Project Management - Integration Management
The project management team has determined that there are some changes to the scope of the project. According to the PMBOK, who is responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and approving documented changes to the project? 1) Change Control Board (CCB) 2) Change Configuration Board (CCB) 3) Scope Control Board (SCB) 4) Configuration Control Board
1) Change Control Board (CCB) The Change Control Board is a group of formally constituted stakeholders responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying or rejecting changes to the project. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 115]
You are a project manager who is in charge of an important project for your company. A number of changes and corrective actions have been recommended. The company uses a change control board to make decisions on its existing projects. Which of the following tools and techniques can be used to determine which change requests should be approved? 1) Expert Judgement 2) Inspection 3) Project Management Information System 4) Change log
1) Expert Judgement Expert judgment involves the stakeholders on a change control board using past project experience to help them make decisions about whether to approve or reject requested changes. This is one of the tools and techniques of the Perform Integrated Change Control process. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 113]
The Project Charter defines the high level scope and objectives of a project. Which of the following is not a correct statement about inputs to the Project Charter? 1) Government or industry standards cannot be used to create a project charter 2) Organizational processes assets are input to the Project Charter 3) When projects are executed for external customers, a contract or agreement is used as input to the project charter 4) The project's business case is input to the project charter
1) Government or industry standards cannot be used to create a project charter Government or industry standards are part of enterprise environmental factors and are used as inputs to the Develop Project Charter process. [PMBOK 6th Edition, Page 78
A project team is currently investigating an issue on your project. The team wants to setup a visual management tool to track and monitor the work in progress and to understand scheduling demands of the project. Which of the following tools will you recommend to be used? 1) Kanban board 2) Fishbone diagram 3) Product backlog 4) WBS
1) Kanban board Kanban boards are visual management tools that help manage the flow of the project work and scheduling demands. None of the other choices are visual management tools. [PMBOK 6th edition, page 117]
The project manager controls the interfacing and overlapping areas of the organization's procurement processes, along with the project schedule, with processes from this area: 1) Project Integration Management 2) Project Risk Management 3) Project Resource Management 4) Project Scope Management
1) Project Integration Management Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the project management process groups. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 69]
Who is primarily responsible for the dissemination of the approved project charter and for ensuring that all key stakeholders have a common understanding of the project's key deliverables and milestones? 1) Project Manager 2) Project Team 3) Project Sponsor 4) Project client
1) Project Manager The project manager is responsible for the dissemination of the approved project charter. Although, during the development of the project charter, the participation of the project manager is recommended, once the project charter is approved, it is the project manager's responsibility to distribute it to the key stakeholders and ensure common understanding. This is also mentioned in the PMP examination content outline as one of the project manager's task during project initiation. [PMI best practice; not explicitly stated in PMBOK
You are deploying a telecom network in a developing country and currently struggling in collaborating efficiently with the subcontractors on the project due to some cultural issues. This has already caused some minor delays on the project. However, if this trend continues, the delays are not only going to get bigger, they will cause cost slippages. If you do not have any control over this issue, what is the next best thing to do? 1) Revise schedule and cost estimates and create a change control request 2) Terminate the contracts and find new subcontractors 3) Accept the risk and move on 4) Continue negotiating with the subcontractors
1) Revise schedule and cost estimates and create a change control request It's a significant risk on the project and you cannot simply accept it and move on. If cultural issues were not considered during project planning, this needs to be done now. You need to revise the estimates and issue a change request. If you are dealing with cultural issues, continuing negotiations or replacing subcontractors is not likely to help. [PMBOK 6th edition, page 83]
You have recently been hired as the project manager to manage an ERP system design and development project. As the first step, you are required to help the project sponsor develop a project charter. Which of the following would not be considered an Enterprise Environmental Factor during the Develop Project Charter process? 1) Scope statement 2) Marketplace conditions 3) Governmental Standards 4) Organizational Infrastructure
1) Scope statement The scope statement is clearly not an enterprise environmental factor, whereas the other three choices—governmental standards, organizational infrastructure, and marketplace conditions—are enterprise environmental factors. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 78]
You are managing a highly complex drug manufacturing project, and your sponsor is highly motivated and influential. You are optimistic about the outcome of the project; however, you are unsure about the project approval requirements that measure the project's success. You would like to document the name of the person who signs off on the project and the criteria that constitute the project's success. Which of the following documents should you use first to incorporate project approval requirements? 1) The scope document 2) The approval requirement plan 3) The project charter 4) The project management plan
3) The project charter Project approval requirements must be documented early in the project during the initiation phase. These requirements show the requisites for project success, the names of persons signing off on the project and deliverable requirements. Since the project charter is created in the initiation phase of the project, the project manager must include these requirements in the charter. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 81]
You are working on a mainframe upgrade, but the charter is constantly changing. Who has the responsibility to determine if these changes are necessary? 1) Project Manager 2) Project Coordinator 3) Project Team 4) Sponsor
4) Sponsor The project initiator or sponsor is responsible for authorizing and issuing the charter and is responsible for determining if changes are needed and the nature of subsequent updates. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 77]
Your organization requires you to submit a change request for any major project change impacting any of the project baselines. A change request that is issued to bring the performance of the project back in line with the project management plan is related to: 1) Proactive action 2) Corrective action 3) Defect repair 4) Preventative action
A change request that is issued to bring the performance of a project back in line with the project management plan relates to a required corrective action. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 96]
Nancy is carrying out cost-benefit analysis for a project. If undertaken, the project will start in January next year and end by December. The project will incur a constant cost of $10,000 each month (payable by the end of each month) giving a total cost of $120,000 for the project. The revenue from the project is collected on a quarterly basis. The total revenue for the project by the end of December will be $200,000. The opportunity cost of the project is 12 percent which is the bank interest rate Nancy can get if she does not invest in this project. The total present value of all cash outflows is $112,551, while the total present value of all cash inflow is $185,721. What is the benefit-to-cost ratio for the project? A) 0.6 B) 1.65 C) 1.67 D) 0.61
B) 1.65 Benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) = PV of inflows / PV of outflows = 1.65 The gross BCR can also be calculated as Total Revenue / Total Cost. However, since the total present value of both the inflow and outflow is given, this must be used for a more accurate calculation. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 34]
A project manager was assigned to a project when the project charter was in development. Which of the following is an input that the project manager will use to develop the project charter? A) Project Acceptance Criteria B) Organizational Process Assets (OPAs) C) Project Scope Statement D) Make-or-Buy Analysis
B) Organizational Process Assets (OPAs) When developing the project charter, the project manager can draw on the assets that are part of the organizational process assets. There may be formal or informal policies, procedures, plans, and guidelines whose effects must be considered. Organizational process assets also represent the organization's learning from previous projects such as completed schedules, risk data, and earned value data. These are invaluable in developing the project charter. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 75]
The Direct and Manage Project Work process has three tools and techniques. Two of them are Expert Judgment and Meetings. What is the third one? A) Configuration management system B) Project management information system C) Change Control System D) Scheduling System
B) Project management information system The three tools and techniques of the Direct and Manage Project Work process are: Expert Judgment, Project Management Information System, and Meetings. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 90]
You are a consulting project manager and an investment bank has a contract with you to run a large information technology project that is expected to last 15 months. During the Direct and Manage Project Work process, you discover that several regulatory requirements were addressed in the project management plan but missed from the scope statement. Failure to meet these requirements could result in legal action against the company. However, implementing the technology to comply with these regulations could exceed the budget and scope of the project and result in the cancellation of the project. What should you do? A) Request additional funds to implement the requirements B) Submit a change request to implement the missed requirements in the project's scope C) Do not do anything since these requirements are not part of the scope's baseline D) This is a classic example of scope creep and such requirements should be ignored
B) Submit a change request to implement the missed requirements in the project's scope All regulatory requirements must be met. Doing nothing or considering this a scope creep are not valid options. You would have to request additional funds, but first you need to submit a change request for approval. A change request can be submitted as a part of the Direct and Manage Project Work process. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 96]
You manage an airport construction project. Since sophisticated technology and systems are involved, your project procurements require significant lead times. Your procurement specialist has recently proposed a new procurements management process that will significantly reduce these lead times and result in cost savings for the project. Besides implementing this new process, what else should you do? A) You do not include the over-processing costs B) Shut down the project warehouse C) Update the lessons learned database D) Resell your current inventory at the purchase price
C) Update the lessons learned database Sharing lessons learned information on mistakes, innovations and outcomes from projects can have a positive impact on your next project. The procurement specialist came up with a cost- and time-saving technique and this will prove to be valuable for future projects. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 484]
Changes in projects are inevitable. Therefore, project managers must develop or use a system to manage and control changes. There are four types of changes that need to be controlled in a project: Project changes, deliverable changes, process changes, and baseline changes. The impact of each of these changes must be evaluated, and approved or rejected changes must be communicated to all stakeholders, as and when required. Which of the following helps control these changes? 1) Change Control and control chart 2) Control Chart and cost control 3) Configuration and control chart 4) Configuratioin and Change control
Configuration control is focused on the specification of both the processes and deliverables, whereas change control is focused on project changes and the product baselines. A configuration control process and change control system must be implemented to handle all those changes. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 115]
A project to design and build a new aircraft is cancelled after the project has been underway for some time. What process is employed to document what work was done and to what extent it was completed?
If the project is terminated early, the Close Project or Phase process should establish and document the level and extent of completion. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 121]
Few project managers collect lessons-learned information throughout the project's life. Most tackle this in the final days of the project or, worse, after the project is complete. What is the negative consequence of this approach?
It makes compiling and obtaining project information difficult.
You are the project manager for GeoThermal Systems. Which of the following must be done FIRST before proceeding with a new project?
Obtain Project Charter approval When managing a project, you must first ensure that the project charter is signed and approved before proceeding. The Project Charter is the document that formalizes the project. It gives the project manager the authority to lead the project. The project charter is created first during the Initiating process. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 75]
If an investment in a project returns 15 percent annually, how much should you invest to get $5 million by the end of the fifth year? A) 2501376 B) 2851743 C) 2685292 D) 2485884
Present Value = Future Value / (1 + interest rate)^(Period) = 5,000,000 / (1 + 15%)^5 = 2,485,884 [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 34, http://www.investopedia.com/walkthrough/corporate-finance/3/time-value-money/present-value-discounting.aspx]
The list of identified risks is found in the risk register. However, the overall high-level project risks is first listed in the: 1) Project Charter 2) Risk Management Plan 3) Requirements Document 4) Scope statemet
Project Charter The project charter is a document that authorizes the project. Along with details such as the purpose of the project, project objectives, high-level requirements, etc., it also lists the overall project risks. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 81]
Debbie, an IT project manager, is in the planning phase of a shopping website development project. A junior project manager, who has worked under her authority, started developing procedures for maintaining the integrity of cost and schedule performance baselines in the project. Where should the junior project manager store these procedures? a) The project management plan b) In the project scope statement c) In the project management communications management plan d) In the project resource management plan
a) In the project management plan The baselines change only when a change request is generated. A project management plan documents the procedures for making changes to performance baselines. These baselines include scope, cost and schedule baselines. Therefore, the junior project manager must store these procedures in the project management plan. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 88]
You have managed a federal highway construction project, which is intended to improve transportation between north and south regions of the country. In the execution phase, you received many complaints from stakeholders, including the highway transportation agency. At least half these complaints were regarding the quality of the micro texture of the road, and the nonconformance to the quality levels incorporated in the project quality management plan. So far, you have successfully fixed all the reported issues, but you are concerned by this recurrent event. What should you do to avoid future similar issues? a) Initiate a preventative action to reduce the probabililty of a negative consequence associated with the poor quality fo the road b) Iniitiate a defect to repair the defective road or completely pave a new road c) Initiate a change request to update the project quality managemet plan d) Initiate a corrective action to bring the future quality of the road in line with the project management plan
a) Initiate a preventative action to reduce the probabililty of a negative consequence associated with the poor quality fo the road There is no need to update the quality management plan since the problem is with the workmanship and not with the quality management plan. The scenario is asking for an action that will ensure future compliance, i.e. a preventive action. Note that since all of the reported defects have been fixed, there is no need for any corrective action or defect repair at this stage. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 96]
The selection of lifecycle for the project, the processes to be applied to each phase, and the results of the tailoring by the project management team are usually found in the: a) Project Management Plan b) Project Scope Statement c) Project Schedule d) Project Charter
a) Project Management Plan Details of the life cycle, processes selected, and results of tailoring by the project management team are found in the project management plan. This plan integrates and consolidates all the subsidiary management plans from the planning processes. [PMBOK 6th edition, Pages 82, 83]
Your project is currently being audited by an external auditor. The project team believes that the auditor is not fair as the auditing firm has been engaged by the customer. The audit has asked you to furnish some basic project management documentation. Which document defines how the project is to be executed, monitored, controlled, and closed? a) The Project Management Plan b) Project Scope c) Project Charter d) Project Managment Information System
a) The Project Management Plan The project management plan defines how the project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed. [PMBOK 6th Edition, Page 83]
All of the following are components of an effective change control process, except: a) Variance analysis b) Change control tools c) Meetings d) Expert judgement
a) Variance analysis Variance analysis is not a tool and technique of the Perform Integrated Change Control process. The other choices are valid tools and techniques of this process. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 113]
Mark is in the middle of a software development project. So far, the project has incurred a total cost of $50,000. If it is determined the project is no longer required, what would we call the cost incurred to date? a) Return on Investment (ROI) b) Sunk Cost c) Opportunity Cost d) Breakeven cost
b) Sunk Cost Sunk cost is defined as a cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 671]
Projects are often started as a result of an external factor such as market demand for a new product, a new legislative or regulatory mandate, or a change in technology. This results in the creation of ______ by an entity or organization external to the project. a) The WBS b) The project charter c) The RACI chart d) The project budget
b) The project charter A project initiator or sponsor external to the project, at a level that is appropriate to funding the project, issues the project charter in response to some sort of stimulus. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 77]
You have recently assisted a PMO to redefine its project management processes in line with the PMBOK recommendations. When the new framework was socialized, a number of project teams have voiced a number of concerns. You have been asked why are the approved change requests input to the Direct and Manage Project Work process. What must be your response? a) The project team may reject change control requests during the Direct and Manage Project Process b) The project team monitors approved changed requests during the Direct and Manage Project Process c) Approved changes are implemented during the Direct and Manage Project Process d) The project team monitors reviews approved change requests during the Direct and Manage Project Process
c) Approved changes are implemented during the Direct and Manage Project Process Approved change requests are implemented by the project team during the Direct and Manage Project Work process. The other choices are incorrect statements regarding the Direct and Manage Project Work process. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 93]
A project manager prepared a presentation that included data on the project's use of resources, improvements in staff efficiency, and the cost savings. These activities are part of what process? a) Control Schedule b) Control Quality c) Monitor and Control Project Work d) Manage Stakeholder Engagement
c) Monitor and Control Project Work Activities such as project performance analysis and tracking are done as part of the Monitor and Control Project Work process. This process involves tracking, reviewing and reporting progress to meet performance objectives. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 107]
A business is considering more than a dozen infrastructure upgrade projects. These projects, once delivered, will add to the organization's overall performance but will not contribute to any of the revenue streams. Prior to initiating any such project, the value of the project to the organization must be determined. Which of the following is the most important factor to consider in such a scenario? a) Investment requirement b) Net Present Value (NPV) of the projects c) Internal Rater of Return of the projects d) Alignment with the strategic goals
d) Alignment with the strategic goals Projects help in achieving organizational goals whey they are aligned with the organization's strategy. If the projects are misaligned with the organizational strategic goals, they are most likely to produce undesirable results either in the short-term or the long-term. NPV and IRR calculations are great measures, however, these are not applicable since these projects will not contribute to any of the revenue streams. Investment requirement is important but is useless on the projects that are not aligned with the strategic goals of the organization. [PMBOK 6th edition, Pages 34, 35]
You have recently developed a new traffic monitoring system for the city government. The product passed user acceptance in the test environment. However, when the system was migrated to the production environment, you found out that the existing infrastructure is not fit for purpose. What should you do now? a) Put the project on hold until the client upgrades the infrastructure b) Submit a damages claim to the client organization c) Issue a claim request to upgrade the infrastructure d) Check the contractual obligations regarding the infrastructure upgrade
d) Check the contractual obligations regarding the infrastructure upgrade The first thing you need to do is to check your contractual obligations regarding the existing infrastructure upgrade. That way you will know if the performance lapse was on your side or the client's. Once this is determined, you need to work with the client to agree on the way forward which might require a change request. [PMBOK 6th edition, page 83; PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct]
You have recently deployed a new automation solution in your organization. The product launch has caused business KPIs to worsen. The procurement lead time that was averaging around 10 days per purchase order has now gone up to about 12 days per purchase order. Which of the following might be the root cause of this? a) Defects in the product b) Poor product planning c) Misalignment with project goals with the business goals d) Initial learning curve of the users
d) Initial learning curve of the users With every technological change, risk of loss of productivity due to initial learning curve is typical. Apart from this, the scenario didn't give us any information that we can use to say any of the other choices are true. [PMBOK 6th edition, page 197]
The Close Project or Phase process is not performed when: a) Cancelling projects b) Closing projects c) Closing project management phases d) Reactivating projects
d) Reactivating projects The Close Project or Phase process allows the project manager to close or finish a specific phase of the project. [PMBOK 6th edition, Page 121]
