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Your company policy allows accepting gifts from customers within certain limit. Your customer is giving you a gift that is beyond the limit of your company policy. You have already given a gift that has similar value to the customer's representative. What should you do? A. Accept it and don't tell anyone B. Contact your company's senior management and ask for assistance C. Ask your customer about company policy D. Refuse it - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION Best option is to contact your company's senior management and ask for assistance. You are responsible for a project with high risks particularly during the early phases. Your sponsor has asked for performance reports on a monthly basis. At the end of the first month, you report a CPI greater than 1 and also the SPI greater than 1. What would this mean? A. The project is behind schedule and over budget B. The project is ahead of schedule and under budget C. The project is ahead of schedule but over budget D. The project is behind schedule but under budget - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION
SPI greater than 1 indicates the project is ahead of schedule, while a value less than 1 indicates the project is behind schedule. CPI value greater than 1 indicates project is under budget, while a value less than 1 indicates the project is over budget. You are the project manager of a software project. Your team member wants to make technical changes to an activity, which will add more time to that activity. What should you do? A. Check if the activity is on critical path B. Allow team members to change the activity C. Report to senior management D. Ignore change in activities - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION "Check if the activity is on critical path" is the best option. You have replaced an earlier project manager. The project is already in its third month of execution. You need to determine if the project is ahead or behind schedule. What would be the best source of this information? A. Work performance data B. Work performance measurement C. Project management software D. Pareto chart - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION Work performance measurement provides details of planned vs. actual values that help in determining the health of the project. Work performance data is the actual information that helps in measuring performance. Project management software helps track data, while Pareto chart is used in Quality Control.
B. He should refer to the Scope Management Plan C. He should refer to the Schedule Management Plan D. He should refer to the Performance Measurement Baseline - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION There are multiple options that seem correct; however, they are partially correct. The scope baseline and schedule baseline are not the only baselines against which project performance is measured, so options B and C are definitely not the best options. The project management plan contains details of all the baselines, but a more specific plan to refer to is the Performance Measurement Baseline. It contains details of the scope, schedule, and cost baseline, and it could also contain quality and technical parameters. While the project management plan includes the baselines, it is actually the Performance Measurement Baseline which is used for comparing performances, and the Performance Measurement Baseline is a part of the Project Management Plan. As a manager on a project, you have to ensure that the project delivers within the scheduled timelines with minimal rework and customer delight. For some time now, the project work is proceeding smoothly with a CPI and SPI a perfect 1. One of your team members approaches you and indicates that she might possibly need a long vacation on personal grounds. She indicates this could possibly occur in two months from now. You look up the schedule and finds that this team member happens to be scheduled to execute activities that are on the critical path and her absence in two months' time would cause a delay in schedule. You decide to take some action and ask the team member to start regular knowledge transfers to a couple of trainees. Though the trainees would be relatively inexperienced, they would more than make up for it with two people rather than one person to perform these tasks should this team member need to go on - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION You have mitigated the risk, where by asking for the trainees to be trained, you have created a Risk response strategy. Should this team member go on leave, the trainees would execute the task. So, you have not avoided the risk. Again, there is no question of
exploiting the risk as this is not a positive risk. This is not a case of Risk transfer either, so the correct answer is Risk Mitigation. You are a project manager of Software Product Company. After a person is hired, you come to know that many of this person's ideas were developed by a competitor company. Which of the following is the best action in this case? A. Accept the new ideas B. Ignore the ideas because it may be a violation of the code of conduct C. Ask the person to sign NDA D. Tell the person that he should not mention that the ideas came from another company - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION Unless the employee has signed the NDA with his previous organization, there is no obligation for him not to share knowledge that was gained while working for the competitor. A product description of a project can help in creating procurement details. Which of the following best describes the product description? A. A product description defines the contracted work based on the requirements of the customer B. A product description defines the contracted work C. A product description defines the requirements for the contract work D. All of the above - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION A product description defines the contracted work based on the requirements of the customer.
Midway through the project, as a Manager, you are performing Earned Value Methodology to report performance. Based on your calculations, you realize that the initial plan is no longer valid. However, you still need to provide an EAC. What is the best course of action? A. Calculate EAC as EAC = BAC / CPI B. Calculate EAC as EAC = AC + BAC - EV C. Calculate EAC as EAC = AC + (BAC - EV/(CPI * SPI ) D. Calculate EAC as EAC = AC + Bottom-up Estimate - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION Option A is to be used if past CPI is expected to continue. Option B is to be used if future work is going to be performed at the planned rate. Option C is to be used if both CPI and SPI influence remaining work. Option D is to be used when the initial plan is no longer valid, which is the case here. As a manager on a project, you have identified and created the WBS and WBS Dictionary. You also plan to ensure that each deliverable gets the blessings of your stakeholders and sponsors. Which process are you planning to perform? A. Scope Verification B. Perform Quality Control C. Control Scope D. Define Scope - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION The correct answer is Scope Verification, which deals with verifying that what was delivered was what was required. You have received a number of seller responses for contracting work related to setting up office cubicles. One of the bids received happens to be from a very good friend of
yours. You know she has done good work in the past. What should be the best course of action? A. Do nothing, and let the seller selection proceed B. Ensure that your friend gets the contract as she has done good work in the past C. Inform your company regarding the conflict of interest, and disqualify your friend D. Inform your company regarding the conflict of interest, and let selection of seller happen with no prejudice - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION This is the only correct answer. In order to determine the details of the work to be performed in work packages, which of the following can be used? A. WBS B. WBS Dictionary C. Control Account D. Work Packages - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION WBS Dictionary provides details such as description of work to be done for each work package, any schedule milestones, and statement of work. It is also used to prevent scope creep. You need to provide estimates for activities on the project. You and your team discuss and conclude that as detailed information is not yet available, the best option would be to use Parametric Estimates. Which of the following is used to create Parametric Estimates? A. Critical Path Method
B. Ask the person responsible about the difference C. Ignore it D. Reduce the estimate - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION The best option is to ask the person responsible about the difference and create the most accurate estimate that is practical. You are the sponsor of a project which has just kicked off. This is an ambitious project to build a top-of-the-line 18-hole golf course. Which of the following best describes your role as a sponsor? A. Manage changes to the project B. Create the Work Performance Baselines C. Publish Work Performance Reports D. Publish the approved Project charter - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION The main objective of the sponsor is to create and publish a formally approved project charter. While the sponsor can help assist in preventing and managing changes to the project, this is the project manager's job. Creating baselines and publishing work performance reports are also the job of the project manager. As a project manager of a project, you have just completed Schedule network diagram. What should you do next in schedule management? A. Estimate Activity Resources B. Sequence Activities C. Estimate Activity Durations D. Develop Schedule - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A
EXPLANATION
Schedule network diagram is an output of Sequence Activities, NEXT process is Estimate Activity Resources. The key difference between Work performance data and Work performance Measurement is: A. There are no differences B. Work performance data is the "as of now" status of deliverables, while Work performance measurement is a comparison between planned vs. actuals C. Work performance measurement is the "as of now" status of deliverables while Work performance data is a comparison between planned Vs actuals D. Work performance data forms the planned objectives - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION Work performance data is a key output of "Direct and Manage Project Work." The key difference between the two is that the Work performance data consists of raw observations and measurements DURING activities being performed. It is the "as of now" status, while Work performance measurements are used to compare actual performance against what was planned. The purpose of a contract is to distribute a reasonable amount of ____________between the buyer and seller. A. Risk B. Responsibility C. Reward D. None - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A
When a person desires to exceed or excel in her tasks, it is considered the highest level of need. The person now wants to realize her full potential, which is Self-actualization. According to Theory Y style of management, which of the following is a correct assumption? A. Employees are inherently lazy and not motivated. B. Employees need to be closely supervised, and comprehensive systems of controls are to be developed. C. Employees are only interested in self-benefits and money. D. Employees are trustworthy and are motivated by doing a good job. - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION Theory Y believes positively about employees, and only option D reflects a positive attitude and belief. Option A, B, and C are not the correct answer as they are the opposite of belief in employees. They indicate lack of trust in an employee, which is not a correct assumption in the Theory Y style of management. Conformance to specifications document is a description of: A. Quality B. Scope C. Integration D. None of the above - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION Quality on a project means that you are conforming to a standard that is set before you start the project.
You are the project manager of a marketing project and need to purchase some equipment. The accounting department needs a unilateral contract from you. To which of the following is the Accounting department referring? A. Legal Binding Contract B. Purchase Order C. Statement of Work D. WBS - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION A unilateral contract is simply a purchase order. You are out for lunch with a fellow project manager. She is in charge of a project that deals with laying out electrical cables across two towns. As you understand the plan of the layout, you realize that the cabling would cover a neighborhood with a history of criminal problems. You advise your fellow team manager that it would be prudent to insure the copper cables through a theft insurance. You also advise her regarding which insurance companies would give her the best insurance covers against theft. Which risk response strategy did you just adopt? A. Risk mitigation B. Risk avoidance C. Risk transfer D. Risk acceptance - - correct ans- - Correct Option: C EXPLANATION This is an example of Risk transfer where you have advised your fellow manager to insure against theft through insurance. Note that this does not eliminate the risk rather the risk is simply to be borne by the insurance company. It is also worthwhile to note that the transfer of negative risks comes with a premium to be paid to the party responsible for handling the risk. In this case the insurance company would need to be paid a premium for bearing this risk.
B. Finish-to-Start C. Start-to-Start D. Start-to-Finish - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION In Finish-to-Start relationship, Successor Activity cannot happen till Predecessor Activity is completed. An estimate is required for a new project of an R&D nature, and it has been decided to create the estimates using WBS with an emphasis on accuracy of the estimates. Your project manager also indicates that sufficient time is being made available to provide the estimates. What would be the best estimation approach in this case? A. Parametric Estimation approach B. Analogous Estimation approach C. Top-down Approach D. Bottom-up Approach - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION Parametric and Analogous are clearly not the right choices. Being a new project, you do not have any historical data to rely on. So, Analogous estimation is not an option. You also don't have any data of costs per unit, so Parametric estimation is also not an option. Now between Top-down and Bottom-up, both these approaches use the WBS to come up with the estimates. With Top-down, we start with the high level and then drill down into the lower levels. Bottom-up estimates are more accurate compared with Top- down. Bottom-up is also a more expensive and time-consuming type of estimate. However, the question clearly indicates that time is not a concern. So, the correct answer is Bottom-up approach. Top-down approach is used only if we have enough historical information on the project, which is not true here.
You are managing a project related to building a skyscraper. However, as per regulations, no work can be started till the government body has approved and provided necessary clearance. What kind of dependency is this is an example of? A. Mandatory Dependency B. Hard Logic C. Discretionary Dependency D. External Dependency - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION This is an externally imposed or mandated dependency. Options A and B are the same and are not the correct choices. Which of the following could not be provided with Activity Attributes? A. Details regarding predecessor and successor activities B. Details regarding Leads and Lags C. Details regarding who and where the activity will be performed D. Details regarding root causes of issues - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION All the options are correct except option D. Activity attributes do not provide details of root causes of issues. Which type of relationship is often used in Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)? A. Finish-to-Finish B. Finish-to-Start C. Start-to-Start D. Start-to-Finish - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B
D. Pareto chart - - correct ans- - Correct Option: A EXPLANATION Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) uses a weighted average duration estimate to calculate duration. It uses the probability of an estimate's accuracy. Expected Time = (Low + 4*Medium + High) / 6 You are in charge of managing a software development project that is related to simulations for driving racing cars. During Quality Assurance, a number of issues have been reported in the air tunnel modelling module. On deeper analysis, it is found that many of the issues were due to not understanding the requirements clearly, and now additional time would be expended to fix the issues identified. This is a good example of: A. Corrective Action B. Preventive Action C. Defect Repair D Quality Assurance - - correct ans- - Correct Option: C EXPLANATION The question is intended to cause a confusion between preventive and corrective action. However, the question does not state any example of any steps taken proactively, so Preventive Action is not the right answer. If we were to consider Corrective action, it is a future response to the defect repair process or the correction so that the cause of error or non-conformity will not occur again, which the above question does not state. So, this is not an example of Corrective action. The question does not state anything other than reporting defects, which is Quality Control. So, option D is not the right answer. Here, the straightforward answer is option C Defect repair. Your friend, Joe, who works as a project manager in a pharmaceutical company meets you over dinner. You see a drastic change in his temperament compared with when you
last met him. He seems dejected and complains that in his present organization, as a project manager, he has almost no authority and hardly any decision-making ability. Which kind of organizational structure does your friend work in? A. A Product organization B. A Functional Organizational Structure C. A Strong Matrix Organizational Structure D. A Projectized Organizational Structure - - correct ans- - Correct Option: B EXPLANATION Your friend works in a Functional Organizational Structure. In such an organizational structure, all the power and authority reside with the Functional Manager. Such organizations are hierarchical in nature, where each employee has one clear superior. People are grouped by specialties (Functional) such as Mechanical, Accounts, Marketing, etc. These departments work independently of each other. So, the correct answer is option B - Functional Organization. Which of the following is NOT part of a quality plan? A. Benchmarking B. Cost of Quality C. Design of experiments D. Quality audits - - correct ans- - Correct Option: D EXPLANATION Quality audits are part of a Perform Quality Assurance process. A software development project has been awarded to one of the many vendors. Your company and the vendor have agreed to build this project using the Waterfall Methodology. You decide to check with the progress regarding when development will start. The vendor informs you that the actual development can only start after the
