Project Management - Practice Questions, Exam 2

Project execution involves taking actions to _____.

Ensure that activities in the project plan are completed.

Which of the following is/are likely to appear as inputs to plan processes?

Enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets

In project time management, which of the following processes involve calculating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities?

Estimating activity durations

Examples of _____ processes include performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and conducting procurements.

Executing

Which process group normally requires the most resources and time?

Executing

_____ is a cost that relates to all errors not detected and not corrected before delivery to the customer.

External failure cost

You cannot start editing a technical report until someone else completes the first draft. What type of dependency does this represent?

Finish-to-start

In MS Project, by default any link between tasks (activities) is assumed to be _____.

Finish/start

Outsourcing can allow the client organization to _____.

Focus on core competencies.

Plans must be _____.

Focused on deliverables.

During project execution _____.

The products of the project are produced.

Which of the following does MS project support?

Gantt chart NOT a WBS, PERT or resource allocation chart.

The main purpose of a project plan and budget is to _____.

Guide project execution.

Which of the following is a motivation theory developed by Abraham Maslow?

Hierarchy of needs

Organizational planning is part of which knowledge area?

Human resources

In the project life cycle, it is usually more cost-effective to spend money _____.

In keeping with the summary baseline.

In order to see total project duration and total project cost as well as meta-task durations and costs, it is recommended that you _____.

Include a project summary task as your first task under which all other tasks are subordinate, and insert a cost column in the Entry table.

Many organizations are turning to outsourcing in order to _____.

Increase both fixed and recurrent costs

As discussed in class, the cost to fix a defect _____ over time and becomes exorbitant once the defect ______.

Increases exponentially, 'walks out the door'

In MS Project, the tool that is used to designate subordination as displayed in the WBS is _____.

Indent arrow on the tool bar.

Measurements should _____.

Induce the parts to do what is good for the system as a whole.

A project is in the executing phases and is 75% done with execution but significantly behind schedule. The best approach would be to _____.

Inform all stakeholders.

A master list of all acronyms and definitions is found in the _____ section of the communications management plan.

Information distribution

Developing an overall project plan is a part of project _____.

Integration

Which tool or technique for collecting requirements is often the most expensive and time consuming?

Interviews

Risk quantification _____.

Involves expected monetary values and PERT calculations.

Risk aversion

Is when someone has a lower tolerance for risk.

Which of the following is true about the agile method?

It uses several iterations or deliverables of software instead of waiting until the end of the project to provide a product.

A big picture view of the cost of a project over its entire existence is _____.

Life cycle costing

In MS Project, the tool that is used to establish sequencing among the activities is the _____.

Linking tool on the tool bar.

Which of the following is not one of the stages of the CMM.

MEASURED The ones that are: INITIAL, DEFINED, REPEATABLE, OPTIMIZING

_____ reserves allow for future situations that are unpredictable (unknown unknowns) to get included in the project budget.

Management

As the project manager for a software development project, you are helping to develop the project schedule. You decide that writing code for a system should not start until users sign off on the analysis work. Further, you decide that testing of a module (an object, class) will not commence until the entire module has been coded and compiled. What type of dependency is this?

Mandatory

The _____ organization structure allows for fast response upon problem identification because it has both a horizontal (project) and a vertical (functional) path for the flow of information.

Matrix

Tolerance for risk _____.

May be different for individuals and organizations.

What approach to developing a WBS involves writing down or drawing ideas in a nonlinear format?

Mind-mapping

The goal of risk management is to _____.

Minimize potential risks while maximizing potential opportunities.

A common _____ process is measuring performance so that changes can be made to keep the project on track.

Monitoring and controlling

_____ involves measuring progress toward project objectives and taking corrective actions.

Monitoring and controlling

Project managers are expected to be _____, whereas project players are expected to be _____.

Multitasking, very focused

_____ analysis is a method of calculating the expected net monetary gain or loss from a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time.

Net present value

When should inexperienced persons be used to estimate?

Never

An activity has probabilistic completion times of 15, 21, and 24, what is the variance of the completion time?

None of the above

If the work package in 75 above (a work package is 70% done and $200,000 was budgeted for it) has an ACWP of $100,000 then _____.

None of the above: cost variance is $20,000, cost variance is $-20,000, the work package is over budget

Project execution should target _____.

None of the above: vendors, planners, RFPs

An activity has a probabilistic completion times of 18, 22, and 32. What is its mean time?

None of these.

How long does it take to go from one stage of the CMM to the next?

One year at least

_____ is a probabilistic scheduling technique while _____ is deterministic with _____ being most widely used in commercial software.

PERT, CPM, CPM

You are preparing a cost estimate for a building based on its location, purpose, number of square feet, and other characteristics. What cost estimating technique are you using?

Parametric - uses project characteristic (parameters) in a mathematical model to estimate project costs.

_____ help(s) you identify the vital few contributors that account for most quality problems in a system.

Pareto Charts - a histogram that can help you identify and prioritize problem areas

_____ addresses how well a product or service performs the customer's intended use.

Performance

In the classroom discussions of failed projects, there was a tendency to _____.

Place blame on the outside of the organization.

A work package is 70% done and $200,000 was budgeted for it. What is its BCWP?

$140,000 and simply the value earned

If a company loses $5 for every $100 in revenue for a certain product, what is the profit margin for that product?

-5 percent

Assume you have a project with major categories called planning, analysis, design, and testing. What level of the WBS would these items fall under?

2

Almost all knowledge areas have a _____ process and a _____ process.

Plan, control

A work breakdown structure, project schedule, and cost estimates are outputs of the _____ process.

Planning

Estimating processes occur within what process group, what life-cycle phase?

Planning

_____ processes include devising and maintaining a workable schedule to ensure that the project addresses the organization's needs.

Planning

A PERT project has two tasks in sequence. The first has (a,m,b) values of 15, 18, and 27 while the second has 18, 22, 38. How long will it take to complete the project?

43

For the activity described above with probabilistic completion times of 18, 22, and 32, what is the variance of the completion time.

5.44

The total effort for a project is calculated to be 24 person-months. Four capable persons are assigned to the project. What is the total duration likely to be?

6 months

The first process involved in project time management is _____.

Planning schedule management

Which of the following processes involves determining the policies, procedures, and documentation that will be used for planning, executing, and controlling the project schedule?

Planning schedule management

What tool can you use to determine whether a process is in control or out of control?

A control chart

To answer the question, WHAT TO CHANGE, Goldratt uses _____.

A current reality tree

The communications management plan is _____.

A document that guides project communications.

To validate an injection, Goldratt uses _____.

A future reality tree.

To answer the question HOW TO CAUSE THE CHANGE, Goldratt uses _____.

A prerequisite tree, a transition tree

What type of diagram shows planned and actual project schedule information?

A tracking Gantt chart.

Which construct is used to provide a step-by-step sequence of actions to be taken?

A transition tree

A _____ is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides the direction on the project's objective and management.

Project charter

A(n) _____ is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a project's execution and control.

Project management plan

Developing a _____ is a planning process that occurs in the Project Integration Management knowledge area.

Project management plan

Solicitation planning is a part of _____.

Project procurement planning

Predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates and assumptions are all examples of _____.

Activity attributes

Predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions are all example of _____.

Activity attributes

Project time management includes _____.

All of the above: activity definition, activity sequencing, duration estimating.

Tools and techniques used to plan cost management include _____.

All of the above: expert judgement, analytical techniques, and meetings.

Risk management can _____.

All of the above: have a positive impact on selecting projects, help determine the scope of projects, assist in developing realistic schedules and cost estimates.

To retain focus on the part of the project manager, Goldratt recommends _____.

All of the above: placing a time buffer at the point where non-critical paths intersect with the critical path, having the project leader do all the team-related technology management, that the project manager not work on more than two projects at the same time.

The outcome of project initiation includes _____.

All of the above: project charter, selecting of a project manager, documentation of key project constraints and assumptions.

Human resource management includes _____.

All of the above: sponsors and customers, project team members and support staff, vendors supporting the project.

Which of the following statements is false?

All of the statements are correct: monitoring and controlling processes overlap all of the other project management process groups, a stakeholder management strategy is an approach to help increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project, the WBS provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

To answer the question WHAT TO CHANGE TO, Goldratt uses _____.

An evaporating cloud

To resolve conflicts, Goldratt uses a device called _____.

An evaporating cloud

The organization's strategic plan _____.

Provides the basis for information technology project planning.

Which of the following is not something that we ordinarily estimate?

Quality

At the end of solicitation planning, a key milestone is often the issuance of a(n) _____.

RFP

MS Project highlights the critical path in _____ on a network diagram.

Red

During project execution, the quality of products should _____.

Remain constantly in focus.

What is the name of the principle role player?

Richard Silver

In the book Critical Chain Goldratt suggests that project team members and managers put too much _____ into estimated durations of the tasks they are asked to complete.

Safety

Formal acceptance should occur _____.

At the completion of contract close-out.

The WBS is an outout of what knowledge area?

Scope

_____ refer(s) to all the work involved in creating the products of the project and the processes used to create them.

Scope

The highest need in Maslow's theory is _____.

Self-actualization

Behavioral psychologists see people as _____.

Self-motivated

In project time management, which of the following processes primarily involve identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities?

Sequencing activities

Preparation of a feasibility study _____.

Should be a part of project initiation.

What is easier, quicker to develop?

Skills

The implication of the cost of quality taxonomy discussed in class was to _____.

Spend more money on prevention so as to incur less in the way of external costs due to bugs and software defects.

How can accessing standard forms be made easier?

Storing templates and samples of project documents electronically.

What could serve as a foundation for choosing which projects to initiate?

Strategic planning

Such measures as BCWP, BCWS, ACWP Goldratt is _____.

Strongly opposed to

Procrastination is referred to as the _____.

Student syndrome

Money that has been spent in the past is known as a(n) _____.

Sunk cost

Cost or benefits that are easily measured in dollars are called _____.

Tangible

Costs or benefits that are easily measured in dollars are called _____.

Tangible

Building individual and group skills is part of _____.

Team development.

Which of the following costs has to do with appraisal?

Testing and inspection costs

Parkinson's law implies _____.

That early finishes are dis-rewarded.

If you have a task on the critical path and your time to complete your task has arrived, then Goldratt recommends _____.

That you drop everything else and work just on your task until it is complete.

The bottom four needs in Maslow's theory are referred to as _____.

Base needs

BCWS stands for _____.

Budgeted cost of work scheduled

Which of the following statements is false?

By using the PERT weighted average for each activity duration estimate, the total project duration estimate does not account for the risk or uncertainty in the individual activity estimates.

_____ is a deterministic diagramming technique used to predict total project duration

CPM

Tools of risk identification include the _____.

Checklists and flowcharts

Administrative activities, such as archiving project files, closing out contracts, documenting lessons learned, and receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the phase or project, are often involved in _____ processes.

Closing

The _____ process involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services and bringing the project, or project phase, to an orderly end.

Closing

When a project's processes and products meet written specifications, we say there is a _____.

Conformance to requirements.

Managing the relationship with the vendor is usually a part of what procurement process?

Contract administration

In project time management, the process of _____ primarily involves checking and managing changes to the project schedule?

Controlling the schedule

Slack is _____.

The amount of time a project activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date.

Accountants usually define _____ as a resource sacrificed or forgone to achieve a specific objective or something given up in exchange.

Cost

_____ is the difference between the cumulative earned value of the work performed and the cumulative actual cost. It is also the difference between BCWP (=earned value) and ACWP (Actual cost of work performed)

Cost variance

_____ is a planning process that is within the Project Scope Management knowledge area.

Creating of a WBS

_____ is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration.

Critical path method

Which of the following statements is false?

The critical path is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which a project can be completed.

Deming is known for _____.

The cycle for improvement - plan, do, check, and act.

The investment in risk management associated with a project should depend upon.

The nature of the project and the experience of the project team.

Payback occurs when _____.

The net cumulative benefits equal the net cumulative costs.

Which of the following is not one of the five steps that make up the theory of Constraints?

Decide how to EXTRAPOLATE that constraint. Ones that are: IDENTIFY the project constraint, SUBORDINATE everything to that decision, ELEVATE the system's constraint

A(n) is any instance where the product or service fails to meet customer requirements.

Defect

What is the first process in planning a project schedule?

Define activities.

In project time management, which of the following processes generate the main outputs of an activity list, activity attributes, and a milestone list?

Defining activities

Which of the following processes in project time management involves identifying the specific tasks that project team members and stakeholders must perform to product the project deliverables?

Defining activities

_____ are an output of the executing processes of project integration management.

Deliverables

One of _____ 14 points for management states that an organization should cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.

Deming's

Procurement planning involves _____.

Determining what to procure and when.

Any technique that uses only one time estimate is considered to be a _____ technique.

Deterministic

_____ involves working with stakeholders to create the document that formally authorizes and announces a project.

Developing the project charter

_____ costs are costs related to the amount of time and resources allocated to the completion of the project, whereas _____ costs are such items as overhead, pension, and healthcare plans, etc.

Direct, indirect

Which part of the communications management plan outlines who receives what status reports?

Distribution

Deming had 14 points for management that included which of the following?

Drive out fear and break down barriers between staff members.

The fact that the time required to complete a task fills up the time allotted for it is _____.

Due to corporate cultures that dis-reward early finishes, known as Parkinson's law

Which of the following statements is false?

Duration and effort are synonymous terms.

A key tool for controlling project costs is _____.

Earned value analysis

In MS Project, by default , working weeks are assumed to be _____.

Eight-hour days, five-day weeks, no work on Saturdays or Sundays

What is a good starting point for identifying internal stakeholders?

The project's organizational chart.

At this point in time the work package in 75 above (its 75% complete now) should be 80% complete then _____.

The work package is behind schedule.

Project risk management should be done _____.

Throughout the life of the project.

Activity definition is a part of what knowledge area?

Time

Estimating processes occur within two knowledge areas. They are:

Time, cost

Cost is a resource _____.

To balance against schedule and scope.

What is the main goal of project cost management?

To complete a project within an approved budget.

Determining the earned value involves collecting data on the percent complete for each work package and then converting this percentage to a dollar amount by multiplying the _____ of the work package by the percent complete.

Total budgeted cost

The cumulative earned value for each work package is calculated by multiplying each percent complete by the _____ for the work package.

Total budgeted cost

Goldratt believes that conflicts are usually based on _____.

Unclear assignment of responsibilities and roles, personality clashes

Which is more expensive and costly to the firm?

Under-estimation

What is the preferred order for performing testing on information technology projects?

Unit testing, integration testing, system testing, user acceptance testing

Analogous estimating amounts to _____.

Use of a past similar project, use of historical data

Scope _____ is often achieved by a customer inspection and then sign-off on key deliverables. Hint: this is a process within scope management.

Validation

A _____ is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project.

WBS

The _____ provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

Work breakdown structure

The most important output of project execution is _____.

Work products

When a product can be used as intended, we say it _____.

has a fitness for use.

The seven run rule states that if seven data points in a row on a control chart are all below the mean, above the mean, or all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for _____ problems.

non-random