PMP Questions Scardo Review

Question 1

A project manager scheduled a review at the end of a phase, with the objective of obtaining authorization to close the current project phase and initiate the next phase. Which of the following is an incorrect way of describing this review?
Phase gate
Phase planning
Kill point
Stage gate

Answer 1

B - Stage Gates, Phase Gates and Kill Points refer to the same term and refer to a phase end review with the objective of obtaining authorization to close the current phase and starting the next one. This is a retrospective review of the current phase. The phase planning, on the other hand, is carried out early during the planning phase of the project.[PMBOK 5th edition, Page 41] [Project Framework]

Question 2

If you are measuring the quality of items in a sample on a pass/fail basis, what is that called?
Attribute sampling
Biased sampling
Variable sampling
Stratified sampling

Answer 2

A - The attribute sampling measures the quality characteristic of items in a sample on a pass/fail basis; on the other hand, the variable sampling measures the quality characteristic on a continuous scale. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 250] [Project Quality Management]

Question 3

Which of the following should you NOT use as an input into creating the WBS structure?
Bill of Material (BOM)
Project scope statement
Organizational process assets
Requirements documentation

Answer 3

A - The Bill of Material (BOM) is not used as an input in the Create WBS process. The other three are valid inputs. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 125] [Project Scope Management]

Question 4

In an ongoing project, the project sponsor and a manager of the performing organization are having conflicts. What would be your comment on this situation?
The project manager needs to step in and handle the stakeholders’ expectations. The stakeholders may have different objectives and interests in the project.
The project manager needs to step in and handle the stakeholders’ expectations. All stakeholders are supposed to have the same objectives and interests in a project.
The project manager should resolve in favor of the project sponsor since he is providing the funds for the project.
The project manager should resolve in favor of the manager of the performing organization since they are executing the project and need to be kept in good books.

Answer 4

A - The project manager needs to recognize that the stakeholders could have conflicting interests and objectives. It is the responsibility of the project manager to successfully manage the stakeholders’ expectations. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 404] [Project Stakeholder Management]

Question 5

The transition from one phase to another within a project's life cycle (e.g. design to manufacturing) is typically marked by:
Kill point
Monte Carlo
Constraint
Decision tree

Answer 5

A - The transition from one phase to another within a project’s lifecycle generally involves, and is usually defined by, some form of technical transfer or handoff. These are also called as kill points. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 41] [Project Framework]

Question 6

1.) You are managing a multi-million dollar project, and discover several critical pieces of data in the project information repository have been modified without authorization. What should you do?
A. Determine the extent of the data breach, and implement security procedures to prevent a recurrence.
Determine the extent of the data breach and notify the appropriate project and company staff of the incident.
Determine the extent of the data breach, and restore the modified data from a backup.
Determine the extent of the data breach, and setup auditing to track further unauthorized access.

Answer 6

B - Notification of the appropriate staff of an information security breach, and providing detail to assist with an investigation is the appropriate response. The project manager is responsible for maintaining an accurate project information base and protecting the intellectual property of others, per the code of ethics. Failing to notify project or corporate staff that there has been unauthorized access to critical information violates the PMI code. [Reference: PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, Page 2,3] [Prof. Responsibility]

Question 7

As a project manager, you are performing various project performance measurements to assess the magnitude of variation. You then attempt to determine the cause and decide whether corrective action is required. This would be known as:
Scope Analysis
Variance Analysis
Performance Reporting
Configuration Management

Answer 7

B - This is known as Variance Analysis. As project manager, you would then attempt to determine the cause of the Variance, relative to the scope baseline and then decide on whether corrective action is required. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 139] [Project Scope Management]

Question 8

Quantitative risk analysis should be performed:
only on risks identified by the project manager
only in extreme cases
only on prioritized risks
on all risks

Answer 8

C - Since the quantitative risk analysis is a more in-depth process, it should only be performed on prioritized risks to minimize impact to the overall project schedule. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 334] [Project Risk Management]

Question 9

In a cause and effect diagram, which of these is not a potential cause?
Personnel
Problem statement
Time
Material

Answer 9

B - A cause-and-effect diagram helps determining the root cause behind a problem statement. The potential causes of a specific effect fall into these categories: time, machine, method, material, energy, measurement, personnel, and environment. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 236] [Project Quality Management]

Question 10

Which document describes the project's deliverables and the work required to create those deliverables?
Project authorization document
Project scope statement
Project scope management plan
Project charter

Answer 10

B - The project scope statement is the correct response. This document describes the project’s deliverables in detail and the work that is required to create those deliverables. It also forms the baseline for evaluating whether requests for changes are within or outside the project’s boundaries. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 123] [Project Scope Management]

Question 11

During a presentation to management, you want to display the project schedule with only the key deliverables displayed. What is the correct tool for this purpose?
Project schedule network diagram
Critical path network
Milestone chart
Critical chain diagram

Answer 11

C - A milestone chart displays only the key deliverables and is simple and easy to understand. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 182] [Project Time Management]

Question 12

The date through which the project has provided actual status and accomplishments is called:
Data Date (DD)
Due Date (DD)
Project Date (PD)
Reporting Date (RD)

Answer 12

A - The date through which the project has provided actual status and accomplishments is called the data date. It is also known as the as-of date or the status date [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 184] [Project Communications Management]

Question 13

Which of these is NOT a risk diagramming technique?
System or process flow charts
Cause and effect diagram
RACI chart
Influence diagrams

Answer 13

C - Risk diagramming techniques can include: cause-and-effect diagrams (also known as the fishbone diagrams), flowcharts, and influence diagrams. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 325] [Project Risk Management]

Question 14

A Project Manager's primary professional responsibility is towards:
The performing organization
The project sponsor
All stakeholders
Customers

Answer 14

C - A project manager’s professional responsibilities are not limited to any one of the stakeholders. The other choices are correct but not complete by themselves. Expectations of every project stakeholder need to be managed. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 391] [Prof. Responsibility]

Question 15

Which process is concerned with providing forecasts to update current cost information?
Monitor and Control Project Work
Project Management Information System
Close Project or Phase
Direct and Manage Project Work

Answer 15

A - The Monitor and Control Project Work process is responsible for keeping track of the project’s measures, including cost. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 86] [Project Integration Management]

Question 16

Which of these tools and techniques are common to all six Project Integration Management processes?
Project management Information System
Analytical techniques
Facilitation techniques
Expert Judgment

Answer 16

D - All six processes of Project. Integration Management use Expert judgment as a tool and technique. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 65] [Project Integration Management]

Question 17

What is the difference between a histogram and a Pareto chart?
A histogram is a less accurate version of a Pareto chart.
A histogram is a type of Pareto chart.
A Pareto chart is a type of histogram.
A histogram and a Pareto chart simply different terms for the same technique.

Answer 17

C - A Pareto chart is a type of histogram where the causes are ordered by frequency. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 237] [Project Quality Management]

Question 18

As a project manager, you are responsible for determining and delivering the required levels of both grade and quality. Select which of the following statements you disagree with.
Grade relates to the product’s characteristics
Grade relates to the customer requirements
Quality relates to the customer requirements
Quality and grade of a product must be carefully managed

Answer 18

B - The grade of a product relates to the technical characteristics of the product. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 228] [Project Quality Management]

Question 19

Most project management software packages use a method of constructing a project schedule network diagram known as:
Activity Diagramming Method
Precedence Diagramming Method
Project Diagramming Method
Critical Diagramming Method

Answer 19

B - PDM uses Nodes to represent Activities and connects the activities with Arrow to show dependencies. This is the most commonly used method by most project management software packages.[PMBOK 5th edition, Page 156] [Project Time Management]

Question 20

When a negative unidentified risk occurs in a project, a response to it would be called:
Disaster recovery
Failure planning
A workaround
Backup planning

Answer 20

C - A workaround is a response to a negative unplanned risk that has occurred. It differs from a contingency plan in that a workaround is not planned in advance of the occurrence of the risk event. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 567] [Project Risk Management]

Question 21

Martin is the project manager of a project that is in an early phase. He needs to estimate costs but finds that he has a limited amount of detailed information about the project. Which of the following estimation techniques would be least suited to his requirements?
Top-down Estimating
Bottom-up Estimating
Analogous Estimating
Budgetary Estimating

Answer 21

B - Bottom-up estimating is a technique that can be applied only when there is a sufficient amount of detail available to the project manager. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 205] [Project Cost Management]

Question 22

If you had an experience with a particularly good or poor performing vendor, what is the correct way to document this experience for future projects?
Create a seller performance evaluation
Call the vendor and talk to them about the experience
Tell all your friends about it
Vow to only work with that vendor from now on

Answer 22

A - A seller performance evaluation is created by the buyer and provides information about the seller’s performance. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 386] [Project Procurement Management]

Question 23

A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement is called a:
Code of accounts
Control packages
Control account
Account Plan

Answer 23

C - This is a Control Account. Control Accounts are placed at selected management points of the Work Breakdown Structure WBS. Each control account may include one or more work packages, but each of the work packages must be associated with only one control account. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 132] [Project Scope Management]

Question 24

Negative risks can either be \_\_\_\_\_\_, transferred, or mitigated as a countermeasure.
enhanced
avoided
exploited
ignored

Answer 24

B - You can avoid a risk by revising the project plan to eliminate the risk entirely. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 344] [Project Risk Management]

Question 25

A technical team can begin editing of a large document 15 days after they begin writing it. What kind of a dependency would this be represented as?
Start-to-start with a 15-day lead
Finish-to-finish with a 15-day lead
Start-to-start with a 15-day lag
Finish-to-start with a 15-day lag

Answer 25

C - The relationship between the two tasks would be represented as a start-to-start with a lag of 15 days. A lag directs a delay in the successor activity. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 156] [Project Time Management]

Question 26

In a matrix organization, where the team members report to both, a functional manager as well as a project manager, generally, whose responsibility is it to manage the dual reporting relationship?
Functional manager
HR manager
Team members
Project Manager

Answer 26

D - In a matrix organization, where the team members are accountable to both, a functional manager as well as a project manager, the management of the project team can tend to be complicated. In matrix organizations, the role of the project manger varies from a coordinator’s role to a directive project manager’s role. Generally, it is considered the responsibility of the project manager to manage this dual reporting relationship and handle the coordination. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 23] [Project Framework]

Question 27

A Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) would be used to breakdown the project by type of resources. The RBS is an example of a:
Linear chart
Matrix chart
Flow chart
Hierarchical chart

Answer 27

D - The Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) is a hierarchical chart. It is used to break down the chart by type of resources. For example, an RBS can depict all of the welders and welding equipment being used in different areas of a ship even though they may be scattered among different branches of the Organizational Breakdown Structure and RBS. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 165] [Project Human Resource Management]

Question 28

During the execution of your project, you decide that you would like to have charts of your project status - cost and schedule, display certain key project data, and hold your project meetings in a specific conference room. Such a place would be called:
Armageddon
War room
Battlefield
Ground zero

Answer 28

B - According to the PMBOK, a team meeting room is also called a war room. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 277] [Project Human Resource Management]

Question 29

As a project manager, where would you document the escalation process to resolve issues that cannot be resolved at a lower staff level?
Scope management plan
Stakeholder management plan
Staffing management plan
Communications Management Plan

Answer 29

D - The correct response is the Communications Management plan. The Communications Management Plan documents the escalation process. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 296] [Project Communications Management]

Question 30

A project manager approaches you to understand the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in better detail. You tell her that:
The WBS is a detailed project plan and includes the effort, resources and dates on which the tasks for the project are completed.
The WBS is a task oriented decomposition of work that identifies each task and the resource required to accomplish the task.
The WBS is a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be accomplished by the project team to accomplish project objectives.
The WBS is a Gantt chart which contains details about the project deliverables required to be done by the project team.

Answer 30

C - The WBS is a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be accomplished by the project team to accomplish project objectives. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 132] [Project Scope Management]

Question 31

A control chart is used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance. When a process is within acceptable limits, the process need not be adjusted. What are the upper and lower control limits usually set as?
\+ / - 3 sigma
\+ / - 6 sigma
\+ / - 2 sigma
\+ / - 1 sigma

Answer 31

A - The upper / lower control limits are normally set at + / - 3 sigma. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 238] [Project Quality Management]

Question 32

Which of the following is least likely to be a project?
Regular updates of the company website
Responding to a contract solicitation
Running a campaign for a political office
An endeavor that lasts for ten years.

Answer 32

A - Regular updates of the company website is an operational activity and is clearly not a project. ‘Responding to a contract solicitation’ and ‘Running a campaign’ are clearly projects. The endeavor lasting for ten years cannot be ruled out as a project just because of the duration. Projects can last from a few weeks to many years. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 3] [Project Framework]

Question 33

You are the project manager managing a project to design a print head for dot matrix printers. In order to determine ideal settings for print quality, the quality manager of the company suggests trying out various scenarios for printing by varying certain parameters on the print head. Identifying such variables which influence the product or process under development is called:
Benchmarking
Design of Experiments
Statistical Sampling
Brainstorming

Answer 33

B - The correct response is Design of Experiments. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 239] [Project Quality Management]

Question 34

Which of the following is not true about the WBS?
The project team must be involved in developing the WBS
The WBS must represent all product and project work.
WBS should focus on activities rather than deliverables
WBS is usually represented in a hierarchical fashion

Answer 34

C - The WBS puts a greater focus on the deliverables than on actual activities. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 132] [Project Scope Management]

Question 35

You have decided to apply Resource Leveling to a project due to a critical required resource being available only at certain times. Which of the following will likely be true?
Resource Leveling can often cause the original critical path to change.
Resource Leveling will over allocate resources to schedule the project before the deadline.
Resource Leveling will require additional resources to complete the project.
Resource Leveling will never alter the original critical path

Answer 35

A - Resource Leveling can often cause the original critical path to change. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 179] [Project Time Management]

Question 36

A technique that iterates the project schedule many times, to calculate a distribution of possible project completion dates is called:
Monte Carlo Analysis
Monteford analysis
Pareto Cost chart
Deming Analysis

Answer 36

A - Monte Carlo Analysis is a technique that computes, or iterates, the project cost, or the project schedule many times using input values selected at random from probability distributions of possible costs or durations, to calculate a distribution of possible total project costs or completion dates. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 180, 340] [Project Time Management]

Question 37

A project's financial management reserve is identified in which process:
Estimate Costs
Determine Budget
Control Costs
Estimate Activity Resources

Answer 37

B - The Management Contingency Reserve is identified in the Determine Budget process. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 213] [Project Cost Management]

Question 38

You are about to contract out a project to a service provider. However, at the time of awarding the contract, you are not sure of the total effort involved. Since the scope of work cannot be accurately estimated, you want to agree the per unit rates for difference services. Which of the following would best suit your purpose?
Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF)
Time & Material (T&M)
Fixed Price (FP)
Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee (CPIF)

Answer 38

B - This type of a project situation calls for a Time & Material type of contract. The contract will be open ended since the effort is not completely known. However, the unit rates will be negotiated and agreed upon for a particular resource category. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 364] [Project Procurement Management]

Question 39

Your Vice President has asked you what the Estimate at Completion is going to be for a small project you are working on. You were given a budget of $30,000, and to date you have spent $20,000 but only completed $10,000 worth of work. You are sure that the future work will be accomplished at the planned rate.
$40,000
$30,000
$60,000
$10,000

Answer 39

A - If the future work will be accomplished at the planned rate, then then Estimate at Completion (EAC) will be AC+BAC-EV. Budget at Completion (BAC) is $30,000, Earned Value (EV) is $10,000 and Actual Cost (AC) is $20,000. Hence the EAC is $40,000. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 224] [Project Cost Management]

Question 40

You have just sat through an exhausting change control meeting discussing a change in scope to the project you have been working on for the last 7 months. After lengthy discussion the change in scope was approved. As the Project Manager you should now update all of the following documentation, EXCEPT:
Scope Baseline
Requirements documentation
WBS Dictionary
Project charter

Answer 40

D - It is the project scope statement and not the project charter that should be updated. The project charter only contains the high-level requirements and high-level project description. All of the other documents listed in the question should also be updated. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page. 100] [Project Scope Management]

Question 41

Which of these statements is accurate regarding quality management?
Modern quality management complements project management
Overworking the team to meet requirements is not likely to increase attrition and rework
Quality and grade are essentially the same
Project requirements are turned into customer needs, wants, and expectations

Answer 41

A - As the correct item states, modern quality management complements project management. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 227, 228, 229] [Project Quality Management]

Question 42

The Risk Register contains details of all identified risks and current status. It is a document containing the results of:
Plan Risk Responses
Identify Risks
Control Risks
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis and Plan Risk Responses

Answer 42

D - The Risk Register contains the results of the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, and Plan Risk Responses. It details all identified risks, including description, category, cause, probability of occurring, impact(s) on objectives, proposed responses, owners, and current status. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 333, 341, 347] [Project Risk Management]

Question 43

A co-worker mentions that another project manager regularly takes certain project resources to expensive dinners and expenses it to the company. However, this project manager does not recognize or reward the contributions of any other project resources. What should you do?
Do nothing.
Confront the project manager.
Implement a formal reward and recognition program on your own project.
Report this to the appropriate management.

Answer 43

D - The rules of the organization must be applied without favoritism or discrimination. Rewarding only certain project resources and ignoring others is unfair and unprofessional. The code of ethics and professional behavior not only prohibit this behavior, but it also requires that project managers report violations by other project managers to the appropriate management. [Reference: PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, Page 4] [Prof. Responsibility]

Question 44

You are analyzing the risk in a project and decide to do sensitivity analysis to determine which risks have the most potential impact on the project. You look at a tool to help compare the relative importance of variables that have a high degree of uncertainty to those that are more stable. One such tool is:
Beta Distribution
S-Curve
Control Chart
Tornado Diagram

Answer 44

D - A tornado diagram is useful for comparing the relative importance of variables that have a high degree of uncertainty to those that are more stable. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 338] [Project Risk Management]

Question 45

Which of these is accurate regarding the Develop Schedule process?
Schedules are optimized such that all non-critical activities have a zero total float.
The critical path method is a schedule network analysis technique that is performed using the schedule model
Schedule compression shortens the project schedule while changing the project scope
Schedule network analysis is a technique that is carried out once the schedule is approved.

Answer 45

B - The accurate statement regarding the Develop Schedule process is that the critical path method is a schedule network analysis technique that is performed using the schedule model. The rest of the statements are not accurate. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 173] [Project Time Management]

Question 46

A project is contracted as a Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee (CPIF) type of contract. The project is negotiated such that if the final costs are less than expected costs, the sharing formula for cost savings is 75:25. The targeted cost is US$ 100,000 with an 8% incentive fee on the targeted cost. If the project comes in at US$ 80,000, what would be the cost of the total contract?
US$ 108,000
US$ 93,000
US$ 112,000
US$ 91,400

Answer 46

B - The correct answer is US$ 93,000. The calculation is as follows: Incentive fee based on budgeted costs = 8% of 100,000 = 8,000 Actual costs = 80,000 Share of cost savings = 25% of 20,000 = 5,000 (since the cost savings is 100,000 - 80,000) Hence the payout = 80,000 + 8,000 + 5,000 = US$ 93,000. [PMBOK 5th edition, Page 364] [Project Procurement Management]