Section 2: Integration Management

QUESTION 41
Management has promised you part of the incentive fee from the customer if you complete the project early.
While finalizing a major deliverable, your team informs you that the deliverable meets the requirements in the contract, but will not provide the functionality the customer needs. If the deliverable is late, the project will not be completed early. What action should you take?
A. Provide the deliverable as it is.
B. Inform the customer of the situation, and work out a mutually agreeable solution.
C. Start to compile a list of delays caused by the customer to prepare for negotiations.
D. Cut other activities in a way that will be unnoticed to provide more time to fix the deliverable.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Choices A and D ignore the customer’s best interests. Any delays would have already been resolved with other change orders, so choice C is not appropriate. The ethical solution is to talk with the customer (choice B). You might still be able to win the incentive fee and find a mutually agreeable solution. Think of the good will that will come from telling the custo

QUESTION 42
While constructing a new drug manufacturing plant, you discover a leak in a pipe which has released chemicals into the ground. It was difficult to acquire the necessary government approval and community support for the plant, and management has told you to be particularly careful to not upset the community. You are uncertain of whether the chemicals could leak into the groundwater or cause any damage. What should you do?
A. Follow the instructions to avoid upsetting the community and do nothing.
B. Start to write articles in the local paper about how poorly treated the local drinking water is.
C. Wherever possible, communicate all the great benefits of the plant to the community.
D. Inform local officials and ask for their help.
Answer: D
Explanation:
Facing the problem sooner is better than facing it later. Besides, it may not be that much of a problem.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 485

QUESTION 43
On one of your company’s medical research projects, you object to how the research is being handled.
However, you signed a confidentiality agreement with the company that prohibits you from talking about your research. It would be BEST to:
A. Quit and do not talk about what you know.
B. Quit and begin talking to the community.
C. Continue working and begin to talk about your objections to the research to newspapers in other cities.
D. Destroy the research.
Answer: A
Explanation:
Since you have signed a confidentiality agreement, the only allowable choice is A.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 485

QUESTION 44
You are the project manager for a new international project, and your project team includes people from four countries. Most of the team members have not worked on similar projects before, but the project has strong support from senior management. What is the BEST thing to do to ensure that cultural differences do not interfere with the project?
A. Spend a little more time creating the work breakdown structure and making sure it is complete.
B. As the project manager, make sure you choose your words carefully whenever you communicate.
C. Ask one person at each team meeting to describe something unique about their culture.
D. Carefully encode all the project manager’s communications.
Answer: C
Explanation:
You should have noticed that only choices A and C involve more people than just the project manager. Since this is an issuing involving everyone, everyone should be involved. Choice A is a good idea in all cases, however, it does not specifically address cultural issues. Therefore, the answer must be C.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 488

QUESTION 45
Which of the following would BEST prevent cultural problems on your international project?
A. Training in the project management process to be used
B. Training in the language of one of the countries involved in the project
C. Training in cultural differences between the other countries
D. Training on mannerisms of the other countries
Answer: C
Explanation:
Choice A does not address cultural issues. Choices B and D may help the situation, but only choice C deals directly with the issue.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 488

QUESTION 46
You are the project manager for a large project under contract with the government. The contract for this twoyear, multi-million dollar project was signed six months ago. You were not involved in contract negotiations or setting up procedures for managing changes, but now you are swamped with changes from the customer and from people inside your organization. Who is normally responsible for formally reviewing major changes to the project/contract?
A. The change control board
B. The procurement/legal department
C. The project manager
D. Senior management
Answer: A
Explanation:
It is the role of the change control board to review and approve changes. That board may include people representative of all of the other choices. The procurement office signs any approved changes.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page:

QUESTION 47
The customer is repeatedly requesting changes. You discover the contract does not include procedures for implementing change. There are no available funds in the customer’s budget to accommodate change. What should you do?
A. Ask your management to use money from the company’s cost reserve.
B. Tell the customer there is no budget for changes in the project.
C. Discuss the situation with the customer to decide how to remedy this problem.
D. Make only those changes that do not impact cost.
Answer: C
Explanation:
Changes made by the customer should be paid for by the customer and not require the use of seller’s reserves (choice A). Saying no (choice B) should not be a first choice. Choice D does not completely address the problem. It is unlikely that the requested changes could all be accomplished without impacting cost.
Sometimes the best way to resolve a problem is to sit down with all parties, discuss the issues, and find a solution that works for everyone.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 127

QUESTION 48
Your organization is having a difficult time managing all of its projects. You have been asked to help senior management get a better understanding of the problems. What do you do FIRST?
A. Meet with individual project managers to get a better sense of what is happening.
B. Send a formal memo to all project managers requesting their project management plans.
C. Meet with senior managers to help them develop a new tracking system for managing projects.
D. Review the project charters and bar charts for all projects.
Answer: A
Explanation:
This is a question about problem solving. The project manager needs to analyze the problems and identify what caused them before making a decision.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 331

QUESTION 49
Which of the following BEST describes the project manager’s role regarding project changes?
A. Discover changes as early as possible.
B. Prevent changes that affect the project scope.
C. Prevent the addition of profit in sellers’ changes.
D. Have the sponsor approve all changes.
Answer: A
Explanation:
The project manager should not necessarily prevent all scope or cost changes (choices B and C) and the sponsor is not involved in all changes (choice D). Changes found early will have less of an impact on the project. Thus, choice A is best.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 128

QUESTION 50
Which of the following BEST describes the project manager’s role as an integrator?
A. Help team members become familiar with the project.
B. Put all the pieces of a project into a cohesive whole.
C. Put all the pieces of a project into a program.
D. Get all team members together into a cohesive whole.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Integration refers to combining activities, not team members (choice D). Could the project manager smash two team members together and create one big team member? (I just wanted to see if you are still laughing about this PMP thing!)
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 97