Project Management Framework

Q1. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a project?

1. Constrained by limited resources

2. Planned, executed, and controlled

3. Creates a unique product or service

4. Ongoing and repetitive

Q2. In a kick-off meeting for your project, you provided information to your team members about
the different process groups to be followed in the project. According to PMI, which are the project
management process groups?

1. Conceptualizing, Initiating, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing

2. Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing

3. Initiating, Verifying, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing

4. Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Administrative Closure

Q3. You are managing the release of a new drug in the market. Your role is that of a:
1. Functional Manager, because you have good functional knowledge of the
pharmaceutical industry

2. Project Manager, because you are creating a unique product within specific time
schedules

3. Operations Manager, because you have to do several repetitive tasks

4. Program Manager, because you have to manage several projects to do your job
effectively

Q4. Your company is responsible for developing anti-virus software. You are responsible for managing
both the individual product releases and the coordination of multiple releases.
Your role is that of a:

1. Program manager

2. Project manager

3. Functional manager

4. Operations manager
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Q5. You have reached the end of the design phase of your project. You decide to call a "phase
review" for obtaining authorization to close the design phase and initiate the next phase (i.e.,
execution phase) of your project. Your manager disagrees with your suggestion. He wants a "kill
point" to formally end the design phase of the project. In this context, you should:

1. Disagree with your manager because you know that phase end reviews should be used
at the end of each phase of the project

2. Agree with your manager as kill point is a phase review

3. Escalate this issue to the project sponsor

4. Take advice from a senior project manager about what should actually be done at the
end of each phase of the project

Q6. You are working in the Project Management Office (PMO) of your organization. Your job
responsibility is to:

1. Manage the operational activities in the company

2. Manage human resource and risk management issues for individual projects

3. Provide support functions to project managers in the form of training, providing

software, standardizing policies, etc.

4. Provide subject matter expertise in the functional areas of the project

Q7. You are the project manager in a company where you have maximum authority. To which
organizational structure does your company belong?

1. Functional

2. Matrix - Weak

3. Matrix - Strong

4. Project-Oriented

Q8. Which of the following exhibits greatest resistance to change?

1. Business requirements
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2. Technology

3. People

4. Environment

Q9. The organization you are working has decided to use Scrum as a project management method
for its future projects. You understand that Scrum is an Agile Method. What kind of project life
cycle will you adopt?

1. Predictive life cycle

2. Iterative life cycle

3. Incremental life cycle

4. Adaptive life cycle

Q10. You have recently joined as a project manager in a company where they follow a project-
oriented organizational structure. All your team members work in the same office where you have a
lot of independence and authority. Which of the following is NOT an advantage of a project-oriented
organizational structure?

1. Loyalty to the project

2. Home for the team members after the project is completed

3. Effective communication

4. Efficiency in project organization

Q11. Your project stakeholder has asked you to create a financial plan for your project. Preparing a
financial plan will require:

1. Program management skills

2. Industry specific skills

3. Financial subject matter expertise

4. Both project management and industry specific skills

Q12. Which of the following statements is NOT true about a project life cycle?

1. All project life cycles are usually identical.

2. The level of risk is highest at the start of the project and decreases as the project
progresses.
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3. The ability of the stakeholders to influence the final characteristics is highest at the start
and gets progressively lower as the project continues.

4. Cost and staffing requirements usually peak during the intermediate phases.

Q13. In your organization, all bi g technical projects go through Initiate, Analyze, Design, Implement,
Test, and Closeout. In this context, a project life cycle:

1. Defines the product life cycle

2. Defines the project phases

3. Contains several product life cycles

4. Has deliverables that must be completed before work starts on the next phase

Q14. A project manager has to manage different stakeholder expectations. Project sponsor and
customer are two very important stakeholders in any project. In this context, which of the
following is NOT the responsibility of both the project sponsor and the customer?

1. Take into account risk tolerance

2. Provide key events, milestones, and deliverable due dates

3. Formally accept the product of the project

4. Provide financial resources for the project

Q15. As a project manager for a construction company, you are responsible to Define Scope, Define
Activities, Develop Schedule, and Determine Budget. These responsibilities are performed as part of:

1. Closing

2. Initiating

3. Planning

4. Monitoring and Controlling

Q16. Almost all projects are planned and implemented in a social, economic, or environmental
context, and have intended and unintended positive or negative impacts. In this context, which of
the following statements about Enterprise Environmental Factors is NOT true?

1. Neither promote nor hold back the project management processes

2. May restrict the project management processes

3. May promote the project management processes

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4. May either promote or hold back the project management processes

Q17. As a project manager, you realize that managing project stakeholder expectations is an important
priority. Which statement on project stakeholders is NOT correct?

1. Negative stakeholders must be ignored if the project has to be successfully

completed.

2. Stakeholders have varying levels of responsibility and authority when participating on a

project and these can change over the course of the project life cycle.

3. Some key stakeholders include project manager, operations management, project team,
customers, and sponsor.

4. Stakeholder expectations may be difficult to manage, because stakeholders often have

very different or conflicting objectives.

Q18. In your company, the project manager shares responsibility with the functional manager to
assign priorities and directs the team members of the project. In this case, it is NOT the
responsibility of the project manager to:

1. Plan resources

2. Manage cost and budget

3. Carry out performance appraisal of project team

4. Define activities

Q19. Which of the following aspects of a project is NOT the responsibility of a project manager?

1. Keep the project on track in terms of schedule and budget

2. Identify, monitor, and respond to risk

3. Provide accurate and timely report of project metrics

4. Ensure integrity of project team members

Q20. You have been managing a project to construct an overpass on Interstate 10. You have divided
the project into phases to provide better management control. Which of the following is a
characteristic of a project phase?

1. Formal phase completion necessarily includes authorization for the subsequent phase.

2. The closure of a phase is required to be approved in some form before it can be considered
closed.

3. A project phase should not be divided into sub-phases even in complex projects, because it will
be difficult to manage.

4. All deliverables in the project phase should correspond to the project management process.
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Answers

Q1. 4 is the correct answer

Justification
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The
temporary nature of projects indicates that a project has a definite beginning and end.

On the other hand, Operations are ongoing and produce repetitive products.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 4 and Page 16

Q2. 2 is the correct answer

Justification
The five Process Groups are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and controlling, and Closing.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 18

ITechGurus comments: Conceptualizing, Verifying, and Administrative Closure are not process groups.

Q3. 2 is the correct answer

Justification
Every project creates a unique product, service, or result. A project can create a service or a capability to
perform a service (e.g., a business function that supports production or distribution).

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 5 (see various examples of projects)

ITechGurus Comments: Since this is the release of "one" new drug, it is a project. Multiple releases
may qualify it as a program.

Q4. 1 is the correct answer

Justification
A program is defined as a group of related projects, subprograms, and program activities managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. Programs may
include elements of related work outside the scope of the discrete projects in the program.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 11 and Page 14

Q5. 2 is the correct answer

Justification
End of a phase represents a natural point to reassess the activities underway. The project’s
performance and progress are compared to project and business documents. A decision is made as
a result of this comparison to continue to the next phase or remain in the phase or terminate the
project if necessary.

This point in the project may be referred to as phase gate, phase review, stage gate, kill point, and
phase entrance or phase exit.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 21

ITechGurus comments: The answer is option 2, as the manager is justified in asking for a kill point. Kill
point is another term for phase review.
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Q6. 3 is the correct answer
Justification
A project management office (PMO) is a management structure that standardizes the project- related
governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques.
The responsibilities of a PMO can range from providing project management support functions to
actually being responsible for the direct management of one or more projects.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 49

Q7. 4 is the correct answer

Justification
Project managers have maximum authority in a company with a projectized organizational structure.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 47, Table 2-1

Q8. 3 is the correct answer

Justification
People exhibit greatest resistance to change.

Q9. 4 is the correct answer

Justification
Adaptive life cycles are agile, iterative or incremental. Adaptive life cycles are also referred to as agile
or change-driven life cycles.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 19

Q10. 2 is the correct answer

Justification
In a project-oriented organization, most of the organizational resources are involved in the project work.
The project team members do not belong to a specific functional group and hence do not have any
"home" once the project is over.

Q11. 4 is the correct answer

Justification
Preparing a financial plan requires both project management and industry specific skills. Although the
project manager need not have the industry-specific skills, she should talk with a person with industry-
specific skills in order to prepare the financial plan.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 56

Q12. 1 is the correct answer

Justification
Although many projects may have similar phase names with similar deliverables, few are identical.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 549

Further, look out for absolute statements with terms like "All", "None", "Never", "Always", "Must", etc.
Such options should be carefully evaluated because they may be incorrect.

Q13. 2 is the correct answer Justification

A project life cycle is the series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure.
The phases are generally sequential, and their names and numbers are determined by the management
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and control needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project, the nature of the project
itself, and its area of application.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 19

ITechgurus comments: Option 1 and Option 3 are wrong because project life cycle does not include the product
life cycle. Option 4 is not accurate because work in the next phase may, at times, start before the
deliverables of the previous phase are completed.

Q14. 4 is the correct answer

Justification
Statements 1, 2, and 3 are correct.

Statement 4 is incorrect - A Sponsor is the person or group who provides resources and support for the project and
is accountable for enabling success. Customers are the persons or organizations who will approve and
manage the project`s product or service, or result.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 77

ITechgurus comments: Customers do not always provide financial resources for the project.

Q15. 3 is the correct answer

Justification
The processes of Define Scope, Define Activities, Develop Schedule, and Determine Budget are part of
the Planning Process Group.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 25, Table 1-4

Q16. 1 is the correct answer

Justification
Enterprise environmental factors may enhance or constrain project management options and may have a
positive or negative influence on the outcome.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 38

Q17. 1 is the correct answer Justification

In the case of stakeholders with positive expectations for the project, their interests are best served by
making the project successful.

In contrast, the interests of negatively affected stakeholders are served by impeding the project`s
progress. Overlooking negative stakeholder’s interest can result in an increased likelihood of failures,
delays, or other negative consequences to the project.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 504

Q18. 3 is the correct answer Justification

In a matrix organization, the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for
assigning priorities and for directing the work of persons assigned to the project.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 710, Glossary

ITechGurus comments: In most matrix organizational structures, personnel performance

management is not the responsibility of the project manager; this task is usually done by the
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functional manager. However, a project manager is always responsible to Plan resources (Option 1),
Manage cost and budget (Option 2), and Define activities (Option 4).

Q19. 4 is the correct answer

Justification
A project manager is in charge of all aspects of the project including, but not limited to developing the
project management plan and all related component plans, keeping the project on track in terms of schedule
and budget, identifying, monitoring, and responding to risk, and providing accurate and timely reporting
of project metrics.

Although the project manager is responsible for the integrity of the overall project, he/ she is not
responsible for the integrity of individual team members.

Q20. 2 is the correct answer Justification

In many cases, the closure of a phase is required to be approved in some form before it can be
considered closed.

Reference: PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Page 20