MOCK4 Flashcards
75 Q
- During the Control Schedule Process, changes to project schedule can result in change requests to:
A.Schedule baseline
B.Components of project plan
C.Activity attributes
D.Schedule baseline and/or components of Project Management Plan
Answer: D Explanation: Best answer. Schedule variance analysis along with review of progress reports, results of performance measures and modifications to the project schedule can result in change requests to the schedule baseline and/or to other components of project management plan.
- You are the project manager of a $ 20 million project, and you are struggling to manage the needs of all the stakeholders. So, you decide to classify the stakeholders, which will enable you to focus on the relationships necessary to ensure the success of the project. All the following are valid ways to classify stakeholders EXCEPT:
A.According to Interest
B.According to Organization hierarchy
C.According to Involvement
D.According to Influence
Answer: B Explanation: (“I” words J. Most projects will have a large number of stakeholders. As the project manager`s time is limited and must be used as efficiently as possible, these stakeholders should be classified according to their interest, influence, and involvement in the project. This enables the project manager to focus on the relationships necessary to ensure the success of the project.
- Your company has awarded a contract to a vendor. After some time, you realize that the vendor representative is your old buddy from school. You inform this to your senior management, but they insist that you continue to administer the contra ct. So, to avoid any accusations of bias in this conflict of interest situation, you should:
A.Document all the decisions taken by you on the activities performed by the vendor.
B.Refrain from administering the contract.
C.Resign from the project.
D.Remind your senior management of conflict of interest.
Answer: A Explanation: In case of conflict of interest situations, the project manager should inform senior management, and distance oneself from the conflict of interest situation, if possible. However, in this context, as the senior management insists and the project manager has to continue in the current position, appropriate documentation can help in preventing any accusation of bias in conflict of interest situations. Option B and Option D are not relevant - you had already mentioned about the conflict of interest situation to the senior management and got approval to continue with the project. Option C is an extreme step which need not be taken at this time.
- You use a hierarchical structure of resources by resource category and resource type to develop resource-limited schedules. This hierarchical structure is also called a:
A.Business Requirements/Business Needs
B.Work Breakdown Structure
C.Resource Breakdown Structure
D.Graphical Statement of Work (SOW)
Answer: C Explanation: Resource breakdown structure (RBS) is a hierarchical structure of resources by resource category and resource type used in resource leveling schedules and to develop resource-limited schedules, and which may be used to identify and analyze project human resource assignments.
- The Initiating Process Group consists of processes that facilitate the formal authorization to start a new project or a project phase. All the following should be performed during Initiating, except:
A.Develop the Project Charter
B.Adopt a Project Life Cycle
C.Stakeholder Analysis
D.Create the Project Scope Statement
Answer: D Explanation: Project Scope Statement is created during the Planning Process Group.
- The Project Management Staff are unable to determine the monetary value for risk impacts on your construction project. One of the team members suggests that you just develop a list of risks to watch out for. However, you tell that you still can prioritize the risks by:
A.Performing a Monte Carlo simulation
B.Performing Qualitative Risk Analysis
C.Performing Quantitative Risk Analysis
D.Listing them as Residual Risks
Answer: B Explanation: Qualitative Risk Analysis ranks risks subjectively (e.g. on a scale from 1-10).
- To resolve conflicts in your project, you can use all the following conflict resolution methods, except:
A.Collaborating
B.Smoothing
C.Avoiding
D.Directing
Answer: D Explanation: Directing is not a method for conflict resolution. “Forcing” would be the closest to directing but is not listed as an option.
- You have recently taken over a project from another project manager, who left the company. The project has a CPI of .9 and an SPI of .6, but senior management was not informed. What should you do FIRST?
A.Do not continue to manage the project.
B.Update the management with the status of the project.
C.Bring the project on schedule and then inform the management about the status of the project.
D.Do crashing and fast-tracking of the project.
Answer: B Explanation: As per the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, a project manager should always provide true account of information in an appropriate manner at appropriate times. Option A: This is an extreme step and should not be taken now. Option B: This is the correct answer; the management should be informed about the project status. Option C: This is unethical - you should not withhold information from appropriate stakeholders. Option D: Crashing would further increase costs and fast-tracking may increase risks: this may adversely impact the project status, and should be done only after informing the management.
- You note that the ability to impact/influence the cost of a project effectively is typically:
A.Greatest at the early stages of the project.
B.Greatest at the middle of the project.
C.Greatest at the project closure stage.
D.Constant throughout forming, storming, norming, and performing
Answer: A Explanation: The ability to influence cost is greatest at the early stages of the project, making early scope definition critical.
- A project team member informs you that a particular task is taking much more time than estimated. You are surprised because you, had not anticipated this delay, and you ask for status reports and forecasts from all project team members. Which Process Group are you in?
A.Initiating
B.Executing
C.Monitoring and Controlling
D.Planning
Answer: C Explanation: Control Communications is the process of collecting and distributing performance information, including status reports, progress measurements, and forecasts, etc.
- Which of the following relates to type of power the Project Manager might have:
A.Autocratic, democratic, Laissez Fair
B.Formal, Reward, Penalty, Expert, Referent
C.Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning
D.Planning
Answer: B Explanation: Formal, Reward, & Penalty (Formal/legitimate: based on position in organization). Expert, Referent (based on reputation/credibility).
- Frequent heated discussions with your colleague over an issue are creating a hostile environment. Eventually he doesn’t even answer your emails or voice mails. He is exhibiting:
A.Problem solving
B.Avoiding (Withdrawing)
C.Forcing
D.Confronting
Answer: B Explanation: Avoid the person; avoid the problem…
- Six months into your project, your management lets you know you will receive an incentive of $ 5,000, if you complete the project one month ahead of schedule. When closing the project ahead of schedule, your team informs you the product contains a minor flaw and may not fully satisfy the customer`s needs. However, rectification of the minor flaw will require lot of changes and take 2 more months. In this context, you will:
●
A.Close out the project.
B.Review the situation with your customer and sponsor.
C.Rectify the flaw and then close out the project.
D.Close the project and then inform the sponsor about the flaw.
Answer: B Explanation: Option B: Since this is a “minor flaw,” but rectification of that flaw would take a long time, it is better to discuss with the sponsor and customer and get their inputs. Option A and Option D: This is unethical - the project manager should definitely complete the project as per the specifications before closing the project. Option C: Rectification of a minor flaw can lead to delay of 2 months in the project: so, the project manager should first inform the sponsor and customer before rectification of the flaw.
- Which of the following is not in the correct sequence?
A.Validate Scope, Close Procurements, Close Project or Phase
B.Kickoff Meeting, Acquire Project Team, Conduct Procurements
C.Quantitative Risk Analysis, Risk Response Planning, Procurement Management Plan, Project Management Plan finalization for approval, Project Management Plan sign off, Kickoff Meeting
D.Cost Estimates, Budget, Cost Management Plan, Quality Management Plan
Answer: D Explanation: Cost Management Plan should be first in option D.
- You are working in the Project Management Office (PMO) of your organization. Your job responsibility is to:
A.Manage the operational activities in the company .
B.Manage human resource and risk management issues for individual projects .
C.Provide support functions to project managers in the form of training, providing software, standardizing policies, etc.
D.Provide subject matter expertise in the functional areas of the project.
Answer: C Explanation: A Project Management Office (PMO) is an organizational body or entity tasked with various responsibilities related to the centralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of a PMO can range from providing project management support functions to actually being responsible for the direct management of a project.
- As a project manager, you are aware that changes are bound to occur during project execution. While you are monitoring and controlling changes, you use the term “project scope creep.” What does the term refer to?
A.Uncontrolled changes
B.Controlled changes
C.Manageable changes
D.Unmanageable changes
Answer: A Explanation: Uncontrolled changes are often referred to as project scope creep.
- All of the following relate to negotiating skills you should have, except:
A.Deadline, missing man, good guy/bad guy, & fait accompli
B.Negotiate on the merits
C.Joint Problem Solving
D.Don’t dig into your position, improve (or at least not damage) the relationship
Answer: A Explanation: These are actually negotiating tactics that may be used against you!
- You are documenting project purchasing decisions, specifying the approach and identifying potential sellers. Some tools you can use include all the following, except:
A.Make or buy analysis
B.Bidder conferences
C.Expert judgment
D.Contract types
Answer: B Explanation: Option B: This is the correct answer. Documenting project purchasing decisions, specifying the approach and identifying potential sellers are performed as part of the Plan Procurements process. “Bidder conferences” are a technique used in Conduct Procurements process. Make- or buy- analysis, expert judgment, and contract types specified in the options A, C, and D respectively are some of the tools and techniques used in Plan Procurements process.
- The following provides information on a particular task in your project:
Early Start (ES): 25 days
Late Start (LS): 30 days
Early Finish (EF): 50 days
Late Finish (LF): 55 days
Based on this information, you can deduce that:
A.The activity is on the critical path.
B.The project may get delayed.
C.The project float is 5 days.
D.The activity is not on the critical path.
Answer: D Explanation: Option D: This is the correct option, as the task is not on the critical path. Option A: Since LS - ES = LF - EF = 5 days, the task has a slack of 5 days; hence this task cannot be on the critical path. Option B: There is no information in the question that suggests that the project may get delayed. Option C: The project float is the amount of time a project can be delayed without delaying the externally imposed date. Since the externally imposed date is not mentioned, we cannot determine the project float.
- You have just discovered a risk during your project that requires an immediate corrective action. During which Project Risk Management Process is this action performed?
A.Plan Risk Management
B.Risk Reassessment
C.Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
D.Control Risks
Answer: D Explanation: Control Risks is the process of implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, monitoring residual risks, identifying new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project.
- As a project manager, you use work authorization system to assign and allocate work to your team members in the proper sequence. In this context, the primary purpose of the work authorization system is to:
A.Prevent team members from starting the work without your permission.
B.Prevent scope creep.
C.Prevent unnecessary changes to project scope.
D.Clarify and initiate the work for each work package.
Answer: D Explanation: Work authorization system: A subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures that defines how project work will be authorized (committed) to ensure that the work is done by the identified organization, at the right time, and in the proper sequence. It includes the steps, documents, tracking system, and defined approval levels needed to issue work authorizations.
- Your project is facing attrition of project resources, and you would like to document processes carefully to ensure business continuity in the future. Certain costs will have to be incurred for this purpose. What type of costs are they?
A.Costs of nonconformance
B.Emotional Intelligence-related costs
C.Failure costs
D.Prevention costs
Answer: D Explanation: Proactive is necessary.
- You are in the process of obtaining seller responses to select a seller. You conduct a bidder conference, where your primary objective is to:
A.Ensure that sellers have a clear understanding of the proposal.
B.Determine who would be qualified sellers for bidding.
C.Evaluate the interest level of sellers.
D.Use evaluation criteria to select sellers.
Answer: A Explanation: Bidder conferences are meetings with all prospective sellers and buyers prior to submittal of a bid or proposal. They are used to ensure that all prospective sellers have a clear and common understanding of the procurement (both technical and contractual requirements), and that no bidders receive preferential treatment.
- You would like to use project management best practices to sequence the activities for your road construction project. Which of the following are based on preferred dependencies and/or best practices?
A.Mandatory dependencies
B.Discretionary dependencies
C.Industry norms
D.Best Practice standards for ISO 9001 certification
Answer: B Explanation: Discretionary dependencies are established based on the knowledge of best practices within a particular application area or some unusual aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired, even though there may be other acceptable sequences. Discretionary dependencies should be fully documented, since they can create arbitrary total float values and can limit later scheduling options.
- During the Plan Risk Management process, you define how to conduct risk management activities for a project because careful and explicit planning enhances the probability of success for the subsequent risk management processes. Which of the following is NOT done during Plan Risk Management?
A.Identify Risks
B.Establish an agreed-upon basis for evaluating risk
C.Ensure that the degree, type, and visibility of risk management are commensurate with both the risks and the importance of the project
D.Provide sufficient resources and time for risk management activities
Answer: A Explanation: Planning risk management processes is important to ensure that the degree, type, and visibility of risk management are commensurate with both the risks and the importance of the project to the organization. Planning is also important to provide sufficient resources and time for risk management activities, and to establish an agreed-upon basis for evaluating risks.
- The Project Management Plan is the most important planning document produced with inputs from several subsidiary processes. In which of the following Processes is the project management plan NOT used as an Input?
A.Monitor and Control Project Work
B.Develop Project Charter
C.Perform Integrated Change Control
D.Direct and Manage Project Work
Answer: B Explanation: Develop Project Management Plan is the process of documenting the actions necessary to define, prepare, integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans. The Project Charter is an Input to the Project Management Plan, but not vice versa…..
- You are doing a structured review to determine whether product activities comply with organizational and project policies. This is conducted as part of (a) ________________, and is performed during (b) _____________ process.
A.(a) Quality audit (b) Quality Assurance
B.(a) Quality audit (b) Quality Control
C.(a) Process analysis (b) Quality Assurance
D.(a) Process analysis (b) Quality Control
Answer: A Explanation: Quality audit is a structured, independent review performed to determine whether product activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and procedures. “Quality audits” is a technique used during the Perform Quality Assurance process.
- When you (the buyer) control a contract, you should pay attention to all the following, except:
A.Ensure that contractual obligations are met.
B.Apply appropriate project management processes to the contractual relationship and integrate the outputs from these processes to the overall management of the project.
C.Monitor payments to the seller, as per the contract.
D.Perform regular procurement audits.
Answer: D Explanation: A procurement audit is a structured review of the procurement process originating from Plan Procurements process through Control Procurements Process. This is one of the tools and techniques used in Close Procurements process.
- You are working on a 12 month assignment to build a website with 4000 pages for $ 1,000,000. You are supposed to spend $ 250,000 every 3 months. After 6 months, you determine that only $ 400,000 of work is completed and cost incurred is $ 800,000. What is the ETC?
A.$ 2,000,000
B.$ 1,500,000
C.$ 1,000,000
D.$ 1,200,000
Answer: D Explanation: The default value of EAC (assuming current variances are typical) is calculated as below: EAC = AC + (BAC-EV) / CPI
= $800,000 + ($ 1,000,000 - $ 400,000)/($ 400,000 / $ 800,000)
= $ 800,000 + ($ 600,000/0.5) = $ 2,000,000.
So, ETC = EAC – AC = $ 2,000,000 - $ 800,000 = $ 1,200,000
- Your project is complete and you are performing project closure activities. In this context, what should you do LAST?
A.Creating final product, service, or result transition
B.Releasing project resources working on the project
C.Updating organizational process assets
D.Accepting deliverables
Answer: B Explanation: Final product, service, or result transition, organizational process assets updates are outputs of the Close Project or Phase and accepted deliverables are its inputs. However, even Close Project will need resources (e.g. people, equipment, etc). Hence, releasing of project resources should happen at the very end of the Close Project or Phase.
- While preparing the schedule for the project activities, you find there is very limited information on activity durations, but you may be able to obtain some information from others within you company. Which estimating tool do you use?
A.Three-point estimates
B.Parametric estimating
C.Quantitative estimating
D.Analogous estimating
Answer: D Explanation: Analogous estimating may use parameters such as duration, budget, size, weight, and complexity, from a previous, similar project, as the basis for estimating the same parameter or measure for a future project. Analogous duration estimating is frequently used to estimate project duration when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the project, for example, in the early phases of a project. Analogous estimating uses historical information and expert judgment.
- You are a retail company which routinely buys goods from foreign countries. Since currency fluctuation is an important risk, you keep all other factors constant and try to find out how much your project will be impacted if the currency rate fluctuates by 5%, 10%, 20% or 25%. This helps you determine appropriate risk response. This can also be effectively shown using:
●
A.Beta probability distributions
B.Expected monetary value analysis
C.Tornado diagram
D.Simulation
Answer: C Explanation: Sensitivity analysis helps to determine which risks have the most potential impact on the project. It examines the extent to which the uncertainty of each project element affects the objective being examined when all other uncertain elements are held at their baseline values. One typical display of sensitivity analysis is the tornado diagram, which is useful for comparing relative importance and impact of variables that have a high degree of uncertainty to those that are more stable.
- In your project, you are defining and documenting stakeholders
needs to meet the project objectives. You know this is very important as the projects success is directly influenced by the care taken during this process. You should be very diligent when you:
A.Identify Stakeholders
B.Collect Requirements
C.Create Project Charter
D.Create Project Management Plan
Answer: B Explanation: Collect Requirements is the process of defining and documenting stakeholders needs to meet the project objectives. The stakeholders have already been identified. The projects success is directly influenced by the care taken in capturing and managing project and product requirements. Requirements include the quantified and documented needs and expectations of the sponsor, customer, and other stakeholders.
- You need to gather information, but certain people have expressed their opinions in a way that seems to bias objectivity. You might try:
A.Narrowing the number of sponsors
B.The Delphi technique
C.Applying Parkinson’s Law
D.Compromising
Answer: B Explanation: Anonymous method for gathering information
