PMP Questions Oliver Lehmann Flashcards
- ________ is typically not referred to as a buffer type in critical chain project management.Resource buffer
Free buffer
Feeding buffer
Project buffer
Free buffer
A company has to make a choice between two projects, because the available resources in money and kind are not sufficient to run both at the same time. Each project would take 9 months and would cost $250,000.
The first project is a process optimization which would result in a cost reduction of $120,000 per year. This benefit would be achieved immediately after the end of the project.
The second project would be the development of a new product which could produce the following net profits after the end of the project:
1. year: $ 15,000
2. year: $ 125,000
3. year: $ 220,000
Assumed is a discount rate of 5% per year. Looking at the present values of the benefits of these projects in the first 3 years, what is true?
Both projects are equally attractive. The first project is more attractive by app. 7%. The second project is more attractive by app. 5%. The first project is more attractive by app. 3%.
The first project is more attractive by app. 3%.
- A production process has been defined as part of an industrial equipment manufacturing project. The process is intended to produce steel bolts with a length of 20 cm. The control limits are 19.955cm and 20.045cm.
The measurements made at the end of the process yielded the following results:
20.033cm, 19.982cm, 19,995cm, 20.006cm, 19.970cm, 19.968cm, 19.963cm, 19.958cm, 19.962cm, 19.979cm, 19.959cm.
What should be done?
The process is under control. It should not be adjusted. A special cause should be investigated, the process should be adjusted. The control limits should be adjusted. The measuring equipment should be recalibrated.
A special cause should be investigated, the process should be adjusted.
In order to speed up a project, you made a decision to fast-track a phase currently performed with five team members, and another one which was planned to begin in four weeks time with another five team members.
Which of the following activities should you do first?
Make sure that all exit criteria of the consecutive phase have been met to ensure the flow of communications in a team situation which is more complex by a factor of 2. Make sure that all entry criteria of the previous phase have been met by planning and performing a phase gate meeting to assess technical aptness. Make sure that all exit criteria of the previous phase have been met by planning and performing a phase gate meeting to assess technical performance. Restructure your team and delegate tasks in order to ensure the flow of communications in a team with the number of communication channels increased by a factor of 4.5.
Restructure your team and delegate tasks in order to ensure the flow of communications in a team with the number of communication channels increased by a factor of 4.5.
- You found the following earned value analysis information for a project that was recently closed-out:
SPI = 0.7, CPI = 1.0
The project has been cancelled while it was executed. At that time the project was behind schedule and on budget. The project's deliverables have all been finished. The project came in behind schedule but on budget. The project's deliverables have all been finished. The project came in ahead of schedule but on budget. The project's deliverables have all been finished. The project came in on schedule but over budget.
The project has been cancelled while it was executed. At that time the project was behind schedule and on budget.
In a traditionally drawn decision tree, a circle represents ___________.
a chance to which no expected monetary value can be assigned so that a likely pay-off can not be shown.
a decision to which no expected monetary value can be assigned so that a likely pay-off can not be shown.
a chance to which an expected monetary value may be assigned to calculate the most likely pay-off.
a decision to which an expected monetary value may be assigned to calculate the most likely pay-off.
a chance to which an expected monetary value may be assigned to calculate the most likely pay-off.
You are running a project for a customer based on a cost-reimbursable contract with the following terms:
Target costs: $ 1,000,000 Fixed fee: $ 100,000 Benefit/cost sharing: 80% / 20% Price ceiling: $ 1,200,000 Which is the PTA (= point of total assumption, break point) of the project?
$1,300,000 $1,500,000 $80,000 $1,125,000
$1,125,000
Start dates in the following network logic diagram are defined as early morning, finish dates are evening.
If tasks are scheduled to begin at early start date, what is true?
16 21
ACTIVITY B
26 31
Activity B has a free float of 10 d. Activity B has a total float of 10 d. Activity A has a free float of 10 d. Activity A has a total float of 10 d.
Activity B has a free float of 10 d.
Difference between Free and total float
- A project management team wants to procure some customized products which are available in identical grade and quality from many vendors. What should be included in the procurement package to ensure that their offers will be comparable?A statement of work describing the needs of the project in sufficient detail to enable vendors to make suitable proposals
A statement of work specifying attributes and metrics of the requested deliverables in detail to allow vendors submission of bids
The approved project scope statement, the WBS which should be broken down to work package level and the WBS dictionary
The risk management plan and the reports from those risk management reviews which have been made so far
A statement of work specifying attributes and metrics of the requested deliverables in detail to allow vendors submission of bids
You are assigned as the project manager to a project which is executed for a customer under FP contract. Your customer informed you this morning that they insist on certain “refinements” of the project scope.
You agree that the requested actions make really sense to the project, but believe that they constitute a major change increasing the project scope. What should you do next?
Accept the request of the customer. Diligently document the additional costs and working hours spent by yourself and the team on the implementation of the change and invoice these to the customer at appropriate rates. Perform earned value analysis to assess the current status of the project and get all the numbers you need to communicate the case to the change control board which then will have to make the best decision regarding the customer request. Check the contract, the project charter, the scope statement and other documents related to the project and the contract. Implement ADR (alternative dispute resolution) procedures if the conflict cannot be resolved otherwise. Talk to the project sales department and find a joint solution with them how to best reject the request considering the commercial and strategic value of the customer to the organization you are working for.
Check the contract, the project charter, the scope statement and other documents related to the project and the contract. Implement ADR (alternative dispute resolution) procedures if the conflict cannot be resolved otherwise.
- A prime contractor in a customer project under CPFF contract has run into unexpected technical problems. Fixing them will require a lot of additional work to be done.
The company made a decision to book more staff and equipment from their subcontractors in order to adhere to the agreed timeline. The customer agreed to this decision.
What will most likely happen?
The contractor‘s indirect costs will increase and the customer‘s payment for them will increase, too. The contractor‘s indirect costs will increase, but the customer‘s payment for them will not increase. The contractor‘s indirect costs will not increase, but the customer‘s payment for them will. Both the contractor's indirect costs and the customer‘s payment for them will not increase.
Both the contractor’s indirect costs and the customer‘s payment for them will not increase.
- A project management team is evaluating the causes that might contribute to unsatisfactory performance and quality. Which of the following statements is not true?Normal process variation is attributable to random causes and sometimes also called “white noise”.
Special causes are easier to predict and handle than random causes (also called common causes).
Special causes are unusual events which are difficult to foresee and often produce outliers.
A process can be optimized to limit the bandwidth of variations due to random causes.
Special causes are easier to predict and handle than random causes (also called common causes).
- You want to perform active risk acceptance. What should you do?Create contingency reserves in resources, money and time.
Develop a plan to minimize impact in case that an identified risk occurs.
Develop a plan to minimize the probability of occurrence for identified risks.
Make additional resources available to speed up the project.
Create contingency reserves in resources, money and time.
project manager made 3-point estimates on a critical path and found the following results:
Assuming ±3 sigma precision level for each estimate, what is the standard deviation of the allover path?
App. 4.2 days App. 5.2 days App. 6.2 days You can not derive the path standard deviation from the information given.
App. 5.2 days
. Activity 1 has a duration of 20 days, activity 2 of 10 days, activity 3 of 5 days and activity 4 of 6 days.
What is the minimum total duration between the milestones A and B?
36 days 37 days 39 days 42 days
37 days
31 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 156 and 158
Which of the following statement(s) on whistleblowing is/are not true?
a. It is a term used to define an employee’s decision to disclose information on unethical, immoral or illegal actions at work to an authority figure.
b. An employee should always discuss the matter with people external to the company before following the “chain of command” and discuss it with the immediate superior.
c. The consequences of whistleblowing are often extreme and might include being branded as an owner of bad judgment, layoff, civil action and imprisonment.
d. Carefully performed whistleblowing can lead to the end of unethical business practices.
a
b
b, c
c, d
b. An employee should always discuss the matter with people external to the company before following the “chain of command” and discuss it with the immediate superior.
- Which of the following statements is not true?Attribute sampling is the process of assessing whether results conform to specifications or not.
Prevention means keeping errors out of the process by applying actions before the process starts changing its input.
Variables sampling means that the result is classified into one of the 3 categories:
“acceptable” - “acceptable after rework” - “rejected”.
Inspection is often mainly done to keep errors out of the hands of the customer instead of as a means of process control.
34 3 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 250
- Which statement describes best why you should document assumptions?Assumptions might prove to be wrong. Knowing which assumptions were incorrect allows baseline adjustments in case of project crisis.
Assumption analysis is a valuable tool and technique to explore the validity of assumptions during risk identification.
Assumptions limit the project management team’s options for decision making because they can not be controlled by the team.
In case of schedule or budget overruns, the documentation of assumptions supports a clear assignment of responsibility.
Assumption analysis is a valuable tool and technique to explore the validity of assumptions during risk identification.
- Which is normally not regarded as an element of cost of quality?Prevention costs
Maintenance cost
Appraisal costs
Failure costs
Maintenance cost
35 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 324
- You have recently been assigned as a project manager to a new B-O-T (build, operate, transfer) capital project. Reviewing the initial documentation you found out that it has been calculated with a very small margin during operations of its product for the shareholders. What should you do?As you are not responsible for lifecycle costing, you don’t have to worry about operation profits. Focus on project costs from initiation through handover.
Ensure maximum profits by buying the best and cheapest items, components and modules―potentially from a big number of different suppliers―and integrating them.
Create a realistic plan broken down to a sufficient level of detail. Perform all risk management processes. Ensure real-time communications with all stakeholders.
Try to get a second project manager assigned to share decision making and accountability to shareholders with the person.
Create a realistic plan broken down to a sufficient level of detail. Perform all risk management processes. Ensure real-time communications with all stakeholders.
PMBOK® Guide of responsibility for unrealistic expectations by management)
- Which statement on conflicts is true?
Conflict resolution should focus on people, not issues.
Conflict is natural and forces a search for alternatives.
Conflict should always be handled in private and not in the team.
Too much openness is a common cause of conflict.
Conflict is natural and forces a search for alternatives.
40 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 283-284
- What is a trigger in project risk management?An expected situation causing an unidentified risk to occur
A warning sign that a previously identified risk might be occurring or has occurred
An unexpected situation causing an identified risk to occur
An unexpected situation causing an unidentified risk to occur
A warning sign that a previously identified risk might be occurring or has occurred
42 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 566
In a software company a large number of simultaneously performed projects utilize the same groups of human and other resources.
What is the term commonly used for this situation?
Concurrent engineering Resource over-allocation Resource pooling Program management
Resource pooling
- You have used estimates made by your team members and applied the critical path method to compute a network logic diagram for your project. Then you found out that it cannot be sufficiently optimized for scarce resources and fast progress towards a given deadline. What should you do next?Apply resource leveling heuristics to uncritical activities only.
Reduce estimates on duration and work efforts by an adequate percentage.
Apply Three-point estimation and critical chain project management.
Remove physical constraints and replace hard logic with soft logic.
Apply Three-point estimation and critical chain project management.
46 3 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 150 (Three-point estimating) and 178
- Liquidated damages (LDs) are contractually agreed payments in order to…
…give the contractor an incentive to meet an aggressive schedule or challenging quality objectives.
…penalize the contractor for late completion of a project or failure to meet specifications.
…cover the customer’s costs caused by late completion or failure to meet specifications by the contractor.
…make a bid or proposal binding for the offerer while the customer has time to select among various bidders.
…cover the customer’s costs caused by late completion or failure to meet specifications by the contractor.
- What should not be covered by a risk management plan?
Roles and responsibilities for handling project risks
Timing of project risk management activities
The methodological approach used for risk management
Individual risks and potential responses to them
Individual risks and potential responses to them
48 4 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 316-318 and 327
- You are assigned as the project manager to a project which had a one-time cost variance in the past caused by unexpected rework which has meanwhile been finished.
You perform earned value analysis and get the following results:
EV: 250,000; PV: 200,000; AC 275,000
BAC is 500,000.
What is right?
EAC = 550,000 EAC = 525,000 EAC = 500,000 EAC = 425,000
EAC = 525,000
49 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 220
- An estimation has been made that the construction of a residential home will cost a certain amount per square foot of living area. This is an example of what type of estimating?Analogous estimating
Bottom-up estimating
Top-down estimating
Parametric estimating
Parametric estimating
50 4 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 170
- What is a constructive change?A change request that helps improving the project and its product, service or result and is discussed generally in a friendly style.
A direction by the buyer or an action taken by the seller that the other party considers an undocumented change to the contract.
A field change or ad-hoc change mandated by the project customer in a public construction project.
A change request which will lead to the re-construction of an older version of the project performance baseline by the contractor.
A direction by the buyer or an action taken by the seller that the other party considers an undocumented change to the contract.
52 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 385
- Which of the following is generally not regarded to be a motivator according to Frederick Herzberg?Working conditions and interpersonal relations
Responsibility for enlarged task
Interest in the task
Recognition for achievement
Working conditions and interpersonal relations
- You are the project manager in an engineering project and have recently signed a contract with a software vendor for the development of a complicated control solution. The software will be used to control machinery equipment which your project team is currently developing. The contract is a lump-sum contract. The contractor has target cost estimated which seem rather low to you. Which of the following statements is not true for this situation?
It is the contractor’s risk in this type of contract that their profit may vanish if costs have been underestimated.
This form of contract should only be chosen when all the requirements for the building of the product are well-known by all parties involved.
In a fixed-price contract, change requests can cause issues regarding additional time and extra costs for the changes to be applied.
It is likely that your organization may have to assume any unexpected additional costs for the software development.
It is likely that your organization may have to assume any unexpected additional costs for the software development.
Types of Contracts, in: Project Management
- Which of the following is true regarding the code of accounts?It allows one to easily identify the breakdown level of the item in the resource structure.
It describes the coding structure used by the performing organization to report financial information in its general ledger.
It is the collection of unique identifiers generally assigned to WBS items.
It defines ethical behavior in the project and the responsibilities to the customer and the profession.
It is the collection of unique identifiers generally assigned to WBS items
57 3 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 531
- You are the manager of your company’s project management office. The company is running many concurrent projects; most of them share a resource pool of technical staff. Understanding how resources are utilized across projects has been found essential to overall project performance, including cost effectiveness and profitability.
This morning you received a message that the resource pool members will be unable to perform as planned for the next months because the overall work load has grown too high and while delays are adding up, the morale of the staff is going down.
What should you do next?
Ensure that quantitative information for all projects is made available in a uniform and reliable fashion and verify that the project management methodology is adhered to. Then consolidate the information to get an understanding of the problems related with the use of shared resources. Implement an enterprise project management software solution which is able to level the human resources across the various projects and which has the capability to model resource assignment on a percentage level thus optimizing resource utilization for the overall organization. Do nothing related to the described problem unless you are explicitly requested by the organizations upper management. Supporting decision making on the level on which project portfolio management is done, is not the project management office's business. Evaluate project management software which supports planning and scheduling across enterprise-wide project portfolios. Avoid managing the availability of shared enterprise resources for the projects run by an organization because this is not the business of a project management office.
Ensure that quantitative information for all projects is made available in a uniform and reliable fashion and verify that the project management methodology is adhered to. Then consolidate the information to get an understanding of the problems related with the use of shared resources.
58 1 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 10-11
- You have been criticized that certain specifications in your scope statement do not pass the test for SMART objectives. What are SMART objectives?Objectives specified in far more detail than necessary for a execution of a successful project.
Easily achievable objectives which help you reducing the pressure on yourself and the team.
Objectives that should be achieved in order to attain formal recognition by both the customer and the project sponsor.
Objectives that are described using specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-related specifications.
Objectives that are described using specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-related specifications.
- You are performing earned value technique on your project.
After budget approval, an additional and unexpected cost item has been identified, which made the project more expensive some weeks ago. The item has meanwhile been paid by the project team, and it is expected that for the remaining duration of the project, costs will be as budgeted.
In this case, which is the best formula to calculate EaC (Estimate at Completion)?
EaC = BaC - CV EaC = BaC / CPI EaC = AC + BtC / CV You can not compute the EaC.
EaC = BaC - CV
61 1 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 218 (CV = EV - AC) and 220 (EAC = AC + BAC - EV)
- During a company event, you had the opportunity to talk to a colleague project manager. He told you that in his current project actual costs are 15% under cumulated costs budgeted for today.
What do you think?The information given to you by the colleague is not sufficient to assess project performance.
The project will probably be completed with total costs remaining under budget until the end.
A significant cost increase during the further course of the project will probably bring the costs back to baseline level.
Original cost forecasting and budgeting for the project must have been poor to allow this variance.
The information given to you by the colleague is not sufficient to assess project performance.
62 1 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 207-208
- What is the meaning of a concept called the “Journey to Abilene”?Project managers should visit their customers far more often than what is usual in order to avoid misunderstandings and bad emotions.
International projects may have an increased need for traveling which can lead to additional costs and troubles with time zones.
Committee decisions can have the paradox outcome, that a jointly made or approved decision is not desired by any individual group member.
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. Repeating it would be similar to making the same journey twice.
Committee decisions can have the paradox outcome, that a jointly made or approved decision is not desired by any individual group member.
- Which of the following statements describes best the relationship between project phases and the project life cycle?The project life cycle includes the time when the project is performed and the expected product lifespan after that.
In project management, the sequence of project phases and phase gates is often referred to as project life cycle.
The project life cycle is regarded as a sequence of project activities while phases are defined to control overlapping activities.
The project life cycle describes how iterations of project management processes are used when a project schedule is developed.
In project management, the sequence of project phases and phase gates is often referred to as project life cycle.
64 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 38
- What is the S-curve in project management?A graph that is generated if a normal curve is integrated.
A graph that is to be integrated to generate a normal curve.
A metaphoric description of the short term uncertainties that are present in every project.
The graph that describes the typical growth of earned value during the course of the project.
The graph that describes the typical growth of earned value during the course of the project.
66 4 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 212-215 178
- What is not the purpose of configuration control when configuration management is applied in a project?Verification that the configuration identification for a configuration item is accurate, complete, and will meet specified program needs.
Ensuring that proposed and approved changes to configuration items are fully analyzed.
Ensuring that proposed and approved changes to configuration items are fully documented. Managing and controlling the frequently requested changes to a project by applying agreed rules.
Verification that the configuration identification for a configuration item is accurate, complete, and will meet specified program needs.
- Which statement describes best the meaning of the term cost baseline?
A cost baseline is always created by translating time-phased cost information into cost data on activity or work-package level.
A cost baseline is an approved time-phased budget that will be used to measure and monitor cost performance on the project.
Data to draw a cost baseline can be easily generated and updated as necessary from information related to actual project cost.
A cost baseline is usually displayed in the form of an inverse S-curve drawn from the beginning of the project until data date.
A cost baseline is an approved time-phased budget that will
be used to measure and monitor cost performance on the project.
69 2 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 212-215
- Which is not true in regard of RoI (return on investment) for a project?It defines the cumulated net income from an investment at a given point in time or during a defined period.
It includes investment, direct and indirect costs and may include allowances for capital cost, depreciation, risk of loss, and/or inflation.
It is most commonly stated as a percentage of the investment or as a dimensionless index figure.
It is the time when cumulated net income is equal to the investment.
It is the time when cumulated net income is equal to the investment.
- A project sponsor requested earned value data on two concurrent projects from the project managers. Both projects are regarded as equally important and strategically beneficial and have been finished by over 80%. He received the following information:
Project A:
PV: $1,800,000
EV: $2,300,000
AC: $2,100,000
Project B:
PV: $2,000,000
EV: $1,500,000
AC: $1,600,000
The sponsor considers to shift some resources from project A to project B to speed up the second project which is currently behind schedule.
What is the most likely outcome of such a measure?
Changing team assignments during late course of a project typically increases cost efficiency.
Changing team assignments during late course of a project typically increases time efficiency.
According to the law of diminishing returns, the consolidated cost variance of the two projects will decrease.
According to the law of diminishing returns, the consolidated cost variance of the two projects will increase.
According to the law of diminishing returns, the consolidated cost variance of the two projects will decrease.
- Which of the following statements describes best the relationship of quality and grade?Low grade is always a problem; low quality may be overcome by a good rework and repair process.
Grade is a category or rank given to entities having different functional requirements but the same need for quality.
Both quality and grade can often be improved through intelligent measuring, testing and examining.
Low quality is always a problem as it bears on the ability of an item to meet requirements; low grade may sometimes be acceptable.
Low quality is always a problem as it bears on the ability of an item to meet requirements; low grade may sometimes be acceptable.
72 4 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, p 228
- You have been asked to calculate the internal rate of return (IRR) of a project? What will you assess?The time period needed to pay back the investment from a project when future income is discounted.
The inherent discount rate or investment yield rate produced by the project’s deliverables over a pre-defined period of time.
The rate of negative risk that can be accepted for a project without turning the expected net present value negative.
The expected benefit from a project’s deliverable calculated as a percentage of the original investment over a specified time period
The inherent discount rate or investment yield rate produced by the project’s deliverables over a pre-defined period of time.
- You have just created the following network logic diagram to describe the planned flow of activities for your project which will start tomorrow:
PMP sample question 75 Network diagram
Which potential inconsistency in the diagram should you solve right now to ensure that the activities and the milestones “Start” and “A-F finished” are correctly linked?
Activity E is open ended (a "dangle") in relation to the finish milestone path convergence. Activity F is open ended in relation to the path divergence after the start milestone. You cannot calculate a critical path when lags and/or leads are calculated in percent. Activities E to F need another task drawn as a hammock to calculate level of effort.
Activity E is open ended (a “dangle”) in relation to the finish milestone path convergence
75 1 PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, pp 156-159
