Section 2: Integration Management
QUESTION 231
Which of the following is NOT a reason to measure variances from the baseline?
A. To catch deviations early
B. To allow early corrective action
C. To determine if there are any wild fluctuations
D. To create a project control system
Answer: D
Explanation:
The creation of a project control system is done during project planning. Variances are measured during project monitoring and controlling.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 123
QUESTION 232
A project manager meets with a resource manager and asks to move resources from project A to project B.
What is the MOST likely reason for this request?
A. A problem has caused delay beyond the project manager’s ability to control.
B. Project A has become higher priority within the organization.
C. An activity has taken longer than planned.
D. An activity was missed because a work breakdown structure was not created.
Answer: A
Explanation:
If project A became a higher priority, resources would be shifted to it, not from it, so choice B cannot be best.
Did you select choice C or D? These might seem correct if you did not realize that errors and delays must be made up by the project manager by adjusting future activities. The first thing to do when Choices Choices C or D occur is to work within the project constraints. One would not jump right into moving resources. Choice A is therefore the best choice.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 206
QUESTION 233
Though it was difficult, the project manager received agreement to the project charter from all four sponsors involved on the project and the US $4,000,000 project was approved. Now the cost variance for the project is
-$500 and the last performance review was positive.
Just when the project entered its second phase, a team member on a noncritical path activity announced she was leaving the company. The float of activity L changed from two to four days.
Only one unidentified risk has occurred with a minor impact. The last quality review showed that the project has made use of the results of the last design of experiments. Based on this information, what should the project manager do NEXT?
A. Complete closure of the first phase.
B. Fast track the project to add more float.
C. Review the management plans.
D. Investigate additional risks caused by the difficulty with the senior managers.
Answer: C
Explanation:
In this situation the project is doing well. None of the details show major problems. Even the cost variance of – $500 is small. Which of the following should a project manager do when the project is going well? Since the second phase of the project could generally not have started without closing out the first phase, choice A could not be best. There is no reason to believe that fast tracking is necessary (choice B) as the project is not delayed. Choice D should have already been done as part of the planning process group. This is old information that would have been known at that time. With everything going well on the project, the only choice that makes sense is to review the management plans for the project.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 113
QUESTION 234
A project manager has put in place rules covering who will have access to controlled documents, how changes to these items will be recorded and approved, and how everyone will know what the current version is. The project manager is therefore creating a:
A. Work authorization system.
B. Change control system.
C. Configuration management system.
D. Project management information system.
Answer: C
Explanation:
A work authorization system (choice A) helps tell the team when work should begin on work packages. A change control system (choice B) helps track, approve or reject, and control changes. A project management information system (PMIS – choice D) helps the project manager know how the project is going. Only a configuration management system (choice C) addresses controlling documents.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 122
QUESTION 235
A project has suffered many delays and the project manager has moved resources around, spent more time with risk management, and even fast tracked the project where possible. The project must be completed by its originally agreed-to date, as resources are needed for another project at that time. The project manager is about to meet with the customer to tell them that product scope needs to be cut when you stop him. What would you advise him to do?
A. Cut quality before cutting scope.
B. Move resources from a noncritical path to a critical path.
C. Work overtime.
D. Reevaluate the project’s business case.
Answer: D
Explanation:
Think about this one again before reading on. Choice B has already been done in this situation. If you selected work overtime (choice C), you might be in trouble. Overtime is rarely the first choice, as it impacts all other work in the company that the team might be working on and causes burnout. Is there any better option?
Here the project has been adjusted and adjusted to the point that the very reason the project is being done (the business case, as in choice D) should be looked at to determine if the project is still viable and worth going to the customer or working overtime.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 103
QUESTION 236
The six-month project has 300 work packages and a US $600,000 budget. Three months into the project 150 work packages are complete and US $300,000 has been spent. Which of the following is CORRECT?
A. The project is on time and on budget.
B. The project manager should reevaluate cost performance but not worry about time.
C. The project needs 50 more work packages to be completed to be on time
D. There is not enough information.
Answer: D
Explanation:
Half the project is done and half the cost has been expended. The answer is simple. Or is it? In fact, you do not know what was planned, so you cannot answer this question.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 240
QUESTION 237
Your project has a cost performance index (CPI) of 1.1 and a schedule performance index (SPI) of 1.03. All the deliverables to date have been completed to the customer’s satisfaction. Getting formal acceptance of the project management plan was difficult because the schedule was compressed beyond reason. Activity B has float of 2 weeks, activity C has float of zero, activity D has a float of zero and activity E is being done by a new employee and has float of 3 weeks.
The hardest part of the project is about to start and the project management office has asked you to increase your management oversight and report more often on the status of the project. In preparing your report you find out that the team member completing activity E reports a one day delay, the team member completing activity D reports that the material needed to complete the activity has not arrived. The team member for activity B tells you his activity will be delayed by two days because the customer has delayed formal acceptance during the Verify Scope process. Another team member reports that the earned value-related trend report is favorable. What would you do if you were the project manager?
A. Investigate why it was difficult to get formal acceptance of the project management plan and whether that problem added any risk to the project.
B. Hold a meeting to walk through the upcoming difficult activities with those doing the work.
C. Investigate the reason for the delayed material and the effect on the project.
D. Reassign resources from noncritical path activities to critical path activities and about activity B.
Answer: C
Explanation:
Did you notice that all four choices could logically be done? Then why is C the best choice? To answer this question, ask yourself what is the biggest issue. In this case, the biggest issue is the material delay for activity D, since activity D is on the critical path. This makes choice C the best choice. If you picked choice A, read carefully, as you would be solving the wrong problem! The most immediate problem described here is not the past difficulty getting acceptance of the project management plan. Doing choice B is wise, but not immediately; you have a delay to deal with first. The same can be said for choice D. A delay may require the reassignment of resources, but you do not yet know if the delay will impact the schedule. Study this question well. Knowing what choices are appropriate when a change occurs depends on the situation described and is an important skill for a project manager.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 128
QUESTION 238
This project is chartered to determine new ways to extend the product life of one of the company’s medium producing products. The project manager comes from the engineering department and the team comes from product management and marketing departments.
The project scope statement and project planning are completed when a stakeholder notifies the team that there is a better way to complete one of the work packages. They even supply a technical review letter from their department proving that the new way to complete the work package will actually be faster than the old way.
The project manager has had similar experiences with this department on other projects, and was expecting this to happen on this project. What is the FIRST thing the project manager should do?
A. Contact the department and complain again about their missing the deadline for submission of scope.
B. Look for how this schedule change will impact the cost to complete the work package and the quality of the product of the work package.
C. See if there is a way to change from a matrix environment to a functional organization so as to eliminate all the interference from other departments.
D. Ask the department if they have any other changes.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Choice A could be done, but notice that it is not proactive? It would be helpful to get to the root cause of why this department always comes up with such ideas or changes after the project begins. However, this is not the immediate problem, the change is, and therefore choice A is not best. The type of project organization described is a matrix organization. There is not anything inherently wrong with such an organization, nor is there anything wrong in this particular situation that would require it to be changed, so choice C cannot be best. The department’s history makes choice D something that should definitely be done, but the proposed change needs more immediate attention. Only choice B begins integrated change control by looking at the impact of one change on other project constraints.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 128
QUESTION 239
A project manager has managed four projects for the company and is being considered to join the project management office team. The following is discovered during the evaluation of his performance. The project manager’s first project had an ending cost variance of -500, used two critical resources, needed to rework the project charter during project executing, and was ranked 14th in priority within the company. The second project finished with a schedule variance of +100, was completed with a vastly compressed schedule, and received a letter of recommendation from the sponsor, but the product of the project was not used. The third project had 23 percent more changes than expected, had an SPI of 0.90, and 25 open items in the issue log when the project was completed.
Each of these projects had a cost budget of US $1,000 and 20 to 28 percent more changes than others of its size. The project management office decided not to add this project manager to the team. Which of the following BEST describes why this might have happened?
A. The project manager has only managed low-priority projects and he had to compress the schedule, showing that he does not have the skill to work in the project management office.
B. Issue logs should not be used on projects of this size, showing that the project manager does not have the knowledge to work in a project management office.
C. The project manager did not effectively involve the stakeholders, showing that he does not have the knowledge to work in the project management office.
D. The project manager had two critical resources on their team and still needed to rework the project charter, showing that he does not have the discipline to work in the project management office.
Answer: C
Explanation:
This is a very confusing question. Notice all the distracters that may or may not be relevant? Since most project schedules are compressed by the project manager during project planning, choice A is not a logical reason and so cannot be the best choice. Issue logs can be used on smaller projects, making choice B not the best choice. The number of critical (or hard-to-get) resources noted in choice D has no bearing on the need to rework the project charter. Since it does not make logical sense, it cannot be the best choice. Take another look at the second and third projects. In the second project, the product of the project was not used.
This implies many things, including the possibilities that either the project manager did not identify the requirements of all the stakeholders or that the business need of the project changed dramatically and the project manager did not notice. This indicates a major flaw in the project manager’s abilities. In the third project, there were 25 concerns of the stakeholders that were not addressed before the project was completed. Again, this shows a major lack of project management knowledge. The needs of the stakeholders and not just the sponsor must be taken into account on all projects. This makes choice C the best choice.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 349
QUESTION 240
Which of the following BEST describes when a project phase is generally concluded?
A. When the work is done
B. When the deliverables are accepted
C. When the work for the next phase is ready to start
D. When it is scheduled in the milestone schedule
Answer: B
Explanation:
Though there are many criteria for when a phase is completed, only choice B is included on this list. Work for each phase must be inspected and accepted before the phase can be closed out.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 131