CAPM practice test

in a software project, the planned value (PV) was 80,000, the earned value (EV) was 75,000 and the actual cost (AC) was 71,000, what is the cost variance (CV)?

+4000

in a software project the planned value (PV) was 80,000, the earned value (EV) was 75,000 and the actual cost was 71,000, what is the cost performance index?

1.056

the PMBOK guide lists at least ___ documents that project teams can produce as part of project planning

100

suppose that the purchase price for a piece of equipment is $10,000, and incurs operational costs of $300 per day. IF the same equipment can be leased for $500 per day and you need the equipment for _____days, it would be more economical to lease the equipment

30

how many communication channels do 12 people require?

66

what is the PERT weighted average based on the optimistic estimate of 6 days, a most likely estimate of 8 days and a pessimistic time of 12 days?

8

suppose that after one week of work, the earned value is $4000 and the planned value is $5000. what is the value of the schedule performance index?

80%

_____ contracts reduce the risk of incurring higher costs than expected

Fixed-price

which technique shows external dependencies best?

NONE OF THE ABOVE

a request for quote (RFQ) differs from a request for proposal (RFP) in that:

RFPs generally ask for technical skills and implementation approach

a change control board is

a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes to the project baselines

in the context of monitoring and controlling tasks for project quality management, ____ decisions determine if the products or services produced as part of the project will be accepted or rejected

acceptance

the main outputs of the quality control process are:

acceptance, decisions, rework, and process adjustments

which of the following actions will most likely improve team productivity?

acknowledge individual and group accomplishments

project time management involves the following main processes:

activity definition, sequencing, duration estimating, schedule development, and control

in the context of earned value management, the _____ cost is the total direct and indirect costs incurred in accomplishing work on an activity during a given period

actual

contract updates are often made by having both parties- the buyer and the seller- sign (an) ___ to be contract

addendum

after assigning weights for the critieria and scores for each project, you calculate a weighted score for each project by multiplying the weight for each criterion by its score and ____ the resulting values

adding

according to David McClelland, people with a high need for ___ desire harmonious relationships with other people need to feel accepted by others

affiliation

_____ estimates, also called top-down estimates, use the actual cost of a previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the cost of the current project

analogous

a stakeholder ____ provides information on key stakeholders to help manage relationships with them

analysis

Activity ____ provide schedule-related information about each activity, such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity.

attributes

a quality _____ is a structured review of specific quality management activities that helps identify lessons learned, which could improve performance on current or future projects

audit

Performance in meeting project scope goals is based on the scope ____.

baseline

_____estimates involve estimating individual activities and summing them to get a project total

bottom-up

Cost ____ involves allocating the overall cost estimate to individual tasks over time to establish a baseline for measuring performance.

budgeting

In an AOA network Diagram, ____ occur when two or more activities follow a single node

bursts

Some projects have a senior manager called a(n) ____________________ who acts as a key proponent for a project.

champion

because many projects fail due to unclear requirements and expectations, starting with a project ___ makes sense

charter

to ___ a project, you must finalize all activities and transfer the completed or canceled work to the appropriate people

close

project communication management is divided into:

communication planning, information distribution, performance reporting and administrative closure

what method(s) is (are) available to the project manager for short listing contractor proposals?

comparing proposals against independent estimates weighting systems subjective screening systems

which of the following is NOT a selection criteria for choosing a new project?

competition's out-sourcing method

tools included in overall change control are

configuration management performance management project management information system

____ change orders are oral or written acts or omissions by someone with actual or apparent authority that can be construed to have the same effect as a written change order

constructive

the final output of the seller selection process is a

contract

the main procurement mgmt. task performed to monitor and control

contract

which of the following is a key output of project procurement management?

contract statements of work

which of the following is not a true statement about control charts?

control charts are used to determine acceptance limits when no limits are stipulated by the product specification; otherwise one should use the limits dictated b the specification -all data points outside the control chart limits are variations explained by assignable causes

the main monitoring and controlling task performed as part of project cost mgmt. is ____ control

cost

which type of contract provides the highest rank to the owner (buyer)?

cost plus percentage of cost

the main planning tasks performed as part of project scope management include scope planning, scope definition and

creating the WBS

a ____ is a product or service produced or provided as part of a project

deliverable

scope statements should include, at a minimum a description of the project, including its overall objectives and justification; detailed descriptions of all project ____; characteristics and requirements of products and services produced as part of the project: and project success critieria

deliverables

duration estimates are provided as a ____ number, such as four weeks; as a range, such as three to five weeks; or as a three-point estimate

discrete

contract _____ includes the contract itself along with requested unapproved contract changes and approved change requests

documentation

_____ includes the actual amount of time spent working on an activity plus elapsed time

duration

the cost performance index (CPI) is

earned value divided by actual cost

by adding all of the ____ for all project activities, you can determine how the project as a whole is performing and forecast both when it will be completed and how much it will cost at completion

earned values

in general, the majority of a project's time and budget is spent on project _____

execution

the main purpose of project planning is to guide project ____-

execution

______ dependencies involve relationships between project and nonproject activities

external

____ motivation causes people to do something for a reward or to avoid a penalty?

extrinsic

if you want to praise a project team member for doing a good job, a(n) ____ would most likely want everyone to hear about her good work

extrovert

the main disadvantage of ____ is that it can end up lengthening the project schedule, because starting some tasks too soon often increases project risk and results in rework

fast tracking

a ____ contract has the least amount of risk for the buyer

firm-fixed price

blake and mouton (1964) delineated _____ basic modes for handling conflicts

five

many maturity models have five levels, with level one describing characteristics of the least organized or least mature organizations and level ___ describing the characteristics of the most organized and most mature organizations

five

slack or ___ is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date

float

You calculate cash ____ by subtracting costs from benefits, or expenses from income.

flow

the ____ mode can be viewed as the win-lose approach to conflict resolution

forcing

two key outputs of performance reporting are performance reports and ____.

forecasts

a project manger mu be sure to check with his organization to find out its guidelines for when discounting starts, what discount rate to use, and what ____ the organization prefers

format

which of the following topics could you expect to find in a procurement management plan?

guidelines on types of contract to be used in different situations

in a ____ , each bar represents an attribute or a characteristic of a problem or situation, and the height of the bar represents its frequency

histogram

according to Frederick Herzberg, a ____ factor is a basic necessity, such as air-conditioning during hot weather

hygiene

the major processes of project risk management are

identify, quantify, develop response, and control

poor scope definition may cause all but

increased productivity

the cost of providing a work space for project workers, office furniture, electricity, and a cafeteria are ____ costs

indirect

the project team develops a preliminary scope statement during project _____

initiation

project integrations management includes the following processes

integrated change control

project ____ mgmt. involves coordinating all the project management knowledge areas throughout a project's life span

integration

a parametric cost estimate

is a top-down estimating technique is a statistical estimating technique

quality assurance

is an auditing function that provides feedback to the project team and client about the quality of the output being produced

scope verification

is the formal acceptance of project deliverables and obtaining of stakeholder sign-off.

an _____ log is a tool used to document and monitor the resolution of project issues

issue

which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a "work package"

it is a summary task at the top level of the WBS

quality mgmt. deals with the following except

making the product more desirable and luxurious

in an AOA network diagram an _____ occurs when two or more nodes precede a single node

merge

examples of common ___ used by organizations include failure rates of products produced, availability of goods and services and customer satisfaction ratings

metrics

a common way to summarize work performance information is by using summarize work performance information is by using a(n) ____ report

milestone

projects should first and foremost address business ____

needs

___ risk events might include the performance failure of a product produced as part of a project, delays in completing work as scheduled, increases in estimated costs, supply shortages, litigation against the company, and strikes

negative

a best practice is"a(n) way recognized by industry to achieve a stated goal or objective"

optimal

a three-point estimate is an estimate that includes a(n) ___, most likely, and pessimistic estimate, such as three weeks, four weeks, and five weeks, respectively

optimistic

___ are the results of applying capabilities

outcomes

three primary methods for determining the projected financial value of projected financial value of projects include net present value analysis, return on investment and _____ analysis

payback

which of the following is a common problem encountered during project execution?

people working on the project are incompetent or unmotivated

A process for handling changes should be defined during project ____ as part of the project management plan.

planning

project management _____ facilitate communication among stakeholders and provide a baseline for progress measurement and project control

plans

weights may be established by assigning percentages or

points

which of the following is a category under portfolio best practices?

portfolio risk mgmt. planning process improvement

_____ should be formed and continuously updated to help he organization as a whole make better strategic decision

portfolios

___ risk events include completing work sooner than planned or at an unexpectedly reduced cost, collaborating with suppliers to produce better products, and obtaining good publicity from the project

positive

an organization should consider only projects with a _____ NPV if financial value is a key criterion for project selection

positive

it is helpful to create a _____, or initial, scope statement during project initiation so that the entire project team can start important discussions and work related to the project scope

preliminary

based on the implementation of quality-control measurements, _____ adjustments often result in updates to the quality baseline, organizational process assets and the project mgmt. plan

process

project ____ mgmt. includes acquiring or procuring goods and services for a project from outside the organization

procurement

the main executing tasks performed as part of project ___ include requesting seller responses and selecting sellers

procurement

two tools to assist in contract closure are ____ audits and a records management system

procurement

after deciding which projects to pursue, organizations need to decide if it is advantageous to manage several projects together as part of a _____

program

the scope statement should not include

project budget

which of the following are considered to be milestones?

project completion date contract date key event completion date

outputs of organizational planning are

project organization chart staffing management plan project template

a _____ proposal is a document in which sellers describe what they will do to meet the requirements of a buyer

proposal

which of the following portfolio management tasks should occur first?

put all projects in one list

Project ____ management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for which it was undertaken.

quality

which of the following methods best helps a project manager identify and learn about key project stakeholders?

questioning acquaintances

an ______ histogram is a column chart that shows the number of resources required for or assigned to a project over time

resource

PM defines a project _____ as an uncertainty that cab have a negative or positive effect on meeting project objectives

risk

a project portfolio ___ map compares relative value to project risk

risk

an ________ event is a specific, uncertain event that may occur to the detriment or enhacement of the project

risk

risk reassessment, risk audits, variance and trend analysis, technical performance measurements, reserve analysis, and status meetings or periodic risk reviews are all tools and techniques for performing ___ monitoring and control

risk

a(n) ____ cause is the real or underlying reason a problem occurs

root

_____ development uses the results of all the preceding project time management processes to determine the start and end dates of project activities and of the entire project

schedule

the approved time estimate for a project can be divided by the ____performance index to calculate when the project will be completed

schedule

the goal of____ control is to know the status of the schedule, influence the factors that cause schedule changes, determine whether the schedule has changed, and manage changes when they occur

schedule

the main monitoring and controlling task performed as part of project time mgmt. is _____ control.

schedule

the project is considered on schedule if

schedule performance index (SPI) is one or 100 percent

If a project's stakeholders are not satisfied with the quality of the project management or the resulting products or services, the project team will need to adjust ____, time, and cost to satisfy stakeholder needs and expectations.

scope

after a project is approved, senior managers should meet to determine the _____. time, and cost constraints for the project

scope

the main monitoring and controlling tasks performed as part of project ____ management are scope verification and scope control

scope

the main output of scope planning is a ____ mgmt. plan, which is a document that includes descriptions of how the team will prepare the scope statement, create the

scope

after defining project activities, the next step in project time mgmt. is activity ____

sequencing

project integration management includes ____ processes

seven

when using the mode to resolve conflicts, the project manager de-emphasizes or avoids areas of differences and emphasizes areas of agreement

smoothing

the project manager should work with his or her team and ____ to determine the level of detail needed in the WBS dictionary

sponsor

key outputs in project human resource management include ____ updates and team performance assessment

staffing

what method is used to communicate staffing requirements to the organization?

staffing plan

the PMBOK guide is an____ budget that project managers use to measure and monitor cost performance

standard

projects that address competitive _____ are much more likely to be successful because they will be important to the organization's competitive position

strategy

project management software uses the ____ format to represent the WBS

tabular

the term ______ is used to describe each level of work in the WBS

task

network diagrams are good for depicting:

task dependencies

the main human resource management task performed as part of monitoring and controlling a project is managing the project ___, which of course is no small task

team

"earned value" can best be defined as

the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) minus the budgeted cost of work performed

cost of quality is

the expense of nonconformance to requirements and specifications the expense of conformance to requirements and specifications

Under which risk register heading would you list a defective product, poor survey results, reduced consulting costs or good publicity?

the name of the risk event

under which risk register heading would you list identification of a defective hard drive as the source of a computer defect?

the root cause of the risk event

according to the research of fast company, which of the following is one of the three top reasons that people voluntarily leave their job?

they do not feel they make a difference

earned value management involves calculating _____ values for each activity or summary activity from a project's WBS

three

a cost baseline is a _____ budget that project managers use to measure and monitor cost performance

time phased

under which risk register heading would you list cost overruns on early activities, which might be symptomatic of a poor cost estimate?

triggers for each risk register

there are _____ important dimensions of risk events

two

the overall duration of the project schedule is NOT influenced by

using the arrow diagramming method instead of the precedence diagramming method of scheduling

in the context of earned value management, ___ are calculated by subtracting the actual cost or planned value from EV and indexes are calculated by dividing EV by the actual cost or planned value

variances

a ____ scoring model is a tool that provides a systematic process for selecting process for selecting projects based on many criteria

weighted

a risk management plan should cover

who is responsible for managing various areas of risk how contingency plans will be implemented how reserves will be allocated

Project teams sometimes use ____________________—unplanned responses to risk events—when they do not have contingency plans in place.

workarounds

according to douglas McGregor, who believe in theory __ assume that workers dislike and avoid work is possible, so managers must use coercion, threats, and various control schemes to get workers o make adequate efforts to meet objectives

x