.9

Question 103

A project manager working on a construction project planned to install new carpets in all four rooms of the house. She measured the square footage of all the rooms and then multiplied that figure by a set cost factor to estimate the cost for installing the carpet. This is an example of: A. Bottom-up estimating B. Analogous estimating C. Parametric estimating D. Three-point estimating

Answer 103

Answer: C Explanation: This estimate uses mathematical models based on historical records from other projects. It utilizes the statistical relationship that exists between a series of historical data and a particular delineated list of other variables. Depending upon the quality of the underlying data, this estimate can produce higher levels of accuracy and can be used in conjunction with other estimates to provide estimates for the entire project or specific segments of a project. Measures such as time per line of code, time per installation, and time per linear meter are considered in this type of estimate.

Question 104

With the help of your team members, you just finished the development of an approximation of the costs of all resources, such as labor, materials, equipment, services, facilities, and other special items associated with each schedule activity. What should you do NEXT? A. Control costs B. Resource leveling C. Bottom-up estimating D. Determine budget

Answer 104

Answer: D Explanation: You just completed the Estimate Costs process and should be focusing on the Determine Budget process.

Question 105

Steve, a project manager, is trying to figure out the performance that must be achieved in order to meet the financial and schedule goals in his project. He is using a measurement that will give him the status on the remaining work with respect to the funds remaining. Which of the following measures is Steve using? A. Cost aggregation B. Variance analysis C. Trend analysis D. To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)

Answer 105

Answer: C Explanation: To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) calculates the performance that must be achieved in order to meet financial or schedule goals. If targeting the current plan, TCPI = (BAC – EV) / (BAC – AC) If targeting the current EAC, TCPI = (BAC – EV) / (EAC – AC) Here AC = Actual Cost, EV = Earned Value, EAC = Estimate at Completion, and BAC = Budget at Completion. Here (BAC – EV) is the remaining work and (BAC – AC) or (EAC – AC) is the remaining fund.

Question 106

You are overseeing a mobile application development project. While reviewing an earned value report, you observe that the SPI is 1.2 and the CPI is 0.9. Which statement can you make about the project? A. On track according to schedule and budget baselines. B. Behind the schedule and over budget. C. Ahead of the schedule and over budget. D. On schedule and under budget.

Answer 106

Answer: C Explanation: A SPI of 1.2 means that the project is ahead of schedule, and a CPI of 0.9 or less than one means that the project is over budget.

Question 107

Your project has a budget of $900,000 and is running well. In the latest earned value report, the team reported that the CPI = 1.1, the SPI = 0.9, and the PV= $600,000. You want to know, from this point on, how much more the project will cost but could not find it in the report. What will be the estimate to complete, or ETC, be in this case? A. $300,000 B. $327,272 C. $818,181 D. $490,909

Answer 107

Answer: B Explanation: We know ETC = EAC – AC, so we need to find out the values for Estimate at Completion (EAC) and Actual Cost (AC). We are given the following values: BAC = $900,000 CPI = 1.1 SPI = 0.9 PV = $600,000 We also know that EAC = BAC/CPI; thus EAC = $900,000/1.1 = $818,181 Now we have SPI = 0.9 or EV/PV = 0.9; thus EV = 0.9 * PV So EV = 0.9 * 600,000 = $540,000 We also know that CPI = 1.1 or EV/AC = 1.1; thus, EV = 1.1 * AC So AC = EV/1.1 or AC = 540,000/1.1 = $490,909 So ETC = EAC – AC or ETC = $818,181 – $490,909 = $327,272

Question 108

You recently finalized your project cost estimate and cost baseline. The difference between the project cost estimate and the cost baseline can be BEST described as: A. The control account estimates B. The work package estimates C. The management reserves D. The contingency reserves

Answer 108

Answer: D Explanation: The cost baseline is the project cost plus the contingency reserves; thus, the difference between the project cost estimate and the cost baseline can be best described as contingency reserves.

Question 109

You asked one of your team members about the schedule variance (SV) for one of her key deliverables. She mentioned that she is behind schedule but there would not be any cost variance. Which of the following is NOT true in this case? A. EV and PV were the same B. EV and AC were the same C. EV is less than PV D. CPI is 1

Answer 109

Answer: A Explanation: We know SV = EV – PV. Since SV has a negative value, EV must be less than PV. Also, CV = EV – AC. Since there will be no cost variance, EV and AC have the same value. CPI is also EV/AC = 1.

Question 110

There were eight potential projects in your organization, and your senior management wanted to select the best project that would meet and exceed the organizational strategic goals and objectives. As your organization has limited resources and time constraints, it developed business cases for these projects and compared the benefits to select the best project. Out of eight projects, management has selected two projects and later on decided to go for Project X, which would yield $250,000 in benefits instead of Project Y, which would yield $200,000. What is the opportunity cost for selecting Project X over Project Y? A. $250,000 B. $200,000 C. – $250,000 D. – $200,000

Answer 110

Answer: B Explanation: The opportunity cost is the value of the project that was not selected or the opportunity that was missed out on. In this case, the opportunity cost for Project X is the value of the Project Y, or $200,000. 15. A: We know SV = EV – PV and CV = EV – AC So SV = 650 – 600 = 50 and CV = 650 – 500 = 150 A positive CV indicates that the project is under budget, and a positive SV indicates that the project is ahead of schedule.

Question 111

You are overseeing a project to implement an accounting application for a dentist’s office. In one of the performance meetings, you came up with the following measurement: AC = 500, PV = 600, and EV = 650. What is going on with this project? A. Both CV and SV are positive numbers; thus, you are under budget and ahead of schedule. B. You do not have enough information to calculate SPI and CPI. C. The CV is a negative number, which means you have spent more than planned. D. The SV is a negative number, which means the project is behind schedule.

Answer 111

Answer: A Explanation: We know SV = EV – PV and CV = EV – AC So SV = 650 – 600 = 50 and CV = 650 – 500 = 150 A positive CV indicates that the project is under budget, and a positive SV indicates that the project is ahead of schedule

Question 112

You have been asked to identify the primary reasons for the substantial amount of customer complaints your company is experiencing every day. Which of the following tools will most effectively assist you in further identifying the reasons for the failures? A. Cause and effect diagram B. Run chart C. Statistical sampling D. Design of experiments

Answer 112

Answer: A Explanation: A cause and effect diagram or fishbone diagram is a root cause analysis tool. A run chart is a line graph that displays process

Question 113

While trying to isolate the root cause of a critical problem in the production process, your team has detected two variables— temperature and humidity—as the conceivable contributors to the problem. There is a concern that these two variables are complicating the problem by affecting each other. Which of the following tools or techniques will assist to see if there is any interdependency between them? A. Cause and effect diagram B. Influence diagram C. Scatter diagram D. Pareto chart

Answer 113

Answer: C Explanation: The scatter diagram is used to determine the correlation between two variables.

Question 114

Control Quality is the process of monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with applicable quality standards and identifying ways to eradicate causes of unsatisfactory results. All of the following are tools & techniques used in the Control Quality process EXCEPT: A. Inspection B. Flow chart C. Quality metrics D. Statistical sampling

Answer 114

Answer: C Explanation: Quality metrics are an output of the Plan Quality Management process and an input to both the Manage Quality and Control

Question 115

While using a control chart to monitor processes and to assure that they remain within acceptable limits or “in control,” you noticed that seven data points are grouped together in a series on one side of the mean. All of the following are false EXCEPT: A. This type of situation needs to be investigated and a cause should be found. B. This trend is normal and expected within process. C. This is a random cause of variation and can be ignored. D. The process is stable and in control as none of the data points are outside control limits.

Answer 115

Answer: A Explanation: The rule of seven refers to nonrandom data points grouped together in a series that total seven on one side of the mean. This type of situation needs to be investigated and a cause should be found, because even though none of the points are out of the control limit, they are not random and the process may be out of control.

Question 116

The project to build a ship that you are supervising is not progressing well. You were notified by the quality lead that the system design team has to redesign the ship due to poor quality and significant shortcomings in the design. Also during a walkthrough inspection, you have discovered that a considerable amount of scrap material has been generated by a team of newly hired engineers. The scrap material and rework are examples of: A. External failure B. Cost of conformance C. Prevention costs D. Internal failure

Answer 116

Answer: D Explanation: Internal failure results in defects, repairs, scrap, and rework, vendor follow-up on defective goods, and quality control follow- ups. External failure is associated with quality issues experienced by the customer such as processing customer complaints, loss of future sales, bad word-of-mouth advertising, field repair work, and returned goods from customer. Cost of conformance refers to the costs incurred to ensure compliance. Prevention costs are included in the cost of conformance.

Question 117

Your team is using a particular method of measuring quality and approving only a tiny portion of the outputs as per an unyielding pass/fail standard. Which of the following techniques is your team using? A. Product analysis B. Process analysis C. Attribute sampling D. Statistical sampling

Answer 117

Answer: C Explanation: Attribute sampling is a method of measuring quality that consists of observing the presence (or absence) of some characteristics (attributes) in each of the units under consideration to determine whether to accept a lot, reject it, or inspect another lot.

Question 118

. A project manager is working on a project to install a generator in a local power company. She is anxious that her project practices are not robust enough and asked for your expert opinion. You advised her to compare her actual or planned practices to those of other projects both in and beyond the performing organization to identify a basis for performance measurement, improvement ideas, and best practices. Which of the following tools & techniques have you asked her to utilize? A. Design of experiments B. Cost-benefit analysis C. Statistical sampling D. Benchmarking

Answer 118

Answer: D Explanation: Benchmarking is comparing actual or planned practices to those of other projects, both in and beyond the performing organization, to provide a basis for performance measurement, to generate improvement ideas, and to identify best practices. Design of Experiments (DOE) is a statistical method usually applied to the product of a project and provides a ‘“what-if’” analysis of alternatives to identify which factors might improve quality. Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection instead of measuring the entire population. Cost-benefit analysis is a comparison of the cost of quality to the expected benefit. The benefit of quality must outweigh the cost of achieving it. The primary benefit of quality is increased stakeholders’ satisfaction and less rework, which means higher productivity and lower cost.

Question 119

You are the project manager of a project to implement a golf simulator for a local golf club. Quality is the first thing in your mind, and you hired a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to ascertain if the project activities comply with organizational and project policies and procedures. The SME is particularly interested in identifying ineffective and inefficient activities or processes used in the project as well as gaps and deficiencies in your processes. You have initiated which of the following? A. Design of experiments B. Develop quality control measurements C. Quality audit D. Prevention functions

Answer 119

Answer: C Explanation: A quality audit during the Manage Quality process is performed to determine if project activities comply with organizational policies and procedures.

Question 120

You discovered a pattern of flaws in several projects you are working on as a senior project manager. You have the impression that some kind of deficiency in the process your organization is using may be contributing to these repetitive defects. You conducted a cause and effect analysis and formulated a few recommendations for process change to avoid this recurring problem in future projects. You are in which of the following processes? A. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis B. Plan Quality C. Manage Quality D. Control Quality

Answer 120

Answer: C Explanation: You are in the Manage Quality process. This is the process to determine if the project activities comply with organizational and project policies, standards, processes, and procedures. This process is primarily concerned with overall process improvement and does not deal with inspecting the product for quality or measuring defects. The primary focus is on steadily improving the processes and activities undertaken to achieve quality.

Question 121

A plastic molding workshop wants to reduce injection molding rejects and performs a set of experiments that change injection pressure, mix, temperature, and setting times. Analysis of the results shows a combination of temperature and setting times as the most significant factors. Which of the following techniques is being used? A. Statistical sampling B. Brainstorming C. Nominal group technique D. Design of experiments

Answer 121

Answer: D Explanation: Design of Experiments (DOE) is a statistical method usually applied to the product of a project. This method provides a ‘“what-if’” analysis of alternatives to identify which factors might improve quality. It provides statistical analysis for changing key product or process elements all at once to optimize the process. Statistical sampling is performed after products have been produced. Brainstorming and nominal group techniques are tools & techniques associated with defining requirements or identifying problems.

Question 122

You are the project manager supervising a project to develop a new wireless media streaming device. The client asked you to have vigorous quality as it is one of their major concerns. You are in the Plan Quality Management process of identifying all the pertinent quality requirements, specifications, and standards for the project and product and specifying how those specifications will be met. You will be using all of the following as inputs of the Plan Quality Management process EXCEPT: A. Scope baseline B. Stakeholder register C. Quality metrics D. Schedule baseline

Answer 122

Answer: C Explanation: Quality metric is an operational definition that specifies how quality will be measured. It is an output of the Plan Quality Management process, not an input.

Question 123

Costs associated with inspection, laboratory measurements and analysis, machinery maintenance and calibration, field testing, and procedure checking are examples of which of the following? A. Opportunity costs B. Sunk costs C. Prevention costs D. Appraisal costs

Answer 123

Answer: D Explanation: Appraisal costs are associated with the cost of conformance and include inspection, laboratory measurements and analysis, machinery maintenance and calibration, field testing, and procedure checking.

Question 124

Plan-Do-Check-Act is a cycle of activities designed to drive continuous improvement. This theory was popularized by which of the following quality theorists? A. W. Edwards Deming B. Ishikawa C. Joseph Juran D. Philip Crosby

Answer 124

Answer: A Explanation: Plan-Do-Check-Act is a cycle of iterative activities designed to drive continuous improvement. Initially implemented in manufacturing, it has broad applicability in business. First developed by Walter Shewhart, it was popularized by Edwards Deming. This theory advocates that business processes should be scrutinized and measured to detect sources of variations that cause products to deviate from customer requirements. The recommendation is to place the business processes in an unremitting feedback loop so that managers can isolate and change the parts of the process that need improvement. The four phases in the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle involve thefollowing: – Plan: Design or revise business process components to improve results. – Do: Implement the plan and measure its performance. – Check: Assess the measurements and report the results to decision makers. – Act: Decide on changes needed to improve the process.

Question 125

You are a project manager for one of a top wood furniture producers in the world. You are currently overseeing a project to create and manufacture a large amount of custom furniture for several major local retailers. Your organization has decided to practice just-in- time management and asked you to explore the practice. You found out that all of the following are FALSE about just-in-time EXCEPT: A. The project team will have no control over the inventory. B. It will allow less range of deviation than other inventory solutions. C. It will decrease the inventory investment. D. The organization will have lower quality of parts.

Answer 125

Answer: C Explanation: Just-in-Time (JIT) is an inventory management method whereby materials, goods, and labor are scheduled to arrive or to be replenished exactly when needed in the production process; this brings inventory down to zero or to a near-zero level. It decreases costs by keeping only enough inventory on hand to meet immediate production needs.

Question 126

You are in the Plan Resource Management process of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, required skills, competencies, reporting structure, and other items. The structure that you are using is arranged according to an organization’s existing departments, units, or teams with their respective work packages. Which of the following are you using? A. Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) B. Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) C. Position descriptions D. Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)

Answer 126

Answer: D Explanation: An Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) is similar to a company’s standard organizational chart that looks like a Work Breakdown structure (WBS) but only includes the positions and relationships in a top-down, graphic format. It is arranged according to an organization’s existing departments, units, or teams with their respective work packages. Any operations department such as manufacturing or engineering, can identify all of its project responsibilities by looking at its portion of the OBS. A Resource Breakdown structure (RBS) also looks like a typical organizational chart, but this one is organized by types of resources. An RBS can help track project cost as it ties to the organization’s accounting system. A RAM cross-references team members with the activities or work packages they are to accomplish. One example of a Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) is a Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform (RACI) Chart, which can be used to ensure clear divisions of roles and responsibilities. A text-oriented position description, or role-responsibility-authority form, is particularly important in recruiting. It is used to describe a team member’s position title, responsibilities, authority, competencies, and qualifications in detail.

Question 127

Project success is heavily dependent on the leadership and management style of the project manager. Even though we do not usually distinguish between leading and managing, it is generally believed that there is a difference between these two. Which of the following is typically considered to be a responsibility associated with managing? A. Consistently producing key results expected by stakeholders B. Establishing direction, mission, and vision C. Aligning team members to the established direction D. Motivating and inspiring

Answer 127

Answer: A Explanation: Project management is heavily dependent on managing people, which has been defined as being able to produce key results. On the other hand, leadership is all about establishing mission and vision, aligning team members to the established direction, and motivating and inspiring individuals.

Question 128

You made sure that one of the junior team members in your team received the required training to perform his activities. While assessing the team member, you were concerned to find out that the team member was still lacking the competency and required further improvement. What will be the BEST course of action? A. Replace the team member with an experienced resource. B. Have an urgent discussion with the team member and inform him that he will be out of the project if there is no immediate improvement. C. Have a discussion with the functional manager about the lack of competency of the team member. D. Identify the team member’s current lacking and provide more focused training.

Answer 128

Answer: D Explanation: The role of the project manager is to make sure that team members, specially the junior members with limited experience, get the required training and assistance to perform their activities. 4. A: It is one of the key roles of the sponsor to prevent unnecessary changes in the project in addition to providing funding for the project.

Question 129

A project manager is overseeing a complex custom CSM solution that has rigorous quality standards and tight schedule constraints. The project manager just found out that one of the key deliverables in the project was not completed because the team member responsible for it was assigned to another higher-priority project by her functional manager. Who will be the person for the project manager to address the issue with in this kind of situation? A. The sponsor B. The president of the company C. The customers D. The team

Answer 129

Answer: A Explanation: It is one of the key roles of the sponsor to prevent unnecessary changes in the project in addition to providing funding for the project.

Question 130

A project manager recently got her PMP certification and joined a professional project management group. The group members meet on a regular basis to discuss new opportunities, trends, and issues in project management. The satisfaction that the project manager gains from the association with this group is MOST closely aligned with: A. Victor Vroom’s Expectancy theory B. The third level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs C. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene theory D. Theory X

Answer 130

Answer: B Explanation: The third level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the need for social connections or belonging, such as love, affection, approval, friends, and association. The Expectancy theory, first proposed by Victor Vroom, demonstrates that employees who believe their efforts will lead to effective performance and who expect to be rewarded for their accomplishments remain productive as rewards meet their expectations. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene theory suggests that hygiene factors can destroy motivation but improving them under most circumstances will not improve motivation. Motivating people is best done by rewarding people and letting them grow. Theory X managers believe that average workers are incapable, avoid responsibility, have an inherent dislike of work, and are only interested in their own selfish goals. The workers must be forced to do productive work as they dislike their work and are not devoted and motivated.

Question 131

You are currently managing the team through observing, using issue logs, keeping in touch, providing feedback, completing performance appraisals, resolving issues and conflicts, and through other methods. You are in which of the following Resource Management processes? A. Plan Resource Management B. Acquire Resources C. Develop Team D. Manage Team

Answer 131

Answer: D Explanation: Manage Team is the process of managing the team through observing, using issue logs, keeping in touch, providing feedback, completing performance appraisals, resolving issues and conflicts, and other factors.

Question 132

You are the project manager overseeing a project to build a navigation system for an auto company. You are in the Develop Team process, and your key focus is to enhance the project performance by building a sense of team and improving the competencies, team interaction, and overall team environment. You will be using all of the following tools & techniques in the process EXCEPT: A. Pre-Assignment B. Interpersonal and Team Skills C. Colocation D. Recognition and rewards

Answer 132

Answer: A Explanation: Pre-Assignment is used as a tool & technique in the Acquire Resources process, not in the Develop Team process. Under most circumstances a role is defined first, and then the resource is assigned to perform the role and fulfill the responsibilities. However, some of the team members will be selected in advance and considered as pre-assigned to fill roles before the Resource Management Plan has been created or the project has been formally initiated. Resources can be pre-assigned as a part of a competitive proposal, as per some staff assignment defined in the Project Charter, or for dependency on the experience and expertise of particular individuals.

Question 133

You are overseeing the implementation of a library management system for a local library. While in the execution phase, the functional manager informs you that his team needs to work on a higher-priority project and he will be pulling out two critical resources from your project. What should you do FIRST as a project manager? A. Evaluate the impact by referring to the resource histogram. B. Reassign activities of these two members to the other team members. C. Immediately inform higher management. D. Request the functional manager to assign two new resources first before pulling out the existing members.

Answer 133

Answer: A Explanation: In this sort of situation, a project manager should always evaluate the impact of the changes and gather as much information as possible prior to taking any further steps.

Question 134

A project manager is in the Develop Team process focusing on enhancing project performance by building a sense of team and improving competencies, team interaction, and overall team environment. While referring to Tuckman’s model, she notices that the greatest level of conflict in the five different stages of team building is most likely to appear in which of the following stages: A. Forming B. Adjourning C. Storming D. Exploring

Answer 134

Answer: C Explanation: Storming follows the Forming stage, and it is where the team begins to address project work, technical decisions, areas of disagreement, and project management approaches. The team typically goes through some conflicts and difficulties in this stage more than any other.

Question 135

While in the Manage Team process, the project management team met with the team members and provided feedback on team members’ performance and how effectively they were performing their tasks. A 360-degree feedback was used to provide feedback from all directions, including from peers, from superiors and subordinates, and sometimes from vendors and external contractors. This tool & technique is referred to as: A. Team Performance Assessments B. Project Performance Appraisals C. Observations and conversations D. Team-building activities

Answer 135

Answer: B Explanation: For the Project Performance Appraisals, the project management team meets with the team members and provides feedback on team members’ performance and how effectively they are performing their tasks. A 360-degree feedback is used to receive feedback from all directions, including from peers, from superiors and subordinates, and sometimes from vendors and external contractors. Here the focus is the individual, and in team performance assessments the focus is on the team performance, not on the individual. The goal of team performance assessments is to identify the specific training, coaching, mentoring, assistance, or changes required to improve the team’s performance and effectiveness. The project management team makes formal or informal assessments of the project team’s effectiveness while team development efforts such as training, team building, and colocation are implemented. A team’s performance is measured against the agreed-upon success criteria, schedule, and budget target.

Question 136

You just completed working on your staffing management plan and identified how human resources should be defined, staffed, managed, and eventually released from your project. Which portion of the Resource Management Plan will help you the most to determine when to release resources from your project? A. Training needs and certification requirements B. Recognition and rewards C. Compliance considerations D. Resource histogram

Answer 136

Answer: D Explanation: A resource histogram is a graphical display that shows the amount of time that a resource is scheduled to work over a series of time periods.

Question 137

While in the Manage Team process, the project management team met with the team members and provided feedback on team members’ performance and how effectively they were performing their tasks. A 360-degree feedback was used to receive feedback from all directions, including from peers, from superiors and subordinates, and sometimes from vendors and external contractors. Which of the following is the most important factor when utilizing 360-degree feedback? A. All team players such as peers, superiors, subordinates, and vendors should participate in the evaluation. B. Participants should remain anonymous. C. Results of the evaluation should not be disclosed. D. Only team members should evaluate other team members.

Answer 137

Answer: B Explanation: A 360-degree evaluation is an effective tool to evaluate team members’ performance and effectiveness and to identify areas of improvement. Effort should be given to include all the team players in the evaluation process, but it is not mandatory. Team members not only evaluate other team members, but they should evaluate the project manager as well. Individual comments should not be disclosed, but the general feedback results should be shared with each team member in a private session. In order to have complete and honest feedback, it is vital that the participants remain anonymous.

Question 138

Which motivational theory below is concerned with increasing employee loyalty and support for the organization by emphasizing the well-being of employees both at work and outside of work and encouraging steady employment? A. Expectancy theory B. Theory Z C. Theory Y D. Theory X

Answer 138

Answer: B Explanation: Theory Z was introduced by Dr. Willam Ouchi. This theory is concerned with increasing employee loyalty to his/her organization. This theory emphasizes the well-being of the employees both at work and outside of work, it encourages steady employment, it leads to high employee satisfaction and morale, and overall it results in increased productivity and support for the organization. Theory X managers believe that average workers are incapable, avoid responsibility, have an inherent dislike of work, and are only interested in their own selfish goals. The workers must be forced to do productive work as they dislike their work and are not devoted and motivated. Theory Y managers believe that workers are creative and committed to project objectives and goals. They are willing to work without supervision, need very little external motivation, can direct their own efforts, and want to achieve. The Expectancy theory, first proposed by Victor Vroom, demonstrates that employees who believe their efforts will lead to effective performance and who expect to be rewarded for their accomplishments remain productive as rewards meet their expectations.

Question 139

A project team member’s abilities or competencies, communication capabilities, relevant knowledge, skills, experience, cost (for adding the team member), attitude or ability to work with others, availability, and other factors such as time zone and geographical location are some examples of selection criteria that can be used to rate and score that team member. Which one of the following looks at all of these selection criteria while acquiring a team member for the project? A. Decision Making (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis) B. Monte Carlo analysis C. Team Performance Assessment D. Project Performance Appraisal

Answer 139

Answer: A Explanation: Potential team members are often rated and scored by various selection criteria during the Acquire Resources process. These selection criteria are weighted according to their relevant importance and are developed using the multi-criteria decision analysis tool. A project team member’s ability or competencies, communication capabilities, relevant knowledge, skills, experience, cost (for adding the team member), attitude or ability to work with others, availability, and other factors such as time zone and geographical location are some examples of selection criteria that can be used to rate and score team members.

Question 140

You are in the Plan Resource Management process to create an overall Resource Management Plan by identifying the availability of resources and those resources’ skill levels. Which of the following is NOT a tool & technique is this process? A. Expert Judgment B. Data Representation C. Organizational theory D. Colocation

Answer 140

Answer: D Explanation: Colocation is a tool & technique used in the Develop Team process, not in the Plan Resource Management process.

Question 141

In your network infrastructure project XYZ, you have determined the type, format, value, and information needs of the stakeholders through communication requirements analysis. Project resources should be expended only on communicating information that: A. Originates from the sponsor or the project management office. B. Has been generated by the project team members only. C. Is relevant to the most influential and powerful stakeholders. D. Contributes to project success or where a lack of communication can lead to a failure.

Answer 141

Answer: D Explanation: Communications Requirements Analysis determines the information type, format, value, and needs of the stakeholders and identifies information that is most critical to success or where a lack of communication can lead to failure.

Question 142

A project manager is in the process of ensuring that the information needs of the project stakeholders are met by monitoring and controlling communication throughout the project life cycle. The project manager is involved in which process? A. Direct and Manage Project Work B. Monitor and Control Project Work C. Monitor Communications D. Manage Communications

Answer 142

Answer: C Explanation: Monitor Communications is the process of ensuring that the information needs of the project stakeholders are met by monitoring and controlling communication throughout the project life cycle. The focus of this process is to ensure efficient information flow to all stakeholders at any moment in time within the project.

Question 143

As a project manager, Henry is cognizant of the importance of effective communication, and he always makes sure that he has the proper physical mannerisms such as facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language, while conveying a message. He is also particularly observant to the pitch and the tone of his voice, and he tries to receive comments and feedback from the receiver while communicating. What percentage of Henry’s message is sent through nonverbal communication? A. Approximately 10 to 20 percent B. No more than 30 percent C. No more than 45 percent D. More than 50 percent

Answer 143

Answer: D Explanation: About 55 percent of all communications are nonverbal (e.g., based on physical mannerisms such as facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language)

Question 144

You are in the Plan Communications Management process to identify the information and communication needs of the people involved in your project by determining what needs to be communicated, when, to whom, with what method, in which format, and how frequently. Which of the following is MOST closely linked to this process? A. Communication Requirements Analysis B. Information Management System C. Interpersonal skills D. Project reporting

Answer 144

Answer: A Explanation: Communication Requirements Analysis is a tool & technique in the Plan Communications Management process. Project reporting and Information Management Systems are tools & techniques within the Manage Communications process. Interpersonal skills are associated with the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process (stakeholder management).

Question 145

A project manager is leading a team of fifteen team members. One of the team members is not dedicated to the project and is having a performance issue. What form of communication can the Project Manager use to address this kind of situation? A. Informal written B. Informal verbal C. Formal written D. Formal verbal

Answer 145

Answer: B Explanation: The project manager should have an informal verbal discussion with the team member about the lack of dedication and poor performance. The goal is to address the concern of the project manager and to identify areas for improvement as well as any training needs for the team member. If this method is not effective, then the project manager should consider a formal written approach as the next step.

Question 146

You recently successfully completed a data center project that has been in production for more than a month. All the stakeholders have formally approved the project, and no issues have been reported since it has been in production. While reviewing one of the deliverables of your project with a Project Manager who is preparing for a similar project, you discover a problem in your project that may cause a minor safety issue in the future. What should you do under this circumstance? A. Communicate with your management about your finding both verbally and inwriting B. There is no need to bring this minor safety issue to the attention of the customers since no complaints have been filed. C. Call the customers immediately and inform them about the safety issue D. Since it is a minor safety concern, it can be fixed without letting the customers know about it.

Answer 146

Answer: A Explanation: Even though no complaints have been filed and the issue is relatively minor, the project manager should report this sort of finding to management and take action as per management’s recommendation.

Question 147

As a project manager, you know you will be spending 90 percent of your time communicating with all the players involved in your project. You need to make sure that you have the proper physical mannerisms such as facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language, while conveying a message. You also need to be particularly observant to the pitch and the tone of your voice, and you should try to receive comments and feedback from the receiver while communicating. Your communication skills will be utilized MOST during which of the following processes? A. Communication Change Control B. Manage Communications C. Report Performances D. Plan Communications Management

Answer 147

Answer: B Explanation: Communication Change Control and Report Performances are not valid processes. Communications planning involves identifying the information and communication needs of the people involved in a project by determining what needs to be communicated, when, to whom, with what method, in which format, and how frequently. Manage Communications is the execution of your Communications Management Plan, which covers a broad range of topics such as what, how, when, and how frequently information will be communicated and requires an ample amount of communication ability and skills.

Question 148

The team has identified several mitigation and contingency action plans to deal with potential risks within the project. Who is responsible for implementing the actions defined by mitigation and the contingency plan in risk management? A. Project expeditor B. Risk owner C. Project sponsor D. Project manager

Answer 148

Answer: B Explanation: The risk owner for a particular risk is responsible for implementing the actions defined by mitigation and the contingency plan in risk management.

Question 149

You are working on a very critical and strategic project to develop a robust dynamic website, which will be available to approximately five million users your company has around the globe. You decided to survey the experts within your organization on any foreseeable risks with the design, structure, and intent of the website with an anonymous, simple form. You later sent out subsequent anonymous surveys to a group of experts with the collected information. This is an example of: A. A Delphi technique B. Identify Risks process C. Nominal group technique D. SWOT analysis

Answer 149

Answer: A Explanation: The Delphi technique is mainly focused on preventing group thinking and finding out the true opinions of the participants. This is done by sending a request for information to experts who are participating anonymously, compiling their responses, and sending the results back to them for further review until a consensus is reached.

Question 150

You are the project manager of a data center project. You have just completed an analysis of project risks and have prioritized them using a probability and impact matrix. The approach you used to prioritize the risks is: A. Qualitative analysis B. Quantitative analysis C. Sensitivity analysis D. Earned value analysis

Answer 150

Answer: A Explanation: Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis is the process of prioritizing risks by assessing and combining their probability of occurrence and impact to the project if they occur. This fast, relatively easy to perform, and cost effective process ensures that the right emphasis is on the right risk areas as per their ranking and priority and helps to allocate adequate time and resources for them. This process utilizes the experience of subject matter experts, functional managers, best practices, and previous project records. Even though numbers are used for the rating in Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, it is a subjective evaluation and should be performed throughout the project.

Question 151

Which one of the following is a comprehensive way of ordering risks according to their source? A. Product description B. Risk categories C. Assumptions D. Constraints

Answer 151

Answer: B Explanation: Risk categories are a group of potential causes for risks that can be grouped into categories, such as technical, political, external, project, and environmental. In order to systematically identify risks to a consistent level of detail, we can use the form of a simple list of categories or a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). Assumptions are information not generally considered to be based on factual data items and should be verified. Constraints are limitations that should be considered when developing project plans. The product description provides details about the complexity of the product to be delivered.

Question 152

Your team is performing a quantitative risk analysis using the Monte Carlo simulator. Which one of the following statements is FALSE about this Monte Carlo analysis? A. It translates the uncertainties specified at a detailed level into their potential impact on project objectives at the level of the whole project. B. It is a modeling technique that computes project costs one time. C. It involves determining the impact of the identified risks by running simulations to identify the range of possible outcomes for a number of scenarios. D. It usually expresses its results as probability distributions of possible costs.

Answer 152

Answer: B Explanation: Monte Carlo simulation generates information through iterations. Project information at the activity level is chosen at random during the process and produces data that illustrates the likelihood of achieving specific cost or schedule targets.

Question 153

One of your hardware vendors sends you an e-mail stating that due to severe weather she may not be able to deliver the networking equipment on time. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A. This is a residual risk. B. This is a risk trigger. C. This is a risk event. D. This is a secondary risk.

Answer 153

Answer: B Explanation: Risk triggers are symptoms or warning signs that a potential risk is about to occur within the project. For instance, a key team member searching for a better job opportunity is a warning sign that the person may be leaving the team soon, causing schedule delay, increased cost, and other issues. Risk events are actual occurrences of an identified risk event. Residual risks are the remaining risks after the execution of risk response planning and for which contingency and fallback plans can be created. Secondary risks are new risks created by implementing the selected risk response strategies.

Question 154

You have identified several problems along with their causes in your web-based application development project. Which one of the following have you probably used to show the problem and its causes and effects? A. Ishikawa diagram B. System flow diagram C. Process diagram D. Histogram

Answer 154

Answer: A Explanation: The Ishikawa diagram, also called a cause and effect flow chart or a fishbone diagram, shows the relationship between the causes and effects of problems.

Question 155

Your team is performing a risk probability and impact assessment for each risk to investigate the likelihood and potential effect on the project objectives, such as time, cost, scope, and quality. The numeric impact scale is expressed as values from 0.0 to 1.0 and can be stated in equal (linear) or unequal (nonlinear) increments. Your team is using: A. An ordinal scale B. Monte Carlo analysis C. Influence diagram D. A cardinal scale

Answer 155

Answer: D Explanation: Ordinal scales utilize a narrative description and assign values as high, medium, low, or a combination of these. This numeric scale, also called a cardinal scale, is expressed as values from 0.0 to 1.0 and can be stated in equal (linear) or unequal (nonlinear).

Question 156

Expected Monetary Value (or simply expected value) is a statistical concept that calculates the average outcome of a decision. The two dimensions of risk used to determine this expected value are: A. Probability and threshold B. Probability and tolerance C. Consequence and contingencies D. Probability and consequence

Answer 156

Answer: D Explanation: Risk ratings are determined by the product of probability and impact or consequences when using qualitative analysis and to determine Expected Monetary Value (EMV) when utilizing a decision tree (quantitative analysis). EMV is the product of the probability and consequences of an event or task.

Question 157

While overseeing a complex software project to develop a sophisticated golf simulator for a local golf club, you realize that the team is lacking the required technical expertise and experience. You also do not have the required tools and development environment for this kind of complicated software development. After discussing with the sponsor, you decide to give the design and development work to a vendor who specializes in the specific technical area. This is an example of: A. Passive acceptance B. Active acceptance C. Risk avoidance D. Risk transfer

Answer 157

Answer: D Explanation: Transferring is shifting the negative impact of a threat, along with the ownership of the response, to a third party to make it their responsibility. It only gives another party responsibility for its management but does not eliminate the risk. It nearly always involves payment to the third party for taking on the risk. Risk mitigation simply means a reduction in the probability and/or impact of an adverse risk event to an acceptable threshold. Since it is seldom possible to eliminate all risks and also since the cost or impact of avoid, transfer, and mitigate is too high, acceptance can be the preferred strategy. It indicates that the project team is simply accepting the risk and will continue with the project. Passive acceptance requires no action. The active acceptance strategy aims to establish contingency reserves to handle threats. Avoid indicates that you are eliminating the threat by eliminating the root cause of the threat.

Question 158

Steve, a project manager, has a robust risk response plan for his ERP implementation project. The team has utilized all of the appropriate tools & techniques and has executed the predefined preventive and contingency actions to respond to identified project risks. He finds out that some of the risks have been reduced in impact but still remain as potential threats. Steve decides to develop additional contingency and fallback plans for these risks as soon as possible. These risks are called: A. Secondary risks B. Residual risks C. Primary risks D. Workarounds

Answer 158

Answer: B Explanation: Residual risks are the risks that remain after the execution of risk response planning and for which contingency and fallback plans can be created. Their probability and impact have been reduced through mitigation. These risks are included in the outputs of the Plan Risk Responses process and are expected to remain as threats. Primary risks included in the initial risk identification process are generally most obvious. Secondary risks are new risks that are created due to the implementation of selected risk response strategies. Workarounds are unplanned responses developed to deal with the occurrence of unanticipated risk events.

Question 159

You are in the Monitor Risks process of identifying, analyzing, and planning for newly arising risks, keeping track of identified risks, reanalyzing existing risks, monitoring trigger conditions, monitoring residual risks, and reviewing the execution and effectiveness of risk responses. Outputs from the Monitor Risks process include all of the following EXCEPT: A. Data Analysis B. Work Performance Information C. Change requests D. Project management plan updates

Answer 159

Answer: A Explanation: Data Analysis such as Technical Performance Analysis and Reserve Analysis are tools & techniques used in the Monitor Risks process.

Question 160

Your management asked you to finalize a contract for an online gaming portal with one of the vendors. You want to make sure that through negotiation you are clarifying and reaching mutual agreement on the structure and details of the contract prior to signing. You also want to make sure while negotiating that you cover major negotiation items, such as authority, responsibilities, price and payment, financing, management approach, and applicable laws. You estimate that it will take another ten days to complete the negotiation and finalize the contract, but the project manager needs to initiate work on several items right away in order to avoid drastic schedule problems in the future. What will be the BEST course of action in this situation? A. Verbally asked the vendor to start working while the negotiation is ongoing. B. Send the Statement of Work (SOW) to the vendor. C. Issue a letter of intent or letter contract. D. Inform the project manager that work cannot start prior to signing the final contract.

Answer 160

Answer: C Explanation: A letter of intent is a letter expressing the intention of the buyer to hire the seller. It is not a contract; thus, it does not have any legal binding. Usually, the buyer gives a letter of intent to the seller when completion of contract negotiation and finalization will take a significant amount of time but the project needs to be initiated as soon as possible.

Question 161

Which one of the following is NOT true about a cost reimbursable contract? A. The buyer bears the most risk as total cost is unknown until the project is finished. B. It requires auditing sellers’ invoices. C. Buyers usually write a detailed Statement of Work (SOW). D. The seller has only a moderate incentive to control cost.

Answer 161

Answer: C Explanation: In a cost reimbursable contract, sellers usually write a detailed statement of work. Buyers mostly use this sort of contract in research and development or in information technology projects where the scope is unknown.

Question 162

In a Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) contract, the target cost is estimated at $250,000 and the fee at $35,000. The actual cost came to be $210,000. Since there was a cost savings, the seller shares the savings at a 70/30 ratio (70 percent to the buyer and 30 percent to the seller). What are the final fee and final price? A. $47,000 and $257,000 B. $47,000 and $210,000 C. $35,000 and $257,000 D. $35,000 and $210,000

Answer 162

Answer: A Explanation: Target Cost: $250,000 Target Fee: $35,000 Target Price: $285,000 Actual Cost: $210,000 Sharing Ratio: 70/30 Final Fee: Total savings is $250,000 – $210,000 = $40,000 Seller portion is $40,000 * 30 percent = $12,000 So, the final fee will be $35,000 + $ 12,000 = $ 47,000 Final Price = $ 210,000 + $47,000 = $257,000

Question 163

You are working on a construction project and successfully completed all the work. Your stakeholders were very pleased and recently communicated their final acceptance of the project. You are now meeting with your team to update the organizational process assets with a record of knowledge gained about the project to help future project managers with their projects. Once the lessons learned are completed, what should you do NEXT? A. Release the team B. Close the contract C. Get formal acceptance D. Write lessons learned

Answer 163

Answer: A Explanation: You should release the team once the lessons learned are documented and added to the organizational process assets. Most contracts have payment terms that allow for some period of time before full payment is required; thus, the last thing you do on the project is close the contract. The order should be: get formal acceptance, write lessons learned, release the team, and close the contract.

Question 164

You are in charge of the bidding process for a government railway project. You are trying to come up with a set of minimum criteria sellers must meet to be considered. Which of the following are you working on? A. Screening system B. Proposal evaluation technique C. A weighting system D. An independent or in-house estimate

Answer 164

Answer: A Explanation: A screening system is a set of minimum criteria a seller must meet to be considered, such as proficiency with certain products or techniques, safety record, number of years of relevant experience, etc. Prior to reviewing the detailed proposals, a buyer may review the qualifications of sellers who have indicated an interest to bid. A weighting system is generally utilized to score qualified sellers after proposals have been submitted. The procuring organization can prepare its own independent estimate to judge whether the statement of work was adequate in its description or that the seller fully understood or responded fully to the statement of work. This estimate also helps the organization check the reasonableness of the seller’s response and proposed pricing.

Question 165

Your company is working on a government railway infrastructure upgrade project. You have signed a Fixed Price (FP) contract and will be paid a fee of $380,000 to complete the work. It’s now six months into the project, and your costs have just exceeded $340,000. As per the contract, your company is now responsible for any cost overrun from this point forward, and the buyer will not share any of it. This situation is BEST described as: A. The project manager spent too much money on the project. B. The project has reached the Point of Total Assumption (PTA). C. The buyer is cheating the seller. D. The project budget was miscalculated initially.

Answer 165

Answer: B Explanation: The Point of Total Assumption (PTA) is the cost point in the contract where the seller assumes responsibility for all cost overruns as costs beyond this point are considered to be due to mismanagement.

Question 166

You are working on a software development project to automate an accounting process. You, your team, and your senior manager all feel that the work is complete. However, one of your important clients disagrees and feels that one of the deliverables is not acceptable, as it does not meet the requirements specification. What is the BEST way to handle this conflict? A. Issue a change order. B. Renegotiate the contract. C. File a lawsuit to force the stakeholder to accept the deliverable. D. Meet with the responsible team member to review the WBS dictionary.

Answer 166

Answer: D Explanation: The very first thing we should do is to find out the details of the issue by reviewing the requirements and meeting with the responsible team member to review the WBS dictionary. We need to find out if there is something wrong in the details of the work package or in how the team member completed the work. If needed, we can then issue a change order. When there’s a dispute between a buyer and a seller, it’s called a claim. Most contracts have some language that explains exactly how claims should be resolved—and since it’s in the contract, it’s legally binding, and both the buyer and seller need to follow it. Usually it’s not an option to renegotiate a contract, especially at the end of the project after the work is completed. Lawsuits should only be filed if there are absolutely, positively no other options.

Question 167

While in the Control Procurements process, you are meeting with your seller to check on the product itself and its conformance to specification. Which one of the following are you performing? A. Performance reporting B. Procurement performance reviews C. Inspections and audits D. Claims administration

Answer 167

Answer: C Explanation: Inspections and audits are activities mainly focused on the product itself and its conformance to specification. Performance reporting is an excellent tool that provides management with information about how effectively the seller is meeting contractual objectives. This report can produce earned values, schedule and cost performance index, trend analysis, etc. Procurement performance review is a structured review that consists of seller-prepared documentation, buyer inspection, and a quality audit of the seller’s progress to deliver project scope and quality within cost and on schedule as compared to the contract. The objective is to identify performance progress or failures, non-compliances, and areas where performance is a problem. Claims handling is one of the most frequent activities in the Control Procurements process. Claims, disputes, or appeals are requested when the buyer and seller disagree on scope, the impact of changes, or the interpretation of some terms and conditions in the contract.

Question 168

Which of the following is NOT true about the Close Project or Phase process and the Control Procurements process? A. Project closure happens at the end of the project or project phases, whereas there may be many procurement closures as there may be several procurements in a project. B. It is not required to close all procurements prior to final project closure. C. Project closure may happen at the end of each phase and at the very end of the entire project. D. Upon completion of the contract for each of the procurements, a procurement audit should be carried out to close the procurement.

Answer 168

Answer: B Explanation: Control Procurements occurs before Close Project or Phase. We should close all procurements prior to final project closure.

Question 169

You found your vendor’s subcontractor to be much more professional and easy to work with and started directly contacting them for project updates and other concerns. You are informed by the vendor that, as per the contractual relationship, this is not an ideal situation since you are only supposed to contact the vendor and not the vendor’s subcontractor. The legal contractual relationship that exists between a buyer and a seller after the contract is signed that the vendor is referring to is known as: A. Bilateral agreement B. Legally bonded relationship C. Obligation D. Privity

Answer 169

Answer: D Explanation: Privity is the contractual relationship that both buyer and seller have to realize and maintain. A bilateral agreement is a binding contract between the two parties that have agreed to mutually acceptable terms.

Question 170

The risk associated with performance specifications is usually the responsibility of the: A. Project manager B. Buyer C. Project sponsor D. Seller

Answer 170

Answer: D Explanation: Function specifications and performance specifications are the responsibility of the seller, whereas design specifications are usually provided by the buyer; also, risks associated with design are the responsibility of the buyer.

Question 171

You requested your experts to prepare an independent estimate, or in-house estimate, for your contract to help judge whether the Statement of Work (SOW) was adequate in its description or that the seller understood or responded fully to it. You also want to check the reasonableness of the seller’s response and proposed pricing. Which of the following BEST describes what you are doing? A. Plan Procurement Management B. Conduct Procurements C. Control Procurements D. Close Procurements

Answer 171

Answer: B Explanation: We use a Procurement Document such as Independent Cost Estimates as an input in the Conduct Procurements process.

Question 172

You are asked by management to select a contract type that will obligate the seller to accept all liability for poor workmanship, engineering errors, and consequential damages in the project. Which of the following contract types will you select? A. Fixed price B. Time & material C. Cost plus incentive fee D. Purchase order

Answer 172

Answer: A Explanation: The fixed price or lump sum contract, which usually pays a lump sum amount for all the work, places the risk on the seller. The seller may include a contingency in the contract to assist in minimizing the risk of reduced profits.

Question 173

You have tried to close most of the concerns and areas of disagreement with the vendor while negotiating prior to signing the final contract. You still do not rule out the possibility of misunderstanding and situations that may adversely affect your project. As an alternative, cheaper method to court for dispute resolution, you have assigned a neutral, private, third party to resolve the disputes. What is this referred to in contract terms and conditions? A. Force majeure B. Indemnification C. Arbitration D. Fait accompli

Answer 173

Answer: C Explanation: Arbitration is an alternative, cheaper method to the court system for dispute resolution. A neutral, private, third party is assigned to resolve the dispute. Indemnification identifies parties liable for accidents, personal injury, or damages in a project. Fait accompli is a negotiation tactic of using rules/laws, decisions already made, etc., as mandatory to avoid any further discussion. Force majeure is the allowable excuse for either party for not meeting contractual obligations in the event that something is considered to be an act of God, such as fire, earthquake, flood, freak electrical storm, etc. Since the event is considered to be neither party’s fault, usually the seller receives a time extension, and risk of loss is borne by the seller, which is usually covered by insurance.

Question 174

You were asked by your management to investigate the cause of severe cost overrun in one of the projects that was completed last year. You found out that a certain contract was used in the project that is considered to be very risky for the buyer, as it does not encourage the seller to control costs; rather, it incentivizes the seller to be inefficient. What sort of contract was used in the project? A. Cost Plus Percentage of Cost (CPPC) B. Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) C. Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) D. Fixed Price Economic Price Adjustment (FPEPA)

Answer 174

Answer: A Explanation: In a Cost Plus Percentage of Cost (CPPC) contract, the buyer pays actual cost plus a percentage of cost as a fee. So, the more cost the seller shows, the more money the seller makes. Sellers have no incentive to control cost; rather, they get awarded for being inefficient. This type of contract is illegal in the United States.

Question 175

You are efficaciously managing a business automation project, and most of the deliverables were delivered on time by the team members. This project is extremely critical as it will drastically cut down the time and cost of regular business activities for several departments. Stakeholders and customers have articulated their satisfaction with the project, but you were also criticized for the number of changes made in the project. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the project problem? A. You failed to identify some of the key stakeholders in your project. B. You should have more project management training and experience. C. Change Control Board (CCB) members approved almost all of the change requests. D. The project should have had a better change control system.

Answer 175

Answer: A Explanation: The root cause of the significant number of changes in the project is that some of the key stakeholders were not identified and their requirements were not captured. These missing stakeholders have submitted several change requests to accommodate their needs. Nothing in this scenario advocates that the project manager does not have the required project management training and experience. A vigorous change control board will be efficiently evaluating the change requests to approve or reject them, but they cannot really help with the number of changes a project will have.

Question 176

You are in the Monitor Stakeholder Engagement process of evaluating and monitoring overall stakeholder relationships and ensuring stakeholders’ appropriate engagement in the project by adjusting plans and strategies as required. Which one of the following is an important input to the Monitor Stakeholder Engagement process? A. Agreements B. Project Charter C. Change log D. Project Document - Issue log

Answer 176

Answer: D Explanation: The Issue Log is an important input to the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process. An issue is an obstacle that threatens project progress and can block the team from achieving its goals. An Issue Log is a written log document to record issues that require a solution.

Question 177

You are performing stakeholder analysis and utilizing different models to identify the interests, expectations, and influence of the stakeholders to classify them. The model that helps to analyze a stakeholder’s power or ability to impose his or her will, urgency, or need for immediate attention from the project team along with the legitimacy of his or her involvement is the: A. Power/interest grid B. Salience model C. Power/influence grid D. Influence/impact grid

Answer 177

Answer: B Explanation: The salience model addresses stakeholder power or ability to impose their will, urgency, or need for immediate attention from the team and legitimize their involvement (whether their involvement is appropriate) in a project. Power/interest grid is based on the level of authority or power and level of concern or interest a stakeholder has regarding the project outcome. Power/influence grid is based on the level of authority or power and active involvement or influence a stakeholder has. Influence/impact grid groups stakeholders based on their involvement or influence and their ability to affect changes to planning or execution (impact).

Question 178

You are in the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process of defining an approach to manage stakeholders throughout the entire project life cycle as per their interest, impact, importance, and influence over the project. Which of the following is an input to this Plan Stakeholder Engagement process? A. Impact/power grid B. Stakeholder Register C. Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix D. Stakeholder Cube

Answer 178

Answer: B Explanation: The Stakeholder Register is an input to the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process. Impact/power grid, Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix, and Stakeholder Cube are tools and techniques used in different Stakeholder Management Processes.

Question 179

You are in the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process and are focused on meeting and exceeding the stakeholders’ expectations by continuously communicating with them, clarifying and resolving their issues, addressing their concerns, and improving project performance by implementing their change requests. Which of the following is a tool & technique used in this process? A. Interpersonal and Team Skills B. Change log C. Issue log D. Project Charter

Answer 179

Answer: A Explanation: Interpersonal skills, such as conflict management, cultural awareness, negotiation, observation/conversation, and political awareness, are crucial tools & techniques used in the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process. Issue Log and Change Log are never tools & techniques as they are always inputs or outputs. A Project Charter is also not a tool and technique.

Question 180

You are assigned as a project manager for one of the most imperative and strategic projects in your organization. As the stakeholders will play a vital role in the success of your project, you are trying to identify all your internal and external stakeholders. In which project management process group will you identify stakeholders in your project? A. Initiating B. Initiating and planning C. All process groups D. Planning and monitoring & controlling

Answer 180

Answer: C Explanation: Stakeholders can be identified throughout the project management process groups of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing. In order to determine the requirements and expectations of the stakeholders, they should be identified and should be involved at the beginning of the project as much as possible. If all the stakeholders’ needs and requirements are not taken into consideration prior to plan finalization, the results may be very expensive changes or dissatisfaction later in the project.

Question 181

You have been managing a government railway project and dealing with several stakeholders. You have spent a considerable amount of time identifying all your internal and external stakeholders and their interest, influence level in your project, and their key expectations. Managing stakeholder expectations is the responsibility of which party? A. Since the project manager alone cannot manage all the stakeholders on a complex, large project, the project manager and project team together are responsible for managing stakeholders’ expectations. B. Project sponsor, as this individual funds the project and has greater control over the stakeholders. C. Stakeholders should make sure that their expectations are managed appropriately and that they receive the required information on the project as needed. D. This is the responsibility of the project manager alone.

Answer 181

Answer: D Explanation: The project manager is responsible for managing stakeholder expectations.

Question 182

You have thirteen stakeholders in the construction project that you are overseeing. Your initial study about these stakeholders tells you that most of them will actively support your project to be successful, but you have a couple of stakeholders who may deleteriously impact your project. There is one specific stakeholder you are particularly concerned about as he is known to be exceptionally critical about the way the project managers in the organization manage projects. He also has the reputation for requesting many changes in projects and antagonistically pursuing his demands. You realized that you need to be meticulous in dealing with this stakeholder and plan to take which of the following approaches: A. Carefully eradicate the need of this stakeholder and remove him from thestakeholder list. B. Have a discussion with the stakeholder’s boss and find a way to make the stakeholder support the project positively by not being too critical and aggressive. C. Simply deal with the stakeholder and refuse his requests for changes. D. Involve this stakeholder in the project as early as possible and work closely with him throughout the project.

Answer 182

Answer: D Explanation: The project manager simply cannot remove the stakeholder from the stakeholder list since he has a stake in the project. It will be best to involve this stakeholder in the project as early as possible and work closely with him throughout the project to understand his requirements and expectations and gain his constructive support.

Question 183

A trustworthy, senior team member informs you that two of the stakeholders are very apprehensive about the ERP project you are overseeing. The first stakeholder is very panicky that once the ERP is implemented in his department a lot of people will lose their jobs. The second stakeholder is skeptical about the capability of the team to implement such large, multifaceted project. As the project manager, what should you do in this kind of situation? A. Set up a meeting with these two stakeholders and discuss their concerns. B. Report to the sponsor about these two stakeholders. C. Set up a question-and-answer session about the project and invite all the stakeholders. D. You should send an official e-mail to the stakeholders asking them to direct any queries about the project in writing to you.

Answer 183

Answer: A Explanation: An informal verbal communication by setting up a meeting with these two stakeholders and discussing their concerns should be the best approach here. Reporting to the sponsor without much detail about these two stakeholders will not solve any real problem. Since not all stakeholders have concerns, setting up a question-and-answer session about the project with all the stakeholders will not be appropriate. Sending an official e-mail to the stakeholders asking them to direct any query on the project in writing to the project manager will most probably estrange them.

Question 184

You have several stakeholders in the shopping mall construction project that you are overseeing. You know that actively engaging the stakeholders throughout the project and getting their support is key for project success. In which of the following areas will the external stakeholders be able to assist you the MOST? A. Project Charter, assumptions, and Project Management Plan B. Activity resource constraints and needs C. Requirements, deliverables, and schedule D. Product deliverables and project constraints

Answer 184

Answer: D Explanation: The project manager creates the Project Management Plan, schedule, and activity resource needs with input from the team members. The project sponsor will approve the project charter. External stakeholders may help the team in determining product deliverables and project constraints.

Question 185

You have thirteen stakeholders in the construction project that you are overseeing. Your initial study about these stakeholders tells you that most of them will actively support your project to be successful, but you have couple of stakeholders who may adversely impact your project. When do you think these stakeholders will have the MOST influence on your project? A. Throughout the project life cycle B. At the completion of the project C. At the beginning of the project D. During Executing and Monitoring & Controlling ProcessGroups

Answer 185

Answer: C Explanation: Stakeholder influence is highest at the start and diminishes as the project proceeds.

Question 186

What is the best way to manage stakeholders who are high on power but low on interest? A. Monitor B. Keep informed C. Keep satisfied D. Manage closely

Answer 186

Answer: C Explanation: The strategy for stakeholders who are high on the power but low on the interest is “keep satisfied.”

Question 187

While analyzing stakeholders in your project, you identified one stakeholder who is so formidable and influential that he forced the team to implement many of his last-minute change requests in one of the previous projects. There is also a common understanding that he used his influence to dismiss a very important project during executing in the past. What will be your BEST course of action with such a persuasive stakeholder? A. Involve this stakeholder as little as possible in the project. B. Involve this stakeholder from the very beginning and closely manage him. C. Give highest priority to his expectations, concerns, and issues. D. Get approval from the sponsor to remove this stakeholder from the project.

Answer 187

Answer: B Explanation: The project manager simply cannot remove the stakeholder from the stakeholder list since he has a stake in the project. It will be best to involve this stakeholder in the project as early as possible and work closely with him throughout the project to understand his requirements and gain his constructive support.

Question 188

You are assigned as a project manager to implement an ERP solution for one of the retailers in your area. Currently, you are working on identifying stakeholders and their level of involvement, roles, and responsibilities. Who will be able to help the team the MOST to identify what roles the stakeholders will play and how and what they will contribute to the project? A. The sponsor B. Senior Management C. Functional managers D. Stakeholders

Answer 188

Answer: D Explanation: Stakeholders will be able to help the project manager and team members the most in identifying what roles they will play in the project. The project manager will decide how and what kind of contributions stakeholders will make in the project by discussing with team members, the sponsor, and stakeholders. The project manager should evaluate the knowledge and skill sets of stakeholders in order to identify stakeholders’ roles and have a discussion with them to make sure that they approve the roles.

Question 189

Due to time and budget constraints, senior management decided not to include the requirements of several stakeholders in a project. The project manager finalized the project management plan but encountered significant challenges in receiving formal acceptance. The stakeholders were extremely upset and tried every possible way to include their requirements in the project as it would take several years for the organization to initiate another project to implement their desired functionalities. After several attempts, the project was finally approved and initiated a couple of months ago. Which of the following preventive actions should the project manager NOT consider in this case? A. Make sure that the stakeholders will not use the change control process as a mean to add their requirements. B. Document what is out of scope and in scope in the project. C. Review and confirm the requirements that will be out of scope in the project with the stakeholders. D. Develop a stakeholder register and stakeholder management strategy.

Answer 189

Answer: C Explanation: As the project was approved and work was begun, the issue should not be a concern anymore. Having further meetings with the stakeholders will be excessive and will not add any real value.

Question 190

You are accountable for a large data center project and have requested proposals from several vendors. You will be purchasing $1.2 million worth of networking equipment, a software application, and an ERP solution for the project. Once informed about your upcoming family vacation on an island, one of the vendors offered you to stay in his summer cabin on forty acres land he happens to have on that island. What should you do in this situation? A. Decline the offer as it will be considered an integrity issue on the part of the vendor. B. Decline the offer as it is an integrity issue and will be considered as your personal gain. C. Accept the offer and also inform the project sponsor about it. D. Accept the offer as you do not see any integrity issue or conflict of interest.

Answer 190

Answer: B Explanation: You should decline the offer based on the fact that it will be considered as personal gain on your part and your integrity will be questioned. Option A will not be the correct answer because you are not responsible for the integrity of others.

Question 191

While discussing the project schedule with the sponsor, both of you recognize that the project is behind schedule and that there is no way to meet the deadline that was committed. The sponsor asked you not to reveal this fact to the customer in the impending status meeting later on that day. What will be your BEST course of action? A. Have a quick chat with the customer and explain your situation. B. Request the sponsor to have a conversation with the customer. C. Postpone the status meeting. D. Explain to the sponsor that it is not ethical to knowingly report an incorrect project status to anyone in the project.

Answer 191

Answer: D Explanation: The best course of action will be to explain to the sponsor that under all circumstances you are obligated to conduct yourself in a truthful manner and report the truth regarding project status. You are also obligated not to deceive others and not to make false or half-true statements. It is not ethical to knowingly report an incorrect project status to anyone in the project.

Question 192

Your project to build a water park in one of the east side subdivisions has been going pretty well. Recently you noticed that two of the team members are unremittingly arguing about project priorities, work assignments, and technical options. This is having an adverse impact on the overall project, and other team members have also complained to you about this concern. What will be your BEST course of action? A. Have a discussion with the concerned functional manager. B. Remove those two team members from the team. C. Have a meeting with these two team members to discuss and understand their concerns and points of view. D. Issue a warning letter to both of the team members.

Answer 192

Answer: C Explanation: One of the mandatory standards in the PMI code of ethics and professional conduct is respect. It involves the way we conduct ourselves in a professional manner and listen to other viewpoints. As a project manager, you should approach those two team members directly to understand their concerns. If this problem persists, you should have a discussion with the concerned functional manager, issue a warning letter, or remove them from the team (in an extreme situation).

Question 193

You are working for a consultancy firm that provides PMP training and consultancy. You notice that the firm is encouraging the candidates to be untruthful about their required project management experience and training hours to be eligible to take the test. What will be your MOST appropriate course of action? A. Since you are not involved in the registration process, simply ignore what is going on in the organization. B. Ask the manager responsible to stop any such unethical practice. C. Contact PMI and explain the situation. D. Quit your job.

Answer 193

Answer: C Explanation: You are obligated to report any violation of the PMI code of ethics and professional conduct to PMI.

Question 194

You are a senior project manager, and recently you were asked to manage a project to build a brick manufacturing plant. While the team was conducting the feasibility study, you learned that the plant could severely contaminate the air and water in the neighborhood. You became apprehensive that this catastrophic impact could be long lasting. You discussed your concern with the sponsor and recommended to implement robust waste management procedures that will add cost to the project. The sponsor contended that the project should be completed as soon as possible with the defined scope and no extra cost. What will be your BEST course of action in this situation? A. Politely refuse to take charge of the project. B. Take charge of the project and inform the local residents about the potential negative impact of the manufacturing plant. C. Agree with the sponsor. D. Take charge of the project and do not disclose any information about the negative impact of the manufacturing plant to the local residents.

Answer 194

Answer: A Explanation: One of the mandatory standards in the PMI code of ethics and professional conduct is responsibility. Responsibility is the act of making and taking ownership of our decisions, admitting our mistakes, and being responsible for our decisions and actions. As a project manager, you must make decisions based on the best interests of society, public safety, and the environment. It is no t advisable to undertake a project that will work against the interests of the public.

Question 195

You have been assigned as a project manager for a project in a country where employees take long lunches and nap breaks, enjoy six weeks of paid vacation each year, and observe several supplementary holidays that are not offered in your home country. You have been asked by your local team members to authorize the same kind of vacation time and holidays to maintain team equality. What will be your BEST course of action? A. Inform the foreign team that they must follow the vacation and holiday guidelines of the head office. B. Be fair and allow the local team to enjoy the same kind of relaxed lifestyle. C. Treat all the extra vacation days and holidays as schedule constraints in your project. D. Explore the option of outsourcing this part of the project to some other geographic location.

Answer 195

Answer: C Explanation: One of the mandatory standards in the PMI code of ethics and professional conduct is respect. As a project manager, you should respect personal, ethnic, and cultural differences and avoid engaging in behaviors might be considered disrespectful. The only valid action will be to treat all extra vacation days and holidays as schedule constraints in your project.

Question 196

The software project to build a new office application is in progress. While reviewing one of the components, you discover that it does not meet the quality standards of your company. Upon further investigation, you realize that the component does not necessarily need to meet the specified quality standards as it will function just fine as is. The team member responsible for the component also mentioned to you that meeting the specified quality standards will be time consuming and pricey. What should be your BEST course of action as a project manager? A. Accept this particular component, but make sure that the remaining components meet the specified quality standards. B. Report the concern about the level of quality and seek a solution. C. Modify the specified quality standards to match the level achieved. D. Report the component as satisfactory

Answer 196

Answer: B Explanation: You should report the concern with the level of quality so that the experts can find an appropriate resolution. It would be unethical to modify the specific quality standards and report the component as satisfactory. Making sure that the remaining components will meet the quality standards will not really solve the existing problem.

Question 197

While managing a web-based application project to automate the accounting process, one of your valuable clients requested you to bypass developing a quality policy for the project to save time. There is no existing organizational or industrial quality policy that you can use in the project. You have expressed your strong disagreement with the customer, but they were pretty unwavering about their approach. What will be your BEST course of action? A. Contact PMI immediately and report the situation. B. Request the sponsor to have a discussion with the customer on the necessity of the quality policy. C. Follow the customer’s wishes as the customer is always right. D. Ignore the customer’s request and create the quality policy for your project.

Answer 197

Answer: B Explanation: In a difficult situation that is beyond the control of the project manager, the sponsor may get involved and act as a liaison to the customer. When there is a dispute, we should always try to resolve it in favor of the customer, but as a project manager, you should also remember that the customer is not always right. You must create a quality policy for your project in case there is no existing organizational or industrial policy document that you can use.

Question 198

There are several potential projects in your organization, but the organization needs to select the best project to work on due to limited resources, cash flow, and different strategic objectives and priorities. Higher management asked you to compare these potential projects and find out the best one with the most value based on the project triggers and benefit measurement methods. You are a project manager with several years of experience in implementing IT projects, but you are not conversant with project selection methods. What should you do in this situation? A. Inform higher management that you are lacking experience and expertise in project selection methods. B. Do your best and select the project that you think will bring the most value. C. Politely inform management that you are unable to take the assignment at this time. D. Seek expert opinion to select the best project.

Answer 198

Answer: A Explanation: One of the mandatory standards in the PMI code of ethics and professional conduct is honesty. Honesty i s the act of communicating and conducting ourselves in a truthful manner, reporting the truth regarding project status, not deceiving othe rs, not making false or half-true statements, and being honest about our own experience and expertise. In this particular scenario, you should honestly report your lack of experience and expertise in project selection methods to higher management. Also, as per the PMI code of ethics, you should accept only those assignments that are consistent with your background, exper ience, skills, and qualifications. Higher management may help you in various ways, including suggesting you seek expert opinion for selecting the project once they are informed about your lack of experience. So refusing the assignment will not be an appropriate action in this situation.

Question 199

You are substituting a project manager who just left the organization. While reviewing the deliverables and their status, you notice that several deliverables that were reported as completed are still in development. Additionally, management is under the impression that the project is on track when, in fact, it is behind schedule and over budget. What will be your BEST course of action? A. Politely refuse the project assignment. B. Revise the status and notify management. C. Have an urgent meeting with the key stakeholders and ask for suggestions on what to do. D. Explore crashing the project to bring it back on track.

Answer 199

Answer: B Explanation: Since there are changes in project cost and schedule, you should revise the status and update management accordingly before you take any other action. Crashing the project usually adds cost to the project, so it will make things even worse. You cannot simply refuse to manage a project because it is behind schedule and over budget. As a project manager, you should be directing the project instead of asking the stakeholders to do so.

Question 200

While finalizing the biweekly project status and progress reports, you observe that a few deliverables that are reported as completed are not actually done and that the team members also did not report the days spent on the activities correctly. Your project statistics and updates become very unrealistic with these wrong estimates given by the team members. What should you do in this kind of situation? A. Report the information as is. B. Provide accurate and truthful project information in a timely manner. C. Inform the functional managers about the actions of the team members. D. Replace the team members who are providing wrong estimates

Answer 200

Answer: B Explanation: One of the mandatory standards in the PMI code of ethics and professional conduct is honesty. Honesty is the act of communicating and conducting ourselves in a truthful manner, reporting the truth regarding project status, not deceiving others, and not making false or half-true statements. As a project manager, you should always provide accurate and truthful information in a timely manner. It would be unethical to report the wrong project status to anyone in the project. You should have a discussion with the team members about the negative impact of their actions. If needed, you may need to inform functional managers about the actions of the team members.