Questions

1. Rosemary is the project manager of the JKN Project. The project customer has requested that she
inflate her cost estimates by 25 percent. The customer reports that his management always reduces
the cost of the estimates, so this is the only method to get the monies needed to complete the
project. Which of the following is the best response to this situation?

A. Do as the customer asked to ensure that the project requirements can be met by adding the increase
as a contingency reserve.

B. Do as the customer asked to ensure that the project requirements can be met by adding the increase
across each task.

C. Do as the customer asked by creating an estimate for the customer’s management and another for
the actual project implementation.

D. Complete an accurate estimate of the project. In addition, create a risk assessment on why the
project budget would be inadequate.

2. Deeti is the project manager for the BNH Project. This project takes place in a different country than
where she is from. The project leader from this country presents a team of workers who are all from
his family. What should Deeti do?

A. Reject the team leader’s recommendations and assemble her own project team.

B. Review the résumés and qualifications of the proposed project team before approving the team.

C. Determine whether the country’s traditions include hiring from the immediate family before hiring
from outside the family.

D. Replace the project leader with an impartial project leader.

3. You are the project manager on a new project that is to take place in another country and you are
about to begin negotiations. Which of the following should be your guide on what business practices
are allowed and discouraged?

A. The project charter

B. The project plan

C. Company policies and procedures

D. The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

4. One of your project team members reports that he sold pieces of equipment because he needed to
pay for his daughter’s school tuition. He says that he has paid back the money by working overtime
without reporting the hours worked so that his theft remains private. What should you do?

A. Fire the project team member.

B. Report the team member’s actions to his manager.

C. Suggest that the team member report his actions to human resources.

D. Tell the team member you’re disappointed in what he did and advise him not to do something like
this again.

5. You are a part-time project manager on the SUN Project. Your organization is a functional
environment, and you do not get along well with the functional manager leading the project. You
disagree with the manager on how the project should proceed, the timings of the activities, the
suggested schedule, and the expected quality of the work. The manager has requested that you get to
work on several of the activities on the critical path even though you and she have not resolved the
issues concerning the project. What should you do?

A. Go to senior management and voice your concerns.

B. Complete the activities as requested.

C. Ask to be taken off of the project.

D. Refuse to begin activities on the project until the issues are resolved.

6. PMI has contacted you regarding a potential ethics violation of a CAPM candidate. The question is
in regard to a friend who said he worked as a project manager under your guidance. You know this is
not true, but to save a friendship, you avoid talking with the PMI representative. This avoidance is a
violation of what?

A. The Code requirement to cooperate on ethics violations investigations

B. The Code requirement to report all ethical information

C. The Code requirement to report any CAPM violations

D. The universal law concerning ethical practices

7. Richard is the project manager for the Log Cabin Project. One of his vendors is completing a large
portion of the project. Richard has heard a rumor that the vendor is losing many of its workers due to
labor issues. In light of this information, what should Richard do?

A. Stop work with the vendor until the labor issues are resolved.

B. Communicate with the vendor about the rumor.

C. Look to secure another vendor to replace the current one.

D. Negotiate with the labor union to secure the workers on his project. 8. Heather is the project
manager for the PMH Project. Three vendors have submitted cost estimates for the project. One of the
estimates is significantly higher than the others. In this scenario, Heather should do what? A. Ask the
other two vendors about the higher estimate from the third vendor. B. Use the cost estimates from the
historical information to check whether the high estimate is consistent. C. Take the high cost to the
vendor to discuss the discrepancy before reviewing the issue with the other vendors. D. Ask the vendor
that supplied the high estimate for information on how the estimate was prepared. 9. Ethan is the
project manager of the LKH Project. This project must be completed within six months. The project is
two months into the schedule and is starting to slip. As of now, the project is one week behind schedule.
Based on Ethan’s findings, he believes that he can implement some corrective actions to recover the lost
time over the next month to get the project back on schedule. Management, however, requires weekly
status reports on cost and schedule. What should Ethan do? A. Report that the project is one week
behind schedule but will finish on schedule based on cited corrective actions. B. Report that the project
is on schedule and will finish on schedule. C. Report that the project is off schedule by a few days but will
finish on schedule. D. Report that the project is running late. 10. As a contracted project manager,
Marcus has been assigned a project with a budget of $1.5 million. The project is scheduled to last seven
months, but the most recent earned value management (EVM) report shows that the project will finish
ahead of schedule by nearly six weeks. If this happens, Marcus will lose $175,000 in billable time. What
should Marcus do? A. Bill for the entire $1.5 million, since this was the approved budget. B. Bill for the
$1.5 million by adding additional work at the end of the project. C. Report to the customer the project
status and completion date. D. Report to the customer the project status and completion date and ask if
they’d like to add any features to account for the monies not spent. 11. Andrew is the project manager
of the PMH Project. He has been contracted to design the placement of several pieces of manufacturing
equipment. He has completed the project scope and is ready to pass the work over to the installer. The
installer begins to schedule Andrew to help with the installation of the manufacturing equipment.
Andrew should do what? A. Help the installer place the equipment according to the design documents.
B. Help the installer place the equipment as the customer sees fit. C. Refuse to help the installer, since
the project scope has been completed. D. Help the installer place the equipment, but insist that the
quality control be governed by his design specifications. 12. Ahmed is the project manager of the 12BA
Project. He has completed the project according to the design documents and has met the project
scope. The customer agrees that the design document requirements have been met; however, the
customer is not pleased with the project deliverables and is demanding additional adjustments be made
to complete the project. What is the best way for Ahmed to proceed? A. Complete the work as the
customer has requested. B. Complete the work at 1.5 times the billable rate. C. Do nothing. The project
scope is completed. D. Do nothing. Management from the performing organization and the customer’s
organization will need to determine why the project failed before adding work. 13. Lohshenii is the
project manager of the AAA Project. Due to the nature of the project, much of the work will require
overtime between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Many of the project team members, however, have
requested vacations during that week. What is the best way for Lohshenii to proceed? A. Refuse all
vacation requests and require all team members to work overtime. B. Allow vacation requests only for
those team members who are not needed during that week. C. Divide tasks equally among the team
members so each works the same amount of time. D. Allow team members to volunteer for the
overtime work. 14. Dharam is a project manager for his organization. Dharam’s current project is to
install several devices for one of his company’s clients. The client has requested that he complete a few
small tasks that are not in the project scope. To maintain the relationship with the client, Dharam
obliges the client’s request and completes the work without informing his company. This is an example
of __________. A. Effective expert judgment B. Failure to be honest C. Contract change control D.
Integrated change 15. Jingyi is completing a project for a customer in another country. One of the
customs in this country is to honor the project manager of a successful project with a gift. His company,
however, does not allow project managers to accept gifts worth more than $50 from any entity. At the
completion of the project, the customer presents Jingyi with a new car in a public ceremony. What
should Jingyi do? A. Accept the car, since it is a custom of the country. To refuse it would be an insult to
his hosts. B. Refuse to accept the car, since it would result in a conflict with his organization’s policy on
gifts. C. Accept the car and then return it, in private, to the customer. D. Accept the car and then donate
the car to a charity in the customer’s name. 16. A project team member is sabotaging your project
because he does not agree with it. What should you do? A. Fire the project team member. B. Present
the problem to management. C. Present the problem to management with a solution to remove the
team member from the project. D. Present the problem to management with a demand to fire the
project team member. 17. Noriko is the project manager of a project in Asia. She discovers that the
project leader has hired family members for several lucrative contracts on the project. What should
Noriko consider first? A. Cultural issues B. Ethical issues C. Organizational issues D. Political issues 18. A
responsible project manager focuses foremost on which of the following to achieve customer
satisfaction? A. Completing the project requirements B. Maintaining the project cost C. Maintaining the
project schedule D. Completing the project with the defined quality metrics 19. A CAPM has been
assigned to manage a project in a foreign country. The disorientation the CAPM will likely experience as
he gets acclimated to the country is known as what? A. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis B. Time dimension C.
Ethnocentrism D. Culture shock 20. Isaac is the project manager for an information technology project. It
has come to his attention that a technical problem has stopped the project work. How should Isaac
proceed? A. Measure the project performance to date and account for the cost of the technical
problem. B. Rebaseline the project performance to account for the technical problem. C. Work with the
project team to develop alternative solutions to the technical problem. D. Outsource the technical
problem to a vendor. Answers 1. D. It would be inappropriate and unethical to bloat the project costs by
25 percent. A risk assessment describing how the project may fail if the budget is not accurate is most
appropriate. A, B, and C are incorrect because these choices are ethically wrong. The CAPM should
always provide honest estimates of the project work. 2. C. Deeti should first confirm what the local
practices and customs call for in regard to hiring family members before others. A and D are incorrect
because they do not consider the qualifications of the project team leader and the project team. In
addition, they do not take into account local customs. B is incorrect because, although it does ponder
the qualifications of the project team, it does not consider the local customs. 3. C. The company policies
and procedures, based on ethical practices, should guide you and the decisions you make in the foreign
country. A and B are incorrect because, although these documents are essential, they usually do not
reference allowed business practices. D is incorrect because, although the PMI Code does possess
crucial ethics information, the company’s policies and procedures are most specific to the project work
and requirements as long as the policies and procedures are “generally accepted business practices” in
that country. 4. B. This situation calls for you to report the project team member’s actions to his
manager for disciplinary review. A is incorrect because you may not have the authority as project
manager to fire the project team member. C and D are incorrect because you are ethically required to
take action to bring the situation to management’s attention. 5. B. As a part-time project manager, you
must respect the delegation of the functional manager. A, C, and D are all incorrect because these
actions do not complete the assigned work the functional manager has delegated to you as a part-time
project manager. The functional manager has not violated the PMI Code in any way that would justify
these actions. 6. A. By avoiding the conversation with PMI in regard to your friend’s ethics violation, you
are, yourself, violating the Code requirement to cooperate with PMI. B is incorrect because there is no
requirement to report all ethical information. The Code says, “We provide accurate information in a
timely manner.” C is incorrect because of the Code requirement to report a violation after a
determination as to whether a violation has occurred. D is incorrect because there is no universal law
about ethics. 7. B. The project manager should confront the problem by talking with the vendor about
the rumor. A is incorrect because stopping work would delay the project and possibly cause future
problems. C is incorrect because replacing the vendor may violate the contract between the buyer and
seller. D is incorrect because the agreement is between the performing organization and the vendor, not
the labor union, which isn’t even mentioned in the scenario. 8. D. Most likely, the vendor did not
understand the project work to be procured, so the estimate is skewed. A clear statement of work is
needed for the vendors to provide accurate estimates. A and C are incorrect because they discuss
another vendor’s estimate with the competing vendors. B is incorrect because costs may have changed
since the historical information was created. In addition, there’s no evidence in the question that
historical information even exists. This information should be kept confidential between the buyer and
seller. In some government projects, you may be required to announce the winning bid. 9. A. The
project manager should report an honest assessment of the project, with actions on how he plans to
correct the problem. B and C are incorrect because they do not provide honest answers to management.
D is incorrect because it does not provide a solution to the problem. 10. C. An honest and accurate
assessment of the project work is always required. A and B are incorrect because these actions do not
reflect an honest assessment of the work. D is incorrect because it offers gold plating to the customer
and recommends additional changes that were not part of the original project scope. In addition,
because this is a contracted relationship, the additional work may not be covered within the original
project contract and may result in legal issues. 11. C. When the project scope is completed, the contract
is fulfilled, and the project is done. Any new work items should not be sent through. In this instance, the
contract change control system should be invoked, or a new contract should be created. A, B, and D are
incorrect because these choices are outside of the project scope and have not been covered in the
contract. 12. C. When the project scope has been completed, the project is completed. Any additional
work, without a contract change or new contract, would be dishonest and would betray the customer or
the project manager’s company. This is a good example of a question where none of the choices is a
good one, but you must choose the best answer available. Of course, in a real project, you’d have many
other choices and options to achieve customer satisfaction. A and B are both incorrect because
additional work is not covered in the current contract. D is incorrect because the project did not fail—
the deliverables met the requirements of the project scope and the design document. 13. D. This is the
best choice for this scenario, because it allows the project team to be self-led and is sensitive to the
needs of the project team. A, B, and C are incorrect because they are all autocratic responses to the
problem, and while the results may seem fair, D is the best choice. 14. B. When the project manager
completes activities outside of the contract and does not inform the performing organization, it is
essentially the same as dishonesty. The CAPM must be held accountable for all the time invested in a
project. A is incorrect because this is not an example of expert judgment. C is incorrect because the
contract has not been changed or attempted to be changed. D is incorrect because the changes the
project manager completed for the customer were not sent through any change control system. Instead,
they were completed without documentation or reporting. 15. B. This is the best answer. Although this
solution may seem extreme, accepting the car in public would give the impression that the project
manager has defied company policy. In addition, accepting the car would appear to be a conflict of
interest for the project manager. A, C, and D are all incorrect because accepting the car, even with the
intention of returning it or donating it to charity, would conflict with the company’s policies regarding
the acceptance of gifts. 16. C. The problem should be presented to management, with a solution to
remove the project team member from the project. Remember that whenever the project manager
must present a problem to management, the project manager should also present a solution to the
problem. A is incorrect because it likely is not the project manager’s role to fire the project team
member. B is incorrect because it does not address a solution for the problem. D is incorrect because
the project manager’s focus should be on the success of the project. By recommending that the project
team member be removed from the project, the problem is solved from the project manager’s point of
view. Management, however, may come to the decision on their own accord to dismiss the individual
from the company altogether. In addition, a recommendation from the project manager to fire someone
may be outside the boundary of human resources’ procedure for employee termination. 17. A. The
project manager should first determine what the country’s customs and culture call for when hiring
relatives. It may be a preferred practice in the country to work with qualified relatives first before hiring
other individuals to complete the project work. B, C, and D are incorrect because they are not the best
choices in this scenario. They may be considered after first examining the cultural issues within the
country. 18. A. The largest factor when it comes to customer satisfaction is the ability to complete the
project requirements. B, C, and D are incorrect because achieving each of these factors, while good, is
not as complete as achieving the project requirements, which may include the cost, schedule, and
quality expectations. 19. D. Culture shock is the typical disorientation a person feels when visiting a
foreign country. A is incorrect because the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is a theory that suggests an individual
can understand a culture by understanding its language. B is incorrect because time dimension is the
local culture’s general practice for respecting time and punctuality. C is incorrect because ethnocentrism
is a person’s belief that their own culture is the best and that all other cultures should be measured
against it. 20. C. When problems arise that stop project tasks, the project manager should work with the
team to uncover viable alternative solutions. A and B are incorrect because they do nothing to find a
solution to the problem. D is incorrect because the solution for the problem has not necessarily been
addressed. The end result of C, to find an alternative solution, may result in outsourcing the problem to
a vendor, D, but should not be the first choice in this scenario.