PMP Exam

 

You have just been assigned a project in process. The previous PM has been promo  ted and has given you his files on the project. In a folder marked Private you f ind: A. His personal expense reports associated with the project costs B. The strategy for dealing with project stakeholders --->right answer C. The project t eam directory of email address and home phone numbers D. A personal thank-you no te from your manager thanking the previous PM for his service The Stakeholder Ma nagement Strategy is often kept in reserve for the PM to use d iscretely. It may  contain sensitive information about individuals. Who are stakeholders? A. Spons or, Customer, Project Manager B. Project Team and Project Steering Committee C. Project Team, Customer, General Public, Sponsor, and other Project Manag ers --> Right answer D. Customer and Sponsor This question is vague and all answers ar e technically correct. You can expect t o see this type of question on the PMP e xam as well. In this case, every answer lists stakeholders, but 'C' is the best answer because it is theon most complete l or ist. Stakeholders are project. anyone affected y your project, working your project, interested in your Sandra,b having work performance information from her team members, has used earn ed valu e analysis to determine the progress of the project in terms of time and cost. S he is now compiling that information for distribution to senior managemen t. In which knowledge area is she working? A. B. C. D. Integration Management Report P erformance---> Right answer Communication Management Distribute Information She is executing the process of Report Performance in the Communications Managem  ent knowledge area. 'B' is incorrect because it's the process - not the knowled g e area. 'A' is a knowledge area, but not the one that specifically deals with pe rformance reporting. 'D' sounds like a good choice, because Sandra is distrib uti ng information, but the specific tools being used are tools of the Report Pe rfor mance process, not Distribute Information. Also, 'D' is another process - n ot a knowledge area. ll of the following are true regarding issues on a project except: A. Issues B. Issues C. Issues D. Issues ensus has been should be assigne d an owner and a target completion date. should be documented in the issue log. may arise from stakeholders internal or external to the project. may be removed from the issue log only after key stakeholder cons reached.---> Right answer Choices 'A', 'B', and 'C' are all correct; however, choice 'D' is not a good fit  . Consensus is not the criteria for resolving or removing issues. See section 1 0

 

.4.1.4 for more information on issues and issue logs. Which of the following sta tements is TRUE regarding issues? A. All issues must be resolved in order for th e project to be closed. B. The issue log is a tool for stakeholders to manage pr oject issues. C. Each issue should be assigned to a single owner..---> Right ans wer D. Issue management may be treated as a sub-project on larger, more complex projects. Each issue should be assigned to an owner and be assigned a target com pletion da te. 'A' is incorrect since a project could be closed (successfully) a nd still ha ve outstanding issues. Sometimes the issues are out of the project m anager's con trol. 'B' is incorrect since the issue log is not for the stakehold ers - it is f or the project manager to use to manage issues. 'D' is incorrect b ecause issues are managed within the context of a project. If you were even cons idering creati ng a separate project to manage issues, your project is probably beyond hope. Lessons learned should contain: A. B. C. D. > Right The collective wisdom of the team from customer as to what you could have done of bet ter Information to Feedback be used as an the input into administrative closure Analysis t he variances that occurred from the project's baseline..--answer This is important! Lessons learned focuses on variances from the plan and what w  ould be done differently in the future in order to avoid those variances. What are two skills used in ensuring that no issues are not resolved in a timely and proactive manner? A. B. C. D. Attention to detail and organization skills Commun ication skills and Management skills Interpersonal skills and organizational ski lls Management skills and interpersonal skills..---> Right answer Soft skills such as interpersonal and management skills are important in relatin  g to individuals, building trust, and delivering a clear message. Each of the s k ills listed in 'A', 'B', and 'C' would be good, but PMI specifies the two skil ls in 'D' as tools used in the Manage Stakeholder Expectations process, which is  d escribed by the activities in the question. Which of the following is FALSE r egarding Distribute Information? A. Distribute B. Distribute ght answer C. Distr ibute . D. Distribute Information is an executing process. Information ends when  the product has been accepted...---> Ri Information may involve unexpected requ ests from stakeholders Information carries out the communications management pla n. Did you get tricked by this one? Distribute Information doesn't always end when acceptance has occurred, so this is the answer that doesn't fit. Some stakeholde  rs will need information distributed on the closure of the contracts and projec t s. 'A' is true, because Distribute Information is an executing process. 'C' is  t

 

rue because Distribute Information carries out predetermined communication, but also will be used to respond to unplanned requests from stakeholders. 'D' is tru  e because Distribute Information is the process that executes the communication s management plan. The first two efforts of the project manager in any project s hould be: A. To develop the project plan and to assemble a project team B. To in vestigate who the right people are that can steer the project and t o be documen ted in the company as the project manager...---> Right answer C. To collect the requirements from key people and to obtain clear authoriz ation to lead the proj ect D. To register with the project management office as the PM on this project and to have a face-to-face meeting with the project sponsor Each of the possible  answers has credible logic and importance to the project. K eep in mind the PMI  process framework when thinking about the sequence of effort s in a project. Th e initiating processes are Develop Project Charter and Identif y Stakeholders, w hich are described by the correctprocesses answer. Communications skills would be used mo st during which of the following ? A. B. C. D. Distribute Information. ..---> Right answer Status Meetings Report Performance Control Communications Your communications skills are used as a tool in Distribute Information. You sho  uld have eliminated 'B' and 'D' because they were not real processes. 'C' might  have been tricky for you, but it is incorrect because the process of Report Per f ormance mainly produces the performance reports, which factually state the sta tu s of the project. Distribute Information can cover many more topics and requi res more in the way of skill and communication ability. The stakeholder register  is important to which knowledge areas? A. B. C. D. Communications and Scope Sco pe, Quality, Risk, and Communications...---> Right answer Scope, Risk, and Commu nications Communications, Scope, and Quality The stakeholder register is used as an input in the following five processes: Co  llect Requirements (Scope), Plan Communications (Communications), Plan Quality ( Quality), and Identify Risks (Risk). 'B' is the correct answer. This is an IMP OR TANT input! On a stakeholder analysis grid of Influence and impact, the scale  is one to five with five being the highest on each coordinate. The project spon sor would have what rating on the grid? A. B. C. D. Infl Infl Infl Infl = = = = 2.1 and Imp 5 and Imp = 4.7 and Imp 4.6 and Imp = 4.8 1 = 6.3 = 4.3...---> Right  answer The project sponsor is a stakeholder that would have high ratings on both axes o

 

f an Influence-Impact grid. 'A' and 'B' do not fit this criteria and 'C' is offs cale. Which statement is not true regarding the strategy of managing project sta kehold ers? A. The stakeholder management strategy is considered a project docum ent. B. A project onlooker that has enough influence to hurt your project should  prompt you as the PM to create a mitigation plan. C. The management strategy fo r project stakeholders should be accessible to the project team so they will kno w how to handle the stakeholders....---> Right answer D. A sponsor's advocate in  senior management should be kept notified of the key aspects of the project to maximize his support in management meetings. Usually a document that can be very  sensitive such as in this case is reserved f or use by the project manager only . The other statements about the stakeholder m anagement strategy are valid. Whi ch of the following is NOT a valid way to reduce risk? A. B. C. D. Select a cont ract type that reduces risk Insure against the risk Create a workaround for the risk...---> Right answer Plan to mitigate the risk Read these questions carefully! The workaround is what you do after the risk occ  urs, so it does not reduce the risk as the question specified. 'A', 'B', and 'D ' all focus on reducing risk by transferring or mitigating it. What is the order  in which the following processes should be performed? A. Perform Quantitative R isk Analysis, Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, P lan Risk Responses B. Perform  Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, p lan Risk Respo nses...---> Right answer C. Plan Risk Responses, Perform Qualitative Risk Analys is, Perform Quantita tive Risk Analysis D. Plan Risk Responses, Perform Quantita tive Risk Analysis, Perform Qualita tive Risk Analysis This question should have  been easier than it probably first appeared. Your firs t clue is to know that P lan Risk Responses only happens after you have analyzed your risks, which elimin ates 'C' and 'D'. Then you can narrow it down further by recalling that Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis is performed before Perform Qu antitative Risk Analysi s. This means that the qualities of the risks are analyze d before you seek to q uantify them. What should you do when new risk situations arise while the projec t is underway? A. B. C. D. Add them Evaluate Add them Complete to the Risk Regis ter...---> Right answer them with the team, the sponsor, and the customer to Les sons Learned documents a change request for them You are managing the construction of a data center, but the location is in an ar  ea highly prone to earthquakes. In order to deal with this risk, you have chose n

 

a type of building and foundation that is particularly earthquake resistant. Th is is an example of: A. B. C. D. Risk Risk Risk Risk transfer avoidance mitigati on ...---> Right answer acceptance The best answer here is 'C' risk mitigation since you are taking steps to lessen  the risk. 'A' is incorrect because you are not transferring the risk to anyone else. 'B' is incorrect because you would need to relocate in order to completely  avoid the risk of earthquake. 'D' is incorrect because you are not merely accep  ting the risk - you are taking steps to make it less severe. All of these are r easonable answers, but the one you would ALWAYS do and should do first, is to ad d them to the risk register. Eventually you may evaluate them, although not alwa ys with the sponsor or customer. You will also likely add them to the Lessons Le arned repository, although, again, that's not the first thing to be done. New ri sksand do then not usually require a analysis change request, but Which are simply adfollowing ded to the regist er processed in the processes. of the would NO T be contained in the risk management plan? A. B. C. D. A risk breakdown structu re A description of the overall approach to risk on the project Risk roles and r esponsibilities A list of identified risks...---> Right answer The risk management plan does not contain the identified risks. It is more gener  al and high-level than that. The identified risks will be listed in the risk re g ister, produced after the risk management plan Which statement is the MOST tru e regarding the rolling of a die twice in a row? A. Rolling a six on the first r oll reduces the probability of rolling a six on the second roll because it is hi ghly improbable to roll six twice in a row. B. The probability of rolling a six two times in a row is the same as the p robability of rolling a six on the secon d roll after rolling a six the first tim e. C. Rolling a three the first roll is  mutually exclusive of rolling a three on the second roll. D. Statistically spea king, the chance of rolling a six on the second roll o f a die is 17 percent or 17 sixes out of a hundred rolls....---> Right answer On any roll of the die, the  probability of rolling a six is 1/6, or 17%. 'C' is incorrect because mutually exclusive means that one choice precludes another; ho wever, it is possible to r oll three twice in a row, so these events are not mutu ally exclusive. 'B' is in correct because the probability of rolling six twice in a row is 2.8% (1/6 times  1/6) and the probability of rolling a six on the secon d roll is 17%. 'A' is in correct because the first roll of the die has no influen ce on the probability o f rolling a six on the second roll. Projects managed by the Forte Corporation se em to run into a lot of trouble. To address this, the company has asked Maya to look into this and suggest a resolut ion. Maya has reviewed the risk registers o f 30 projects, and has noted that mos t of them identified many risks, complete with response plans. Next, she examine d the effectiveness of the response plans  in preventing the risk from occurring. She is starting to realize that the stra tegies chosen by the PMs don't always w

 

ork. What tool did Maya use to help her with this analysis? A. B. C. D. Monitor and Control Risks Earned Value Analysis Audits...---> Right answer Variance Anal ysis Audits are used to examine and document the effectiveness of risk response plans  and of the risk management process. Monitor and Control Risks (A) is a process,  not a tool. Earned Value Analysis (B) and Variance Analysis (D) are both tools of Monitor and Control Risks, but these tools focus on the difference between th  e planned response and the actual response. There are two separate questions to  be considered: Are we following the response plan, and is the response plan wor k ing? Variance Analysis focuses on Are we following the plan? An audit assesses  I s the plan working? Which information gathering technique is usually performe d by a multi-disciplina ry set of experts not on the project team under the lead ership a facilitator? A. B. C. D. Brainstorming...---> Right answer Delphi te chniqueof Monte Carlo analysis Root cause identification Choices 'A', 'B', and 'D' are all information gathering techniques used in Ident  ify Risks, but brainstorming is the only one that fits the description. The Del p hi technique is not done under the leadership of a facilitator, and although r oo t cause identification has some similarities, it is not as good of a match as  br ainstorming. Monte Carlo analysis is not a good choice here since it typical ly d oes not involve a team. You have just finished a thorough Monte Carlo analy sis for your project. Which o f the following would the analysis MOST likely ide ntify? A. B. C. D. Divergent paths causing risk Points of schedule risk...---> R ight answer Points of schedule conflict that lead to risk Gaps in the project pa th that could create risk One of the things Monte Carlo analysis would show you is where schedule risk exi  sts on the project. 'A' is incorrect because it is typically convergent and not  divergent tasks that create schedule risk. 'C' is incorrect because it is not l o oking for schedule conflicts - those would be corrected in Develop Schedule. ' D' is incorrect because gaps in the project path do not, by themselves, cause ri sk . Your project team has completed identifying risks that might impact the new  proj ect. Some time and effort have gone into performing qualitative risk analy sis, a nd the risk register has been updated with the results. The project team members have all suggested next steps to help quantify each risk. Which team mem ber's s uggestion would be the BEST next approach? A. Carry out SWOT analysis an d document the total SWOT score for each risk in the risk register. B. Perform a  risk urgency assessment for high-impact risks. C. Compute the dollar impact of each risk event using expected monetary val ue analysis....---> Right answer

 

D. Use the technique of Monte Carlo analysis to categorize the risks relati ve t o expected risk expenses. The best next step is to quantify each identified risk  using one of the tools or techniques described for Perform Quantitative Risk An alysis. 'C' describes comp uting the expected monetary value - that's a valid to ol of this process. (PMBOK 11.4.2) 'A' is incorrect as SWOT analysis relates to identifying risks. 'B' is a great idea but should be performed during qualitativ e risk analysis. According to the question, that process is complete, so 'B' is incorrect. 'D' is a bogus i dea - Monte Carlo analysis is not a tool used as des cribed for this process of q uantitative risk analysis. What will likely happen to the number of risks in the Risk Register? A. It increases as the project prog resses....---> Right answer B. It decreases as response plans are developed C. I t probably will neither increase nor decrease D. The number doesn't change but t he amount of information for each risk wi ll likely increase. You will have the most(Identify risk at the beginning of the project, continue t oore, identify new ri sks Risks) throughout the life ofbut thewill project. Theref the number of risks will increase over the life of the project. As response plans are devel oped, those plans are added to the Risk Register, but the risks are not removed when a response plan has been developed. Of the following lists, which most corr ectly reflects the input, tool, and outpu t flow when monitoring and controlling  risks? A. Work performance information, variance and trend analysis, approved c han ge requests B. Risk register, risk audits, risk register updates....---> Rig ht answer C. Performance reports, work performance measurement, change requests D. Risk register, risk reassessment, status meetings 'A' is incorrect because 'a pproved' change requests would be an output of Perfor m Integrated Change Contro l. 'C' is incorrect because work performance measureme nts are outputs of Contro l Scope, Control Schedule, and Control Costs, but never a tool. 'D' is incorrect  because status meetings are not an output but rather a tool of this process. 'B ' represents the proper, logical flow of Risk register (input), Risk reassessmen t (tool), and Risk register updates (output). What is the BEST source of informa tion about potential risk on your project? A. B. C. D. Computer risk analysis In terviews with team members from other projects Historical records from similar p rojects....---> Right answer Your own experience in this industry Historical records from similar projects would provide you with the best source of information on potential risks. 'A', 'B', and 'D' are all good inputs or tool  s, but they would not be as pertinent or helpful as the records from other simi l ar projects. Historical information gets brought into your planning processes as an organizational process asset. Linda has just carried out a contingency pla n in response to a risk that occurre d on the project. She's determined that the  contingency plan did not work as wel

 

l as the team assumed it would. Looking at the risk register, Linda notices 7 ot  her possible risks that have a similar contingency plan. She is concerned - wha t should Linda do? A. Issue a change request to investigate a better response pl an for the 7 r isk events.....---> Right answer B. Scrap the risk register and p erform the analysis again. C. Reassess the potential impact and likelihood of th ese 7 risk events. D. Request that the project manager schedule a meeting with t he sponsor to go over her findings. We all agree that Linda needs to do somethin g! She's learned valuable informatio n that needs to be worked into the project plans. 'A' is the best course of acti on: request a change. A response plan has been established for this risk; the te am needs to come up with a better plan. ' B' is incorrect - we don't need to thro w out the entire risk register! 'C' is n ot on point either. The concern is not o ver the impact or likelihood of the ris k events; it's the response plan that is subpar. 'D' sounds nice, but is not nec essary atthe this Request the change the response plan.You If that is approv ed, then PMpoint. will assign resources to to investigate further. are managing a  team developing a software product. You have contracted out a portion of the de velopment. Midway through the project you learn that the contr acting company is  entering Chapter 11. A manager from the subcontracting company assures you that  the state of the company will not affect your project. What sh ould you do FIRS T? A. Perform additional risk response planning to control the risk this situa t ion poses......---> Right answer B. Stop all pending and future payments to the subcontractor until the thre at is fully assessed. C. Contact your legal departm ent to research your options. D. Meet with senior management to apprise them of the situation. The first thing you should do is to plan for the new risks this s ituation presen ts. Remember that you should look for a proactive approach to al most everything. 'B' is incorrect because you cannot simply decide to withhold p ayment if you ar e in a contractual relationship. 'C' is incorrect because even though that may b e something you would do, it is not the FIRST thing you should  do. 'D' is also n ot the FIRST thing you should do, because this problem should  be dealt with by t he project manager. Running off to apprise senior management  of the situation wo uld not be the first thing a project manager does. It would  be far better to do that after the project manager had assessed the situation a nd planned thoroughly for it. During which process is the project team most like ly to perform a risk urgency a ssessment? A. B. C. D. Risk Identification Perfor m Quantitative Risk Analysis Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis......---> Right a nswer Plan Risk Responses The Risk Urgency Assessment is listed as a tool to Perform Qualitative Risk Anal  ysis (PMBOK 11.3.2.5). So, 'C' is the correct answer. This tool helps the team i dentify those risks that can really doom a project soon - urgent! Indicators o f priority might include how soon this risk event may occur, how easily the team  c an detect the risk, the impact if it were to occur, or the presence of warnin g s igns leading up to the risk event. All these might qualify a risk as more ur gent

 

than others and require immediate handling. During a scheduled review, Phyllis i s comparing the risks her team had anticipat ed to actual numbers her team has c ompiled. What should Phyllis do with this inf ormation? A. Update the risk regis ter with this information.......---> Right answer B. Create a risk portal for he r organization based on this information and lessons learned. C. Communicate gap s between planned and actual risks to the stakeholders. D. Calculate the reserve  that remains as a result of any differences betwee n planned and actual risks. Although choices 'B', 'C', and 'D' may be good ideas, the one specified in the P  MBOK is that the risk register should be updated with all of the actual results  of anticipated risks. Which of the following is NOT a tool of Perform Qualitati ve Risk Analysis? A. B. C. D. Risk urgency assessment Risk categorization Probab ility and impact matrix Decision tree analysis.......---> Right answer Answer 'D' does not - it are belongs toor the process of Quantitative  Risk Analysis. The fit 1st here 3 answers tools techniques ofPerform this process of Per  form Qualitative Risk Analysis. If you are soliciting bids for a project, which  of the following would be an app ropriate outputs from this process? A. B. C. D . Proposals from potential sellers and a contract Requests for Proposals and sou rce selection criteria A selected vendor and a contract.......---> Right answer A qualified seller list and a statement of work In order to answer this question, you must first be able to identify in which pr  ocess bids are solicited. It is the Conduct Procurements process, and the prima r y outputs of this process are selected sellers and procurement contract award.  ' C' is the BEST answer. 'A' is incorrect because proposals are an input to thi s p rocess. 'B' is incorrect because thee items are outputs of the preceding pro cess , Plan Procurements. 'D' is incorrect because the SOW is an output of Plan Procu rements and qualified seller list is an input to Conduct Procurements. The  procurement management plan provides: A. Templates for contracts to be used B. A formal description of how risks will be balanced within contracts C. A descrip tion of procurement options D. The types of contracts to be used for items being  procured.......---> Ri ght answer Contract type selection is a tool used in Pla n Procurements. The type(s) of cont ract(s) used are included in the procurement  management plan Bids are:

 

A. B. C. D. An output from Plan Procurements An input to Conduct Procurements.......---> Rig ht answer An input to Administer Procurements Not related to the Conduct Procure ments process Even though bids and proposals are not listed as an output from any process, the  y are prepared by someone outside of the organization and used as inputs to the  Conduct Procurements process. Therefore, Answer B is correct. he procurement de partment of Contemporary Culinary Countertop Company has contra cted with Marble  Mountain Quarries Incorporated to provide a specified list of m aterials as wel l as delivery for a national trade show for custom home builders. Caroline, the project manager for CCCC, has been notified by the supplier that the U.S. Geolog ical Survey (in operations charge since the of theearthquake US Bureau resultin of Mine sgin 1996)  shutdown their due toclosure an impending from thehas qu arry's proximity to a fault line. With contract closure imminent, w hich stateme nt below is FALSE? A. If the contract did not specify the treatment of this scen ario, CCCC's u nresolved claims against Marble Mountain Quarries Inc. for non-pe rformance and c onsequential damages may only be reconciled through litigation. B. Even though the complete list of materials was not able to be delivered, per terms in the contract, CCCC will be obligated to compensate Marble Mountain Quar ries Inc. for the partial shipment of materials prior to the shutdown by th e US GS and subsequent contract closure. C. Because Caroline's project requirement fr om Marble Mountain Quarries Inc . is not going to be met, especially in the last  stages of the project so close to the upcoming national trade show, and also be cause this trade show is a criti cal success factor for CCCC's business, Marble Mountain Quarries must subcontrac t with another quarry to meet Caroline's proje ct requirements before the contrac t can be considered closed........---> Right answer D. Because the contract contained a special termination clause related to  e nvironmental constraints preventing performance by the supplier, even to the poi nt of total default, with no penalties to either party, then Marble Mountain  Qua rries Inc. observance of all notification requirements as spelled out in th e spe cial termination clause leads to a mutual agreement to close the contract.  Focus on the contract terms. Answers 'A,' 'B,' and 'D' ALL conveyed true situat i ons because the terms of the contract specified the mutually agreed treatment in each case. 'C' is the correct answer to this question since the answer did no t base the requirement to subcontract to another quarry on a clause or term in t he contract. The Close Procurements process may seem small or simple compared to  m any other processes in project management; however, a mistake in a contract a nd its subsequent closure can render a project as a failure. PMBOK 4th Edition, sec tion 12.4 Who does most of the work in Conduct Procurements? A. B. C. D. The  The The The procurement office project manager and the vendors.......---> Right  answer project team project manager In this process,  t office, sends e s, the vendors op osals or bids avi

the out are are

project manager, perhaps assisted by the team or procuremen procurement documents, and the vendors respond. In most cas actually doing the bulk of the work, especially when the pr lengthy and complex. You could argue for all four answers h

 

ng some truth to them, but the fact that Answer 'B' is the only one that include  s the vendors makes it the best choice. Which of the following definitions best  describes a procurement audit? A. Tool used B. Tool used ables C. Tool used ... ....---> Right D. Tool used equirements to determine if the correct quality proc ess is being followed to verify compliance in the seller's work processes or del iver to identify successes and failures to improve future contracts answer to ce rtify that prospective sellers meet minimum eligibility r "C" is the best description of a procurement audit. "A" is referring to the tool  of audits used in the Perform Quality Assurance process. "B" is a very tempting  answer - it describes the tool called "Inspections and Audits" used in the Admi  nister Procurements process to check the deliverables being produced against th e requirements listed in the SOW. The PMBOK Guide differentiates the "procuremen t as the takenprocess in the to Close Procurements process to capture lesso n audit" s learned fromactions the current make future contracts more effective. (S ee PMBOK Guide p.343) Finally, "D" describes a review of sellers and does not ap pl y to the "audit" term specified here. You are the project manager for a selle r who has been selected to construct an i ndustrial kitchen for a large food ser vices company. Before the contract negotia tions, the buyer confides in you that  design is not finalized, and they want you to begin work with incomplete specif ications. What type of contract should you ask for in negotiations? A. B. C. D. Fixed price Cost plus incentive fee Time and materials.......---> Right answer C ost plus fixed fee The major clue here is that the scope of work is not completely defined and they  want you to begin work anyway. In that case, the project is at a higher risk, a  nd a time and materials contract shifts much of that risk back to the buyer. Wh o performs Administer Procurements? A. B. C. D. The buyer The seller Both the bu yer and the seller.......---> Right answer Neither the buyer nor the seller Both the buyer and the seller perform Administer Procur Consuela, managing a pro ject with purchasing needs, has received several proposa ls from would-be suppli ers for her company's project. Working with her company's procurement department , Consuela has made a vendor selection decision. Which of the following would NO T be a result of Consuela's supplier selection decision p rocess? A. B. product C. A purchase order A mutually binding legal agreement that obligates the seller  to provide and obligates the buyer to pay the seller Change requests to the pro ject management plan

 

D. A bidders conference to communicate fairly the decision results.......--> Rig ht answer Answers 'A,' 'B,' and 'C' are all valid possible results of the Conduc t Procurem ents process. 'A' would be a purchase order to the selected seller. ' B' is the d efinition of a contract between Consuela's company and the selected seller. 'C' is valid because schedule changes or budget changes may be a result of the agree ment between Consuela's company and the selected seller. 'D' is the  correct choi ce for this question; a bidders conference is used to provide info rmation fairly to each would-be vendor to enable their development of proposals.  The bidders c onference would not be necessary to communicate the actual seller  selection deci sion. Marc is closing a project, and as part of that is gatherin g up the status report s that a sub-contractor sent. He is filing the reports wi th the project's histor ical records. What process created these status reports?  A. B. C. D. Report Performance Close Procurements Administer Procurements..... Procurements...... . .---> Right answer Distribute Information Status reports are procurement documents, and these are an output from the Admin  ister Procurements process (Answer 'C'). The process of Report Performance (Ans w er 'A') refers to reporting the status of Marc's project - not the sub-contrac to r's performance against the contract. Answers 'B' and 'D', Close Procurements  an d Distribute Information, sound like possibilities, but do not match the PMI  def initions for these processes. Frederick is leading a software conversion pr oject for the financial institution that employs him. His organization has been burned by suppliers in the past, so Frederick's boss is very concerned that the supplier delivers the terms of the contract. In fact, Frederick's boss wants him  to focus all his time this week so lely on procurement administration. Which of  the following activities should Fre derick NOT PERFORM this week? A. Explore th e contract for termination clauses and document what portions of contracted work  might be eligible for early termination and what the conseque nces are in case of early termination. B. Based on lessons learned thus far in the project, recon struct portions o f the contract that describe how the work will be performed... .....---> Right an swer C. Investigate the change control terms of the contract to understand how t he contract might be amended in the future. D. Review the in voices and payments made thus far on this contract and dete rmine how those alig n with the status of deliverables. The correct choice for this question is 'B.' In reading the question, you should get the feeling that Frederick's boss is mos t concerned with this current contr act and vendor. Answers 'A', 'C,' and 'D' al l involve the current contract and v endor and can be seen as activities that wo uld put the PM ahead of any bumps in the future. Frederick is understanding how the contract can be changed, what por tions can be terminated, and making sure t he invoices match up with the work per formed. Answer 'B' might be useful for fu ture contracts, but rewriting portions of the contract should be left to others,  such as the procurement specialists or attorneys. (See PMBOK Guide Section 12.3  introduction for more information.)

 

Which process group creates the contract change control system? A. B. C. D. Init iating Planning Executing.......---> Right answer Monitoring and Controlling The contract change control system is defined in the contract, which is created as an output of the Conduct Procurements process, which is an executing process.  You have been tasked with managing the seller responses to a request for propos a l issued by your company. The seller responses were numerous, and now you have  b een asked to rank the proposals from highest to lowest in terms of their resp ons e. What are you going to use as a means to rank the sellers? A. B. C. D. Sou rce selection criteria.......---> Right answer Request for quotation Seller resp onse guidelines Seller selection matrix The source selection criteria will provide the guidelines by which you can evalu  ate and responses. would not necessarily help youterms pick the  as it isrank their proposal The thatRFQ is of interest. 'C' and 'D' were thatseller, were m a de up for this question. A procurement audit is utilized for which purpose lis ted below? A. During contract closure, to identify successes and failures for le ssons learned purposes........---> Right answer B. During contract claims or dis putes to build a credible litigation case. C. During receipt of goods and servic es to verify that delivery by the sell er is in line with the planned purchase o f the buyer. D. At any point within a contract when the sponsor has raised an is sue with the seller selection criteria. Procurement audits are a technique used during Close Procurements to identify su ccesses and failures that warrant recog nition in the preparation or administrati on of other contracts. These might be called lessons learned. (PMBOK 4th Edition section 12.4.2.1) Your project plan c alls for you to go through procurement in order to buy a spec ialty motor for an  industrial robot. Because of patent issues, this motor is onl y available from one supplier that is across the country. After investigation, y ou believe that you could procure the motor from this company for a price that i s within your b udget. What is your BEST course of action? A. Revisit the design and alter the s pecification to allow for a comparable motor. B. Procure the motor from this sou rce even though they are the sole source. ........---> Right answer C. See if th e component may be produced in another country, avoiding your c ountry's patent issues. D. Take the product out of the procurement management process. This one may trick some who think that it is wrong to use a sole source. In many

 

cases it is the only choice. 'A' would not be good since the design has nothing to do with this. 'C' is not necessary in this case, since the issue is not a le gal issue. Choice 'D' would be completely invalid since the item is still being procured outside of your organization. Part of your project requires choosing, p urchasing, and implementing a software package. Going into this project, your sp onsor had directed you to purchase the package he used at another company. Howev er, you had convinced him of the value of properly evaluating the packages on th e market to make sure that the one he r ecommended was the best fit. You have si nce worked with your team to properly ex ecute all of the procurement processes,  creating a thorough set of evaluation cr iteria, receiving several good proposa ls from vendors, and evaluating the propos als against the criteria. As it turns  out, the sponsor's recommended package is not the best choice, based on the eva luations you have done, yet he is insisting that you follow his recommendation. YouWhat havewould requested a best meeting towork discuss make a finalA. decisio n. be the prep for thi you s toin dodetail prior and to the meeting? Ask t he team to reconsider the evaluation criteria, to see if it can be adjusted in o rder to give the sponsor's preferred software a higher score B. Ask someone at t he sponsor's previous company for a list of their evalua tion criteria and compa re it to yours..........---> Right answer C. Prepare a formal presentation of th e process that your team followed D. Find an advocate of the selected software a nd have that person attend th e meeting with you. All of these sound tempting, w hen you are faced with this situation on a real pr oject. The best answer is B, because the heart of the problem is that the sponso r has seen this software wor k before in another setting, so you need to understa nd what is the difference b etween that setting and yours, if there is any. A is not a valid choice as you a re tampering with the results of the evaluation. C is not a bad idea, but will n ot likely address the sponsor's concerns. He is less concerned with the process you followed than he is the end result of the process . D is also not a bad idea , but if that is all you do then you are relying on so meone else to speak for y ou. Identify the statement that is FALSE regarding the process of Conduct Procur emen ts: A. The goal of the bidder conference is to gather all potential sellers  in a central location so that the buyer can interview the sellers at one time a nd e xpedite the selection process...........---> Right answer B. During this pr ocess, your team might find the need to develop a qualifie d sellers list. C. A major input to this process are the proposals from potential sellers. D. Procure ment Documents that are outputs of the prior process become input s to this proc ess of Conduct Procurements. Answer 'A' sounds temptingly true, but is false. Th e focus of the bidder confere nce is on the seller - the sellers are allowed to ask questions of the buyer pri or to submitting proposals and prior to any selle r interviews or demonstrations. The goal of the buyer is to keep the playing fie ld level, share information to all sellers, and not provide any seller with an a dvantage over the others. 'B' i s a true statement. Your team might have to do t he legwork to develop a qualifie d seller list. This could be useful to your org anization in future projects. 'C' - proposals are the major input of this proces s. 'D' - procurement documents ar e an example of an output becoming an input fr om one process to the next. PMBOK - 12.2

 

A project manager is having difficulty getting resources from a functional manag  er. Which of the following would be the MOST appropriate to help resolve this p r oblem? A. B. C. D. Senior management ----> Correct answer The customer Key sta keholders The sponsor It is the role of senior management to resolve organizational conflicts and to p  rioritize projects, and either of those may be at the root of this problem. 'B'  is incorrect since this is a matter internal to the organization, and the custo m er should be buffered from it. 'C' is incorrect since the stakeholders cannot al ways bring influence to bear inside the organization. 'D' is incorrect since the sponsor functions much like a customer internal to the organization. The spo nso r does not prioritize projects and would not be the best person to go to in orde r to sort out an organizational conflict. f you hear a project manager sayi ng toaafew customer, Wedollars, all agree that this projec is important. not fight over thousand what conflict resoltution techniqueLet's is the project manager trying to use? A. B. C. D. Smoothing----> Correct answer Problem-solving  Forcing Compromising Smoothing occurs when the person trying to resolve the conflict asks everyone to  focus on what they agree upon and diminishes the items on which there is disagr  eement. Which of the following statements is the LEAST true regarding collabora tion? A. Collaboration is B. Collaboration is C. Co-location is a D. Collaborati on is ----> Correct answer a preferred method of conflict resolution. working to gether to address a project challange. requirement for collaboration. more facil itated when multiple aggressors are involved. An aggressor is a destructive team role referring to someone who is openly hosti  le and opposed to a project. 'A' and 'B' are true statements about collaboratio n in project management. 'C' is not a true requirement for collaboration, but co location would facilitate collaboration. 'D' is the LEAST true statement about c  ollaboration. Sharon is planning a fairly large project that will involve peopl e from many off ices around the country. Her sponsor is in San Diego, most of th e technical team is located in Phoenix (except for the team members who work fro m home), and the primary customer is in Chicago. Her travel budget is limited by  the fact that t he company has a new focus on reducing travel expenses. What wo uld you recommend ? A. Sharon should plan a trip early in the project to meet wi th each of the groups in their locations. She should include enough money in the  budget for a f ollow-up trip later, or perhaps even a gathering of the team mem bers in a centra l location..----> Correct answer

 

B. Because project managers should always follow company policies, Sharon s houl d find ways to work with the team without incurring any travel expense. C. Virtu al teaming is a tool of managing stakeholders, so Sharon should mak e use of col laborative work tools and conference calls to enable the team to wor k together effectively. D. Sharon should plan a nice celebration at the end of the project;  everyon e would travel to a central location, ideally near the customer in Chic ago. This will not only reward the team for a job well done, but will also reinf orce the value of good teamwork for future projects. This is a very realistic si tuation for most PMs. You should remember that face-t o-face communication is al ways best and that team development should start early in the project - as soon as you have team members. This makes 'A' the best answ er. 'C' includes incorrec t information. Virtual teams are a tool of Acquire Proj ect Team, not of Develop  Project Team. 'B' is not the right answer because the p olicy doesn't state tha t no travel allowed.expense Travelling to meet team members,Maslow as well other stakeh olders, is ais realistic and not an extravagance. 'sas Hierarchy of N eeds theory states that: A. B. urity. C. r-level D. . The strongest motivation f or work is to provide for physiological needs. Hygiene factors are those that pr ovide physical safety and emotional sec Psychological needs for growth and fulfi llment can be met only when lowe physical or security needs have been fulfilled. .----> Correct answer The greater the financial reward, the more motivated the w orkers will be This question might have been difficult for you. 'A' is not necessarily true, be  cause Maslow stated that any level of his pyramid provides the greatest level o f motivation when the needs of the levels below have already been met. Thus phys i ological needs such as food and shelter will be the greatest motivator for wor ke rs to do a good job when those needs are unmet. But once the lower level need s a re met, the needs of the next level become the greatest motivators. The issu e log is a tool used in which knowledge area? A. B. C. D. Integration Management  Human Resource Management..----> Correct answer Manage Stakeholder Expectations  Communications Management If you selected 'C' you selected a process to which the issue log is an input. T  he question also asked for a knowledge area. The issue log is a tool used in Ma n age Project Team in the Human Resource Management knowledge area. The project manager is meeting with functional managers to discuss which team me mbers will be working on specific components of the scope and when they will be needed, bas ed on the latest version of the project plan. This is an example of: A. The work  authorization system because resources are being allocated to p erform the work ..----> Correct answer B. The project management information system, because the  project manager i s executing the project plan C. The configuration management system since team configuration decisions a re being formally decided D. Formal verbal communication because the decisions will be formally refle

 

cted in the project plan The definition of the work authorization system is the system used to ensure tha t resources are formally being released to perform wor k at the right time and in the right sequence. In this case, a meeting with the resources functional manage r would qualify as being a system. he process of ide ntifying, documenting, and assigning roles, responsibilities, a nd reporting rel ationships for a project is called: A. B. C. D. Project Interfacing Organization al Breakdown Develop Staffing Management Plan Develop Human Resource Plan..---->  Correct answer Develop Human Resource Plan is the process of understanding and identifying the reporting relationships on a project. Included in the output of this process (Hu  man Resource Plan) is the project's organizational chart. Alex is a project man ager who wants to motivate his team by offering them a week of paid vacation if the project is delivered on time. this to t he team, hetheory spendsBE e xtra time convincing the team thatWhen thispresenting goal is very achieva ble. What ST explains Alex's behavior? A. B. C. D. Expectancy theory..----> Correct answer  Contingency theory Achievement theory Stimulus/Response theory Expectancy theory says that reward motivation will work if the team believes tha  t the goal is achievable. Which of the following is NOT true of team building? A. B. C. orrect D. Team agreement should be obtained on all major actions. Team building requires role modeling on the part of the project manager. Team buildin g becomes less important as the project progresses...----> C answer Teamwork can not be forced. Successful team building begins early in project development, but it is a contin  uous process throughout the life of the project. Herzberg's theory of motivatio n states that: A. Hygiene factors must be present for motivational factors to wo rk....---> Correct answer B. Motivation to work on the project must be related b ack to the individual 's need. C. An individual's higher needs will not emerge u ntil the lower needs are m et. D. Individuals are motivated by a desire to reach  proficiency. Herzberg stated that hygiene factors must be present in order for motivational f actors to work; however, hygiene factors do not motivate by thems elves. They onl

 

y enable the motivation factors to work. Which of the following is a negative te am role? A. B. C. D. Initiator Information seeker Devil's advocate....----> Corr ect answer Gate keeper A devil's advocate is considered to be a negative team role. 'D', a gate keeper,  is incorrect because in project management terminology a gate keeper is someone  that draws non-participants and withdrawers into the process. Maslow's Hierarch y of Needs theory concludes that: A. Higher needs cannot be realized until the l ower needs are satisfied..... ----> Correct answer B. Hygiene factors are those that provide physical safety and emotional sec urity. C. Psychological needs for  growth and fulfillment are ineffective motivator s. D. The greater the financia l reward, the more motivated the workers will be . Maslow's hierarchy is based o n the fact that your basic needs, like food and wat er, must be satisfied before  higher needs, such esteem, will become importantt.heory 'B' is because Herzberg's theory ofas hygiene factors is a different ofincorrect motivation. 'C' i s incorrect because this is a different motivational t heory. 'D' is related to another theory of scientific management not covered in PMI's materials.