50 Question PMA Test

Breaking down an activity into smaller component to make a very accurate estimate

Bottom Up

Any action taken to bring expected future project performance in line with the project management plan

Preventative Action

Adjustments made to project expenditure to account for funding limits

Funding Limit Reconciliation

The type of organization where the project manager has full authority.

Projectized

With which of the following techniques are brainstorming and lateral thinking used? A. Product analysis B. Alternatives generation C. Expert judgment D. Facilitated workshops

Answer: B Planning - Scope Management Alternatives generation is a technique used to generate different approaches to accomplish the goals of a project. Examples include brainstorming and lateral thinking.

What is the Variance At Completion (VAC) formula?

BAC - EAC Negative is bad, positive is good

When considering influences that could have an impact on cost management, which of the following would you be the least concerned about? A. Financial control procedures B. Organizational culture and structure C. The proposed budget D. Marketplace conditions, i.e. currency exchange rates, products and services available

C. Planning - Cost Management The project team should be concerned with the organizations financial procedures and controls (classified as OPA's and given in answer A) and EEF's (answers B and D) when determining what to put into the cost management plan. The proposed budget of the project would be the last thing the team would be concerned about.

Planning work that will occur sooner at a detailed level, and planning work that will occur later in the project at a higher level, is best described as which of the following? A. Progressive Elaboration B. Urgency Assessment C. Rolling Wave Planning D. Just-In-Time (JIT) Planning

C. Planning - Time Management Rolling wave planning is an iterative technique used to plan the nearer term activities at a more detailed level than those happening later in the project.

Which of the following would be considered an Enterprise Environmental Factor? A. Policies regarding how project management should be performed B. Organization-specific human resource policies C. Software (e.g. Microsoft Project) D. Time reporting formats and procedures

C. Software Initiating - Framework Page 29 of the PMBOK Guide lists the Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF's). The last bullet point discusses the use of software packages.

Delaying an activities start date

Lag

Starting an activity prior to completing the preceding activity

Lead

What are the To Complete Performance Index (TCPI) formulas?

(BAC-EV) / (BAC-AC) Cost performance rate needed to complete within budget (BAC-EV) / (EAC-AC) Assumes original budget cannot be achieved

Ground rules should be set by which of the following? A. The team B. Project Manager C. The project management team D. Project Sponsor

A. Executing - Human Resources Management Ground rules are the guidelines that the team should follow during the project. While some think that the project manager should dictate the ground rules to the team, it is considered a best practice to have the whole team, as a unit, to discuss and set the rules or guidelines that will dictate behavior. The benefit received by having the team set the rules is the team will become self-governing because they have ownership and buy-in.

The project manager may call on which of the following individuals to assist in managing stakeholders as needed? A. Project sponsor B. Senior executive C. Assistant project manager D. Project team member

A. Executing - Stakeholder Management Typically when a project manager requires assistance in managing various stakeholders, the project sponsor may be asked to assist. Project managers generally have little authority, so a project sponsor can help because they usually have more authority than the project manager. While answer B may actually be the project sponsor, not all senior executives are a project sponsor. An assistant project manager and team members have less authority than the project manager.

Which of the following documents would you use to record and address obstacles that can block the team from achieving its goals? A. Issue log B. Change log C. Assumptions log D. Risk register

A. Monitoring - Communications Management An issue log is a document that is usually created to record track and resolve obstacles and issues that would prevent the team from meeting the project objectives. An issue is defined as something that is not yet settled, or a point or matter over which there are opposing viewpoints or disagreements. A change log is where you would track and report project changes. An assumptions log is used to record the assumptions for the project. A risk register is a document to record possible threats or opportunities that could occur on the project.

Approved project change requests are validated through which of the following processes? A. Control Quality B. Perform Integrated Change Control C. Change Management D. Configuration Management

A. Monitoring - Quality Management Once a change request has been approved and implemented it is then validated through the process of Control Quality. Review of the change request provides validation that it was implemented as approved. Answers C and D are not processes, but rather areas of project management. The change request would have already been approved through the process in answer B.

Which of the following estimating approaches would you use early in a project? A. Analogous B. Parametric C. Bottom-up D. Three-point

A. Planning - Cost Management Of the estimating approaches listed, only analogous is used early in a project, when little information is known about the project. It is the quickest way of coming up with a total project estimate but it is also the least accurate.

Use of which of the following contract type causes the seller to have the most risk? A. Fixed Price B. Cost Reimbursable C. Time and Materials D. Cost Plus a Percentage of Cost

A. Planning - Procurement Management In a fixed price contract with, the seller is obligated to provide the goods and services under the terms and conditions of the contract, for the price and at the time of delivery stated in the contract. In a cost reimbursable contract, the seller is guaranteed at least a recovery of their costs. In a time and materials contract, the seller is guaranteed profit in every hour billed. In a cost plus a percentage of cost type of contract, the risk for the buyer is higher than for the seller.

Which of the following processes determines which requirements will be included in the project? A. Define Scope B. Determine Requirements C. Collect Requirements D. Plan Scope Management

A. Planning - Scope Management The process of Define Scope is used to determine which of the requirements will be included in the project, i.e. it details what is in scope and what is out of scope. The process of Collect Requirements is simply the process of collecting all requirements.

Which of the following is a true statement of the critical path? A. It is the longest path through the network diagram, that denotes the shortest amount of time to complete the project and will have the least amount of total float B. It is the longest path through the network diagram and will always have zero total float C. It is the longest path through the network diagram and will have the least free float D. It is the path that contains the most important activities

A. Planning - Time Management The critical path will always be the longest path through the network diagram and can have positive, negative or zero total float. It will also be the path that has the least amount of total float (not the least free float). The perceived "importance" of the activities themselves do not come into play.

Your team has developed a strategy to set aside $1000 in a contingency budget and an extra week in the event a particular risk occurs on the project. What is the best description of this strategy? A. Active Acceptance B. Passive Acceptance C. Risk Mitigation D. Risk Avoidance

A. Planning - Risk Management Active acceptance is the decision to set aside a contingency in the form of time, money or resources. Passive acceptance is simply acknowledging the risk then doing something about it if and when it occurs. Mitigation is the strategy of reducing the likelihood or the impact if the risk occurs. Avoidance would remove the risk entirely or protect the project's objectives from the impact

Which of the following processes determines which requirements will be included in the project? A. Define Scope B. Determine Requirements C. Collect Requirements D. Plan Scope Management

A. Planning - Scope Management The process of Define Scope is used to determine which of the requirements will be included in the project, i.e. it details what is in scope and what is out of scope. The process of Collect Requirements is simply the process of collecting all requirements.

All of the following are elements of the requirements management plan except which one? A. Requirements of the project B. Processes for how requirements will be collected, tracked and prioritized C. Process for how changes to the product will be initiated D. Product metrics and the reasons for using them

A. Planning - Scope Management The Requirements Management Plan is an element of the Project Management Plan and is a "how to" plan. It tells the team members how they will collect, record, organize, prioritize, track, change and manage requirements. It will not have any project specific requirements - these will be listed in the project document known as the Requirements Documentation.

When estimating the amount of time each activity will take, which of the following statements are true? A. The estimates will be based on the number of resources available, the amount of work effort estimated and will be usually expressed as working days or weeks B. The estimates will be based on calendar days or weeks, the amount of work estimated, number of resources available, and the amount of money available in the project C. The estimates will be based on the number of resources available, the project deadline, the amount of work estimated and will be expressed as working days or weeks D. The estimates will be based on the number of resources available, the amount of work estimated and will be expressed as calendar days or weeks

A. Planning - Time Management Duration is defined as the total number of working periods, not including weekends or other non-work times. It is not expressed as elapsed time such as calendar days. The project deadline or limited budget may come into play when developing the entire project schedule or the overall budget, respectively, but these have no bearing on estimating individual activity durations.

What are the Estimate at Completion (EAC) formulas?

AC + (BAC-EV) Actual cost + work remaining, use budget rate (variances atypical) BAC / CPI Assumes same rate of spending will continue (variance typical) AC + (BAC-EV) / (CPI*SPI) Assumes current cost and schedule performance will continue

Resource Smoothing

Adjusting the level of resources when resources have been over-allocated, without allowing the schedule to slip

You are the project manager for a small advertising company. You are talking with some account executives that want to know more about project management. You want to emphasize the importance of stakeholders. Which of the following are tools and techniques of the Identify Stakeholders process? A. Stakeholder analysis, meetings, and expert judgment B. Expert judgment, meetings, and communication models C. Communication methods,meetings, and expert judgment D. Stakeholder analysis,meetings, and organizational process assets

Answer: A Initiating - Communications Management The tools and techniques of the Identify Stakeholders process are stakeholder analysis, meetings and expert judgment.

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.

Marketplace conditions are an example of which of the following? A. Enterprise Environmental Factors B. Organizational Process Assets C. Internal Constraints D. Requirements

Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management Enterprise environmental factors are internal or external factors that surround or influence a project's success. Examples include: market conditions, infrastructure, political climate, corporate culture, etc.

When is the best time to assign a project manager to a project? A. As soon as a project is authorized B. As soon as the scope statement is finalized C. As soon as the WBS is completed D. At any time during the project life cycle, depending on requirements

Answer: A Initiating - Integration Management In general, a project manager should be identified and assigned as early in the project as possible.

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%

You have received an estimate from a team lead that took some time to finalize but has the level of detail that would allow the client to make an accurate decision. The team lead apologizes to you for the delay but they had some challenges trying to get some of the estimated data from one of the subcontractors. Which method of estimating did the team lead most likely use? A. Bottom Up B. Parametric C. Expert Judgment D. Analogous

Answer: A Planning - Cost Management Bottom Up estimating involves a complete re-do of estimates to accurately produce a detailed estimate. The main characteristics are a more accurate estimate, but it takes longer to gather the estimate data.

You are managing a project and must seek outside help in completing part of the work. You are therefore preparing a Request for Proposal setting out the scope of the work you wish to hire out. Which PMBOK process are you performing? A. Plan Procurement Management B. Conduct Procurements C. Control Procurements D. Close Procurements

Answer: A Planning - Procurement Management Plan Procurement Management results in procurements documents (such as an RFP, RFQ, RFI, etc.). Conduct Procurements involves the selection of the seller and contract award. Control Procurements involves overseeing the contractual relationship, while Close Procurements involves ending the procurement.

A cost plus incentive fee contract has a target cost of $280K. Actual costs are $240K. There is a 50/50 share for any cost savings. What is the total value of the contract? A. $260K B. $240K C. $280K D. $300K

Answer: A Planning - Procurement Management The $280K is the expected value of the contract. Actual cost of the contract is $240K. This means that there is $40K saved. The 50/50 share means that $20K of the savings would go to the seller. The actual cost of $240K plus the $20K saving share makes the total value of the contract worth $260K.

Procurement documents seek responsive information from which party? A. Seller B. Procurements Director C. Buyer D. Sponsor

Answer: A Planning - Procurement Management The purpose of procurement documents is to get information from the seller as to how the requirements of the project can be met, and on what terms.

You are a project manager for a large aerospace company. You are working on manufacturing a space shuttle turbine. Design of experiments performs which of the following functions? A. identifies which variables have the most influence on a quality outcome B. identifies which variables have the least influence on a quality outcome C. determines what a quality outcome is D. identifies variables impacting quality outcomes by looking at each variable individually

Answer: A Planning - Quality Management Design of experiments (DOE) is a statistical method of identifying which factors may influence specific variables of a product or process under development. DOE should be used during the plan quality management process to determine the number and type of tests and their impact on cost of quality. D is incorrect because DOE analyzes all variables collectively, not individually.

A project has the following risks: 20% probability of a 14-day delay in the receipt of customer requirements; 10% probability of a 21-day delay in the procurement process; 50% probability the integration will take 14 days longer. What is the expected time value of these events? A. 11.9 days B. 35.8 days C. 49 days D. Seven days

Answer: A Planning - Risk Management EMV for customer requirements = 20% * 14 days = 2.8 days EMV for procurement process = 10% * 21 days = 2.1 days EMV for integration = 50% * 14 days = 7 days Total EMV = 2.8 + 2.1 + 7 = 11.9 days

Question: 116 of 200 You have prepared a risk response plan for a particular risk event, however, the response cannot eliminate the impact of the occurrence completely. Which of the following describes the impact of the risk which remains, notwithstanding your response plan? A. Residual risk B. Secondary risk C. Acceptance D. Mitigation

Answer: A Planning - Risk Management Residual risk is the risk that remains even after you have implemented your response plan.

You are the project manager for a franchise of bowling alleys. Your project involves installing a new cash processing system that allows for ease of collecting all forms of payment. You have identified several problems along with potential causes of those problems using an Ishikawa diagram. Which process are you performing? A. Identify Risk B. Perform Qualitative Analysis C. Control Quality D. Plan Risk Response

Answer: A Planning - Risk Management You are working on the Identify Risks process (specifically, using the Diagramming tool and technique- Ishikawa diagram). Identify Risks is the process of determining which risks might affect the project.

All of the following are true regarding decomposition except for which one? A. It's an output of the Define Scope process. B. It's a tool and technique of the Create WBS Process. C. It is tool and technique of the Define Activities process. D. It subdivides the major deliverables into smaller components.

Answer: A Planning - Scope Management Decomposition subdivides the major deliverables into smaller components. It is a tool and technique of Create WBS (and Define Activities).

You are working on the WBS. The finance manager has given you a numbering system to assign to the WBS. Which of the following is true? A. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the code of accounts, which is used to track the costs of the WBS elements. B. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the WBS dictionary, which is used to track time and resource assignments for individual work elements. C. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the code of accounts, which is used to track time and resource assignments for individual work elements. D. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the WBS dictionary, which is used to track the costs of the WBS elements.

Answer: A Planning - Scope Management Each element of the WBS is assigned a unique identifier. Individually these are known as control accounts, but collectively these are known as the code of accounts. Typically, these codes are associated with a corporate chart of accounts and are used to track the costs of the individual work elements in the WBS.

Your sponsor has recently left the company, and an executive from the company has been designated as the new sponsor. This person was not previously involved in the project, and needs to get up to speed. She is a definitive stakeholder and has a reputation for being difficult to work with. She calls for a meeting and during your conversation asks you for a summary of what the project will produce and the work required to get there. To which document should you refer her? A. Scope Statement B. Project Charter C. Requirements Documentation D. Project Management Plan

Answer: A Planning - Scope Management The Scope Statement should provide a detailed description of the project's deliverable and the work necessary to produce them (as opposed to the Charter, which contains a broad, high-level discussion of the project's goals).

A new project manager has been brought in to replace the prior PM who just retired from a long and distinguished career. Eager to make a good impression and to fill the shoes of such a high-performer, the new PM asks to see the scope baseline for the project so that she can immediately begin to control scope creep. What is included in the scope baseline? A. Project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary B. Scope management plan, and project scope statement C. Scope management plan, project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary D. WBS and WBS dictionary

Answer: A Planning - Scope Management The scope baseline includes the project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary.

You are managing a project that is running behind schedule. You change the relationship of several scheduled activities from finish-to-start to start-to-start in order to complete the project within the deadline. This is an example of which of the following and what impact does it have on project risk? A. Fast-tracking and will increase risk B. Crashing and will increase risk C. Adjusting leads and lags and will decrease risk D. Resource leveling and will have no effect on risk

Answer: A Planning - Time Management Fast-tracking is when you take activities or project phases that would otherwise be done sequentially and do them in parallel. This speeds up delivery of the project, but will also increase risk. Crashing is when you add extra resources to critical path activities. Adjusting leads or lags does not alter the relationship of activities, but applies a delay or head-start to activities. Resource leveling is the process of smoothing out resource utilization to avoid spikes in resource demand.

Estimates to complete one of your project activities have been turned into you from experts on your project team. The estimates are as follows: The pessimistic estimate is 126 days, the optimistic estimate is 108 days, and the most likely estimate is 114 days. Using the traditional, beta distribution PERT formula, you can say with 68 percent certainty that the project will finish within which range of dates? A. 112 days to 118 days B. 111 days to 117 days C. 114 days to 116 days D. 113 days to 115 days

Answer: A Planning - Time Management First, you must determine expected value using the beta distribution PERT formula. That formula is:(Optimistic + Pessimistic + (4 x Most Likely)) / 6. The formula solved for this question is:(108 + 126 + (4 x 114)) / 6 = 115. Next, you need to determine the standard deviation. Standard deviation is calculated as: (Pessimistic - Optimistic) / 6. The standard deviation formula for this question is:(126 - 108) / 6 = 3. The 68 percent confidence level is determined by adding and subtracting one standard deviation to the expected value. Therefore, the range of dates for this question is 112 days to 118 days.

Which of the following statements best describes the difference between project phases and project life cycles? A. A project phase can contain one or more iterations of the project life cycle. B. The project life cycle provides a basic framework for managing the project, whereas project phases are divisions within a project. C. The project life cycle is known as the sequence of project activities, whereas phases are defined to control the overlapping activities. D. The project life cycle contains the iterative, incremental elements inside a project phase.

Answer: B Initiating - Framework According to the PMBOK Guide, the project life cycle provides a basic framework for managing the project, whereas project phases are divisions within a project where extra control is needed to effectively manage the completion of a major deliverable (i.e. feasibility study).

What are the phase-end reviews for key deliverables often called? A. Close Project B. Kill points C. Quality audits D. Performance reporting

Answer: B Initiating - Framework Reviews conducted at the end of the project phase on key deliverables and project performance (to determine approval for continuance into the next phase and corrective actions) are often called kill points, stage gates or phase exits.

Project selection is critical for an organization. Projects need to be aligned with the strategic direction of the company and provide the most value possible. As a project manager you need to understand how and why projects are selected. Which of the following is not a project selection tool? A. Peer Review B. Earned Value C. Scoring Model D. Economic Models

Answer: B Initiating - Integration Management Choice B is the correct answer. Earned Value is a project progress measurement tool while all of the other choices, which include Benefit Measurement Methods, Scoring Models, and Economic Models, are generally used for project selection.

There are various project selection methods. As a project manager you need to be aware of and familiar with the various methods. Linear programming is an example of which type of project selection method? A. Cost-benefit analysis B. Constrained optimization methods C. Comparative approach D. Benefit measurement methods

Answer: B Initiating - Integration Management Constrained optimization methods are complex mathematical formulas and algorithms that are used to predict the success of project (you need not understand these formulas for the exam). Cost-benefit analysis examines the costs versus the benefits of multiple projects. Benefit measurement methods is the same thing as comparative approach.

The project team is in the process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholder needs and requirements. This process yields which of the following results? A. Communication Skills, Scope Statement B. Communications Management Plan C. Communication models D. Communications technology

Answer: B Planning - Communications Management The Plan Communications Management process develops the appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholder needs and requirements. The Communications Management Plan is the output from the Plan Communications Management process.

Your newest project is in the Planning process group. You've just published the document that describes who will receive copies of future project information, how it should be distributed, and who will prepare it. Which of the following plans does this describe? A. Requirement management plan B. Communications management plan C. Stakeholder register D. Project charter

Answer: B Planning - Communications Management The communication management plan documents what information will be distributed, how it will be distributed, to whom, by whom, and the timing of the distribution. Answer A is incorrect because the question is not talking about requirements. Answer choice C is not correct because that is a made-up term. Answer choice D is not correct because the question states we are in the planning phase, and in any event, the Charter would not contain such information.

You are the project manager for a large insurance company. You are currently managing a project to create a custom-tailored lending program for commercial property and casualty insurance agents. You find that you are under budget and your Program Manager has requested a review of all project budgets. Undistributed budget is used in which of the following ways? A. Retained for contingencies B. Held until work authorizations are provided for any work that has not yet been performed or been assigned a control account C. Distributed to other projects falling behind on costs D. To increase profit

Answer: B Planning - Cost Management Undistributed budget is kept in a holding account for scope work that is yet to be assigned to a control account.

You are defining the evaluation criteria for proposals you will receive for a particular procurement. The procurement item is readily available from a number of equally acceptable sellers. On which criterion might you focus in such a situation? A. Seller's management approach B. Price offered by the seller C. Seller's financial capacity D. Understanding of your need

Answer: B Planning - Procurement Management In this scenario, since the item is widely available by equally qualified sellers, price should be the key criterion in evaluating the proposals.

You are a senior project manager and are having lunch with your Director of Quality. Yous start to discuss quality theories and the people who created the hypothesis. Which of the following are known for their zero defects and fitness for use theories, respectively. A. Juran, Deming B. Crosby, Juran C. Maslow, Deming D. Deming, Crosby

Answer: B Planning - Quality Management Philip Crosby believed in conformance to requirements and zero defects. Joseph Juran believed in the fitness for use principal. He promoted conformance and quality by design. Juran also noted the distinction between grade and quality (low quality is always bad; low grade is not necessarily a bad thing). W. Edward Deming developed the 14 points of Total Quality Management (TQM) and said that quality is a management problem 85% of the time.

You are performing processes to determine the project management plan. Which of the following best describes the purpose of quality planning? A. To ensure all requirements are captured B. To determine applicable quality standards and processes to satisfy them C. To ensure all quality requirements tie back to a specific business need D. To ensure the project stays on schedule

Answer: B Planning - Quality Management Quality planning involves identifying quality standards relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them and is typically done in parallel to the other planning processes. Answers A and C refer to requirements which drive the scope and are typically associate with a business need. D refers to the monitoring and controlling the schedule specifically.

You have identified a potential risk to your project but have deemed it a minor issue given its low likelihood of occurring and its minimal impact if it did occur. In which document should you record this risk? A. Risk Breakdown Structure B. Watchlist C. Probability and Impact Matrix D. Monte Carlo analysis report

Answer: B Planning - Risk Management A watch list is where you note risks that don't have a high enough probability or impact to make it into the risk register, yet still need to be monitored. By recording the risk in a watch list, you will have a reminder to ensure circumstances haven't changed as your project proceeds.

Risk identification can best be defined as: A. Identifying all areas from which risks can occur on a project B. Determining which risks might affect a project and recording their attributes C. Identifying key risks by performing a Pareto analysis D. Knowing when to label issues as risks for mitigation purposes

Answer: B Planning - Risk Management Identifying Risks involves determining which risks might affect a project and recording their attributes. Choice A refers to the creation of a Risk Breakdown Structure, which is part of Risk Planning.

You are considering whether to seek out a potential contract. The probability of completing a contract is 92% which will yield a profit of $10,000. If the project fails to complete the contract then the associated risk is $10,000, which will be charged as a penalty. What is the expected monetary value of taking the contract? A. $800 B. $8,400 C. $10,800 D. -$800

Answer: B Planning - Risk Management The probability of not completing the contract is .08, which would be multiplied by the impact (-$10,000), for a result of -$800. On the other hand, the chances of completing the contract on time and realizing the $10,000 profit is 92%, so you multiply .92 x $10,000 and get $9,200. When you sum the two values you get $8,400.

You are conducting interviews with key project stakeholders to assess the probability and consequences of identified risks to the project objectives, assign a risk score to each risk, and create a list of prioritized risks. Which process are you performing? A. Quantitative Risk Analysis B. Qualitative Risk Analysis C. Identification of Risks D. Plan Risk Management

Answer: B Planning - Risk Management The purpose of Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis is to determine what impact the identified risk events will have on the project and the probability of occurrence. It also puts risks in priority order according to their effects on the project objectives and assigns a risk score for the project. Finally, this process examines the timing of the risk events so those which are upcoming in the near future can be addressed first.

The project scope is best described by which of the following? A. All the tangible items that must be delivered to the client B. All the work that must be completed for the project to be complete C. The high level risks of the project D. All requirements collected from stakeholders

Answer: B Planning - Scope Management The project scope outlines what work will (and will not) be done to complete the project.

You are developing training regarding estimating. You will discuss the various methods of estimating and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Which estimating method uses just one time estimate for each task? A. PERT B. CPM C. Monte Carlo D. Analogous

Answer: B Planning - Time Management Critical path method uses deterministic method, meaning it uses one time estimate for each task.

You are the project manager for a large government services company. You are currently managing a project to provide data center, infrastructure, cloud and co-location, recruiting, staffing, training, software, and technology security services. What is the ideal percentage of project work to be measured using the Level of Effort approach? A. 15% B. 0% C. 24% D. 14%

Answer: B Planning - Time Management Having zero LOE should be a planning goal. Level of effort work measures drive the project EVM Data toward an on-schedule condition and thus reduce the accuracy of schedule performance data.

You are the project manager for a large advertising company. You are managing a new collateral project for a high visibility client. Your project has a firm finish date and several tasks on the critical path seem like they will be delayed. Which of the following is likely to show up as the project progresses? A. Additional lags B. Negative floats C. Increase in convergences D. Resource leveling

Answer: B Planning - Time Management Since many tasks seem to be delayed, it is likely that some of your tasks will end up with negative floats, which tells you that your project is behind schedule and that you must make up that time in order to complete the project on schedule.

You are replacing the current project manager on a project where communication with the client has been challenging. The project manager emails you a document, without a subject line in the email or a descriptive title. When you open the document you see it is in a table format with a list of names, contact details and locations. There is also a column for influence and impact. You are most likely looking at which of the following? A. Issue Log B. Risk Register C. Stakeholder Register D. WBS

Answer: C Initiating - Communications Management Influence and impact will be found in a Stakeholder Register since those columns document the power and interest of the stakeholders. A Risk Register will show Impact and Probability (not influence). The Issues Log, while it may contain names and contact details of team members, would not show influence. WBS will not contain any information pertaining to stakeholders or team members.

Your company performs some tests to determine how long it will take to complete the process of creating a new microchip. These tests must be completed and the data analyzed three weeks before the facility design is finalized. This is an example of what? A. Historical information B. Product analysis C. Constraints D. Assumptions

Answer: C Initiating - Framework Constraints are factors that limit the options or progress of the project. In this case the requirement that the test be complete and the data be analyzed is a constraint on completing the project.

You are currently developing a model that would help your organization in determining its level of maturity in project management. To which of the following does this refer? A. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B. Project Management Information System (PMIS) C. OPM3 D. Project Management Research

Answer: C Initiating - Framework OPM3 (Organizational Project Management Maturity Model) helps organizations determine their level of maturity in project management. OPM3 is a globally-recognized best practice standard for assessing and developing capabilities in Portfolio Management, Program Management, and Project Management.

You are the project manager for a large IT Services company. You are currently managing a project to provide analytics, machine learning, big data implementations, and data integration services. What term is used to explain when major projects are divided to allow for extra control over the completion of major deliverables? A. Program B. Work packages C. Phases D. Operations

Answer: C Initiating - Framework Phases are divisions within a project where extra control is needed to effectively manage the completion of a major deliverable.

You are a project manager and you are talking to a new project manager that just joined your firm. Project phases comes up in the discussion. You are explaining the potential sequential phases of the project to the key stakeholders. What are you describing? A. Project Process Groups B. Rolling wave planning C. Project Life Cycle D. Product Life Cycle

Answer: C Initiating - Framework The project manager is explaining project life cycle, which is a collection of generally sequential or overlapping project phases. Remember that phases are not process groups, but are essentially whole projects unto themselves (since each phase proceeds from initiation through executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing, and also results in a deliverable, i.e. a Feasibility Analysis).

You know your organization must choose projects that will be the most profitable for the company. This approach to project selection is based on which one of the following? A. Dynamic algorithms B. Opportunity cost C. Economic model D. Pareto diagraming

Answer: C Initiating - Framework This is a simple economic model of choosing the most profitable project for the organization. Dynamic algorithms are an example of constrained optimization methods. While this question hints at opportunity cost, this is not the best choice. Opportunity costs describe the scenario when an organization has two or more projects to choose from and they can only do one project because of time or limited resources. Pareto diagraming is not a valid option for this question, as it pertains to quality matters.

Which of the following is most true during the initiation stage of the project? A. Costs are high but the risks are low and so chances of success are low and since staff levels are high so is stakeholder influence B. Chances of success are high, but cost is low and staff levels are low however stakeholder influence is high and the risks are high C. Staff Levels are low and the costs are low but stakeholder influence is high and the risks are high so the chances of success are lower D. Costs are low and chances of success are low but staff levels are high as is stakeholder influence but the risks are low

Answer: C Initiating - Framework During the initiating stage the team likely would not even have been assembled, and thus staffing levels are low. Since the risks (uncertainties) are high, the chances of success are lower at this point. Stakeholder influence will be high at this point. Since the project is at the early stages, the costs expended will be low.

A frequent complaint about matrix organizations is that communications are: A. Hard to automate B. Closed and inaccurate C. Complex D. Misleading

Answer: C Initiating - Integration Management A Automation is outside the scope of project management or it is equally possible in any type of organization and this is not a complaint. This answer is wrong B Matrix organizations do work and many corporations chose to run their company with matrix structure, and this is not a frequent concern. There is no saying stating matrix organizations are 'closed and inaccurate'. This answer is not correct C Under functional organization there is more than 1 manager for a particular project. One would be a project manager and other would be a functional manger, which would eventually make the communication process complicated compare to either function organization or project type and this is the right answer D Matrix organization structure shall not mislead any project or a project manager; this is one of the popular types of structure in India. The answer is incorrect.

You are the project manager of the Athletic Performance Pants Project. Your project will cost your organization $250,000 to complete over the next eight months. Once the project is completed, the deliverables will begin earning the company $2,500 per month. Which of the following represents the time to recover the costs of the project? A. Not enough information to know B. 62 months C. 108 months D. 92 months

Answer: C Initiating - Integration Management The time to recover money from the project is 108 months. This is calculated by dividing the project cost by $2,500 per month (and adding 8 months for the deliverable to be completed).

You are the project manager for a large IT company. You are working on a project to revise how month, quarter and year end calculations are made and what systems they interact with. You have many stakeholders that are at an executive level so you want to ensure that they are engaged appropriately and requirements are understood and documented. What are the inputs to Plan Communications Management? A. Communications requirements, communications technology, and stakeholder analysis B. Project management plan, stakeholder register, communication technology and organizational process assets C. Project management plan, stakeholder register, enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets D. Communications requirements, constraints, and staffing management plan

Answer: C Planning - Communications Management The inputs to the Plan Communications Management process are project management plan, stakeholder register, enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets. Note that PMBOK states that all environmental factors serve as inputs here, as communications must be adapted (tailored) to suit the total project environment.

Peter is going through another iteration of estimations because the project is about enter into a new phase. He is creating an activity cost estimate, and on a very aggressive timeline to complete his estimate. He is also under a lot of pressure from senior management to deliver a high level of confidence in the estimate. As such, which of the following should not be included? A. Information about the types of resources used in the activities B. Details on the assumptions used in the estimate C. The order in which activities will be completed D. Descriptions of resources used in the activities

Answer: C Planning - Cost Management Activity Cost Estimates are an output to the Estimate Costs process. The order/sequence in which the activities are completed is not relevant to the Estimate Costs process as costs are assigned on the individual activities themselves, not a relationship between activities (activity sequence). All other answer choices are relevant.

You are a project manager in the financial industry. All of your projects are cost constrained and you actively manage cost using CPI and CV. All of the following are tools used to determine budget except which one? A. Cost aggregation B. Reserve analysis C. Earned value management D. Historical relationships

Answer: C Planning - Cost Management Cost Aggregation, Reserve Analysis, Expert Judgment, Historical Relationships, and Funding Limit Reconciliation are the tools and techniques of Determine Budget.

You are the project manager for a large government services company. You are currently managing a project to provides program management, grant management, administrative support, HR, and veteran employment and reintegration services. You are actively tracking and reporting on direct and indirect costs. Indirect costs may include _____? A. Lighting, building security, subcontractor costs B. Project manager's salary, deliverables inspections, material handling C. Building lease payment, security services, executive salaries D. Vendor costs, subcontractor costs, travel costs

Answer: C Planning - Cost Management Typically costs for the building, building security, and corporate executives are indirect costs to a project. All of the other answer choices have some elements that are usually included in a project's direct cost.

You are in the process of identifying and documenting project roles and responsibilities and creating a staffing management plan. Which of the following are you least likely to consider? A. Human resource policies set by your organization B. The availability of skilled labor in your area C. Activity duration estimates D. Resource requirements

Answer: C Planning - Human Resources Management From the description in the question, we are in the Plan Human Resource Management process. The inputs to Plan Human Resource Management are Project Management Plan, Activity Resource Requirements (answer D), EEFs (reflected in answer B) and OPAs (reflected in answer A).

You are planning your procurements for a project and have found that, due to company policy, you are very limited in the sellers you can consider. Which of the following is most likely restricting your options? A. Source Selection Criteria B. Risk Tolerance C. Qualified Seller Lists D. Enterprise Environmental Factors

Answer: C Planning - Procurement Management Qualified Seller Lists, which are Organizational Process Assets, show pre-approved sellers and often require members of the organization to use only sellers from the list when making procurements.

To have a legally binding contract, which of the following items must be present? A. Offer and Consideration B. Offer and Acceptance C. Offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity by both parties to contract, and a legal purpose D. A meeting of the minds

Answer: C Planning - Procurement Management The elements of a binding contract are an offer, acceptance of the offer, consideration (exchange of value, i.e. money, goods or services), capacity by both parties to contract, and a legal purpose.

You are planning the quality process and realize there are hundreds of combinations of quality factors that, considered individually, would be nearly impossible to track and formulate properly. What technique would you employ to ensure the quality of your testing without negatively impacting the time and budget? A. Cause and Effect B. Benchmarking C. Design of Experiments D. Cost Benefits Analysis

Answer: C Planning - Quality Management Design of Experiments is able to test multiple factors simultaneously rather than changing one factor at a time, which is very time consuming.

Which tool and technique of the Plan Quality Management process helps the project team anticipate and identify where quality problems might occur on the project, which in turn helps them develop alternatives for dealing with the quality problems? A. Root cause analysis B. Benchmarking C. Flowcharting D. Design of experiments

Answer: C Planning - Quality Management Flowcharting can help the project team anticipate and identify where quality problems might occur on the project, which helps the team develop alternative approaches for dealing with the quality problems.

For a given characteristic in a construction process, the standard deviation associated with production variation is .8 inches, and the standard deviation associated with measurement variation is .6 inches. The total variance for this characteristic is ___? A. 1.4 inches B. 1.2 inches C. 1.0 inches D. 0.8 inches

Answer: C Planning - Quality Management The question is asking for total variance and provides the standard deviation (SD) information. Statistically you cannot add the SDs of two processes to obtain either the total SD or the total variance. The correct way is to calculate the variances for each individual process first then add the variances. The formula for variance is SD^2 (standard deviation squared). So, the variance for the production variation will be 0.8*0.8 = 0.64 and the variance for the measurement variation will be 0.6*0.6 = 0.36. Then add the two variances together, which will be 0.64 + 0.36 = 1.

A hurricane caused power outages just when you were nearing completion of the first phase of your project. When the power was restored, all of the project reports and historical data were lost, with no way of retrieving them. What should have been done to mitigate this risk? A. Purchase insurance B. Create a reserve fund C. Monitor the weather and have a contingency plan for backing up the files in question D. Schedule the installation outside of the hurricane season

Answer: C Planning - Risk Management In this case, keeping an eye on weather conditions and having a back-up plan to protect important information would have minimized the impact of the hurricane. Note that D would be an avoidance tactic.

Which of the following risks may be an uncontrollable risk? A. Scope changes in the project B. Team member's errors/mistakes C. Increase in raw material costs D. Changes with internal stakeholders

Answer: C Planning - Risk Management Material costs are often uncontrollable risks, and can usually only be addressed by contingency reserves.

One of your project team members is reviewing the risk register for your project. She is new to the project and was interested in changing the risk response strategies her department would own. Which of the following properly lists the strategies employed for handling negative risks (threats)? A. Avoid, Mitigate, Transfer, Contingency, Accept B. Avoid, Transfer, Mitigate, Share C. Avoid, Transfer, Mitigate, Accept D. Exploit, Enhance, Share Accept

Answer: C Planning - Risk Management There are 4 response strategies for negative risks: Avoid, Transfer, Mitigate and Accept. Note that acceptance can be "active" if there is a contingency set aside.

You are managing a project to develop a new software platform for one of your top customers. In past projects, there were often additional, unrequested features added to the scope in order to "wow" the customer, but the stakeholders have made it very clear that this should not be done in this case, as the budget and schedule are very tight. You are also dealing with more limited resources than usual. As you develop your project management plan, you should pay particular attention to which of the following in order to prevent this sort of gold plating from re-occurring? A. Project Charter B. WBS C. Scope management plan D. Cost Management Plan

Answer: C Planning - Scope Management The scope management plan would outline controls for ensuring that gold plating (extra functionality, not part of agreed upon project scope) is prevented, while ensuring that all approved requirements are included in the deliverable.

The expected value for your project duration estimate is 627 days, and the most likely duration estimate is 575. The standard deviation is 14. Which of the following statements is true? A. A 95 percent confidence factor would make this project duration between 547 days and 603 days. B. The project duration, given a 95 percent confidence factor, is between 613 days and 641 days. C. The project duration, given a 99.7 percent confidence factor, is between 585 days and 669 days. D. A 68 percent confidence factor would make this project duration between 547 days and 603 days.

Answer: C Planning - Time Management Do not be fooled by the mention of the most likely duration. We want the full duration estimate which was already calculated for us (O + 4(M) + P)/6. Next, assess the responses individually: A 99.7 percent confidence level is achieved by adding and subtracting three standard deviations to the expected value. Standard deviation is already provided to us (14 days). 3x14 = (+/-42 days). Therefore, the range of dates for this question is 585 days to 669 days or 627 +/-42 days.

You are the project manager for a large IT company. You are currently managing a project to create a network for a mid-sized marketing and advertising company in New York. You are located in California so are utilizing a virtual team. What are the tools and techniques of Estimate Activity Resources? A. PDM, Schedule Network Templates, Dependency Determination, Applying Leads & Lags B. Enterprise Environmental Factors, Organizational Process Assets, Activity List, Activity attributes, Resource Calendars C. Expert Judgment, Alternatives Analysis, Published Estimating Data, Project Management Software D. Decomposition, Rolling Wave Planning, Expert Judgment

Answer: C Planning - Time Management Expert Judgment, Alternatives Analysis, Published Estimating Data, and Project Management Software are the tools and techniques of the Estimate Activity Resources process.

Your project has a critical path duration of twenty-three weeks. What is the impact on the critical path if management wants you to complete the project in twenty weeks? A. Duration of the critical path increases by three weeks. B. Duration of the critical path decreases by three weeks. C. Duration of the critical path remains the same. D. Duration of the critical path cannot be determined.

Answer: C Planning - Time Management If management wants to complete the project in twenty weeks, then the project float will be: 20 - 23 = -3 weeks. The project float compares the critical path with an externally imposed date and may be negative. Thus, you may be forced to fast-track or perform crashing to ensure that the project is completed within the dates required by the management (and these schedule compression techniques would shorten the critical path). Without any changes to the current plan, however, the new externally-imposed date will not change the critical path.

You are the project manager for a large consumer products and services company. You are currently managing a project to create an innovative toothpaste that guarantees to whiten teeth after just one brushing. You know of a competitor with a similar product so you are rushing to finish your project to be the first to market. What are the outputs of Sequence Activities? A. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), Schedule Network Templates, Dependency Determination, Leads & Lags B. Activity List, Activity attributes, Milestone list C. Project Schedule Network Diagrams, Project document updates D. Decomposition, Rolling Wave Planning, Expert Judgment

Answer: C Planning - Time Management Project Schedule Network Diagrams and Project document updates are the 2 outputs from the Sequence Activities process.

Your project has an optimistic estimate of 20 weeks, a most likely estimate of 25 weeks and a pessimistic estimate of 38 weeks. What is the standard deviation of the estimate? A. 26.3 B. 13.8 C. 3 D. 7.5

Answer: C Planning - Time Management Standard Deviation = (Pessimistic - Optimistic) / 6 Standard Deviation = (38-20) / 6 = 3

All of the following describe the activity list except which one? A. It's an extension of the WBS. B. It includes all activities of the project. C. It is part of the WBS. D. It includes a description of all project activities.

Answer: C Planning - Time Management The activity list is not part of the WBS. The activity list is produced as an extension of the WBS and includes all the project activities with descriptions of the activities. The activity list, activity attributes and milestone list are outputs of the Define Activities process.

Which form of organization retains many characteristics of a functional organization and treats the project manager's role as more of a coordinator or expeditor than a manager? A. Projectized B. Coordinator C. Strong matrix D. Weak matrix

Answer: D Initiating - Framework In a weak matrix organization a project manager is called a "project coordinator" or "project expeditor" as she does not have authority to take independent action. The project is run by the functional managers in this situation, with the expediter possessing very limited, if any, authority.

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.

You are in the planning stage of a large project that is scheduled to go live 18 months from now. You have determined how many teams must be established and the roles and responsibilities of the team members. The number of team members currently exceeds 100. You are trying to determine the most efficient way to utilize these team members and determine which resources will be needed at which times. Which document will you now be creating and updating to record this? A. Org Chart B. WBS C. Roles and Responsibilities Matrix D. Staffing Management Plan

Answer: D Planning - Human Resources Management A Staffing Management Plan is used, among other things, to document which resources will be used at which times. The organizational chart shows the reporting relationship of team members, the WBS shows the work breakdown (not who is performing the work). The Roles and Responsibilities Matrix shows the Roles, Authority, Responsibilities and Competencies on the project, but would not necessarily address when the resources are needed.

You are a project manager new to a functional organization. You have mainly worked in projectized organizations and are concerned that you will not fit in with the organizational culture. Your sponsor explains to you that one of the advantages of a functional organization is: A. Project team members are usually loyal to the project, not a functional manager. B. Project team members are usually loyal to the project manager. C. Project managers usually yield a great deal of formal authority in a functional organization. D. All of the employees report to one manager and have a clear chain of command.

Answer: D Planning - Human Resources Management Advantages for employees in a functional organization are that they have one supervisor and a clear chain of command exists. None of the other choices are representative of a functional organization.

Which of the following is true with respect to the cost of managing the purchasing process? A. Indirect costs are not considered in the make or buy analysis B. The cost of managing the purchasing process is always borne by the Purchasing or Procurement department, and is therefore not part of the make or buy analysis C. The cost of managing the purchasing process is a direct expense and is considered in the make or buy analysis D. Indirect costs incurred in managing the purchasing process are considered in the make or buy analysis

Answer: D Planning - Procurement Management Indirect costs are considered in the make or buy calculations, and would include costs of managing the overall procurement process.

During which process does the project management team determine whether or not any project work can be outsourced? A. Collect Requirements B. Conduct Procurements C. Identify Risk D. Plan Procurement Management

Answer: D Planning - Procurement Management Make-or-buy analysis is a tool and technique of Plan Procurement Management, and the Make-or-Buy Decisions are an output. Here you are selecting which work items you can perform yourself and what needs to be outsourced/purchased. This is a good time to consult the lessons learned from past projects, to get a better sense of what should be made in-house vs. what should be purchased.

Your project management team is analyzing new technologies and examining vendor capabilities to assess whether a product or service can be acquired. Which of the following is being performed? A. Buyer assessment B. Expert judgment C. Make-or-buy analysis D. Market research

Answer: D Planning - Procurement Management Market research involves examining industry and vendor capabilities to determine if the desired product or service is available in the marketplace. It is a tool and technique of Plan Procurement Management.

You are the project manager for a large window manufacturing company. You are currently managing a project to expand your geographical reach beyond the local area and include a facility in Canada. Since you are not familiar with Canada you need to hire vendors to do much of the work. All of the following are inputs to the Plan Procurement Management process except which one? A. Stakeholder register B. Requirements documentation C. Project schedule D. Statement of work

Answer: D Planning - Procurement Management Project management plan, requirements documentation, risk register, activity resource requirements, project schedule, activity cost estimates, stakeholder register, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets are the inputs to the Plan Procurement Management process. In this process, you will determine what work needs to be procured, and will thereby create a Procurement SOW.

You are the project manager for a midsize IT services company. You are currently managing a project to provides IT services, including digital forensics, investigation and electronic data discovery. Cost and schedule containment are very important on your project. You have decided to utilize Earned Value Management. EVM does not significantly assist a Project Manager with which of the following? A. Project Cost Management B. Project Time Management C. Project Communication Management D. Project Quality Management

Answer: D Planning - Quality Management Earned Value Management (EVM) does not have a significant role in Project Quality Management; however, Earned Value is only earned for work meeting the quality requirements. EVM is used for both Cost and Schedule management. EVM is also important when communicating project performance.

You are working on developing a master quality policy which will be kept by your project management office and referenced by other project managers in the future. Which of the following themes should you be emphasizing when preparing this document? A. More emphasis should be placed on testing and inspection than on planning, since the former serves to catch flaws/defects. B. Quality planning should be done as needed throughout the project, as opposed to spending excessive time planning up front. C. Quality outcomes should be measured by the level of customer satisfaction achieved. D. Substantial time and money should be spent planning quality at the beginning, to avoid defects in the first place.

Answer: D Planning - Quality Management PMBOK states that your highest expense in quality management will likely come in the form of quality planning. Quality must be planned in, or "managed in" to a project on the front end, which will save money and effort in the long run because there will be fewer defects and problems to fix. Remember, quality is the extent to which the requirements are met, which is not always the same as simply creating customer satisfaction.

You have just completed a robust Quality Management Plan. You have garnered strong stakeholder and sponsor support for the quality approaches set forth therein, and must now begin to execute the Quality Management Plan. As you begin to produce key outputs you concede that Quality Assurance is going along nicely, but experience has taught you that there is always room for improvement and refinement. Which of the following statements is true regarding quality? A. Inspection ensures avoidance of rework. B. Prevention prevents defects from reaching the customer. C. Inspection reduces random variation in the output of the process. D. Prevention helps ensure that errors are kept out of the process.

Answer: D Planning - Quality Management Prevention keeps errors out of the process and therefore reduces random variations in the process. Inspection ensures that errors do not reach the customer. Non-conforming products need to be reworked or rejected. Therefore, inspection usually results in rework.

You are documenting acceptance criteria within the project scope statement for the various deliverables of your project. Of the following, who is in the best position to determine whether a particular work item has met the quality expectations? A. The engineering staff B. The marketing staff C. The CEO D. The customer or sponsor

Answer: D Planning - Quality Management The ISO 9000 definition of quality says that it is "the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs." These needs are ultimately derived from the customer or key stakeholders (i.e. sponsor) and thus, they are in the best position to assess the level of quality achieved.

In which process do you create the Risk Breakdown Structure? A. Identify Risk B. Plan Risk Response C. Perform Qualitative Analysis D. Plan Risk Management

Answer: D Planning - Risk Management The RBS is part of the Risk Management Plan. Its structure is very similar to a WBS. The RBS is a hierarchically-organized depiction of the identified project risks arranged by risk category and subcategory that identifies the various areas and causes of potential risks.

You are a project manager with a mid-sized pharmaceutical company. You have just been assigned to a new project and your sponsor is a Dominant Stakeholder. Also you have many regulations to consider throughout your project. Which of the following processes are utilized to ensure that all requirements of a project are met?

Answer: D Planning - Scope Management One of the key functions of the WBS is to ensure all work items are captured (thus making sure all requirements are met). The Validate Scope process involves the sponsor, customer or other designated person inspecting the deliverables to ensure the requirements are met.

You are working with the project team to create the WBS. Your project team can't break down the WBS any further. You and the team elect to break down these elements/items later in the project as more details become available. This approach to creating the WBS is also known as what? A. Decomposition B. Progressive elaboration C. Parkinson's law D. Rolling-wave planning

Answer: D Planning - Scope Management Rolling wave planning involves fine-tuning the project plans in incremental steps, as you proceed further along in the project planning process and more information is known.

The Requirements Traceability Matrix includes which of the following information? A. The functionality desired by the customer B. A precise description of all work to be done C. The end result and deliverables required during the project. D. A description of each requirement and the business need(s) to which it pertains

Answer: D Planning - Scope Management The Requirements Traceability Matrix is an important tool to ensure that extraneous requirements do not make their way into the project scope, and also provides a mechanism for tracking requirements throughout the project.

You have received an activity estimate for your project, as follows: the pessimistic estimate is 50 days, the optimistic estimate is 38 days, and the most likely estimate is 40 days. What is the variance? A. 2 B. 3.15 C. 1.33 D. 4

Answer: D Planning - Time Management The Variance is the Standard Deviation squared. Standard deviation is calculated as follows: (Pessimistic - Optimistic) / 6 The standard deviation formula is: (50- 38) / 6 = 2. The variance is 2 squared = 4. If you were trying to get a combined variance for multiple activities, you would perform the analysis above for each, then add the variances together and calculate the square root of that figure.

You are in the Develop Schedule process. Which of the following tools and techniques will be used to determine the feasibility of the project schedule under differing, adverse conditions? A. CPM B. Critical chain method C. Resource leveling D. Modeling techniques

Answer: D Planning - Time Management The correct answer is D -- modeling techniques such as what-if scenario analysis or simulation examine what would happen if a certain scenario occurs.

During a schedule update you find that the project would require 45, 25, and 34 resources respectively during the next three months. The functional manager confirms that 45 additional resources cannot be made available during the first month without impacting other ongoing projects, and your project is a lower priority. Which of the following should you adopt? A. Reverse resource allocation B. Crashing C. Fast tracking D. Resource leveling

Answer: D Planning - Time Management You should use resource leveling, which is the technique used to smooth out resource usage on a project. In this case you might want to use an even 35 resources for all 3 months. With resource leveling you might have to let the schedule slip as a trade-off. Crashing and fast tracking are schedule compression techniques. Reverse resource allocation is not a real term.

Which of the following items organizes and defines the total scope of the project and depicts the work specified the currently approved version of the project scope statement? A. Project Statement of Work B. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) C. Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) D. Scope Development Chart

B Planning - Scope Management The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the document that shows the deliverables and work as defined in the currently approved version of the Project Scope Statement. The Project Statement of Work is a document that describes the business need, contains a high-level scope description, and the organization's overall strategic plan. A PBS is only used on projects that produce a tangible product and only includes a breakdown of the components of the product - in other words it does not include the work required to deliver the product.

Which of the following techniques could you apply, to any project in any industry, as a way to objectively measure project progress? A. Microsoft Project B. Earned value C. Percent complete D. Schedule percent complete

B. Monitoring - Cost Management Of these answers, the only technique that allows you to measure performance is answer B. Answer A is a tool and is not able to be used in every project (it is very difficult to use properly in Agile or Scrum projects). Percent complete is a way of giving actuals, and by themselves do not provide a measure of overall project progress.

With regards to monitoring and controlling project work, when does this process begin and end? A. It begins when the project charter is signed and ends when the last deliverable is accepted B. It begins when the project charter is signed and ends when the project is formally closed C. It begins when the project is selected and ends when the last deliverable is accepted D. It begins when the project is conceived and ends when the last deliverable is accepted

B. Monitoring - Integration Management Monitoring and controlling project work begins when the project is formally authorized, which is done through the project charter. It ends when the project is formally closed. Work is still required by the team to formally close out the project, even after the last deliverable is accepted.

Your project has a vendor that is under a firm fixed price contract and the seller has filed a claim. Which of the following is the preferred method of settling this dispute? A. Litigation B. Negotiation C. Mediation D. Arbitration

B. Monitoring - Procurement Management Negotiation is the preferred method for settlement of all claims and disputes in a contract. Litigation is usually considered as a last resort due to the expense. Mediation and arbitration are also options that the parties have depending upon the terms of the contract, but these are also secondary to the preferred method of negotiation.

You're the project manager for construction project. The project team identified a rainstorm as a possible risk. When the prediction of an approaching storm was announced the response plan was implemented, which included having sandbags on hand to reduce the impact of flooding on the site. Halfway through preparations to respond to this risk the project manager is informed that not enough sandbags were ordered. Who is the person informing the project manager of this? A. Risk Owner B. Risk Response Owner C. Risk Manager D. Assistant Project Manager

B. Monitoring - Risk Management The risk response owner is responsible for reporting to the project manager on the effectiveness of the response plan, any corrective actions needed to handle the risk during implementation of the plan, and any unanticipated effects of the plan. Answer A, could be the correct answer if the risk owner and risk response owner is the same person. Answers C and D are distractor answers.

When updating and controlling a project schedule, which of the following would be most beneficial to the PM? A. Percent Complete B. Work Performance Data C. Project Management Software D. A good project team

B. Monitoring - Time Management The PM must have the actuals (work performance data) before they can determine the actual performance of the schedule. Answer A is not specific enough since percent complete can be given for physical completion of the work, actual work effort put into the project, costs and schedule.

What is the primary purpose of the staffing management plan? A. It states how the project manager will manage the team B. It outlines how the traditional HR duties will be performed on the project C. It lists all resources by name in the functional area they come from D. It is a "how-to" plan that demonstrates how the internal resources will be managed

B. Planning - Human Resources Management The primary purpose of the staffing management plan outlines how the traditional HR duties will be performed on the project. Answer A describes a portion of the purpose of the Human Resource Management plan. The information in answer C may be listed in the staffing management plan but it is not the primary purpose of the plan. Answer D mentions only internal resources.

The process of Identify Risk will result in which of the following? A. Risk Management Plan B. Risk Register C. Risk Breakdown Structure D. Risk versus Reward

B. Planning - Risk Management The process of Identify Risk will result in the creation of the Risk Register, which is the document that will list all possible threats and opportunities that could occur during the project. The risk management plan is an outcome of plan risk management and it will possibly include the risk breakdown structure.

Which of the following items organizes and defines the total scope of the project and depicts the work specified the currently approved version of the project scope statement? A. Project Statement of Work B. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) C. Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) D. Scope Development Chart

B. Planning - Scope Management The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the document that shows the deliverables and work as defined in the currently approved version of the Project Scope Statement. The Project Statement of Work is a document that describes the business need, contains a high-level scope description, and the organization's overall strategic plan. A PBS is only used on projects that produce a tangible product and only includes a breakdown of the components of the product - in other words it does not include the work required to deliver the product.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the schedule management plan? A. It may or may not be written depending on the project management approach of the organization's executives B. It can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broad in nature depending on the project and it is a key input to the Define Activities process C. It must be formal and highly detailed prior to project management plan approval D. It requires the input of all stakeholders who will eventually approve the plan

B. Planning - Time Management In the approach from PMI, a schedule management plan will be included in every project, i.e. it must exist. However, it can be formal or informal, broadly framed or highly detailed in nature, depending on the needs of the project.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the schedule management plan? A. It may or may not be written depending on the project management approach of the organization's executives B. It can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broad in nature depending on the project and it is a key input to the Define Activities process C. It must be formal and highly detailed prior to project management plan approval D. It requires the input of all stakeholders who will eventually approve the plan

B. Planning - Time Management In the approach from PMI, a schedule management plan will be included in every project, i.e. it must exist. However, it can be formal or informal, broadly framed or highly detailed in nature, depending on the needs of the project.

The project management plan may be changed without a change request only under which of the following circumstances? A. The plan has been written by the project manager and no team member input B. The plan has been written but not approved by the sponsor C. The sponsor has approved the plan but the project has not yet started D. The plan has been approved by the sponsor but not yet implemented

B. Planning - Integration Management The only time the project management plan, or element of it, may be changed without a change request is when it has yet to be approved. The plan will not be written without team member input. Once the plan has been approved, the only way to change it is with a change request handled through the process of Perform Integrated Change Control.

Which of the following documents authorizes work to begin on the project? A. The contract B. The project charter C. The project management plan D. The Project Mission and Overview Statement

B. Project Charter Initiating - Integration Management The project charter is the authorizing document that allows work to begin on a project. According to PMI, the project management work (i.e. the planning and estimating, developing the Project Management Plan and other work to be performed by the PM is considered part of the work in a project.)

All of the following are Organizational Process Assets except which one? A. Organizational communications policies B. Software (e.g. Microsoft Project) C. Performance measurement criteria D. Risk control procedures

B. Software Initiating - Framework Organizational Process Assets are process related assets the PM can use to influence project success. They are broken up into two classifications - Policies and Procedures and the Corporate Knowledge Base. Software is considered an EEF.

In terms of quality, which of the following scenarios is considered acceptable? A. High grade, low quality B. Low grade, low quality C. Low grade, high quality D. None of the above

C. Planning - Quality Management As defined in terms of quality, the most acceptable situation of these answers is C. Answers A and B have low quality in varying degrees of grade. Low quality is always unacceptable. However a product or service having high quality but low grade is considered acceptable.

Which of the following is considered a broad class of communications methods? A. SharePoint B. E-mail C. Interactive D. Phone calls

C. Executing - Communications Management Answers A, B and D are all classified under the area of communications technology. When broadly classified, answer C is considered a communications method. Answer D is a specific technology that could be used in interactive communications. Other forms of interactive communications can include teleconferencing, video teleconferencing, instant messaging and face-to-face.

Two team members are having trouble getting along. They have attempted to resolve their differences between themselves with no lasting outcome. As project manager you have a discussion with them to identify the root cause. After much discussion, you decide that the best way to take care of the situation is to have both team members go play a round of golf, which they both enjoy. What conflict resolution technique have you employed? A. Compromise/Reconcile B. Force/Direct C. Smooth/Accommodate D. Collaborate/Problem Solve

C. Executing - Human Resources Management In this situation the project manager is using smoothing or accommodating, which means they are deemphasizing the areas of disagreement and emphasizing the areas of agreement or commonality. Compromising is when both parties give something up to reach an agreement. Forcing or directing is when one party forces their desire or wish upon someone else. Collaborating or problem-solving is when the conflict is treated as a problem, and possible solutions are discussed. A single solution is chosen and implemented. Then a review will occur to see if that solution corrected the problem.

The project manager decides to call a meeting with all of the prospective contractors who are expected to submit proposals on the new project. The purpose of this meeting is so that the contractors can gain a clearer understanding of the requirements of the procurement. The project manager decides to make this meeting mandatory. In other words, if a contractor does not attend this meeting they will not be qualified to submit a proposal. What is the best description of this requirement? A. Proposal Evaluation Techniques B. Bidders Conference C. Screening System D. Procurement Negotiations

C. Executing - Procurement Management When procurement documentation states that something is mandatory, it generally means that this factor will be used as a screening system to quickly reduce the number of potential bidders. Usually, screening system information is placed in bold letters in advertisement for the procurement. The question discusses a meeting between the project manager and prospective contractors which is also called a bidders conference. Procurement negotiations happen after each of the proposals are evaluated and a selected seller is chosen.

The chief financial officer, who happens to be your project sponsor, has just called you into their office to discuss a requested change in your project. After asking you several questions, the project sponsor tells you to implement the change. What is the next thing you should do? A. Implement the change B. Send the change request to the change control board for approval C. Fill out a change request form and request the project sponsor's signature D. Evaluate the impact of the change on the time, cost, scope, quality , and risk objectives of the project

C. Monitoring - Integration Management The proper order of tasks for handling change requests begins with documentation of the change request. Even though some changes may be initiated verbally, they should always end up in writing prior to evaluation. This ensures that the evaluation is based on an understanding of what is actually being requested.

Planning work that will occur sooner at a detailed level, and planning work that will occur later in the project at a higher level, is best described as which of the following? A. Progressive Elaboration B. Urgency Assessment C. Rolling Wave Planning D. Just-In-Time (JIT) Planning

C. Planning - Time Management Rolling wave planning is an iterative technique used to plan the nearer term activities at a more detailed level than those happening later in the project.

Which of the following tools and techniques would best be used to gather and assess information regarding whose interest should be taken into account during the project? A. Stakeholder questionnaires B. Meeting the stakeholders face-to face C. Stakeholder analysis D. Project charter

C. Stakeholder Analysis Initiating - Stakeholder Management A stakeholder analysis involves looking at the influence, interest and impact stakeholders may have on the project. It is a three step process aimed at 1) identifying all potential stakeholders, 2) identifying the impacts to these stakeholders and 3) assessing the reactions that key stakeholders may have to various situations.

Your project was recently terminated early. As the project manager you must review which of the following? A. All prior information from previous phase closures B. Project Management Plan C. The contract D. All of the above

D. Closing - Integration Management Regardless of why your project was ended, i.e. successful completion or early termination, the project manager should go through a formal closeout process. This requires a review of all previous phase documentation, the project management plan which includes the scope baseline, and any contracts.

Early termination is a special case of contract closure. Which of the following could be a reason for early termination? A. Mutual agreement by both parties to the contract B. Default or breach of contract of one party C. Convenience of the buyer, if allowed by the contract D. All of the above

D. Closing - Procurement Management All instances listed in answers A through C could be acceptable reasons for terminating a contract early.

Which of the following becomes increasingly important when working with virtual teams? A. Work assignments B. Budget C. Schedule D. Communications

D. Executing - Human Resources Management Virtual teams are those teams that rarely, if ever, meet face-to-face. In this situation were teams rarely meet face-to-face all facets of communications become increasingly important. Things such as tone, content, clarity, technology, time zones, and team cohesion all will become increasingly important. Answers A, B and C would be a concern for the project manager on every project.

In your project for the design and development of a new, ultrahigh speed hard drive, the team has defined certain information for the quality control department to use as a quality control check. The quality control department will check each hard drive's data access time. In order to pass the quality test each drive must transfer 1 GB of data in 500 ms +/-100 ms. Which of the following terms best describes this information? A. Quality checklist B. Control limits C. Attribute limits D. Quality metric

D. Executing - Quality Management The question is describing a quality metric which is defined as a product or project attribute that is described in detail and usually is accompanied with an associated tolerance limit. A quality checklist is merely a document that insures that all steps have been performed. Control limits describe whether or not a process is in or out of control.

What is the primary purpose of the validate scope process? A. To ensure that all of the approved scope has been included in the project B. To validate that the final product met the quality requirements C. To test the final product D. To gain formal acceptance of the deliverables from the customer or sponsor

D. Monitoring - Scope Management The validate scope process requires a review of the deliverables with the customer sponsor to ensure that the deliverables have been completed satisfactorily and formal acceptance is given. The control quality process is where are all product testing is done to ensure that the quality requirements have been met.

You are the project manager for major construction project. You have just completed a walk through with the construction superintendent, when they told you that one of the critical path activities will be two weeks late. Upon further discussion you find out the underlying reason for this. What tool and technique are you using? A. Interpersonal Skills B. Face-To-Face Communication C. General Management Skills D. Variance Analysis

D. Monitoring - Scope Management When controlling scope of the project, the project manager should be concerned with both product and project scope. Variance analysis is a technique used to determine the cause and the degree of the variance relative to the baseline.

You just completed your weekly project status meeting. In this meeting you received information from the team regarding actual start and finish dates of activities worked on since the last status meeting, a percentage of work completed on each of these activities, and an actual cost expended to complete the work to date. Which of the following is a true statement about this information? A. This information should be given directly to the project sponsor so they can see how the project has progressed to the point B. This information is of little value of the project sponsor, since they were in the meeting they should know where the project stands C. This information should be given directly to the project team so they can see how well everyone else is doing D. This information should be analyzed then placed into a report for the project sponsor to gain a clear understanding of where the project is at in relation to the baseline

D. Monitoring - Stakeholder Management The actual data, such as actual work, actual cost, actual duration, etc. is of little value to the project sponsor. The data needs to be analyzed and correlated in context with the project baseline. Simply because a project sponsor attends a meeting, does not necessarily mean they know where the project stands in relationship to the baseline.

Which of the following is included in the total project budget but is not included in the cost performance baseline? A. Control accounts B. Work package estimates C. Contingency reserves D. Management reserves

D. Planning - Cost Management Contingency reserves are included in the cost baseline and are for identified risks. Work package estimates are included in cost baseline and the total project budget. Control accounts are management control points used for measuring project performance. Management reserves are for the unanticipated or unforeseen risks and are not included in the cost baseline, but they are added in the total allowable amount for the project (the total project budget).

Your project team has just completed a quantitative analysis of project risk. They have identified a 45% chance of a flood that would cost the project $50,000 in damages and cleanup. They have also identified a 30% chance that the new piece of equipment recently purchased by your organization will save the project $10,000. What is the expected monetary value of these two risks? (Probability)x(impact) A. $40,000 B. ($40,000) C. $19,500 D. ($19,500)

D. Planning - Risk Management When calculating the contingency budget for a project, one popular method is called EMV or expected monetary value. To calculate EMV for each of these risks you would multiply the probability of occurrence and the impact of that occurrence. So, .45*$50,000= -$22,500. Then you will notice that the second risk is an opportunity. To calculate the EMV for this opportunity it would be, .30*$10,000= $3,000. These two figures would then be added together. So, a negative $22,500 plus $3000 would equal -$19,500. A common way of showing negative numbers is in parentheses.

As the project manager you have decided to separate the sources of risk by phase and by the WBS. Using this technique you will find the riskiest areas of the project. Which of the following best describes the technique employed? A. Proper risk planning B. Risk urgency assessment C. Risk data quality assessment D. Risk categorization

D. Planning - Risk Management While answer A may be correct it is too general. Answer B is a technique used to identify those risks that could occur sooner in the project. Answer C is a technique used to ensure the quality of the data used to identify and analyze risk. Risk categorization is a technique used to classify risk and can be done through various methods, such as a sample list of risk categories, or it could be done by phase, by the WBS, or by a formal risk breakdown structure.

You are the project manager for project with 200 stakeholders. The team identified five individuals as key stakeholders. You are developing the stakeholder management plan, which is an actionable blueprint of how to interact with the stakeholders to support the project objectives. You will base the actions taken on an analysis of the key stakeholder's needs, their level of interest and their potential impact on project success. Where will you find this information to analyze? A. Project charter B. Project management plan C. Files located in the human resource department D. Stakeholder register

D. Planning - Stakeholder Management During the identify stakeholders process, the team performs a stakeholder analysis to identify those stakeholders whose interests could impact the project. This includes an identification of their needs, their level of interest on the project, and the likely impact they may have on project success. All this information is placed in the stakeholder register. While the project charter may list key stakeholders, it will not list this information on each stakeholder.

Once the network diagram is complete, how many activities or milestones will not have both a predecessor and a successor? A. 1 B. 1 in each phase C. As many as necessary D. 2 in the entire network

D. Planning - Time Management Once the network diagram is finished, the only two activities that will not have both a predecessor and a successor will be the starting and ending activities in a project.

Once the network diagram is complete, how many activities or milestones will not have both a predecessor and a successor? A. 1 B. 1 in each phase C. As many as necessary D. 2 in the entire network

D. Planning - Time Management Once the network diagram is finished, the only two activities that will not have both a predecessor and a successor will be the starting and ending activities in a project.

The Estimate Activity Resources process is closely coordinated with the Estimate Costs process for which of the following reasons? A. These two processes occur simultaneously B. These two processes occur in succession C. The two processes occur near the time that you plan the project budget D. Most of the project's costs are a direct result of the resources used in a project

D. Planning - Time Management When looking at the source of project costs, most all costs come from resources utilized to get the project completed. Coordinating these two processes allows the PM to see if the planned project will fit into any cost constraints the project may have.

Product scope is measured by which of the following and where will these elements used for this measurement be listed, respectively? A. Project Management Plan, Requirements Traceability Matrix B. Project Requirements Documentation, Requirements Management Plan C. Requirements Traceability Matrix, Requirement Management Plan D. Product Requirements, Requirements Documentation

D. Planning - Scope Management Project scope is measured by the project management plan. Product scope on the other hand is measured against the product requirements which will be listed in the requirements documentation.

The Project Manager has the least amount of authority in which of the following organizational structures? A. Projectized B. Balanced Matrix C. Weak Matrix D. Functional

D. Functional Initiating - Framework Of the five basic types of organizational structures, the PM has the least amount of authority in a functional structure. The PM has the most authority in a projectized environment. Authority is shared between the PM and the functional manager in a balanced matrix. The PM's authority is low in a weak matrix but slightly higher than a PM is a functional structure.

The technique where work packages are broken down to activities.

Decomposition

What is the Estimate To Completion (ETC) formula?

EAC - AC Expected cost of work remaining.

What is the Cost Variance (CV) formula?

Earned Value (EV) - Actual Cost (AC) Negative is bad, positive is good

What is the Schedule Variance (SV) formula?

Earned Value (EV) - Planned Value (PV) Negative is bad, positive is good

What is the Cost Performance Index (CPI) formula?

Earned Value (EV) / Actual Cost (AC) <1 is bad, >1 is good

What is the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) formula?

Earned Value (EV) / Planned Value (PV) <1 is bad, >1 is good

What is the formula for PV?

PV= FV / (1+i)^n i = discount rate n = number of years

If the team is made up of the project manager with 16 other members, how many communications channels does it have? A. 17 B. 34 C. 120 D. 136

Planning - Communications Management The communications channels formula is (N*(N-1))/2. The question states that the team is made up of the PM and 16 other members, so the total size of the team is 17. So, (17*(17-1))/2 = 136

Identify, Define, and state when they are used: PV EV AC BAC EAC ETC VAC CV SV CPI SPI TCPI

Used in Earned Value Management (EVM) PV= Planned Value: Budgeted value of WORK PLANNED to be done at a given time. EV= Earned Value: Budgeted value of WORK COMPLETED at a given time. AC= Actual Cost (total): Actual cost of work completed. BAC= Budget At Completion: The original cost baseline plus or minus all approved cost changes. EAC= Estimate At Completion: Expected total project cost (forecasted based on performance date ETC= Estimate TO Completion: Expected remaining cost (NOW till completion) VAC= Variance At Completion: Expected variance over/under budget. CV= Cost variance: Negative is bad, positive is good SV= Schedule variance: Neg. is bad, positive good CPI= Cost performance Index: <1 is bad, >1 is good SPI= Schedule Performance Index: same above TCPI= To Complete Performance Index: Assumes original budget cannot be achieved