PMP Ch 3 - Integration Management Questions (Rita Ch 4)
32. Which of the following sequences represents straight line depreciation? A. $100, $100, $100 B. $100, $120, $140 C. $100, $120, $160 D. $160, $140, $120
Answer A Straight line depreciation uses the same amount each time period.
13. You are a new project manager who has never managed a project before. You have been asked to plan a new project. It would be BEST in this situation to rely on ____ during planning in order to improve your chance of success. A, Your intuition and training B. Stakeholder analysis C. Historical information D. Configuration management
Answer C Because you have no experience, you will have to look at the experience of others. This information is captured in the historical records from previous projects.
34. Project A has an internal rate of return (IRR) of 21 percent. Project B has an IRR of 7 percent. Project C has an IRR of 31 percent. Project D has an IRR of 19 percent. Which of these would be the BEST project? A. Project A B. Project B C. Project C D. Project D
Answer C Remember, the internal rate of return is similar to the interest rate you get from the bank. The higher the rate is, the better the return.
The person or group responsible for evaluating change on ap roject is: A. Change control board B. The sponsor C. The project team D. The program manager
Answer - A
Approved corrective action is an input to A: Verify scope B. Direct and manage project execution C. Develop Project charter D. Develop Schedules
Answer - B
If you are creating a single document to guide project execution, monitoring and control and closure, you are creating: A. The execution plan B. The project management plan C. The integration plan D. The project framework
Answer - B
When changes are approved and made to the project, they should be: A. Tracked against the project baseline B. Incorporated into the project baseline C. Included as an addendum to the project plan D. Approved by someone other than the project manager
Answer - B
Change control meetings are held as part of which process: A. Direct and Manage Project Execution B. Monitor and Control Project Work C. Perform Integrated Change Control D. Evaluate Requested Changes
Answer - C
The output of Direct and Manage Project Execution process is A. The work packages B. The project management information system C. The deliverables D. The work breakdown structure
Answer - C
You are a new project manager who has never managed a project before. You have been asked to plan a new project. It would be BEST in this situation to rely on ____ during planning in order to improve your chance of success. A. Your intuition and training B. Stakeholder analysis C. Historical information D. Configuration management
Answer - C
You are in the middle of executing a major modification to an existing product when you learn that the resources promised in the beginning of the project are not available. The BEST thing to do is: A. Show how the resources where originally promised to your project. B. Re-plan the project without the resources C. Explain the impact if the promised resources are not made available. D. Crash the project
Answer - C Both B & D delay the project. Prevent the situation by sharing the impacts / consequences
A defect in the product was brought to the project manager's attention and now the project team is engaged in repairing it. Which project management process would be the most applicable to this? A. Perform Integrated Change Control B. Monitor and Control Project Work C. Direct and Manage Project Execution D. Close Project or Phase
Answer - C - as it is also including fixing it / doing work
14. Which of the following BEST describes a project management plan? A. A printout from project management software B. A bar chart C. Risk, staffing, process improvement, and other management plans D. The project scope
Answer C The project management plan contains more than just a bar or Gantt chart and the project manager's plan for completing the work. It includes all the management plans for the project.
22. You have been assigned to manage the development of an organization's first Web site. The site will be highly complex and interactive, and neither your project team nor the client has much experience with Web site development. The timeline is extremely aggressive. And delay will be costly for both your firm and the client. You have a project sponsor and have achieved agreement and sign-off on both the project charter and the project management plan. Client personnel have been kept fully informed of the project's progress through status reports and regular meetings. The project is on schedule and within the budget, and a final perfunctory review has been scheduled. Suddenly you hear that the entire effort may be cancelled because the product developed is totally unacceptable. What is the MOST likely cause of this situation? A. A key stakeholder was not adequately involved in the project B. The project charter and project management plan were not thoroughly explained or adequately reviewed by the client C. Communications arrangements were inadequate and did not provide the required information to interested parties D.The project sponsor failed to provide adequate support for the project
Answer A A single high-level executive can end an entire project if he or she is not satisfied with the results, even if that person has, by choice, been only tangentially involved in the project. It is critical to ensure that all of the final decision makers have been identified early in a project in order to ensure that their concerns are addressed.
39. Linear programming is an example of what type of project selection criteria? A. Constrained optimization B. Comparative approach C. Benefit measurement D. Impact analysis
Answer A Constrained optimization uses mathematical models. Linear programming is a mathematical model.
41. The engineering department has uncovered a problem with the cost accounting system and has asked the systems department to analyze what is wrong and fix the problem. You are a project managerr working with the cost accounting programs on another project. Management has issued a change request to the change control board to add the new work to your project. Your existing project has a cost performance index (CPI) of 1.2 and a schedule performance index (SPI) of 1.3, so you have some room to add work without delaying your existing project or going over budget. However, you cannot see how the new work fits within the project charter for your existing project. After some analysis, you determine that the new work and existing work do not overlap and can be done concurrently. They also require different skill sets. Which of the following is the BEST thing to do? A. Develop a project charter B. Reestimate the project schedule with input from the engineering department C. Verify the scope of the new work with the help of the stakeholders D. Identify specific changes to the existing work
Answer A How long did it take you to read this question? Expect long-winded questions on the exam. Take another look at the choices before you continue reading. Did you notice that each of the choices occurs du ring a different part of the project management process? This question is essentially asking if the new work should be added to the existing project. There may be many business reasons to try to do this, but from a project management perspective, major additions to the project are generally discouraged. In this case, the question is trying to imply that the new work is a self-contained unit of work, has no overlap with the existing work and needs a different skill set. Therefore, it is generally best to make it a new project. The first step to answering this question is to realize that the work should be aseparate project. The second step is to look at the choices and see which relates to initiating a new project. Choice B sounds like the best choice, but only if you did not realize that the new work should be aseparate project. Choice C is done during project monitoring and controlling. Choice D is done during project executing. The project charter is developed in the initiating process group.
18. The project charter for a project was approved for planning and you have just been assigned as project manager. Realizing that project planning is an ongoing effort throughout the project, which processes are you MOST likely to combine? A. Create WBS and Define Activities B. Estimate Activity Durations and Develop Schedule C. Develop Human Resource plan and Estimate Costs D. Estimate Costs and Determine Budget
Answer A The Create WBS process consists of subdividing major project deliverables (scope) into smaller, more manageable work packages. The Define Activities process defines the activities that must take place to produce those deliverables.
35. An output of the Close Project or Phase process is the creation of: A. Project archives B. A project charter C. A project management plan D. A risk analysis plan
Answer A The project charter (choice B) is created in initiating. The project management plan (choice C) is an output of the planning process group. You have not seen the term risk analysis plan (choice D) in this book, so it is unlikely to be the best answer.
33. This project is chartered to determine new ways to extend the product life of one of the company's medium-producing products. The project manager comes from the engineering department, and the team comes from product management and marketing departments. The project scope statement and project planning are completed when a stakeholder notifies the team that there is a better way to complete one of the work packages. They even supply a technical review letter from their department proving that the new way to complete the work package will actually be faster than the old way. The project manager has had similar experiences with this department on other projects, and was expecting this to happen on this project. What is the FIRST thing the project manager should do? A. Contact the department and complain again about their missing the deadline for submission of scope B. Look for how this schedule change will impact the cost to complete the work package and the quality of the product of the work package C. See if there is a way to change from a matrix environment to a functional organization so as to eliminate all the interference from other departments D. Ask the department if they have any other changes
Answer B Choice A could be done, but notice that it is not proactive? It would be helpful to get to the root cause of why this department always comes up with such ideas or changes after the project begins. However, this is not the immediate problem: the change is, and therefore choice A is not best. The type of project organization described is a matrix organization. There is not anything inherently wrong with such an organization, nor is there anything wrong in this particular situation that would require it to be changed, so choice C cannot be best. The department's history makes choice D something that should definitely be done, but the proposed change needs more immediate attention. Only choice B begins integrated change control by looking at the impact of one change on other project constraints.
11. Approved corrective action is an input to: A. Verify Scope B. Direct and Manage Project Execution C. Develop Project Charter D. Develop Schedule
Answer B Choice B is the only correct response.
31. You are asked to prepare a budget for completing a project that was started last year and then shelved for six months. All the following would be included in the budget EXCEPT: A. Fixed costs B. Sunk costs C. Direct costs D. Variable costs
Answer B Sunk costs (choice B) are expended costs. The rule is that they should not be considered when deciding whether to continue with a troubled project.
40. You have created the project charter, but could not get it approved. Your manager and his boss have asked that the project begins immediately. Which of the following is the BEST thing to do? A. Set up an integrated change control process B. Show your manager the impact of proceeding without approval C. Focus on completing projects that have signed project charters D. Start work on only the critical path activities
Answer B The best thing to do would be to show the impact. This is the only choice that prevents future problems-always the best choice. The other choices just pretend the problem does not exist.
29. During project executing, the project manager determines that a change is needed to material purchased for the project. The project manager calls a meeting of the team to plan how to make the change. This is an example of: A. Management by objectives B. Lack of a change management plan C. Good team relations D. Lack of a clear work breakdown structure
Answer B The project manager is asking how to make a change. The procedures, forms, sign-offs, and other similar requirements for handling changes should have already been defined in the change management plan (choice B). Because they weren't, the project manager will waste valuable work time trying to figure it out after the fact.
17. You are taking over a project during the planning process group and discover that six individuals have signed the project charter. Which of the following should MOST concern you? A. Who will be a member of the change control board B. Spending more time on configuration management C. Getting a single project sponsor D. Determining the reporting structure
Answer B This situation implies that there are six areas concerned with this project. In addition to added communications requirements, you should be concerned with competing needs and requirements impacting your efforts on configuration management.
Project Management Plan Updates are NOT an output of: A. Perform Integrated Change Control B. Develop Project Plan C. Direct and Manage Project Execution D. Close Project or Phase
Answer B - before the plan happens!!
You are meeting with a new Project Manager who has taken over a project that is in the middle of executing. The previous project manager has left the company and the new project manager is upset that the change reports are streaming in from numerous sources including his boss, the customer and various stakeholders. The project manager is not even aware of how to process all of these incoming change requests. Where would you refer him? A. Project Scope Statement B. Project Management Plan C. The previous project manager D. Project Charter
Answer B - guides the ENTIRE project
The project charter is: A. Developed before the project statement of work, and after the project management plan. B. Developed after the project statement of work and before the project management plan C. Developed before the contract and after the project management plan D. Developed before the project and before the project management plan
Answer B. Contract is an input to the charter, so contract HAS to be first.
A project is plagued by changes to the project charter. Who has the primary responsibility to decide if these changes are necessary? A. The project manager B. The project team C. The sponsor D. The stakeholders
Answer C
Producing a Project Plan may BEST be described as: A. Creating a network logic diagram that identifies the critical path. B. Using a software tool to track schedule, cost & resources C. Creating a document that guides project plan execution D. Creating a plan that contains the entire product scope
Answer C
25. You are a project manager who was just assigned to take over a project from another project manager who is leaving the company. The previous project manager tells you that the project is on schedule, but only because he has constantly pushed the team to perform. What is the FIRST thing you should do as the new project manager? A. Check risk status B. Check cost performance C. Determine a management strategy D. Tell the team your objectives
Answer C Before you can do anything else, you have to know what YOU are going to do. Developing the management strategy will provide the framework for all the rest of the choices presented and the other activities that need to be done.
21. You are in the middle of executing a major modification to an existing product when you learn that the resources promised at the beginning of the project are not available. The BEST thing to do is to: A. Show how the resources were originally promised to your project B. Replan the project without the resources C. Explain the impact if the promised resources are not made available D. Crash the project
Answer C Choices B and D are essentially delaying the situation. Instead, the project manager should try to prevent the situation by showing the consequences if the resources are not available (choice C). This is a more effective strategy than saying "but you gave them to me," as in choice A.
28. The client demands changes to the product specification that will add only two weeks to the critical path. Which of the following is the BEST thing for the project manager to do? A. Compress the schedule to recover the two weeks B. Cut scope to recover the two weeks C. Consult with the sponsor about options D. Advise the client of the impact of the change
Answer C Do you remember what to do when there is a change? Evaluate first. You wouldn't take action before getting approval, so compressing the schedule (choice A) and cutting scope (choice B) would happen after choices C and/or D. You would not go to the customer before going to YOUR internal management, so choice D is not the correct thing to do next. The next step is to discuss options with the sponsor (choice C).
27. It is the middle of the project when the project manager is informed by her scheduler that the project control limits are secure. That same morning she receives a note from a team member about a problem he is having. The note says, "This activity is driving me crazy and the manager of the accounting department won't help me until the activity's float is in jeopardy." In addition, the project manager has e-mails from a minor stakeholder and 14 e-mails from team members. While she is reading the e-mails, a team member walks into the project manager's office to tell her a corrective action was implemented by a team member from the project management office, but was not documented. What should the project manager do NEXT? A. Report the documentation violation to the project management ofice, evaluate the security of the control limits, and review the e-mailing rules in the communications management plan B. Clarify the reasoning behind documentation being a problem, get the accounting department to assist the team member, and respond to the minor stakeholder C. Add the implemented corrective action to the historical records, discuss the value of documentation at the next team meeting, and smooth the team member with the accounting department problem D. Find out who caused the problem with the accounting department, respond to the minor stakeholder before responding to the other e-mails, and review the process listed in the communications management plan for reporting concerns with the team member having the documentation problem
Answer C Notice how many situations are thrown at you in this question. It is important to practice reading through questions to discover what is important and what is just background information. In this question, the only thing relevant was the corrective action taken. Once you discover what the issue is, look at the choices to find out which is best for addressing the issue. What is the issue here? Did you realize that the team member's note is about a non-critical path activity? ("Until the project float is in jeopardy" means that there is float and, thus, it is not on the critical path.) So is the issue the non-critical path activity or the documentation? You might disagree with the logic, but in this case, the answer is the documentation. In the real world, problems often repeat. Without a record of what was done, there is no opportunity to consider the same solution for future problems. Documentation is critical to projects. Because documentation becomes part of the historical records database, choice C is correct.
38. A project manager is trying to convince management to use more formal project management procedures and has decided to start improving the company's project management by obtaining a project charter. Wich of the following BEST describes why the project charter would help the project manager? A. It describes the details of what needs to be done B. It lists the names of all team members C. It gives the project manager authority D. It describes the project's history
Answer C The exam will ask questions like this to make sure you know the benefits you should be getting out of the process and tools of project management. The details of what needs to be done (choice A) are found in the WBS dictionary. The names of team members (choice B) are included in the responsibility assignment matrix and other documents. Project history (choice D) is found in the lessons learned and other project documents.
12. Double declining balance is a form of: A. Decelerated depreciation B. Straight line depreciation C. Accelerated depreciation D. Life cycle costing
Answer C We need to know that double declining balance is a form of depreciation. That eliminates choice D. We also know that double declining balance is a form of accelerated depreciation, eliminating choices A and B. Therefore, C is the correct response.
19. All of the following are parts of Direct and Manage Project Execution EXCEPT: A. Identifying changes B. Using a work breakdown structure C. Implementing corrective actions D. Setting up a project control system
Answer D A project control system (choice D) is set up during the planning process group, not during project executing. Did choice B confuse you? A WBS is created in project planning, but can be used to help manage the project du ring project executing. The wording here was not "creating the WBS" but "using the WBS".
20. A project manager is appointed to head a highly technical project in an area with which this person has limited familiarity. The project manager delegates the processes of Develop schedule, Estimate Costs, Define Activities, and Estimate Activity Resources to various project team members, and basically serves as an occasional referee and coordinator of activities. The results of this approach are likely to be: A. A team functioning throughout the project at a very high level, demonstrating creativity and commitment B. A team that initially experiences some amounts of confusion, but that after a period of time becomes a cohesive and effective unit C. A team that is not highly productive, but that stays together because of the work environment created by the project manager D. A team that is characterized by poor performance, low morale, high levels of conflict and high turnover
Answer D A project manager must manage a project. If all activities are delegated, chaos ensues and team members will spend more time jockeying for position than completing activities.
24. Your company just won a major new project. It will begin in three months and is valued at $2,000,000. You are the project manager for an existing project. What is the FIRST thing you should do once you hear of the new project? A. Ask management how the new project will use resources B. Resource level your project C. Crash Your project D. Ask management how the new project will affect your project
Answer D As you work on a project, you need to constantly reevaluate the project objectives and how the project relates to other concurrent projects. Is your project still in line with corporate objectives? If the other project will impact yours, you need to be proactive and work on options now.
36. All of the following would occur during the Close Project or phase process EXCEPT: A. Creating lessons learned B. Formal acceptance C. Reducing resource spending D. Performing benefit cost analysis
Answer D Benefit cost analysis (choice D) is done earlier in the project to help select between alternatives. All the other choices are done during closing. Therefore, choice D must be the best answer.
42. All technical work is completed on the project. Which of the following remains to be done? A. Verify Scope B. Plan Risk Responses C. Create a staffing management plan D. Complete lessons learned
Answer D Did you pick choice A? Then you may have forgotten that the Verify Scope process is done during the monitoring and controlling process group, not the closing process group. The other plans (choices Band C) are done earlier in the project. The lessons learned (choice D) can only be completed after the work is completed.
26. You are assigned as the project manager in the middle of the project. The project is within the baselines, but the customer is not happy with the performance of the project. What is the FIRST thing you should do? A. Discuss it with the project team B. Recalculate baselines C. Renegotiate the contract D. Meet with the customer
Answer D First, you need to find out why the customer is not happy. Then meet with the team and determine options.
16. A project management plan should be realistic in order to be used to manage the project. Which of the following is the BEST method to achieve a realistic project management plan? A. Sponsor creates the project management plan based on input from the project manager B. Functional manager creates the project management plan based on input from the project manager C. Project manager creates the project management plan based on input from senior management D. Project manager creates the project management plan based on input from the team
Answer D If we were to rephrase the question, it is asking, "Who creates the project management plan?" The best answer is that project management plans are created by the project manager but require input from the team.
30. The project was going well when all of a sudden there were changes to the project coming from multiple stakeholders. After all the changes were determined, the project manager spent time with all the stakeholders to find out why there were changes and to discover any more. The project work has quieted down when a team member casually mentions to the project manager that he added functionality to a product of the project. "Do not worry," he says, "I did not impact time, cost, or quality!" What should a project manager do FIRST? A. Ask the team member how the need for the functionality was determined B. Hold a meeting to review the team member's completed work C. Look for other added functionality D. Ask the team member how he knows there is no time, cost, or quality impact
Answer D Notice that the first paragraph is extraneous. Also notice that the question states that the change has already been made. Your actions will be different than if the change had not been made. It is the project managers job to investigate impacts, as the project manager is the only one who can tell how a change impacts the project as a whole. Choices A, B, and C could all be done, but they do not address the immediate concern. Choice D is the best answer since it begins the project managers analysis of the impacts to the project as a whole by finding out what analysis has already been done. He can then determine how he must finalize the analysis as it applies to the entire project. Can you see that?
43. Your company can accept one of the three posible projects. Project A has a net present value (NPV) of $30,000 and will take six years to complete. Project B has a net present value of $60,000 and will take three years to complete. Project C has an NPV of $90,000 and will take four years to complete. Based on this information, which project would you pick? A. They all have the same value B. Project A C. Project B D. Project C
Answer D Remember, project length is incorporated when computing NPV. You would choose the project that provides the most value, in this case the project with the highest NPV.
23. The project manager has just received a change from the customer that does not affect the project schedule and is easy to complete. What should the project manager do FIRST? A. Make the change happen as soon as possible B. Contact the project sponsor for permission C. Go to the change control board D. Evaluate the impacts on other project constraints
Answer D The other impacts to the project should be evaluated first. Such impacts include scope, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction. Once these are evaluated, the change control board, if one exists, can approve or deny the change.
37. Which of the following is included in a project charter? A. A risk management strategy B. Work package estimates C. Detailed resource estimates D. The business need for the project
Answer D This question may seem simple, but it is really testing if you know what is a correct project charter. Choices A and B do not come until project management planning, after the project charter. A project charter may include the names of some resources (the project manager, for example), but not detailed resources (choice C).
15. You are taking over a project and determine the following: Activity B has an early finish (EF) of day 3, a late finish (LF) of day 6 and an early start of day 2. Activity L is being done by a hard-to-get resource. The cost performance index (CPI) is 1.1, and the schedule performance index (SPI) is 0.8. Based on this information, what would you be more concerned about? A. Float B. Resources C. Cost D. Schedule
Answer D You may not understand this question until you review the rest of the book. Come back to it. This question tries to integrate a lot of information and test your ability to discern what information is relevant to the question. Though some figures to calculate float are provided (choice A), there is no information to say that the float is a problem. Most projects have hard-to-get resources (choice B). The question does not give an indication that having hard-to-get resources is a problem. CPI (choice C) is greater than one, so cost is not something to worry about. SPI is less than one, so choice D is the best answer.
The project management information system would likely include all of the following EXCEPT: A. A scheduling tool B. An information distribution system C. A system for collecting information from team members D. A system for identifying stakeholders
Answer D - as that is a manual process
