CAPM : Certified Associate in Project Management (PMI-100) : Part 27

CAPM : Certified Associate in Project Management (PMI-100) : Part 27

1. Which Process Group contains those processes performed to define a new project?

   • Initiating
   • Planning
   • Executing
   • Closing

2. The risk management team of a software project has decided that due to the lack of adequate talent in the company, development of a specific part of the system is under high risk, so the team has decided to outsource it. This is an example of which risk response?

   • Transfer
   • Share
   • Avoid
   • Accept

   Explanation:

   11.5.2.1 Strategies for Negative Risks or Threats
   Three strategies, which typically deal with threats or risks that may have negative impacts on project objectives if they occur, are: avoid, transfer, and mitigate. The fourth strategy, accept, can be used for negative risks or threats as well as positive risks or opportunities. Each of these risk response strategies have varied and unique influence on the risk condition. These strategies should be chosen to match the risk’s probability and impact on the project’s overall objectives. Avoidance and mitigation strategies are usually good strategies for critical risks with high impact, while transference and acceptance are usually good strategies for threats that are less critical and with low overall impact. The four strategies for dealing with negative risks or threats are further described as follows:

   – Avoid. Risk avoidance is a risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to eliminate the threat or protect the project from its impact. It usually involves changing the project management plan to eliminate the threat entirely. The project manager may also isolate the project objectives from the risk’s impact or change the objective that is in jeopardy. Examples of this include extending the schedule, changing the strategy, or reducing scope. The most radical avoidance strategy is to shut down the project entirely. Some risks that arise early in the project can be avoided by clarifying requirements, obtaining information, improving communication, or acquiring expertise.
   – Transfer. Risk transference is a risk response strategy whereby the project team shifts the impact of a threat to a third party, together with ownership of the response. Transferring the risk simply gives another party responsibility for its management—it does not eliminate it. Transferring does not mean disowning the risk by transferring it to a later project or another person without his or her knowledge or agreement. Risk transference nearly always involves payment of a risk premium to the party taking on the risk. Transferring liability for risk is most effective in dealing with financial risk exposure. Transference tools can be quite diverse and include, but are not limited to, the use of insurance, performance bonds, warranties, guarantees, etc. Contracts or agreements may be used to transfer liability for specified risks to another party. For example, when a buyer has capabilities that the seller does not possess, it may be prudent to transfer some work and its concurrent risk contractually back to the buyer. In many cases, use of a cost-plus contract may transfer the cost risk to the buyer, while a fixed-price contract may transfer risk to the seller.
   – Mitigate. Risk mitigation is a risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to reduce the probability of occurrence or impact of a risk. It implies a reduction in the probability and/or impact of an adverse risk to be within acceptable threshold limits. Taking early action to reduce the probability and/or impact of a risk occurring on the project is often more effective than trying to repair the damage after the risk has occurred. Adopting less complex processes, conducting more tests, or choosing a more stable supplier are examples of mitigation actions. Mitigation may require prototype development to reduce the risk of scaling up from a bench-scale model of a process or product. Where it is not possible to reduce probability, a mitigation response might address the risk impact by targeting linkages that determine the severity. For example, designing redundancy into a system may reduce the impact from a failure of the original component.
   – Accept. Risk acceptance is a risk response strategy whereby the project team decides to acknowledge the risk and not take any action unless the risk occurs. This strategy is adopted where it is not possible or cost-effective to address a specific risk in any other way. This strategy indicates that the project team has decided not to change the project management plan to deal with a risk, or is unable to identify any other suitable response strategy. This strategy can be either passive or active. Passive acceptance requires no action except to document the strategy, leaving the project team to deal with the risks as they occur, and to periodically review the threat to ensure that it does not change significantly. The most common active acceptance strategy is to establish a contingency reserve, including amounts of time, money, or resources to handle the risks.

3. Which type of agreement is legal, contractual, and between two or more entities to form a partnership, joint venture, or some other arrangement as defined by the parties?

   • Teaming
   • Collective bargaining
   • Sharing
   • Working

4. The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline is:

   • Determine Budget.
   • Baseline Budget.
   • Control Costs.
   • Estimate Costs.
   Explanation:

   7.3.3.1 Cost Baseline
   The cost baseline is the approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding any management reserves, which can only be changed through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results. It is developed as a summation of the approved budgets for the different schedule activities.

   Process: 7.3 Determine Budget
   Definition:  The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.
   Key Benefit: The key benefit of this process is that it determines the cost baseline against which project performance can be monitored and controlled.
   Inputs
   1. Cost management plan
   2. Scope baseline
   3. Activity cost estimates
   4. Basis of estimates
   5. Project schedule
   6. Resource calendars
   7. Risk register
   8. Agreements
   9. Organizational process assets
   Tools & Techniques
   1. Cost aggregation
   2. Reserve analysis
   3. Expert judgment
   4. Historical relationships
   5. Funding limit reconciliation
   Outputs
   1. Cost baseline
   2. Project funding requirements
   3. Project documents updates

5. To please the customer, a project team member delivers a requirement which is uncontrolled. This is not part of the plan. This describes:

   • scope creep.
   • a change request.
   • work performance information.
   • deliverables.

6. The definition of operations is a/an:

   • organizational function performing the temporary execution of activities that produce the same product or provide repetitive service.
   • temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
   • organization that provides oversight for an administrative area.
   • organizational function performing the ongoing execution of activities that produce the same product or provide repetitive service.

7. How many Project Management Process Groups are there?

   • 3
   • 4
   • 5
   • 6
   Explanation:
   1. Initiating Process Group
   2. Planning Process Group
   3. Executing Process Group
   4. Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
   5. Closing Process Group

8. Which type of estimating is used to improve the accuracy of an activity’s duration?

   • Analogous
   • Parametric
   • Three-point
   • What-if scenario analysis
   Explanation:

   6.5.2.4 Three-Point Estimating
   The accuracy of single-point activity duration estimates may be improved by considering estimation uncertainty and risk. This concept originated with the program evaluation and review technique (PERT). PERT uses three estimates to define an approximate range for an activity’s duration:
   – Most likely (tM). This estimate is based on the duration of the activity, given the resources likely to be assigned, their productivity, realistic expectations of availability for the activity, dependencies on other participants, and interruptions.
   – Optimistic (tO). The activity duration based on analysis of the best-case scenario for the activity.
   – Pessimistic (tP). The activity duration based on analysis of the worst-case scenario for the activity. Depending on the assumed distribution of values within the range of the three estimates the expected duration, tE, can be calculated using a formula. Two commonly used formulas are triangular and beta distributions.

   The formulas are:
   – Triangular Distribution. tE = (tO + tM + tP) / 3
   – Beta Distribution (from the traditional PERT technique). tE = (tO + 4tM + tP) / 6
   Duration estimates based on three points with an assumed distribution provide an expected duration and clarify the range of uncertainty around the expected duration.

9. The Project Management Process Group in which performance is observed and measured regularly from project initiation through completion is:

   • Executing.
   • Initiating,
   • Monitoring and Controlling.
   • Planning.

10. Which of the following are outputs of Develop Project Team?

    • Human resources plan changes and project staff assignment updates
    • Project management plan updates and enterprise environmental factor updates
    • Resource calendars and project management plan updates
    • Team performance assessments and enterprise environmental factor updates
    Explanation:

    Process: 9.3 Develop Project Team
    Definition: The process of improving competencies, team member interaction, and overall team environment to enhance project performance.
    Key Benefit: The key benefit of this process is that it results in improved teamwork, enhanced people skills and competencies, motivated employees, reduced staff turnover rates, and improved overall project performance.

    Inputs
    1. Human resource management plan
    2. Project staff assignments
    3. Resource calendars
    Tools & Techniques
    1. Interpersonal skills
    2. Training
    3. Team-building activities
    4. Ground rules
    5. Colocation
    6. Recognition and rewards
    7. Personnel assessment tools
    Outputs
    1. Team performance assessments
    2. Enterprise environmental factors updates

11. Which tool or technique is used in Manage Stakeholder Expectations?

    • Stakeholder management strategy
    • Communication methods
    • Issue log
    • Change requests

12. Which of the following is a tool and technique used in the Develop Schedule process?

    • Three-point estimates
    • Resource leveling
    • Precedence diagramming method
    • Bottom-up estimating
    Explanation:

    Process: 6.6 Develop Schedule
    Definition:  The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model.
    Key Benefit: The key benefit of this process is that by entering schedule activities, durations, resources, resource availabilities, and logical relationships into the scheduling tool, it generates a schedule model with planned dates for completing project activities.

    Inputs
    1. Schedule management plan
    2. Activity list
    3. Activity attributes
    4. Project schedule network diagrams
    5. Activity resource requirements
    6. Resource calendars
    7. Activity duration estimates
    8. Project scope statement
    9. Risk register
    10. Project staff assignments
    11. Resource breakdown structure
    12. Enterprise environmental factors
    13. Organizational process assets
    Tools & Techniques
    1. Schedule network analysis
    2. Critical path method
    3. Critical chain method
    4. Resource optimization techniques
    5. Modeling techniques
    6. Leads and lags
    7. Schedule compression
    8. Scheduling tool
    Outputs
    1. Schedule baseline
    2. Project schedule
    3. Schedule data
    4. Project calendars
    5. Project management plan updates
    6. Project documents updates

13. The output that defines an approach to increase the support and minimize negative impacts of stakeholders is the:

    • stakeholder management strategy.
    • communications management plan.
    • stakeholder register.
    • performance report.

14. Which of the following project documents is an input to the Control Scope process?

    • Vendor risk assessment diagram
    • Risk register
    • Requirements traceability matrix
    • Area of responsibility summary
    Explanation:

    5.2.3.2 Requirements Traceability Matrix
    The requirements traceability matrix is a grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them. The implementation of a requirements traceability matrix helps ensure that each requirement adds business value by linking it to the business and project objectives. It provides a means to track requirements throughout the project life cycle, helping to ensure that requirements approved in the requirements documentation are delivered at the end of the project. Finally, it provides a structure for managing changes to the product scope.
    Tracing includes, but is not limited to, tracing requirements for the following:

    Business needs, opportunities, goals, and objectives;
    – Project objectives;
    – Project scope/WBS deliverables;
    – Product design;
    – Product development;
    – Test strategy and test scenarios; and
    – High-level requirements to more detailed requirements.
    Attributes associated with each requirement can be recorded in the requirements traceability matrix. These attributes help to define key information about the requirement. Typical attributes used in the requirements traceability matrix may include: a unique identifier, a textual description of the requirement, the rationale for inclusion, owner, source, priority, version, current status (such as active, cancelled, deferred, added, approved, assigned, completed), and status date. Additional attributes to ensure that the requirement has met stakeholders’ satisfaction may include stability, complexity, and acceptance criteria.

    Process: 5.6 Control Scope
    Definition: The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.
    Key Benefit: The key benefit of this process is that it allows the scope baseline to be maintained throughout the project.

    Inputs
    1. Project management plan
    2. Requirements documentation
    3. Requirements traceability matrix
    4. Work performance data
    5. Organizational process assets
    Tools & Techniques
    1. Variance analysis
    Outputs
    1. Work performance information
    2. Change requests
    3. Project management plan updates
    4. Project documents updates
    5. Organizational process assets updates

15. The progressive detailing of the project management plan is called:

    • expert judgment.
    • rolling wave planning.
    • work performance information.
    • specification.
    Explanation:

    6.2.2.2 Rolling Wave Planning
    Rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level. It is a form of progressive elaboration.
    Therefore, work can exist at various levels of detail depending on where it is in the project life cycle. During early strategic planning, when information is less defined, work packages may be decomposed to the known level of detail. As more is known about the upcoming events in the near term, work packages can be decomposed into activities.

    4.2.3.1 Project Management Plan
    The project management plan is the document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. It integrates and consolidates all of the subsidiary plans and baselines from the planning processes.
    Project baselines include, but are not limited to:
    – Scope baseline (Section 5.4.3.1),
    – Schedule baseline (Section 6.6.3.1), and
    – Cost baseline (Section 7.3.3.1).

    Subsidiary plans include, but are not limited to:
    – Scope management plan (Section 5.1.3.1),
    – Requirements management plan (Section 5.1.3.2),
    – Schedule management plan (Section 6.1.3.1),
    – Cost management plan (Section 7.1.3.1),
    – Quality management plan (Section 8.1.3.1),
    – Process improvement plan (Section 8.1.3.2),
    – Human resource management plan (Section 9.1.3.1),
    – Communications management plan (Section 10.1.3.1),
    – Risk management plan (Section 11.1.3.1),
    – Procurement management plan (Section 12.1.3.1), and
    – Stakeholder management plan (Section 13.2.3.1).
    Among other things, the project management plan may also include the following:
    – Life cycle selected for the project and the processes that will be applied to each phase;
    – Details of the tailoring decisions specified by the project management team as follows:
    ○ Project management processes selected by the project management team,
    ○ Level of implementation for each selected process,
    ○ Descriptions of the tools and techniques to be used for accomplishing those processes, and
    ○ Description of how the selected processes will be used to manage the specific project, including the dependencies and interactions among those processes and the essential inputs and outputs.
    – Description of how work will be executed to accomplish the project objectives;
    – Change management plan that documents how changes will be monitored and controlled;
    – Configuration management plan that documents how Configuration management will be performed;
    – Description of how the integrity of the project baselines will be maintained;
    – Requirements and techniques for communication among stakeholders; and
    – Key management reviews for content, the extent of, and timing to address, open issues and pending decisions.

    The project management plan may be either summary level or detailed, and may be composed of one or more subsidiary plans. Each of the subsidiary plans is detailed to the extent required by the specific project. Once the project management plan is baselined, it may only be changed when a change request is generated and approved through the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

16. What is the responsibility of the project manager and the functional manager respectively?

    • Oversight for an administrative area; a facet of the core business
    • Achieving the project objectives; providing management oversight for an administrative area
    • A facet of the core business; achieving the project objectives
    • Both are responsible for achieving the project objectives.

17. Which is used to solicit proposals from prospective sellers?

    • Procurement statement of work
    • Resource calendars
    • Procurement document
    • Independent estimates
    Explanation:
    12.1.3.3 Procurement Documents
    Procurement documents are used to solicit proposals from prospective sellers. Terms such as bid, tender, or quotation are generally used when the seller selection decision will be based on price (as when buying commercial or standard items), while a term such as proposal is generally used when other considerations, such as technical capability or technical approach are paramount. Common terms are in use for different types of procurement documents and may include request for information (RFI), invitation for bid (IFB), request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ), tender notice, invitation for negotiation, and invitation for seller’s initial response. Specific procurement terminology used may vary by industry and location of the procurement.
    The buyer structures procurement documents to facilitate an accurate and complete response from each prospective seller and to facilitate easy evaluation of the responses. These documents include a description of the desired form of the response, the relevant procurement statement of work (SOW) and any required contractual provisions. With government contracting, some or all of the content and structure of procurement documents may be defined by regulation.
    The complexity and level of detail of the procurement documents should be consistent with the value of, and risks associated with, the planned procurement. Procurement documents are required to be sufficient to ensure consistent, appropriate responses, but flexible enough to allow consideration of any seller suggestions for better ways to satisfy the same requirements.
    Issuing a procurement request to potential sellers to submit a proposal or bid is normally done in accordance with the policies of the buyer’s organization, which can include publication of the request in public newspapers, in trade journals, in public registries, or on the internet.

18. In which Project Management Process Group is the project charter developed?

    • Monitoring and Controlling
    • Executing
    • Initiating
    • Planning
    Explanation:

    Initiating Process Group. Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.

    Process: 4.1. Develop Project Charter
    Definition: The process of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
    Key Benefit: The key benefit of this process is a well-defined project start and project boundaries, creation of a formal record of the project, and a direct way for senior management to formally accept and commit to the project.

    Inputs
    1.     Project statement of work
    2.     Business case
    3.     Agreements
    4.     Enterprise environmental factors
    5.     Organizational process assets
    Tools & Techniques
    1.     Expert judgment
    2.     Facilitation techniques
    Outputs
    1.     Project charter

19. Which can be used to determine whether a process is stable or has predictable performance?

    • Matrix diagram
    • Histogram
    • Control chart
    • Flowchart
    Explanation:

    Control charts, are used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance.
    Upper and lower specification limits are based on requirements of the agreement. They reflect the maximum and minimum values allowed. There may be penalties associated with exceeding the specification limits. Upper and lower control limits are different from specification limits. The control limits are determined using standard statistical calculations and principles to ultimately establish the natural capability for a stable process. The project manager and appropriate stakeholders may use the statistically calculated control limits to identify the points at which corrective action will be taken to prevent unnatural performance. The corrective action typically seeks to maintain the natural stability of a stable and capable process. For repetitive processes, the control limits are generally set at ±3 s around a process mean that has been set at 0 s. A process is considered out of control when: (1) a data point exceeds a control limit; (2) seven consecutive plot points are above the mean; or (3) seven consecutive plot points are below the mean. Control charts can be used to monitor various types of output variables.
    Although used most frequently to track repetitive activities required for producing manufactured lots, control charts may also be used to monitor cost and schedule variances, volume, and frequency of scope changes, or other management results to help determine if the project management processes are in control.

    

20. When sequencing activities, what does the common acronym FF stand for?

    • Fixed Fee
    • Free Float
    • Fixed Finish
    • Finish-to-Finish
    Explanation:
    – A finish-to-start (FS) relationship between two activities implies that the initiation of successor is dependent on the completion of predecessor.
    – A finish-to-finish (FF) relationship between two activities implies that the completion of successor is dependent on the completion of predecessor.
    – A start-to-start (SS) relationship implies that the initiation of successor is dependent on the initiation of predecessor.
    – A start-to-finish (SF) relationship between two activities implies that the completion of successor is dependent on the initiation of its predecessor