4.0 Project Integration Management (Multiple Choice)
You are dealing with multiple requests for changes on a project, some of which are very minor and some more impactful. You want to be sure that the appropriate person/body is approving each of the various change requests, so you should consult which of the following? A. Change Control System B. Configuration management plan C. Change management plan D. Stakeholder Register
Answer: A Monitoring - Integration Management The change control system is a collection of formal documented procedures that define how project deliverables and documentation will be controlled, changed and approved. It should be set forth in the Project Management Plan, along with other change management plans.
Which statement about project deliverables is correct? A. They are determined after the work is completely defined. B. They are described during project planning and improved over time. C. They are broadly defined at the project onset with the input of project stakeholders. D. They are determined by the project sponsor.
Answer: C Planning - Integration Management Project Deliverables are unique and verifiable products, results, or capabilities to perform a service that must be produced to complete a process, phase or project. They are defined, broadly, during the initiation process group, and will be refined as needed throughout the scope management processes.
As a project manager you should understand all phases of a project. The summary-level sub-products whose full and satisfactory delivery marks completion of the project describes which of the following? A. Project scope B. Project charter C. Project management D. Project deliverables
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management Deliverables are the result of a controlled project and as such should be clearly identified early in the project.
Which of the following is true about explicit knowledge? A. When explicit knowledge is codified, context is preserved B. It is always preferred over tacit knowledge C. Explicit knowledge is difficult to record D. Codified explicit knowledge can be easily shared
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management While codified explicit knowledge can be recorded and shared easily, it lacks context and is open to different interpretations.
A company is considering an investment of $110,000. There is a 50% probability that the investment will perform well, and a 50% probability it will perform poorly. If it performs well, the payoff will be $150,000 one year from now. If it performs poorly, the payoff will be $70,000 one year from now. Assuming a 10% discount rate, should the company make this investment? A. Yes, since 150,000 > 110,000 B. Yes, since (150,000 + 70,000) > 110,000 C. No, since there is no probability of a loss D. No, since NPV is negative
Answer: D Initiating - Integration Management First we need to compute the PV for both poor and good performance: PV = FV / (1 + i) ^n (where i is the discount rate and n is the number of years); PV for poor performance = 70,000 / 1.10 = 63,636; PV for good performance = 150,000 / 1.10 = 136,363; Next we take the net impact and multiply by the probability: Poor performance: NPV = (63,636 - 110,000) * 50% = $-23,182; Good performance: NPV = (136,363 - 110,000) * 50% = $13,181; Then we net the two numbers: $13,181 + (23,182) = ($10,001); Since the combined NPV is negative, we should not do this project.
Documenting baseline variances, outlining a plan to manage and resolve the variances, and setting forth a framework in which corrective actions to the project plan can be made are all part of which process? A. Direct and Manage Project Work B. Monitor and Control Project Work C. Performance Measurement Baseline D. Perform Integrated change control
Answer: D Monitoring - Integration Management The perform integrated change control process allows you to document changes, their impact, the response to those changes, and to show any performance deficits and plans to resolve the same.
You are the project manager in a large international aerospace company. Your projects are long and complex. You often have multiple sponsors and you have frequent change requests. To complicate matters you are funded by the government which has established strict schedule adherence policies to ensure payment. All of the following are addressed by the configuration management system except for which one? A. Change control system results and version control management B. Identification of deliverables and specifications C. Status accounting D. Verification and auditing
Answer: A Monitoring - Integration Management The three activities associated with configuration management include configuration identification, configuration status accounting, and configuration verification and auditing.
Inputs to the Develop Project Charter process include all of the following except which one? A. Enterprise Environmental Factors B. Agreements C. Stakeholder register D. Business Documents
Answer: C Initiating - Integration Management The inputs to the Develop Project Charter process are business documents, agreements, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets. The stakeholder register is not an input to this process.
All of the following must be done before the project can be closed except which one? A. Ensure that the schedule baseline has been updated B. Get formal acceptance of the deliverables from the customer C. Make sure the scope of the project was completed D. Verify that the product acceptance criteria have been met
Answer: A Closing - Integration Management Before closing a project you need to get formal written acceptance of the deliverables from the customer, ensure every work item in the WBS has been completed, and verify that the product acceptance criteria have been met.
You are a project manager on a large technology project and have noticed the project team can't easily find the right information to make good decisions and there is a lot of confusion about which versions of documents are the most up to date. You are also having a tough time integrating the various processes. As a result, you suggest improvements be made to which of the following? A. Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) B. Work Breakdown structure (WBS) C. Configuration management systems D. Reporting systems
Answer: A Executing - Integration Management The correct answer is A. The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is the collective systems (can be manual or automated) that consists of tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of the project management processes. The key to this questions is that it is talking about various systems such as reporting, configuration management (version control), and integrating the processes. Choices C and D are partially correct (both of those systems are included in the PMIS), but answer choice A is more correct because it addresses all the concerns listed.
You are the project manager at a consulting firm. Your projects work with state and federal government entities and focus on health care. Changes are common in certain types of projects, especially when they involve new technology. Project modifications should be reflected in which of the following? A. Project management plan B. Control quality results C. Lessons learned register D. Audit results
Answer: A Executing - Integration Management The project management plan should continually be updated to reflect modifications to the project. Answers B, C, and D are incorrect because they are not documents that would be used to reflect project modifications.
You are preparing a presentation for the local PMI chapter. You are new to the group and need to deliver a meaningful and useful presentation. A key part of the presentation is project plan development. Which of the following is relevant for project plan development? A. Stakeholder skills and knowledge B. Change control system C. Configuration management D. Project selection methods
Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management Choice A is the correct answer. Project plan development is the creation of the final project plan for approval by the management of the performing organization. This is based on outputs from core planning processes. An understanding of the stakeholder knowledge and skills is essential for appropriate application in creating the project plan. Change control system and configuration management are methods used for integrated change control. Project selection methods are applied in selecting a project and hence are tools used for project initiation.
In which of the following cases would you need to consider the contract when preparing the Project Charter? A. The project is being done for an external customer B. You need to procure materials from outside the project C. The project is being done for a new customer D. The project is strategically significant and particularly complicated
Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management Choice A is the correct answer. The contract only becomes relevant to this process when your project is being done for an external party. Thus A is correct.
You are the project manager of a new 3-D printer implementation. As key project deliverables are being completed, the customer is unwilling to accept them, and is unsure of what they are reviewing and validating. What could you have done better to help prevent this situation? A. Identify and communicate the key deliverables during the Develop Project Charter B. Identify and communicate the project risks during the Risk Management Planning C. Ensure all of the stakeholders were identified with key attribute information D. Develop the Quality Management Plan in more detail
Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management During project initiating, identifying and communicating key deliverables with key stakeholders including the customer creates a common understanding of what the project will deliver to meet the goals and objectives of the project.
You are a project manager working on contract for Ralph's Toy shop. Your project involves implementing a new department in 25 locations across the country as a pilot to determine if this will be a profitable new service. You've identified two alternative methods of implementing the pilot. Alternative A's initial investment equals $596,000. The PV of the expected cash inflows is $299,000 in year 1 and $301,000 in year 2. The cost of capital is 14 percent. Alternative B's initial investment equals $625,000. The PV of Alternative B's expected cash inflows is $321,000 in year 1 and $301,000 in year 2. The cost of capital is 10 percent. A. Alternative A will earn a return of at least 14 percent. B. Alternative A will earn a return of at least 25 percent. C. The return is not known for either Alternative A or Alternative B. D. Both alternatives are equally viable choices.
Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management Since the Present Value of both alternatives is already given, you add up the PV of year 1 and year 2 in both alternatives, subtract our their respective initial investments, and then you have their Net PV's. Since NPV is positive for project A, that makes answer choice A a true statement. An NPV equal to zero would result in a 14% return, and thus, Project A must earn a return greater than 14%
Your project selection committee is meeting later this week and is considering initiating one of two projects. They've asked you to recommend the project that will allow the organization to recover its initial investment as quickly as possible. The information you've gathered shows the initial investment for Project A is $295,000. Monthly cash inflows for the first year are $17,000, and expected cash inflows beginning in year 2 are $36,000 per quarter. Project B has an initial investment of $332,000. Expected quarterly inflows for the first year are $44,000. Beginning in the second year, inflows are expected to be $12,000 monthly. Which project should you recommend to the committee and why? A. Project A, because it has a payback period of 20 months, which is shorter than Project B's payback period. B. Project A, because it has a payback period of 16 months, which is shorter than Project B's payback period. C. Project A, because it has a lower initial investment than Project B. D. Project A, because it has a payback period of 16 months, while Project B has a payback period of 21 months.
Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management The correct answer is A. Project A's payback period is 20 months. Year 1 inflows are $204,000. Year 2 inflows for the first 8 months are $96,000, making the payback period 20 months. Project B's payback period is 25 months. Year 1 inflows are $176,000. Year 2 inflows are $144,000, and an additional month at $12,000 makes the payback period 25 months.
You have four possible projects but can only choose one. Project A is being done over a six-year period and has a net present value (NPV) of $70,000. Project B is being done over a three-year period and has an NPV of $30,000. Project C is being done over a ten-year period and has an NPV of $40,000. Project D is being done over a one-year period and has a NPV of negative $160,000. Which project should you choose? A. Project A B. Project B C. Project C D. Project D
Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management You should always pick the project with the highest Net Present Value (NPV), which in this case is Project A. Since the NPV formula already takes into consideration the time value of money, you can completely ignore the number of years. Also remember if NPV is negative, like Project D, you always reject it.
You are a project manager with a start up company. Changes come often and you need to control the scope and meet customer needs. Perform integrated change control is primarily concerned with which of the following? A. Reviewing and approving change requests B. The creation of change requests C. Integrating deliverables from different functional specialties on the project D. Establishing a change control board that oversees the overall changes on the project
Answer: A Monitoring - Integration Management Perform Integrated Change Control is the process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes and managing changes to the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents and the project management plan. The creation of change requests is done in other processes and becomes an input to the Perform Integrated Change Control process.
As deliverables are being produced on your project, you evaluate how each one contributes to the goals and objectives of the project. What are you doing? A. Benefits realization B. Lessons learned C. Quality audit D. Risk audit
Answer: A Monitoring - Integration Management Throughout the project the PM needs to keep an eye on how the project is realizing the benefit goals and objectives established at project conception and confirmed during the Develop Project Charter process, making A the correct answer. Lessons learned allows for continual improvement and could support how we met or didn't meet the benefits. A quality audit reviews our actual project activities for compliance with OPAs and thus the Project Management Plan and will create lessons learned. A risk audit examines the effectiveness of the risk responses and the overall risk management process and also will create lessons learned.
You are in the executing phase of a large software implementation and one of your lead analysts has noticed that the product could be vastly improved by making a small change to a couple of the configuration items. The analyst thinks that this would have a minimal impact to the timeline but would improve the client's experience of this product and would also improve configuration efficiency for the remainder of the project. She is about to tell her junior analyst to make the change but has approached you to confirm that this is ok. What should you do in this situation? A. Since it is a simple change that would result in greater client satisfaction and efficiencies for your project, you should allow her to make the change. B. You should first perform a detailed impact analysis and then submit a Change Order to the Change Control Board for authorization to make the change. C. This is beyond the scope of the project and would be considered Gold Plating. This change should not be made. D. This is beyond the scope of the project and would be considered Scope Creep. This change should not be made.
Answer: B Executing - Integration Management Any change which adds features not found in the requirements should have an impact analysis performed first, for even if the change is small it could still have an impact on other processes. Since the change involves a deviation from the approved scope, the change control board must review it and consider the impact to all constraints. C and D are incorrect since you can make the change if the Change Control Board approves it.
You are a project manager and your team is creating a customer service e-mail support system. Two of the project's customers have just asked for changes that each says should be the number one priority. Your change control procedures allow you as the PM to authorize the types of changes suggested without consulting the Change Control Board. What would be the best thing to do? A. Have the project team meet with the customers to decide which would be the easiest and prioritize that one first B. Prioritize the changes without involving the team C. Ask the sponsor to decide which changes take precedence D. Deny both changes since allowing them would cause scope creep to occur
Answer: B Executing - Integration Management Prioritizing the changes is the job of the project manager. Choice A is wrong because you do not want to distract the team at this point - they should be doing the work. Choice C is wrong because it is the project manager's responsibility to help prioritize competing demands. Choice D is incorrect, because scope creep means the changes were uncontrolled. Change does not automatically cause scope creep, provided it is conducted as per the change management plan.
You are in the beginning stages of a new project. You have tight deadlines and need to expedite the planning process. Which of the following is the best source of information for your project during the initiation process group? A. Business plans B. Historical information C. Talking with your sponsor D. The project charter
Answer: B Initiating - Integration Management Historical information is all that really can be utilized at this early point, since planning has not yet occurred.
You have just received word that a particular change request was approved by your project sponsor, even though you did not believe the change to be a good idea. What should you do next? A. Evaluate the impact of the change B. Update all project documents that are affected by the change C. Try to convince the sponsor that change will not be helpful to the project D. Perform Integrated Change Control
Answer: B Monitoring - Integration Management Since the change has been approved, your job is to implement it properly, which starts with updating the pertinent documents. You will then communicate the change to the persons affected, and ensure that the project is managed in accordance with the change going forward.
You are the project manager for a start-up software company. In a status meeting, you just learned that a crucial piece of the software your team was creating is not working. This will cause the project to be late by one month and will likely cost additional money for the developers' time. What is the next step you should take? A. Determine the impact of the change to decide whether to initiate Integrated Change Control B. Create a change request to get approval for the revised work required to fix the problem C. Complete root-cause analysis to determine why the problem occurred D. Present the problem to the customer, with your solution to resolve the problem
Answer: B Monitoring - Integration Management The question states that you have identified the problem and have done the impact assessment (you know that the change will cause a 1 month delay). The next step is to create a change request so that you can get approval to fix the problem. While answer choice D looks good, according to the PMBOK guide you should not go to the customer until after you perform integrated change control.
Projects often require activities throughout each process group. Your organization is a small start-up company and utilizes agile planning processes. As a project manager you want to ensure all the necessary tasks are completed and have asked to meet with the sponsor to discuss closing out the project. Which of the following is not required when closing a project? A. Making final payments B. Updating project archives C. Updating resource management plan D. Releasing the project team
Answer: C Closing - Integration Management Project closure activities include financial closure (making final payments and updating cost records), conducting lessons learned, transition of deliverables, final project performance reporting, archiving project records, and releasing the team. While the resource management plan should be consulted with regard to the method for releasing the team, closing a project does not involve updating that plan.
You are the project manager in a large manufacturing organization. Your project appears to have been progressing well with minimal interruptions and changes. Your customer has approved all phases of your project to date, but says an important deliverable was ignored. After having a meeting with the client, he also wants to stop the project and withhold payment. Which of the following statements is true? A. You and your company may have to use problem-solving techniques such as arbitration and mediation to reach an agreement. B. You and your company may have to use communication techniques such as arbitration and mediation to reach an agreement. C. You and your company may have to use negotiation techniques such as mediation to reach an agreement. D. You and your company may have to use influencing techniques such as arbitration and mediation to reach an agreement.
Answer: C Executing - Integration Management Mediation is a negotiation technique you may employ to resolve disputes. The first step is always to try to resolve the problem yourself, which you already did. You would now need to escalate the matter.
You are a project manager and trying to explain to your sponsor why knowledge management is so important. Which of the following best explains the importance of this concept? A. Effective knowledge management encourages cross-organizational data sharing B. Good knowledge management tools and techniques will ensure successful knowledge management C. Knowledge resides in the minds of people, and they cannot be forced to share what they know D. Knowledge management will help the project save time and money
Answer: C Executing - Integration Management Project team members cannot be forced to share their knowledge, but the PM can create an atmosphere of trust so that people are motivated to share their knowledge. Lacking this atmosphere, other tools and techniques may prove ineffective.
After you make approved changes to the original scope, you should do which of the following? A. Amend the Scope Statement B. Do a completely new WBS C. Save the old versions D. Issue change requests
Answer: C Executing - Integration Management You should always save older versions of project documents and make sure that each version undergoes version control. The configuration management plan would define how you would handle version control on the project. Choice B is wrong, you do not have to do a completely new WBS unless the approved change actually changes the entire project. Choice D is also wrong -- since the change request was already approved, you wouldn't need to issue a change request.
You have just completed a project. The contract is a Cost Plus Incentive Fee contract. The target cost is $500,000 and target fee is $80,000, which makes the target price $580,000. The project was completed with $450,000 of costs incurred. The incentive split is 80/20. What is the final fee that the buyer will pay? A. $460,000 B. $490,000 C. $540,000 D. $450,000
Answer: C Initiating - Integration Management In this scenario the project came in under the target cost, so the buyer and seller will share the savings. The savings is the target cost minus the actual cost ($500,000 - $450,000 = $50,000). The buyer and seller share the savings at a ratio of 80/20, so the buyer saves $40,000 and the seller saves $10,000. To calculate the final fee the buyer will pay to the seller you add the actual cost plus that full target fee (since the cost objectives were met), plus the seller's share of the cost savings. Thus, the buyer will pay $450,000 + $80,000 + $10,000 = $540,000.
Your project requires changes to the project charter. Who has the primary responsibility to decide if these changes are necessary, and to oversee their implementation? A. Project manager B. Project team C. Sponsor D. Stakeholders
Answer: C Initiating - Integration Management The sponsor issues the project charter and so she should help the project manager control changes to the charter.
Configuration management is a process for applying technical and administrative direction and oversight of the project implementation as it pertains to the deliverables. Which activity is not included in configuration management? A. Controlling changes to the project deliverables B. Scope validation C. Automatic change request approvals D. Identification of the functional and physical attributes of the project deliverables
Answer: C Monitoring - Integration Management Automatic change request approvals should not be used, though oftentimes the project manager will be allowed to approve certain categories of changes herself.
You and your project team are working to close out a project, and have transitioned the deliverable to the operations side of the organization. You have received payment for the validated deliverables. All procurements have been finalized and closed out. What else should you be focused on creating at this point? A. Project Management Plan Updates B. Procurement Performance Review C. Executing the Staff Release Plan D. Organizational Process Assets Updates
Answer: D Closing - Integration Management Organizational Process Assets Updates (which includes the archiving of records) are an output of the Close Project or Phase process. The other output is the final product, service or result transition.
You are a project manager for Scarem-Up-Stiff production company. Your company develops and produces horror movies for the big screen. Your latest project has been cancelled due to budget cuts for that genre of film. Which of the following statements is true? A. The project ended due to extinction because the funds were cut off. B. The project ended due to integration because the funds were cut off. C. The project ended due to starvation because the resources were allocated to another film division. D. The project ended due to starvation because the funding was cut off.
Answer: D Closing - Integration Management Starvation occurs because the project no longer receives the resources needed to continue. Resources would include funding, such as presented in this question.
Your company has hired a new project management vendor to run your complex global healthcare manufacturing project. In order to establish useful project practices, the project manager requests that you and your department help provide key performance metrics every week. While you know this will be extra work for your team, about 2.5 hours minimum, you agree to help knowing it may help reduce the risk of project failure in the long-run. To obtain performance information, all of the following are required during execution except which one? A. Analysis of cost and schedule variances B. Reviewing work planned C. Measuring work progress D. Establishing the baseline
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management Answer A requires the baseline for analysis of the variances, Answers B & C are both required and are outputs of executing processes. Answer D states establishing the baseline, not using the baseline. Establishing the baseline is done during planning of a project.
According to the PMBOK Guide which of the following is not a part of the Executing process group? A. Coordinating people and resources B. Developing and managing the project team C. Managing stakeholder expectations D. Integrating and performing the activities of the project as defined and outlined in the project charter
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management Choice D is the correct answer. As per the PMBOK Guide, the processes in the Executing Process Group are direct and manage project work, manage project knowledge, manage quality, acquire resources, develop team, manage team, manage communications, implement risk responses, manage stakeholder engagement, and conduct procurements. Choice D, is not a part of the Executing process group.
Your project's primary constraint is time. One of your key stakeholders, who is a major contributor on this project, is demanding the schedule be lengthened. He held his department picnic last weekend, and three of his staff members came down with H1N1 virus. The team members he's assigned to your project (who didn't contract the virus) must now do double duty and help support the department functions until their co-workers get well. Your customer will not agree to a schedule change. Which of the following statements is false given the facts in this question? A. The project manager has the weakest amount of power and authority in this type of organization. B. The project manager should try to resolve the problem such that it doesn't affect the project schedule. C. This company's organizational structure is functional, since the department manager is responsible for assigning resources to the project. D. The project manager should work with the stakeholder to resolve the problem and negotiate with the customer to change the schedule.
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management When problems arise on a project, they should be resolved in favor of the customer whenever possible. This organization is a functional organization, as the department manager is responsible for assigning resources, which means the project manager lacks authority to do what D suggests.
You are finalizing the monthly project status report for your sponsor when you discover that several project team members are not reporting actual hours spent on project tasks. Consequently, this results in skewed project management plan statistics. What is the most appropriate action to be taken? A. Discuss the impacts of these actions with team member(s) B. Report team member actions to functional manager C. Continue reporting information as presented to you D. Determine the accurate statistics and adjust your report to reflect those
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management While A and B may well be steps you would take, your focus here is getting the report to your sponsor, and it must be accurate. You should therefore discover the accurate statistics and report on the same, then take such remedial actions as may be needed.
You are working on a bridge project and workers keep falling off the bridge into the water. Luckily nobody has been hurt thus far, but now the workers are threatening to strike. A colleague tells you that you can solve the problem by sending workers to fall training and buying them the necessary harness equipment. Unfortunately, your project does not have enough budget to pay for the training and you've been told that under no circumstances will budget increases be approved. This is an example of which of the following? A. Resource constraints B. Project team assignments C. Teaming agreements D. Budget constraints
Answer: D Executing - Integration Management You were given a lot of information in this question. The correct answer is D, as it is clear that there is a budget constraint. Constraints are things that limit the options of the project team; the budget constraint clearly does that in this question. For constraint types of questions, ask yourself: what is limiting my options?
The executives have just returned from their annual officer retreat. The corporate goals for the coming fiscal year have been finalized, and various portfolios of projects aligned to those annual goals have been created. The project selection committee is assessing the various project choices using the concept of payback period. A project's payback period ends when which of the following occurs? A. maximum profit for that period is realized B. the project pays back a loan C. total monthly revenue equals total monthly costs. D. cumulative revenue equals cumulative costs
Answer: D Initiating - Integration Management Project Payback period ends when cumulative revenue equals cumulative costs
You have just received authorization to assign resources to project activities. What inputs were considered during this process? A. Contract, project charter, and business case B. Project Charter, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets C. Project SOW, business case, and organizational process assets D. Agreement, business case, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets
Answer: D Initiating - Integration Management The process described is Develop Project Charter, which has four inputs, and they are business documents (the business case), agreements, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.
Your project is proceeding ahead of schedule when management elects to incorporate additional quality testing into the project to improve the quality and acceptability of the project deliverable. As a result, you have updated the quality management plan to reflect these additions, and have also updated the schedule and budget to account for them. The human resources plan was also updated to reflect the roles and responsibilities associated with the new testing. Finally, you called a team meeting to go over all of these changes and ensure everyone was apprised of the various updates to the project management plan. This is an example of which of the following? A. Scope creep B. Manage Stakeholder Engagement C. Quality assurance (QA) D. Perform Integrated Change Control
Answer: D Monitoring - Integration Management Additional quality testing will require additional time and resources for the project, and will affect the roles and responsibilities. Your updating these important documents, along with communicating the changes to the team, falls under integrated change control.
You are having lunch with a group of peer project managers. The topic of project objectives comes up and there is disagreement on exactly what a project objective is. Which of the following statements best describes project objectives? A. Business case for the project B. Purpose of the project as defined in the project charter C. Deliverables of the project D. Quantifiable criteria to determine project success
Answer: D Planning - Integration Management Project objectives are quantifiable criteria to measure project performance. These should include cost, schedule and quality aspects.