BUAD 260 Test 4

Which of the following accurately describes risk in project management? ​a. Risk assessment should remain objective and uninfluenced by stakeholder priorities. b. A risk may impact the project in a positive or negative way. c. Some projects have no risks. d. Project managers should always be risk averse

b. A risk may impact the project in a positive or negative way

The process of developing an approximation of monetary resources needed to complete project activities is known as: ​a. determine budget. b. estimate cost. c. estimate activities. d. estimate resources.

b. estimate cost.

Which of the following statements is consistent with the ideas that W. Edwards Deming promoted regarding quality management? a. Understanding variation is essential to improving quality. b. The burden of quality falls on those that do the work c. A key to quality improvement is to ensure that each part of the system functions effectively, independent from the others. d. Statistical concepts rather than behavioral considerations should govern quality improvement efforts.

a. Understanding variation is essential to improving quality.

Which estimating technique uses a statistical relationship to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and other project parameters? a. parametric estimating b. grass roots estimating c. empirical estimating d. analogous estimating

a. parametric estimating

Project teams can often identify risks by conducting any of several types of reviews. Which of the following illustrates a valuable type of risk review? a. review the communication plan to determine where poor communications could cause a problem b. review previous projects to verify that each current assumption is correct c. review sunk costs to determine project continuance d. review the project schedule to determine if certain people are overloaded

a. review the communication plan to determine where poor communications could cause a problem

The four contemporary core project quality concepts that evolved from the quality gurus and frameworks include which of the following? a. stakeholder satisfaction b. benchmarking c. earned value management d. assumption-based management

a. stakeholder satisfaction

All of the following are benefits that can be attributed to the effective use of a risk management plan EXCEPT: a. It enables project managers to eliminate or reduce the impact of some threats. b. It enables the project manager to identify and eliminate all risks c. It facilitates communication with various project stakeholders. d. It enables project managers to capitalize on some opportunities.

b. It enables the project manager to identify and eliminate all risks

After completing detailed planning for a project, it is often helpful for the project manager and team to apply a sanity test to the project plan. Which of the following accurately describes the application of a sanity test? a. It is primarily focused on the team members. b. It should include questions to ensure budgets, schedules and resource plans are reasonable and achievable. c. It focuses on whether the project charter should be changed d. It is based largely on the expectations of supervisors and sponsors.

b. It should include questions to ensure budgets, schedules and resource plans are reasonable and achievable.

A milestone is a typical measuring point used when establishing cost control. Which of the following does NOT accurately describes the use of cost control milestones? a. Milestones are often identified in the project charter. b. Milestones are developed during risk planning. c. Project managers and sponsors often decide the number of milestones jointly. d. Project managers can use their cash flow projections to determine the funding needed to reach each milestone.

b. Milestones are developed during risk planning.

There are many causes of variation in project costs. Which of the following accurately describes the nature of this variation? a. Special cause variation comes from many small causes that are inherent in a work process. b. Variation occurs in all work processes and the novelty associated with most projects creates many opportunities for variation. c. Variation is generally greater on projects that use well-known technology and an experienced project team. d. Normal cause variation is when something out of the ordinary occurs

b. Variation occurs in all work processes and the novelty associated with most projects creates many opportunities for variation.

Events discovered during Identify Risks that may or may not occur are often categorized as: a. known certainties b. known unknowns c. known knowns d. unknown unknowns

b. known unknowns

All of the following factors must be in place in order to develop an analogous estimate effectively EXCEPT: a. An organization must know how much previous projects actually cost. b. An organization must know how and to what extent the proposed project differs from the previous project. c. An organization must know details behind the time value of money. d. An organization must have experience in performing similar projects.

c. An organization must know details behind the time value of money.

The cost management plan provides guidelines to the project manager and other stakeholders and serves all of the following purposes EXCEPT: a. It helps all project stakeholders focus appropriately on schedule and cost performance. b. It provides feedback, thereby showing how the project's success is linked to the business objectives for which it was undertaken. c. It documents how the project statement of work and business case should be created. d. It shows how to develop and share relevant, accurate and timely information on cost that the project manager, sponsor and other stakeholders can use to make intelligent and ethical decisions.

c. It documents how the project statement of work and business case should be created.

All of the following statements accurately describe special cause variation EXCEPT: a. It is identified by points outside the control limits or by unusual patterns within the limits. b. It requires specific interventions that include finding the root causes and making changes. c. It is inherent in the system and is predictable. d. It is a statistically unlikely event.

c. It is inherent in the system and is predictable.

A ________ presents a hierarchical organization of risks based on categories such as operational, strategic, finance, external, and project management. a. Risk Register b. Risk Management Plan c. Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) d. Decision Tree

c. Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)

Which estimating technique decomposes the work into lower, more detailed pieces, preferably the lowest level of WBS work elements, for which estimates are prepared and then aggregates them into a total quantity for the project? a. grass roots estimating b. piece meal pricing c. bottom-up estimating d. decomposition estimating

c. bottom-up estimating

Project managers can identify risks by learning and understanding the cause and effect relationships that bear on risk events. All of the following approaches rely upon an understanding of cause and effect relationships to identify risks EXCEPT: a. understand trigger conditions, or circumstances under which a risk strategy or risk action will be invoked b. conduct a root cause analysis c. perform a Monte Carlo analysis d. develop a flow chart that shows how people, materials or data flow from one person or location to another

c. perform a Monte Carlo analysis

Which of the following documents describes how the project team will implement the performing organization's quality policy? a. quality benchmarking plan b. quality audit plan c. quality management plan d. quality control plan

c. quality management plan

All of the following items are valid reasons to conduct a project kick-off meeting EXCEPT: a. to convince stakeholders that the project leaders will be good stewards of the customer's and organization's assets b. to give team members a chance to see how all the parts fit together c. to emphasize that all decisions will be made exclusively by the project manager d. to help involved workers to understand the touch points where work exchanges hands

c. to emphasize that all decisions will be made exclusively by the project manager

Fact-based management includes four key ideas. Which of the following is among the key ideas associated with fact-based management? a. routine use of interrogations b. reliance on historical research c. understanding variation d. use of analogous estimating

c. understanding variation

Joseph Juran provided guidance regarding how to conduct quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. Which of the following items is NOT part of Juran's Quality Trilogy? a. determine what to control, establish measurement systems, establish standards and compare performance to standards. b. identify all customers and their needs, develop requirements, and develop methods to satisfy those requirements. c. work to identify root causes, not just symptoms d. select and support improvement projects, select and implement solutions, and maintain control of improved processes.

c. work to identify root causes, not just symptoms

Complex projects such as research and development for new products often employ rolling wave planning to estimate costs. Which of the following best describes "rolling wave" planning? a. Project managers render definitive estimates for all stages of the project during initiation. b. Project managers render an order of magnitude estimate for the first stage and a definitive estimate for the remainder of the project. c. Project managers render an order of magnitude estimate for all stages of the project. d. Project managers render a definitive estimate for the first stage and an order of magnitude estimate for the remainder of the project.

d. Project managers render a definitive estimate for the first stage and an order of magnitude estimate for the remainder of the project.

All of the following describe an appropriate application of Plan Risk Responses in project management EXCEPT: a. The expectations of the sponsor and key stakeholders should influence the risk responses that are developed. b. Risk response planning should address both opportunities and threats. c. Often multiple strategies are identified for a single risk. d. Responses should be created for every identified project risk, regardless of the risk score.

d. Responses should be created for every identified project risk, regardless of the risk score.

All of these describe contemporary methods of risk prioritization in project management EXCEPT: a. Some organizations place a higher priority on risks that are likely to happen soon. b. Risk prioritization is generally based on the probability of occurrence and severity of impact of each identified risk. c. Some organizations call attention to the risks that are difficult to detect. d. Results of quantitative risk analysis are used for clarification purposes and are typically not documented in the risk register.

d. Results of quantitative risk analysis are used for clarification purposes and are typically not documented in the risk register.

DMAIC is a disciplined process that includes five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. DMAIC is most typically associated with which of the following quality improvement approaches? a. Malcolm Baldrige b. Total Quality Management (TQM) c. ISO 9001:2008 d. Six Sigma

d. Six Sigma

Normal or random variations that are considered part of operating the system at its current capability are ______: a. life cycle variations b. systemic variations. c. special cause variations. d. common cause variations.

d. common cause variations.

All of the following methods have proven to be useful techniques to help project teams identify the risks that might impact the project EXCEPT: a. interviewing stakeholders b. brainstorming among team members and subject matter experts c. reviewing project documents d. documenting lessons learned

d. documenting lessons learned

All of the following activities illustrate a risk response strategy designed to exploit an opportunity EXCEPT: a. identify trigger condition b. give the project more visibility c. assign more or better resources d. purchase insurance

d. purchase insurance

Which of the following terms best describes extra money in the project budget to be used if necessary - usually if a risk event occurs? a. discretionary fund b. insurance c. padding d. reserve

d. reserve