Section 2: Integration Management

QUESTION 221
Which of the following BEST describes the difference between the Control Scope process and the Perform Integrated Change Control process?
A. Control Scope focuses on making changes to the product scope and Perform Integrated Change Control focuses on making changes to integration.
B. Control Scope focuses on controlling the scope of the project and Perform Integrated Change Control focuses on determining the impact of a change of scope on time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction.
C. Control Scope focuses on controlling the scope of the project and Perform Integrated Change Control focuses on making changes to integration.
D. Control Scope focuses on making changes to the product scope and Perform Integrated Change Control focuses on determining the impact of a change to scope, time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction.
Answer: B

Explanation:
Notice how the choices are similar to each other? Simply look at the first part of each choice “Control Scope focuses on?” and see which of the two versions of the first part of the statement is correct. This eliminates choices A and D. Then read the second part of each choice. Choice C is partially correct and partially incorrect. Only choice B is completely correct.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 125, 169

QUESTION 222
A new project manager has been hired in your company, and you have been asked to mentor her. Because she is well trained, she is planning her project in great detail. Her first project for the company is relatively low priority, and you feel that the project manager is planning too many project control meetings. Which of the following would be the BEST thing to tell her?
A. Strike a balance between the extent of the control system and the risk of unfavorable project
outcomes.
B. Make sure you identify more than 40 risks, and then have more than one meeting a month.
C. A good project management plan should be about 90 percent complete before starting work.
D. Make sure you include milestones to help plan the project to the project charter.
Answer: A
Explanation:
The number of risks identified (choice B) is dependent on the project, so choice B cannot be the best. There is a belief that a project management plan should be complete before starting work (choice C), but there are no standards that say it should be 90 percent complete or any other such number. That would also depend on the project. Milestones (choice D) might be a helpful control tool, but they are not used to “help plan the project to the project charter.” This statement makes no sense. Since the project is lower priority, it would be wise to limit control activities to the needs of the project, making choice A the best choice.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 112

QUESTION 223
A project manager is putting her project control system in place. After a few meetings with others, she realizes that there are few effective measures of progress that can be used on the project. If you were to advise her, what would be the BEST thing the project manager can plan to do to control the project?
A. Emphasize the creation of milestones.
B. Add more people to the project team to help control it.
C. Have meetings every week versus every month.
D. Break the project into phases.
Answer: A
Explanation:
Adding more people (choice B) would increase cost. Since there is a less costly solution, this would not be the best choice. Many project managers make the mistake of just adding meetings (choice C), but there is usually a more effective and less costly use of time. Though phases (choice D) would help, these are usually larger pieces than milestones. Did you know that adding milestones (choice A) is a control feature? If a milestone is completed on time and on budget, the project manager has some measure of the status of the project.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 77, 182

QUESTION 224
When managing a project, which of the following is the BEST order to deal with problems that arise?
A. Go to the team, go to management, go to resource managers.
B. Go to resource managers, go to management, go to the customer.
C. Handle it yourself, go to the customer, go to management.
D. Resolve the problem with resources you control, go to the resource manager, go to the customer.
Answer: D
Explanation:
Choices A and B are not best as they are not assertive enough actions for proper project management. If you picked one of these, be wary, you might need more project management training. Choice C says go to the customer before you go to management, which is inappropriate. This leaves choice D.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 128

QUESTION 225
Which of the following could happen during project executing as a result of fast tracking the project?
A. A problem in a successor activity could affect more activities.
B. All successor activities will have more float.
C. Subsequent activities will have additional risk.
D. Subsequent activities will lose resources.
Answer: C
Explanation:
Fast tracking the project adds risk as more activities are done in parallel.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 205

QUESTION 226
The project for the accounting department has been going well when the company says that it must reduce the cost of the project without changing the quality requirements. The project manager has looked to trim any resources, paid more attention to risk on upcoming activities, and even has reduced product scope, but the project remains over the new budget limit. Which of the following should the project manager do NEXT?
A. Get an extension of time.
B. Review expensive customer requirements that add the least benefit.
C. Suggest the project be terminated.
D. Cut 10 percent off the cost estimate of each remaining activity.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Since an extension of time (choice A) would not reduce the cost of the project. It would not be the best choice. Though choice C might be the end result, it is too early to make such a suggestion, especially since the work completed on the project would probably be wasted. If you selected choice D, you might need a lot more project management training, because this is the worst choice. Cutting 10 percent is arbitrary and leads to increased estimates in the future. It is better to deal with details of each activity and find real cost savings.
You might not have selected choice B, as it means going back to the customer. This should always be the last choice. However, this situation explains that the project manager already attempted to cut costs in ways that do not affect the customer.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 128

QUESTION 227
The project has been going well when one of the suppliers informs you that, as they warned you during project planning, they will deliver your equipment two days late. At the same time, you get a call from a team member informing you that the critical path activity she is working on will take longer to complete than planned. What is the BEST thing to do?
A. Use a contingency reserve for the first, and find out how much later the activity will be.
B. Ask for a change order for each.
C. Have both reviewed with the change control board.
D. Find out why the activity was late.
Answer: A
Explanation:
A lot of people choose D, however, in this situation, there is an impact to the critical path. That makes the best choice A. Once completed, the project manager can find out the reason for the delay. Imagine this situation as a fire. First put it out, then find out why it occurred.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 128, 194

QUESTION 228
In order to decrease the risk on the project, the project manager decides during project executing to change resources on a near-critical path activity. If she is unsure whether such a change must be formally done on the project, she should look at the:
A. Configuration management plan.
B. Change control system.
C. Integrated change control.
D. Change control board.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Rules for when a change should formally be made are discussed or set up during project planning and must follow any company policies. These plans would be included or referenced in the project’s change control system.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 115

QUESTION 229
The project was going well until the director of marketing discovered that two of her staff members were working on different versions of the sampling plan, a product of your project. Which of the following BEST describes what needs the attention of the project manager on this project?
A. Stakeholder management
B. Resource allocation
C. Staffing management plan
D. Configuration management
Answer: D
Explanation:
Configuration management involves making sure that everyone is working off the same documents.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 115

QUESTION 230
The project manager has noticed that there have been a lot of changes on the project. This has not been considered to be a problem until one day he discovers that he cannot determine how many scope changes are currently being reviewed. This problem would be an error in which of the following?
A. Change control system and project scope management plan
B. Plan purchases and acquisitions and requirements gathering
C. Lack of a change control board and constrained optimization
D. A poor change configuration system and benefit analysis
Answer: A
Explanation:
The issue here is the ability to record and keep track of changes, not gathering requirements, so choice B cannot be best. There is nothing to say that there isn’t a change control board in place (choice C). The problem as described here could still occur even with a change control board. Choice D contains made up terms and so cannot be best. Only choice A addresses the problem. Recording and tracking changes is part of change control and may overlap with the scope management plan.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 115, 149