Section 6: Quality Management
QUESTION 111
When a product or service completely meets a customer’s requirements:
A. Quality is achieved.
B. The cost of quality is high.
C. The cost of quality is low.
D. The customer pays the minimum price.
Answer: A
Explanation:
As a general rule, one cannot say that quality (as defined in the question) is either of high or low cost (choices B and C) or that it provides the minimum price (choice D). It does give the customer what the customer wanted, which may not be the lowest or highest cost. Therefore, the best answer is A.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 269
QUESTION 112
All the following are examples of Perform Quality Control EXCEPT:
A. Inspection.
B. Cost of quality.
C. Pareto chart.
D. Fishbone diagram.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Choices A, C, and D are done as part of Perform Quality Assurance or Perform Quality Control (depending on how they are used). This leaves only choice B, which must be the best answer. Cost of quality is part of Plan Quality.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 284
QUESTION 113
An Ishikawa diagram helps to:
A. Put information in its order of priority.
B. Explore past outcomes.
C. Show team responsibilities.
D. Show functional responsibilities.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Notice that the choices for this question include the definitions for many of the control tools. Such questions can easily confuse you if you do not remember why you use each of the tools. Choice A refers to the function of a Pareto chart. Choices C and D refer to many responsibility charts and therefore cannot be the best answers.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 284
QUESTION 114
Which of the following is CORRECT about quality improvements?
A. They are a tool of Perform Quality Assurance and an output of Verify Scope.
B. They require the preparation of change requests or the recommendation of corrective actions.
C. They occur only through experience of the project manager, team, and sponsor.
D. They are a product of cooperation between the customer and the project manager.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Quality improvements are neither a tool of Perform Quality Assurance nor an output of Verify Scope, so choice A cannot be best. They are identified through measurement and analysis in addition to experience (choice C). Quality improvements can come from more than the customer and the project manager (choice D).
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 274
QUESTION 115
Quality on your project must be as high as possible, yet this type of project is new for your company. Which of the following is the BEST thing to do?
A. Audit work as it is being completed to look for any needed improvements.
B. Improve your work authorization system.
C. Use cause and effect diagrams when there is a defect.
D. Make sure your staffing management plan is up to date.
Answer: A
Explanation:
Choice B might help make sure things get done on time and that people know what work they need to do and when, but it is not related to quality. Choice C is looking backward. It is reactive, so it is not the best choice.
Choice D deals with when people will be moved on and off the project. It does not deal with quality. Choice A is a better answer because it directly deals with quality.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 281
QUESTION 116
All of the following result from quality audits EXCEPT:
A. Determination of whether project activities comply with organizational policies.
B. Improved processes to increase productivity.
C. Creation of quality metrics.
D. Confirmation of the implementation of approved change requests.
Answer: C
Explanation:
Quality metrics are an output of the Plan Quality process. They are an input to the Perform Quality Assurance process, which is the process in which quality audits take place.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 281
QUESTION 117
During project executing, a project team member informs the project manager that a work package has not met the quality metric, and that she believes it is not possible to meet it. The project manager meets with all parties concerned to analyze the situation. Which part of the quality management process is the project manager involved in?
A. Perform Quality Assurance
B. Project Control
C. Perform Quality Control
D. Plan Quality
Answer: C
Explanation:
Measuring is part of the Perform Quality Control process. Did you select choice B? The question asked what part of the quality process are you in, not what part of the project management process are you in.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 282
QUESTION 118
A project has faced major difficulties in the quality of its deliverables. Management now states that quality is the most important project constraint. If another problem with quality were to occur, what would be the BEST thing for the project manager to do?
A. Fix the problem as soon as possible.
B. Allow the schedule to slip by cutting cost.
C. Allow cost to increase by fixing the root cause of the problem.
D. Allow risk to increase by cutting cost.
Answer: C
Explanation:
Many people would pick choice A. It is proactive, but choice C mentions root cause and the probable effect of dealing with the problem. If a problem with quality occurs again, some other project constraint(s) must change to accommodate fixing the problem. Choice B is partially correct (allow schedule to slip) but may not need to occur, because the project manager might be able to compress the schedule in other areas. Besides, cutting cost does not necessarily cause the schedule to slip. Choice D is not best, because a quality problem is most likely to create additional cost, rather than cut cost.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 282
QUESTION 119
The financial systems project has a relatively high profile in the organization and has received great support from the sponsor. There are over 230 activities on the project, and a few have remained relatively large due to the nature of the work to be accomplished. One of these larger activities has an estimate to complete (ETC) that is longer than planned. If the project manager wants to look at non-value-added activities that might be causing the delay, the manager should:
A. Measure using quality metrics.
B. Complete process analysis.
C. Perform a quality audit.
D. Use a Pareto chart.
Answer: B
Explanation:
Discovering non-value activities is part of process analysis: implementing the process improvement plan.
Many people choose to perform a quality audit (choice C). However, performing a quality audit relates to determining whether you are using the right processes and whether those processes are effective, rather than improving processes.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 281
QUESTION 120
Five of the seven phases on the project contain work that is substantially similar. What MUST the project manager do?
A. See what can be done to make sure the work is carefully reworded to remove the similarity.
B. Make sure the same resource completes all the similar work packages.
C. Plan in continuous improvement activities.
D. Make sure the first and last of these work packages is scheduled close in time to each other.
Answer: C
Explanation:
To answer this question, you must first realize that this is not necessarily a bad situation. Many projects have repeated work. Therefore, choice A can be eliminated. There could be some benefit to having the same resource do all the work packages, however, this may not be practical. The question asks for what MUST the project manager do, and choice B is not mandatory. There is no benefit to scheduling the work packages close to each other, so D cannot be correct. Choice C uses the knowledge gained from the earlier work packages in the completion of later work packages, making the later ones faster and easier. Therefore C is the best answer.
Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 281