Sample PMP Preparatory Questions and Answers: Leadership
Sample PMP Preparatory Questions and Answers: Leadership
Sample PMP Preparatory Questions and Answers: Leadership
1. Regarding management and leadership all of the following are true except
A. On a project, particularly a larger project, the project manager is generally
expected to be the project's leader as well.
B. Technical leadership is of primary importance in project management
C. Managing is primarily concerned with consistently producing key results
expected by stakeholders
D. Leading involves establishing direction, aligning people, motivating and
inspiring
Answer: B
2. A company has to make a choice between two projects, because the available
resources in money and kind are not sufficient to run both at the same time.Each
project would take 9 months and would cost $250,000.
1 year: $ 15,000
2 year: $ 125,000
3 year: $ 220,000
Answer: D
The measurements made at the end of the process yielded the following
results:
20.033 cm, 19.982 cm, 19,995 cm, 20.006 cm, 19.970 cm, 19.968 cm,
19.963 cm, 19.958 cm, 19.962 cm, 19.979 cm, 19.959 cm.
Answer: B
Answer: A
EV: 523,000;
PV: 623,000;
AC: 643,000.
Answer: D
Answer: B
7. Which process is applied to break down the project into smaller, more
manageable elements?
A. Scope Planning.
B. Activity Duration Estimating.
C. Scope Definition.
D. Scope Verification.
Answer: C
8. Which of the following Tools and Techniques are part of Risk Management
Planning?
A. Risk planning meetings.
B. Documentation reviews.
C. Data precision rankings.
D. Diagramming techniques.
Answer: A
Answer: D
Answer: D
Answer: A
12. Which type of leadership is best suited for optimizing team performance in
projects?
A. Democratic leadership.
B. Participative leadership.
C. Autocratic leadership.
D. Benevolent authoritative leadership
Answer: B
Answer: C
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: d
A. Try to find some productive work for these staff members in the project
and leave them on the team.
B. The best thing is to do nothing.The customer will not realize the problem
anyway.
C. Try to find a responsible person for the over-assignment who can be
made accountable.
D. Take the two people off the team immediately and arrange for the refund
of the excess charges to the customer .
Answer: d
18. In the following network logic diagram start dates are defined as early
morning, finish dates are evening.
Answer: B
Answer: D
20. Tools and Techniques of Risk Response Planning include
A. Identifying, quantitative and qualitative analysis, monitoring and control.
B. Avoidance, transference, mitigation, acceptance.
C. Identification, assessment of magnitude and probability, assessment of
costs of response .
D. Risk management reviews
Answer: B
21. A project manager performs Earned Value Analysis and finds the following
values:
Answer: C
Answer: B
Answer: D
24. A project management team is evaluating the causes that might contribute
to unsatisfactory performance and quality. Which of the following
statements is not true?
A. Normal process variation is attributable to random causes.
B. Special causes are easier to predict and handle than random causes.
C. Special causes are unusual events.
D. A process can be optimized to limit the bandwidth of variations due to
random causes.
Answer: B
25. You are performing a project management audit in your company and find
that most of the project plans are neither consistent nor up-to-date.
Answer: B
Answer: A
Answer: B
Answer: C
29. What is a quality audit?
A. A team meeting dedicated to measuring and examinations.
B. A quality based inspection of work results.
C. A structured review of quality management activities.
D. A meeting with the customer to identify quality requirements.
Answer: C
30. You are assigned as the project manager in a project with an aggressive
schedule. During a recent meeting your team complained about the high
pressure applied and the many hours of overwork time.
Answer: A
A. 36 days
B. 37 days
C. 39 days
D. 42 days
Answer: B
32. Which of the following statements is true concerning Scope Definition?
A. The Activity List is a principle output used for resource allocation and is
an input to network diagramming.
B. The Scope Statement is a principle output containing a narrative
description of project work and deliverables.
C. The Project Charter is a principle output and authorizes the project.
D. The Work Breakdown Structure is a principle output and should be
broken down to a level which allows sufficient accuracy in planning.
Answer: D
33. All the following statements regarding "whistleblowing" are true except
A. It is the term used to define an employee’s decision to disclose
information on unethical, immoral or illegal actions at work to an authority
figure.
B. An employee should always discuss the matter with people external to
the company before following the "chain of command" and discuss it with
the immediate superior.
C. The consequences of whistleblowing are often extreme and include
possible being branded as having bad judgment, firing, civil action and
imprisonment.
D. Carefully considered whistleblowing can lead to the end of unethical
business practices.
Answer: B
Answer: C
Answer: B
Answer: B
Answer: C
Answer: A
Answer: A
Answer: B
41. Which of the following are not cost of quality?
A. Prevention costs.
B. Failure costs.
C. Transportation costs.
D. Appraisal costs.
Answer: c
Answer: b
The project team received a note this morning informing them that the
software delivery will be delayed by 2 weeks.
This morning, the project team received a note that the software will be
delayed by 2 weeks.
Answer: C
A. Concurrent engineering.
B. Resource over-allocation.
C. Resource pooling.
D. Program management
Answer: c
45. What does the acronym RAM commonly stand for in project management?
A. Responsibility Assignment Matrix.
B. Remotely Applied Measurements.
C. Risk Aware Management.
D. Randomly Accessible Material.
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: C
49. A project manager performs Earned Value Analysis and finds the following
results:
BAC is 500,000.
What is right?
A. EAC = 400,000
B. EAC = 550,000
C. BTC = 400,000
D. ETC = 75,000.
Answer: B
50. The construction of a residential home will cost a certain amount per
square foot of living space. This is an example of what type of estimating?
A. Analogous estimating.
B. Bottom-up estimating.
C. Top-down estimating.
D. Parametric modeling.
Answer: D
Answer: B
52. When a change control system‘s provision for changes without formal
review in case of emergency is being utilized
A. Changes can be simply applied without further managerial activities if
they help solving the problem.
B. Changes must still be documented and captured so that they do not
cause problems later in the project.
C. A new change control board (CCB) should be established.
D. The project baseline must be changed as well.
Answer: B
Answer: A
Answer: C
55. You are the project manager and have contracted with a service provider to
develop a complicated software solution This software is necessary to
control the machinery equipment which your project team will develop. It is
a lump-sum contract with additional incentives for meeting predefined
schedule targets. The payment schedule and incentives are as follows:
• 10% with order
• 20% after submission of prototype (+ 5% if delivered one week early)
• 50% after product delivery (+ 5 % if delivered one week early)
• 20% after final product acceptance (+ 5 % if delivered one week
early)
Yesterday the company submitted the prototype to your project team. This
was 2 weeks after the scheduled delivery date and 3 weeks after the date
necessary to qualify for the incentive payment.
This morning, the manager of the contractor approached you to ask for
changes to the payment schedule. They found that their initial work and
costs were much higher than originally expected and they now wish to
increase the second payment to 30% and reduce the final payment to 10%.
During the discussion you got the impression that the company is in
serious financial trouble.
E. Offer to pay 25% now and to reduce the final payment down to 15%.
F. Point out that the contractor is not in a position to demand a change to
the contract.
G. Demand an urgent meeting with the seller.
H. Revisit the planning processes of project risk management to understand
the upcoming risks in conjunction with the seller before any further
decisions are made.
Answer: D
Answer: A
Answer: C
58. You are a member of your company's project office. The company is
running many concurrent projects; most of them share a resource pool.
Understanding how resources are utilized across projects is seen as being
essential to cost effectiveness and profitability.
Answer: A
Answer: D
60. You have been assigned to a new project and have finished the scope
statement. You and your team are now going to create a Work Breakdown
Structure. You are spending a lot of time discussing how to create a
completely decomposed Work Breakdown Structure.
. Status/completion is measurable.
A. Time/cost is easily estimated.
B. Start/end events are clearly defined.
C. Resource availability can be reliably foreseen.
Answer: D
61. A project manager performs Earned Value Analysis and finds the following
results:
A. CV = 0.
B. CV = 30,000.
C. CV = -30,000.
D. CV = 1
Answer: A
62. During a company event, you had the opportunity to talk to a colleague
project manager. He told you that in his current project actual costs are
15% under cumulated costs scheduled for today.
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: B
Answer: A
Answer: D
Answer: B
Answer: A
Answer: B
70. Which is not true in regard of RoI (Return on Investment)?
A. It defines the cumulated net income from an investment at a given point in
time or during a defined period.
B. It includes investment, direct and indirect costs and may include
allowances for capital cost, depreciation, risk of loss, and/or inflation.
C. It is generally stated in currency units, as a percentage or as an index
figure.
D. It is the time when cumulated net income is equal to the investment.
Answer: D
71. Regarding Delphi Technique all of the following statements are true except
A. It is a way to reach a consensus of experts.
B. Experts are identified but participate anonymously while a facilitator uses
a questionnaire to solicit ideas.
C. The experts are encouraged by the facilitator to make direct contact with
each other during the assessment process to create a higher number of
feedback loops.
D. The responses are submitted and are then circulated to the experts for
further comment.
Answer: C
72. Regarding quality and grade all of the following statements are true except
A. Low quality is always a problem; low grade may not be. Grade is a
category or rank given to entities having the same functional use but
different requirements for quality. Quality is the totality of characteristics
of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.
Quality can simply be improved through intelligent testing and examining,
upgrading requires additional expenses.
Answer: D
73. Network templates which contain only portions of a network are often
referred to as
A. Subnets or fragnets
B. Subprojects
C. Programs
D. WBS items
Answer: B
Answer: B
Answer: A
Answer: A
Answer: A
Answer: B
79. You are the project manager for a seminar and training session that
approximately 2,000-2500 employees will be attending. You have rented a
hall for the seminar; however, you are unsure exactly how many people will
attend. Moreover, the number of tables required will change depending on
attendance. The cost of the furniture should be considered?
A. Variable cost
B. Direct cost
C. Fixed cost
D. Transient cost
Answer: A
80. Which of the following is the correct formula for calculating present value
of a business or organization?
Answer: A
Answer: B
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: C
Answer: A
Answer: A
88. Your most recent project status report contains the following information:
BCWP = 3,000, ACWP = 3,500, and BCWS = 4,000. The schedule variance is:
A. + 1,000.
B. + 500.
C. - 500.
D. - 1,000.
Answer: D
Answer: B
Answer: B
91. The _________ is a time-phased budget that will be used to measure and
monitor cost performance in the project.
A. work breakdown structure
B. project schedule
C. cost baseline
D. cost budget
Answer: C
92. To transfer most of the cost risk to the contractor, the client may use a
___________ contract.
A. cost plus award fee
B. cost plus incentive fee
C. cost plus fixed fee
D. fixed price
Answer: D
Answer: A
Answer: D
Answer: A
97. Inputs used during scope planning include all of the following except:
A. constraints.
B. project charter.
C. budget/cost analysis.
D. product description.
Answer: C
Answer: D
Answer: A
100. Inputs into overall change control include all of the following except:
A. project plan.
B. change requests.
C. change control system.
D. performance reports
Answer: C
101. Activity duration estimate inputs include all of the following except:
A. resource requirements.
B. basis of estimates.
C. activity lists.
D. constraints.
Answer: B
Answer: B
103. Initiation inputs for a project include all of the following except:
A. product description.
B. strategic plan.
C. project charter.
D. selection criteria.
Answer: C
Answer: D
Answer: D
Answer: C
Answer: C
Answer: A
Answer: D
110. All of the following are examples of tools often used in cost
estimating except:
A. parametric modeling.
B. analogous estimating.
C. bottom-up estimating.
D. activity duration estimates.
Answer: D
111. At XYZ InC., the hourly wage for semi-skilled workers is $14.00. The
annual audit shows that fringe benefits cost 30% of basic wages, and that
overhead costs are 60% of wages plus fringe benefits. What is the "loaded"
hourly wage for a semi-skilled worker at XYZ Inc.?
A. $27.14.
B. $28.96.
C. $30.03.
D. $29.12.
Answer: D
112. Of the following estimates, which most accurately reflect the actual
cost of the project?
A. conceptual estimates.
B. order of magnitude estimates.
C. preliminary estimates.
D. bottom-up estimates.
Answer: D
113. The most crucial time for project risk assessment is:
A. when a problem surfaces.
B. during the planning phase.
C. during the close-out phase.
D. after the project schedule has been published.
Answer: B
Answer: B
Answer: C
116. Given the information in the following table, what is the expected
value from this risk event? Probability Result
.4 -10,000
.3 -7,500
.2 -5,000
.1 +2,500
A. -10,000.
B. - 7,500.
C. + 2,500.
D. -7,000.
Answer: D
Answer: B
Answer: C
Answer: A
Answer: D
122. Based on the information provided below, which project would you
recommend pursuing?
A. Project I
B. Project III
C. Either project II or IV
D. Can not say from the data provided
Answer: B
Explanation: Project III has an IRR of 15%, which means the revenues from the
project equal the cost expended at an interest rate of 15%.
This is a definitive and a favorable parameter, and hence can be recommended
for selection.
123. What the project manager to ensure that all work in the project is
included should do?
A. Create a contingency plan
B. Create a risk management plan
C. Create a WBS
D. Create a scope statement
Answer: C
Answer: D
A finish-to-start (FS) relationship between two activities implies that the initiation
of successor is dependent on the completion of predecessor.
Answer: B
Explanation: The project team must complete a scope statement for developing a
common understanding of the project scope among stakeholders. This lists
project deliverables - summary level sub-products, whose full and satisfactory
delivery marks the completion of the project.
Scope definition is the process of subdividing the major project deliverables into
smaller, more manageable components.
A risk management plan involves setting up processes for identifying and dealing
with project risks.
Answer: A
Explanation: The organization's reputation being at stake, the threshold for such
a risk would be very low.
Procuring an insurance against the risk would only transfer the monetary impact
of the risk, and not the intangible impact like, the reputation of the organization.
The best option would be to drop the approach - that is, complete avoidance of
the risk.
127. The following three tasks form the entire critical path of the project
network. The three estimates of each of these tasks are tabulated below.
How long would the project take to complete expressed with an accuracy
of one standard deviation?
Most
Task Optimistic Pessimistic
likely
A 15 25 47
B 12 22 35
C 16 27 32
A. 75.5
B. 75.5 +/- 5.08
C. 75.5 +/- 8.5
D. 75.5 +/- 2.83
Answer: B
Explanation: The critical path is the longest duration path through a network and
determines the shortest time to complete the project. The PERT estimates of the
tasks listed are 27, 22.5 & 26. Therefore, the length of the critical path of the
project is 27+22.5+26 = 75.5.
The standard deviations of the estimates of the three tasks are determined as (P-
O)/6 = 2, 3.83 & 2.67 respectively. The standard deviation of the total path is
determined as Sq. root (sum of variances), where variance = square of standard
deviation. Thus, standard deviation of critical path = Sq. root (4+14.67+7.13) =
5.08.
Answer: D
Answer: D
Answer: A
Explanation: A Project plan is the basis of project plan execution and is a primary
input.
Work authorization system is a tool used for orchestrating execution of various
project tasks.
Whereas, Corrective and Preventive actions are inputs to the project plan
execution process from various controlling processes.
131. A project manager would find team development the most difficult in
which form of organization?
A. Weak Matrix organization
B. Balanced Matrix organization
C. Projectized organization
D. Tight Matrix organization
Answer: A
In a weak matrix organization, the power rests with the functional manager.
A Tight matrix organization refers to co-locating the project team and has nothing
to do with a matrix organization.
A. 25
B. 24
C. 1
D. 5
Answer: A
Originally the project has 25 members (including the project manager), which
makes the total communication channels as 25*24/2 = 300.
With the addition of the quality professional as a member of the project team, the
communication channels increase to 26*25/2 = 325.
Therefore, the additional channels as a result of the change, that is, 325-300 =
25.
133. Once the project is complete, the complete set of project records
should be put in which of the following?
A. Project Archives
B. Database
C. Storage room
D. Project Report
Answer: A
Answer: B
Explanation: Common formats for Performance Reports are, bar charts (also
called Gantt Charts), S-curves, histograms and tables etc.
135. If the cost variance is positive and the schedule variance is also
positive, this indicates the:
A. Project is under budget and behind schedule
B. Project is over budget and behind schedule
C. Project is under budget and ahead of schedule
D. Project is over budget and ahead of schedule
Answer: A
Explanation: Positive Schedule Variance means the project is ahead of schedule;
Negative Cost Variance means the project is over-budget.
Answer: A
Explanation: The question is about correct accounting for risk events that occur
and updating the reserves.
Provisions for "unknown unknowns" are in management reserves while those for
"known unknowns" are accommodated in contingency reserves. Management
reserves are at the discretion of senior management while the contingency
reserves are at the project manager's discretion.
Residual and secondary risks are remaining unmitigated risks and resultant risks
of mitigation, respectively. These are not reserves.
In this case, the risk event is one of the identified risks and therefore,
'contingency reserve' is the one where the cost and schedule impact would be
accommodated in.
137. Which one of the following is the last step of project closing?
A. Client has accepted the product
B. Archives are complete
C. Client appreciates your product
D. Lessons learnt are documented
Answer: B
Answer: A
The role of the 'project office' depends on the function defined for it within the
performing organization and it could be either facilitating best practices for all
projects or could constitute the project team.
As lessons learned should capture all variations and what could have been done
better for future deployment, 'stakeholders' should be involved in creation of
lessons learned.
Which of the following should the project manager provide for the team as
a proactive measure?
Answer: C
Choice A, that is, 'a training course on the laws of the country' is a subject of
legal experts and not of the project team.
Choice B, that is, ' a course on linguistic differences' would not serve the purpose
of understanding and appreciating cultural differences, for better teaming.
Which of the following is the next best action for the project manager in
this situation?
Answer: D
Choices A and C, that is, 'report the error and the expected delay' or 'report the
error and the planned recovery actions' do not attempt to solve the problem.
An attempt to solve the problem is the next best thing to do in this situation,
before reporting the issue correctly.
Choice B, that is, 'omit the status update on the milestone' is unethical.
Answer: D
142. In which phase of a project would you estimate activity duration and
resources?
A. Initiating
B. Executing
C. Planning
D. Controlling
Answer: C
143. Which of the following according to the PMBOK is described as, “a
category or rank given to entities having the same functional use but
different technical characteristics?”
A. Grade
B. Quality
C. Flow design
D. Benchmark
Answer: A
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: C
149. Which of the following is a key aspect of quality control?
A. Limited in scope
B. Minimal planning resources
C. Generic cost controls
D. Project wide focus
Answer: D
Answer: B
151. You are managing the release of a new drug in the market. Your role
is that of a:
A. Functional Manager, because you have good understanding functional
knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry
B. Project Manager, because you are creating a unique product within
specific time schedules
C. Operations Manager, because you have to do several repetitive tasks
D. Program Manager, because you have to manage several sub-projects to
effectively do your job
Answer: B
Explanation: Projects involve doing something that has not been done before and
which is, therefore, unique. A product or service may be unique even if the
category to which it belongs is large....
Answer: D
Answer: B
Explanation: Projects involve doing something that has not been done before and
which is, therefore, unique. A product or service may be unique even if the
category to which it belongs is large.
Answer: D
Answer: A
Answer: D
Answer: D
Answer: D
Answer: D
160. You are working in the Project Office of your organization. What is
your job responsibility?
A. Managing the different activities of a project
B. Always being responsible for the results of the project
C. Providing support functions to Project Managers in the form of training,
software, templates etc.
D. Providing Subject Matter Expertise in the Functional areas of the project
answer: C