4th Edition PMP Guide
1. You are a project manager working on a project to market a new product. The deliverables of the project have been established, and the project work has begun. A contract to deliver the deliverables has been signed. The customer who has signed the contract has telephoned you to request additional work to be done on the project. This work will affect the budget but not the schedule of the project. This project has a high priority with your company. What should you so next?
a. Do what the customer asks you to do and add the additional requirements to the original contract
b. Refuse the request and send a memo to your management explaining the situation
c. Respond to the customer’s request by explaining the change procedure and askingthat he or she submit a request for change
d. Arrange to meet with the project team to discuss this change
2. You are the project manager for a high visibility project. The margin on this project is low,and it is extremely important that the cost estimates for the work on the project be accurate. While reviewing the cost estimates for this project you notice that one of the cost estimates for an element in the WBS is 10% higher than two previous projects for very similar work. What should you do?
a. Accept the estimate because you trust all of the people on your project team, and they are responsible for estimates
b. Reduce the estimate and add the additional budget to the management reserve
c. Ask the person responsible for the estimate to explain the difference and bring supporting information to you
d. Reduce the estimate and add the additional budget to the contingency reserve
3. You are managing a project in a foreign country. In this country there is a normalpractice for business people to exchange gifts when very large contracts, such as the one you are working on, are signed. The gift is of a greater value than your company’s policy for gift exchange will allow. You have given a gift of similar value to the customer’srepresentative already. What should you do?
a. Take the gift
b. Contact your company’s management and seek for assistance
c. Refuse the gift graciously, explaining your company’s policy
d. Ask the customer’s representative to give the gift to your manager.
4. You are the manager of a research group that is developing a new chemical material.You hire a person from a competing company who has a great deal of expertise in thisarea. The person contributes greatly to the progress of your project. Duringconversation with the person you determine that many of this person’s ideas weredeveloped by the competing company. What do you do?
a. Tell the person that he or she should not mention that the ideas came from anothercompany
b. Sign a nondisclosure agreement with this person before he or she leaves yourcompany
c. Accept the new ideas
d. Investigate the employee for security reasons
5. You are managing a project that is in process. A large and unexpected problem occurs that will cause a delay in the schedule in excess of the contingency schedule for the project. What should you do?
a. Look at other tasks in the schedule and see which ones should be reduced to allow time for this problem to be worked
b. Reduce testing on the completed tasks
c. Require mandatory overtime for the project team
d. Speak to the stakeholders about getting additional time and budget for the project
6. You are the project manager for a large project. Some members of the project team have come to you and asked that they be permitted to work on a flexible schedule. Some of the other team members feel that it is important that all team members be on site at all times unless they are absent for business reasons. What should you do?
a. Turn down the request for flexible time schedules
b. Accept the request for flexible time schedules
c. Arrange a meeting of the project team members and allow them to decide
d. Discuss this problem with your manager and act on the results of the meeting
7. You are the project manager for a project that has high visibility. Your manager wants you to prepare a presentation for him to present at a conference. Most of the material in the presentation will be facts that are the results of your project. Your manager intends to present the material under his own name. Your name will not appear. What should you do?
a. Refuse to work on the presentation unless you are listed as a coauthor
b. Do the work as you were told by your manager
c. Present your own presentation
d. Meet with your manager’s manager and discuss the problem
8. You are managing a project and the customer’s engineer visits your facility on an inspection and general getting acquainted tour. During the tour they make the comment that the parts that are being designed should be in stainless steel instead of plain steel with enamel. What should you do?
a. Authorize the change in design to your engineers
b. Continue with the present design
c. Speak to the visiting engineers and discuss having an informal meeting between
your engineers and the visiting engineers
d. Ask the visiting engineers to submit a change proposal to the change system
9. Which of the following is the example of a conflict of interest?
a. You are the fourth cousin of a vendor supplying parts to a project in your company
b. You are the owner of a company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing
c. You receive a gift from a supplier of parts for your project
d. A supplier tells you sensitive information, in confidence, that allows you to select another supplier for your project
10. You are the project manager for a large project that is completed on time and on budget. The customer and all of the stakeholders are pleased with the results. As a direct result of the successful completion of the project, your manager approves a bonus of $25,000 for you. There are fifteen members of the project team. One of the people in the project
team has been a very low contributor to the project; the other fourteen have all been above standard. What should you do with the money?
a. Keep the money yourself; you deserve it. And the manager gave it to you
b. Divide the money equally among all the team members
c. Ask the team members how they would divide the money
d. Divide the money equally among the team members except for the substandard
team member
11. One of the members of your project team comes to you and says that he heard that one of the suppliers to the project had given a substantial gift to one of the project team members in hopes that the team member would favor his company with a purchase order. The company was favored with a purchase order for the parts. What should you do?
a. Talk to the person and get him or her to give back the gift
b. Investigate the matter completely
c. Cancel the purchase order with the supplier
d. Meet with your manager and discuss the problem
12. Decomposing the major deliverables into smaller, more manageable components to provide better control is called:
a. Scope planning
b. Scope definition
c. Scope baselining
d. Scope verification
13. Any numbering system that is used to monitor project costs by category such as labor, supplies, or materials, for example, is called
a. Chart of accounts
b. Work breakdown structure
c. Universal accounting standard
d. Standard accounting practices
14. A person who is involved in or may be affected by the activities or anyone who has something to gain or lose by the activity of the project is called a:
a. Team member
b. Customer
c. Stakeholder
d. Supporter
The following should be used for questions 15 through 17.
A project manager is assigned to a project early in the project lifecycle. One of the things that must be done is to do a justification for the project. Since very little information is known about the project, the estimates are considered to be rough estimates. The following table is the project manager’s estimate of the cash flow that will take place over the next five years.
End of Year Cash Flow In Cash Flow Out
1 0 500,000
2 300,000 90,000
3 400,000 100,000
4 100,000 175,000
5 50,000 35,000
15. What is the payback period for this project?
a. One year
b. Two years
c. Three years
d. Four years
16. What is the net cash flow at the end of five years?
a. $50,000
b. - $50,000
c. $850,000
d. $100,000
17. If the net present value for each of the cash flows were calculated at a 10% interest rate, the net present value cash flow at the end of five years would be:
a. Greater than the total cash flow without the net present value applied
b. Less than the total cash flow without the net present value applied
c. The same as the total cash flow without the net present value applied
d. Unable to be calculated with the information supplied
a. Do what the customer asks you to do and add the additional requirements to the original contract
b. Refuse the request and send a memo to your management explaining the situation
c. Respond to the customer’s request by explaining the change procedure and askingthat he or she submit a request for change
d. Arrange to meet with the project team to discuss this change
2. You are the project manager for a high visibility project. The margin on this project is low,and it is extremely important that the cost estimates for the work on the project be accurate. While reviewing the cost estimates for this project you notice that one of the cost estimates for an element in the WBS is 10% higher than two previous projects for very similar work. What should you do?
a. Accept the estimate because you trust all of the people on your project team, and they are responsible for estimates
b. Reduce the estimate and add the additional budget to the management reserve
c. Ask the person responsible for the estimate to explain the difference and bring supporting information to you
d. Reduce the estimate and add the additional budget to the contingency reserve
3. You are managing a project in a foreign country. In this country there is a normalpractice for business people to exchange gifts when very large contracts, such as the one you are working on, are signed. The gift is of a greater value than your company’s policy for gift exchange will allow. You have given a gift of similar value to the customer’srepresentative already. What should you do?
a. Take the gift
b. Contact your company’s management and seek for assistance
c. Refuse the gift graciously, explaining your company’s policy
d. Ask the customer’s representative to give the gift to your manager.
4. You are the manager of a research group that is developing a new chemical material.You hire a person from a competing company who has a great deal of expertise in thisarea. The person contributes greatly to the progress of your project. Duringconversation with the person you determine that many of this person’s ideas weredeveloped by the competing company. What do you do?
a. Tell the person that he or she should not mention that the ideas came from anothercompany
b. Sign a nondisclosure agreement with this person before he or she leaves yourcompany
c. Accept the new ideas
d. Investigate the employee for security reasons
5. You are managing a project that is in process. A large and unexpected problem occurs that will cause a delay in the schedule in excess of the contingency schedule for the project. What should you do?
a. Look at other tasks in the schedule and see which ones should be reduced to allow time for this problem to be worked
b. Reduce testing on the completed tasks
c. Require mandatory overtime for the project team
d. Speak to the stakeholders about getting additional time and budget for the project
6. You are the project manager for a large project. Some members of the project team have come to you and asked that they be permitted to work on a flexible schedule. Some of the other team members feel that it is important that all team members be on site at all times unless they are absent for business reasons. What should you do?
a. Turn down the request for flexible time schedules
b. Accept the request for flexible time schedules
c. Arrange a meeting of the project team members and allow them to decide
d. Discuss this problem with your manager and act on the results of the meeting
7. You are the project manager for a project that has high visibility. Your manager wants you to prepare a presentation for him to present at a conference. Most of the material in the presentation will be facts that are the results of your project. Your manager intends to present the material under his own name. Your name will not appear. What should you do?
a. Refuse to work on the presentation unless you are listed as a coauthor
b. Do the work as you were told by your manager
c. Present your own presentation
d. Meet with your manager’s manager and discuss the problem
8. You are managing a project and the customer’s engineer visits your facility on an inspection and general getting acquainted tour. During the tour they make the comment that the parts that are being designed should be in stainless steel instead of plain steel with enamel. What should you do?
a. Authorize the change in design to your engineers
b. Continue with the present design
c. Speak to the visiting engineers and discuss having an informal meeting between
your engineers and the visiting engineers
d. Ask the visiting engineers to submit a change proposal to the change system
9. Which of the following is the example of a conflict of interest?
a. You are the fourth cousin of a vendor supplying parts to a project in your company
b. You are the owner of a company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing
c. You receive a gift from a supplier of parts for your project
d. A supplier tells you sensitive information, in confidence, that allows you to select another supplier for your project
10. You are the project manager for a large project that is completed on time and on budget. The customer and all of the stakeholders are pleased with the results. As a direct result of the successful completion of the project, your manager approves a bonus of $25,000 for you. There are fifteen members of the project team. One of the people in the project
team has been a very low contributor to the project; the other fourteen have all been above standard. What should you do with the money?
a. Keep the money yourself; you deserve it. And the manager gave it to you
b. Divide the money equally among all the team members
c. Ask the team members how they would divide the money
d. Divide the money equally among the team members except for the substandard
team member
11. One of the members of your project team comes to you and says that he heard that one of the suppliers to the project had given a substantial gift to one of the project team members in hopes that the team member would favor his company with a purchase order. The company was favored with a purchase order for the parts. What should you do?
a. Talk to the person and get him or her to give back the gift
b. Investigate the matter completely
c. Cancel the purchase order with the supplier
d. Meet with your manager and discuss the problem
12. Decomposing the major deliverables into smaller, more manageable components to provide better control is called:
a. Scope planning
b. Scope definition
c. Scope baselining
d. Scope verification
13. Any numbering system that is used to monitor project costs by category such as labor, supplies, or materials, for example, is called
a. Chart of accounts
b. Work breakdown structure
c. Universal accounting standard
d. Standard accounting practices
14. A person who is involved in or may be affected by the activities or anyone who has something to gain or lose by the activity of the project is called a:
a. Team member
b. Customer
c. Stakeholder
d. Supporter
The following should be used for questions 15 through 17.
A project manager is assigned to a project early in the project lifecycle. One of the things that must be done is to do a justification for the project. Since very little information is known about the project, the estimates are considered to be rough estimates. The following table is the project manager’s estimate of the cash flow that will take place over the next five years.
End of Year Cash Flow In Cash Flow Out
1 0 500,000
2 300,000 90,000
3 400,000 100,000
4 100,000 175,000
5 50,000 35,000
15. What is the payback period for this project?
a. One year
b. Two years
c. Three years
d. Four years
16. What is the net cash flow at the end of five years?
a. $50,000
b. - $50,000
c. $850,000
d. $100,000
17. If the net present value for each of the cash flows were calculated at a 10% interest rate, the net present value cash flow at the end of five years would be:
a. Greater than the total cash flow without the net present value applied
b. Less than the total cash flow without the net present value applied
c. The same as the total cash flow without the net present value applied
d. Unable to be calculated with the information supplied
18. A group of related projects that are managed in a coordinated way that usually include an element of ongoing activity is called a:
a. Major project
b. Project office
c. Program
d. Group of projects
19. During the full life cycle of the project, a plot of the project’s expected expenditure will usually follow a characteristic “S” shape. This indicates that:
a. There is a cyclic nature to all projects
b. Problems will always occur in the execution phase
c. There are high expenditure during closeout
d. The bulk of the project budget will be spent in the execution phase
20. A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a new product or service is called a:
a. New product development
b. Project
c. Program
d. Enterprise
ANSWERS
1. C
Respond to the customer’s request by explaining the change procedure and asking that he or she submit a request for change
2. C
Ask the person responsible for the estimate to explain the difference and bring supporting information to you
3. B
Contact your company’s management and seek for assistance
4. C
Accept the new ideas
5. A
Look at other tasks in the schedule and see which ones should be reduced to allow time for this problem to be worked
6. C
Arrange a meeting of the project team members and allow them to decide
7. A
Refuse to work on the presentation unless you are listed as a coauthor
8. C
Speak to the visiting engineers and discuss having an informal meeting between your engineers and the visiting engineers
9. B
You are the owner of a company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing
**NOTE: We received some inputs from a reader by the name of Robert Herrage which offers another opinion on question 9:
9. Which of the following is the example of a conflict of interest?
a. You are the fourth cousin of a vendor supplying parts to a project in your company
b. You are the owner of a company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing
c. You receive a gift from a supplier of parts for your project
d. A supplier tells you sensitive information, in confidence, that allows you to select another supplier for your project
FYI, you list "b." as the answer. Think that the answer needs to be worded differently because the following scenario fits and would be acceptable:
10. C
Ask the team members how they would divide the money
11. B
Investigate the matter completely
12. B
Scope definition
13. A
Chart of accounts
14. C
Stakeholder
15. C
Three years
16. B
- $50,000
17. B
Less than the total cash flow without the net present value applied
18. C
Program
19. D
The bulk of the project budget will be spent in the execution phase
20. B
Project
a. Major project
b. Project office
c. Program
d. Group of projects
19. During the full life cycle of the project, a plot of the project’s expected expenditure will usually follow a characteristic “S” shape. This indicates that:
a. There is a cyclic nature to all projects
b. Problems will always occur in the execution phase
c. There are high expenditure during closeout
d. The bulk of the project budget will be spent in the execution phase
20. A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a new product or service is called a:
a. New product development
b. Project
c. Program
d. Enterprise
ANSWERS
1. C
Respond to the customer’s request by explaining the change procedure and asking that he or she submit a request for change
2. C
Ask the person responsible for the estimate to explain the difference and bring supporting information to you
3. B
Contact your company’s management and seek for assistance
4. C
Accept the new ideas
5. A
Look at other tasks in the schedule and see which ones should be reduced to allow time for this problem to be worked
6. C
Arrange a meeting of the project team members and allow them to decide
7. A
Refuse to work on the presentation unless you are listed as a coauthor
8. C
Speak to the visiting engineers and discuss having an informal meeting between your engineers and the visiting engineers
9. B
You are the owner of a company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing
**NOTE: We received some inputs from a reader by the name of Robert Herrage which offers another opinion on question 9:
9. Which of the following is the example of a conflict of interest?
a. You are the fourth cousin of a vendor supplying parts to a project in your company
b. You are the owner of a company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing
c. You receive a gift from a supplier of parts for your project
d. A supplier tells you sensitive information, in confidence, that allows you to select another supplier for your project
FYI, you list "b." as the answer. Think that the answer needs to be worded differently because the following scenario fits and would be acceptable:
- I am the owner of Company X.
- Company X has a division that makes its own parts that I can use for my project.
- I decide to use my own company's parts for my project.
- There's no conflict of interest there because their's no personal gain from buying your own company's parts.
- With that said, I believe that the answer just needs to have more qualifying words; for example:
- You are the owner of another company that is supplying parts to a project that you are managing for your current company.
10. C
Ask the team members how they would divide the money
11. B
Investigate the matter completely
12. B
Scope definition
13. A
Chart of accounts
14. C
Stakeholder
15. C
Three years
16. B
- $50,000
17. B
Less than the total cash flow without the net present value applied
18. C
Program
19. D
The bulk of the project budget will be spent in the execution phase
20. B
Project
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