Risk Response Planning

Project managers can identify risks by learning and understanding the cause and effect relationships that bear on risk events. All of the following approaches rely upon an understanding of cause and effect relationships to identify risks EXCEPT: list all risks in a risk register

When a project team elects to purchase insurance, or adopts a fixed price contract with a vendor, or hires external experts - it is demonstrating which of the following risk response strategies? transfer a threat

Which of the following accurately describes risk in project management? The impact of risk may be positive or negative

Which of the following activities illustrates a risk response strategy designed to mitigate a threat? train a team member to cover for a potentially unavailable key resource

Which of the following describes the activities appropriately performed by the project team during Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis? Team members assess the probability of occurrence and severity of impact for identified risks.

Which of the following quantitative risk analysis techniques relies upon the calculation of net present value to determine if a project should be pursued or abandoned? Financial Engineering

A risk is anything that may impact the project team's ability to achieve the general project success measures and the specific project stakeholder priorities. true

Generally, once risks have been identified and analyzed, the project team decides how to handle each risk. true

It is impossible to remove all sources of risk on a project. true

Sometimes the risks posed by a project are so great that an appropriate risk response is to not perform the project at all. true

The primary output of risk identification is the Risk Identification Matrix (RIM). false

The process of deciding how to approach, plan and execute risk management activities for a project is known as Project Risk Absorption Methodology (PRAM). false

The process of determining which risks might affect the project and documenting their characteristics is known as risk charting. false

When complete, the risk register presents the results of both qualitative and quantitative risk analysis as well as risk response planning. true

The risk management plan is the document that describes how project risk management will be structured and performed on a project. true

When the impact of an event is negative, it is considered a risk; when the impact is positive, the event is considered an opportunity. false

All of the following items are among the key areas covered by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award EXCEPT: All of these

All of the following items are valid reasons to conduct a project kick-off meeting EXCEPT: to emphasize that all decisions will be made exclusively by the project manager

All of the following statements accurately describe special cause variation EXCEPT: It is inherent in the system and is predictable

DMAIC is a disciplined process that includes five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. DMAIC is most typically associated with which of the following quality improvement approaches? Six Sigma

Fact-based management includes four key ideas. Which of the following is among the key ideas associated with fact-based management? the need to understand variation

Joseph Juran provided guidance regarding how to control quality. Which of the following items is consistent with his quality control guidance? establish measurement systems

Which of the following documents describes how the project management team will implement the performing organization's quality policy? the quality management plan

Which of the following quality management thought leaders is generally credited with contributing the insight that team learning is necessary to improve quality? Senge

Which of the following serves as a pre-condition that must be met in order for a project kick-off meeting to be successful? An atmosphere of trust and relationship building should be set by all.

Which of the following statements is consistent with the ideas that W. Edwards Deming promoted regarding quality management? Understanding variation is essential to improving quality.

Perform Quality Assurance is the process of auditing the quality requirements, and the results from quality control measurements to ensure appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used. true

DMAIC is typically used as a method of implementing continuous improvement and can thus be practiced repeatedly within a single process to further improve process performance. true

Fact-based management requires an understanding that variation can be either common or special cause, a determination to discover which type, and the resolve to act appropriately upon that discovery. true

Joseph Juran is credited for developing the Quality Trilogy that includes quality monitoring, quality assurance and quality control. false

Project stakeholders will judge the quality of project work processes as well as project deliverables. true

Sanity tests are primarily used in project management as part of the team selection process. false

Stakeholder satisfaction requires an understanding of the ultimate quality goals with respect to stakeholders. true

The formality of a kick-off meeting can vary considerably depending on the size and type of project. true

The quality policy on a specific project should defer the quality policies of the parent organization when major customer needs and policies create a conflict. false

1. Edwards Deming argued that managers must understand cause and effect relationships to predict future behavior. true

A description of the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the products, services or results is known as: the procurement statement of work.

All of the following are performance improvements likely to be realized by projects that make good project sourcing decisions EXCEPT: improved employee benefits

Evaluations of prospective suppliers by project teams often involve which of the following approaches? all of these

Often a project team will start the selection process by establishing a list of potential suppliers. All of the following information sources are frequently used to identify these potential suppliers EXCEPT: stakeholder register

Project partnerships offer which of the following advantages to both clients and vendors? shared motivation

The procurement management plan: describes how procurement processes will be managed.

Which of the following contract types is most appropriate when costs are NOT well known and the buyer absorbs the cost risk? Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF)

Which of the following factors should be considered when a project team evaluates a "make or buy" decision to procure services? advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing in terms of performance control

Which of the following is one of the PMBOK's four project procurement management processes? Administer procurements

Which of the following types of contracts involves payment to the seller for the seller's actual costs plus a fee typically representing the seller's profit? cost-reimbursable contract

A contract is a unilateral document that binds a seller to provide specified products and services under terms agreeable to the buyer. false

Fixed price contracts provide low risk for the seller, since the buyer will pay a fixed price, regardless of how much the project actually costs the seller. false

On complex projects, despite the importance of factors such as technical capability, managerial capability and previous experience; the ultimate driving factor is almost always the price of the proposal. false

Partnering seeks to recast relations between actors in projects by promoting the use of collaborative, more open relationships. true

Sometimes firms develop a qualified sellers list and only allow those companies on the list to submit a proposal on the upcoming project. true

Supply chain operations require managerial processes that span across functional areas within individual organizations. true

Supply chains use a combination of modes of transportation including: air, rail, water, pipeline and trucks. true

The extent to which a project relies upon internal sources for materials and services varies from one project to another and from one organization to another. true

Traditional project procurement was characterized by a win-lose attitude, whereas contemporary project partnering fosters an equal partner attitude. true

Traditional project procurement was characterized by relatively few contract claims, whereas contemporary project partnering has resulted in a significant increase in the frequency of contract claims. false

All of the following are advantages associated with assigning both core team members and subject matter experts to the project as soon as possible EXCEPT: early assignment of resources saves the project money

All of the following are among the activities a project manager should undertake to develop a highly effective team EXCEPT: assess sponsor capability

All of the following are among the common sources of project conflict EXCEPT: personalities

High-performing teams include members who typically hold which of the following values? a high need for achievement

Project teams often adopt ground rules to address which of the following process topics? managing meetings

Project teams often adopt ground rules to address which of the following relationship topics? protecting confidentiality

The personal values of team members on high-performing teams can be enhanced through all of the following effective communication practices EXCEPT: encouragement of personal conflict

The personal values of team members on high-performing teams can be enhanced through which of the following team behavior practices? a constant focus on improvement

The process of improving the competencies, team interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance is known as: Develop project team

Which of the following styles of handling conflict is most appropriate whenever there is enough time, trust can be established, the issue is important to both sides and buy-in is needed? collaborating

All project teams progress uniformly through five stages of team development. false

Conflict over the best approach can be useful since it may bring out creative discussion and lead to better methods. true

Effective conflict management skills are rarely useful on successful project teams. false

Great team synergy can help make a team's capability better than the individual team member's capabilities. true

Information is power. Withholding or distorting project information is a viable and potentially useful approach to increase power for the project manager. false

Leadership within a project team should be demonstrated only by the project manager. false

Project managers can further team development by securing agreement on common goals and objectives for the project. true

The value of engaging a subject matter expert early in a project should be balanced against the potentially significant cost of paying for his or her expertise. true

When a decision needs to be made quickly or requires significant authority it is often useful to delegate the decision to one or two team members. false

When a project team member is not performing, rewards may not prove as effective as a coercive approach that threatens the team member with undesired consequences. true

Report Performance is the process of collecting and distributing performance information and typically includes all of the following EXCEPT: managing stakeholder expectations

All of the following accurately apply to project performance reporting EXCEPT: The same report format should be used for all stakeholders

All of the following accurately describe earned value management EXCEPT: It is good for performance reporting but not for forecasting

Change control includes which of the following activities? identifying, documenting, approving or rejecting, and controlling changes to project baselines

Project managers interested in controlling quality on projects will often concentrate upon project inputs. Which of the following are important considerations for the project managers concentrating on inputs to ensure project quality? ensure the workers assigned are capable of doing their work

Some organizations rely upon a formally constituted group of stakeholders to review, evaluate and approve changes to the project. This group is typically known as a: change control board.

When a project manager asks clarifying questions and paraphrases what is being communicated to them, he or she is using ? Active listening

Which of the following measures is best suited for determining whether the project is on, ahead or behind schedule? Schedule Variance (SV)

Which of the following serves as an important guideline concerning project inspections? inspect at milestones identified in the project schedule

Which of the following tools is displayed as a special type of scatter diagram used to see how a variable of interest changes over time? run chart

A control limit is what the customer will accept, whereas a tolerance limit reflects what the process can consistently deliver when things are behaving normally. false

Detailed project progress should be reported to stakeholders and clients frequently - typically on a daily basis. false

Earned Value (EV) is the authorized budget assigned to the scheduled work to be accomplished. false

Inspection is keeping errors out of process while prevention is trying to find errors so they do not get to the customer. false

It is often costly, difficult or even impossible to inspect an entire sample. When that is the case, it is best to inspect the population. false

The Cost Variance (CV) is a measure of cost efficiency on a project. false

When discrepancies are identified during a project quality audit, the presumption must be that workers failed to comply with procedures and should be reprimanded accordingly. false

When project managers authorize project work, they should empower others to the extent possible, yet control to the extent necessary. true

When reporting performance to sponsors and management, it is often helpful to organize the information in terms of three time periods: the past, the current and the future. true

When using a control chart, a point that occurs above the upper control limit typically means the variation is enough that it is not likely to have happened purely by chance - rather some sort of special cause explains the variation. true

"Unknown unknowns" is a term used to describe events which occur that are totally unexpected. All of the following accurately describe an implication associated with unknown unknowns EXCEPT: They are usually discovered during risk identification

A milestone is a typical measuring point used when establishing cost control. Which of the following accurately describes the use of cost control milestones? all of these

After completing detailed planning for a project, it is often helpful for the project manager and team to apply a sanity test to the project plan. Which of the following accurately describes the application of a sanity test? It should include questions to ensure budgets, schedules and resource plans are reasonable and achievable.

All of the following activities are appropriate upon completion of risk response planning EXCEPT: The risk register should be baselined after planning is completed, and should not be updated once the project is in flight.

All of the following activities illustrate a risk response strategy designed to exploit an opportunity EXCEPT: purchase insurance

All of the following are among the classic risk response strategies EXCEPT: share a threat

All of the following are benefits that can be attributed to the effective use of a risk management plan EXCEPT: It enables the project manager to identify and eliminate all risks

All of the following describe an appropriate application of Plan Risk Responses in project management EXCEPT: Responses should be created for every identified project risk

All of the following describe the appropriate application of Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis in project management EXCEPT: Brainstorming techniques are used by the team and other stakeholders to identify as many project risks as possible.

All of the following factors must be in place in order to develop an analogous estimate effectively EXCEPT: An organization must know details behind the time value of money

All of the following items are among the key areas covered by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award EXCEPT: All of these

All of the following items describe an aspect of life cycle costing EXCEPT: Life cycle cost only includes the project cost from initiating through closing

All of the following methods have proven to be useful techniques to help project teams identify the risks that might impact the project EXCEPT: deriving lessons learned

All of the following reasons explain why it is better to design quality into processes than to find problems through inspections EXCEPT: The best inspectors should find every variation and defect

All of the following statements accurately describe special cause variation EXCEPT: It is inherent in the system and is predictable

DMAIC is a disciplined process that includes five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. DMAIC is most typically associated with which of the following quality improvement approaches? Six Sigma

Consider the RACI chart presented in Figure 8-1 (RACI stands for Responsible, Approve, Consult, Inform). Who is responsible for development of the specification? the project engineer

Consider the software programmer loading chart presented in Figure 8-2. Which of the following statements most accurately describes the loading of the software programmer? The programmer is overloaded on both Wednesday and Thursday.

Consider the programmers resource histogram presented in Figure 8-3. How many programmers are required during the fifth week of this project? 7 programmers

Consider the programmers resource histogram presented in Figure 8-3. Which activity is an ideal candidate to delay in order to achieve a feasible schedule? Activity C - Draft User Manual

Consider the project crashing information presented in Figure 8-4. What is the cost to complete this project in the normal time? $ 145

Consider the project crashing information presented in Figure 8-4. What is the normal (un-crashed) duration of this project? 9 days

Consider the project crashing information presented in Figure 8-4. What is the total cost to complete this project in 7 days if crashed in the most cost efficient manner? 220

Consider the project crashing information presented in Figure 8-4. Which activity should you crash to reduce this project by one day with the least incremental cost? Activity E

Consider the excerpt of the Internet Project risk register presented in Figure 10-1. Which of the following risk events should receive the highest priority for the development of risk responses? C - IS resources are spread too thin

Joseph Juran provided guidance regarding how to conduct quality planning. All of the following items are consistent with his quality planning guidance EXCEPT: quality must be inspected into the process

Risk is often considered in terms of impact to project success. Which of the following is a valid measure of project success? all of these

The approved time-phased budget against which project execution is compared and deviations are measured for management control is known as: a cost performance baseline

The decision process for developing relevant quality standards on a project includes all of the following activities EXCEPT: design work systems

The project manager is responsible for selecting appropriate quality standards for the project. Typically, these standards apply to all of the following EXCEPT: team selection criteria

What type of cost is incurred when a project must be conducted faster than normal and overtime for workers and rapid delivery charges are necessary? expedited costs

When a project team elects to purchase insurance, or adopts a fixed price contract with a vendor, or hires external experts - it is demonstrating which of the following risk response strategies? transfer a threat

When estimating resource needs, project teams should consider all the following EXCEPT: scoring models

Which estimating technique decomposes the work into detailed pieces for which estimates are prepared and then aggregated into a total quantity for the project? bottom-up estimating

Which estimating technique uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables to calculate project costs? parametric estimating

Which of the following accurately describes contemporary methods of risk prioritization in project management? All of these

Which of the following activities illustrates a risk response strategy designed to research a threat or an opportunity? adopt a prototype to learn more about a candidate solution

Which of the following describes the appropriate use of a cause and effect diagram to support project risk analysis? It is often easier to alter the effect by changing the underlying cause.

Which of the following describes the effective use of a risk register? Items such as the probability of occurrence and impact are typically added to the risk register subsequent to risk identification.

Which of the following documents describes how the project management team will implement the performing organization's quality policy? the quality management plan

Which of the following terms best describes the amount of funds needed above the estimate to reduce the risk of overruns? reserve

Consider the time-phased budget presented in Figure 9-1. What is the cumulative project budget through the end of April? $46,000

Determine Budget is the process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish a cost baseline. true

Estimate Activity Resources focuses exclusively upon the identification of the number of human resources required to perform each scheduled activity. false

Perform Quality Assurance is monitoring specific results to determine whether they comply with relevant quality standards. false

Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis is the process of numerically analyzing the effect on overall project objectives of identified risks. true

Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis is the process of prioritizing risks for subsequent further analysis or action by assessing and combining their probability and impact. false

A quality improvement project is defined as a set of interrelated actions and activities performed to achieve a specified set of products, results or services. false

Accrual accounting is more frequently used on projects than cash accounting. false

Both normal and special cause variation add to project cost and need to be considered by project managers. true

Crosby, a well known quality management thought leader, asserts that quality is meeting requirements, not exceeding them. true

Decisions related to fixed and variable costs are very sensitive to changes in volume related factors and project scope. true

Direct costs typically include the cost of direct labor as well as other direct costs for items such as material, travel, subcontracts and computer time. true

Early in a project when very little detail is known about a project, it is impractical to render even a rough estimate of the final project cost. false

In addition to optimizing project costs, value engineering can also be used to expand market share. true

Inflating the value of future revenue and cost streams to account for the time value of money enables better project decisions. false

One approach to identify which activities contribute to work overload for a particular resource is to compare the resource histogram to the Gantt chart. true

Recurring costs tend to occur during project planning and closing while nonrecurring costs tend to occur during project execution. false

Resource leveling is a network scheduling technique that seeks to assign nearly equivalent work units to each member of the project team. false

Risk response strategies such as acceptance and conducting further research apply to both threats and opportunities. true

Risk response strategies such as mitigation and exploitation apply to both threats and opportunities. false

Risk response strategy decisions should reflect a thorough understanding of the priorities that key stakeholders have relative to project objectives. true

Scope reductions are fairly common among projects that face severe schedule constraints. true

Six Sigma is a quality improvement approach that is particularly suited for many service processes that people had previously said were too difficult if not impossible to measure. true

Special cause variation arises when something out of the ordinary occurs. true

The cost management plan establishes the format and criteria for planning and controlling the project costs. true

The goal of empowered performance is to improve performance results each and every period. false

The International Organization for Standardization developed a quality management standard that relies upon several quality management areas including management, resources and realization. true

The outputs of Perform Quality Control may include recommended preventive actions designed to reduce the probability of negative consequences associated with project risks. true

The primary questions project teams use in qualitative risk analysis are "What is the nature of this risk?" and "Who will be responsible for addressing it?". false

The quality management plan describes how the project management team will implement the performing organization's quality policy. true

Typically, expedited costs are preferred over regular costs. false

1. Edwards Deming asserted that managers need to understand both serial variation and sequential variation and then work to reduce both. false

When constructing a responsibility matrix or "RACI" chart, it is important to ensure that only one person has primary responsibility for any activity. true

When determining resource availability, project managers need only consider full-time, internal resources. false

When identifying people to work on the project, it is helpful to consider their professional disciplines, skill levels and their physical location. true

When project managers include diverse perspectives in making decisions, they can often avoid major risks that a single perspective would not uncover. true

When recruiting resources to support a project, it is always best to bring team members and experts on board as soon as possible. false

When resource overloads are extreme, project managers may need to consider the acquisition of additional resources, reductions in scope or extensions to the project schedule. true

While a "RACI" chart may be very useful for assigning activities to core team members and project managers, the sheer number of subject matter experts on many projects renders the RACI chart impractical for large projects. false

When using earned value techniques, Actual Cost (AC) refers to the total costs actually incurred and recorded in accomplishing work performed during a given time period. true

All of the following accurately describe the features and characteristics of a contract EXCEPT: The project organization is always a buyer in a contract arrangement

All of the following accurately describe the trade-offs that must be managed while accomplishing project work EXCEPT: When confronted with trade-offs between cost, schedule and quality, quality should always come first

All of the following are among ground rules that have proven widely useful to project teams EXCEPT: avoid conflict at all costs

All of the following are among the methods project managers can use to develop individual and team capabilities EXCEPT: utilize quality tools

All of the following are among the steps of the negotiation process EXCEPT: use "good cop / bad cop" technique

All of the following are among the types of capabilities that are useful for project team members EXCEPT: insensitivity towards others

All of the following entities are typically included in the supply chain EXCEPT: public relations

All of the following items are generally considered when selecting the right type of contract EXCEPT: project organization's accounting system

All of the following represent common methods for making decisions on contemporary project teams EXCEPT: The sponsor is asked to make all of the decisions

All of the following statements accurately describe supply chain management EXCEPT: It is a closed-loop system solely within the project organization's boundaries

Assembling the right quantity and variety of skills and experience for the project team can be quite challenging. One strategy is to staff the project with a combination of experienced and less experienced workers. All of the following are benefits associated with this approach EXCEPT: The project manager can dominate the more junior team members

Benchmarking generally includes all of the following steps EXCEPT: using management by objectives

During which stage of team development do team members attempt to jockey for power, ask many questions and establish dubious goals? storming

It is argued that project teams progress through five stages of team development. Which of the following sequences best represents this progression? forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

One useful method of process improvement involves consideration of how another organization performs a process with an eye toward determining how to improve your own performance. This method is known as: benchmarking

Project partnerships offer all of the following advantages to vendors EXCEPT: the buyer gains at the vendor's expense

Reward power relies upon persuading others based upon giving them some form of reward. It is most appropriately used when: a team member performs well

The Budget at Completion (BAC) is the sum of all budgeted values established for the work to be performed on a project. As such it is equivalent to: the total planned value of the project.

The process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes and controlling changes to deliverables and organizational process assets is known as: integrated change control.

Consider the project performance report presented in figure 14.1. What valid conclusion can you draw regarding the project schedule performance as of October 31, 20XX? The project is $26,000 behind schedule.

Consider the project performance report presented in figure 14.1. What valid conclusion can you draw regarding the project cost performance as of October 31, 20XX? The project is $8,000 over budget.

Consider the project performance report presented in figure 14.1. As a project manager, these results should lead you to... take actions to understand and remedy the schedule performance on the active avionics work packages.

Which of the following are appropriate lessons that should guide the information distribution practices of project managers in the information age? use the communication plan and always monitor additional communication needs

Which of the following is among the widely accepted project team success factors? effective communication including performance feedback

Which of the following terms describes a method for transforming contractual arrangements into a cohesive project team with a single set of goals and established dispute resolution procedures? partnering

Which party to a contract absorbs the preponderance of cost risk when a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract is used? the seller

While the project is underway, effective information distribution often requires the project manager and team to accomplish all of the following activities EXCEPT: conduct stand-up meetings to maximize efficiency

A project organization can serve as either the buyer or the seller in a project related contract. true

Buying from an outside supplier to meet project needs is generally frowned upon because it invariably proves to be more expensive than obtaining materials and services internally. false

Contract incentives are often used when the buyer wants to maximize some aspect of performance. true

During project execution, monitoring refers to the act of comparing actual performance with planned performance and taking corrective action when needed. false

Effective project partnerships generally require shared responsibilities, shared resources, shared information, shared rights and shared risks between suppliers and customers. true

Extensive supplier evaluation approaches such as surveys, facility visits and financial analysis should be applied to first-tier suppliers only. false

In many cases, the proposal prepared by the vendor actually becomes a part of the final contract. true

It is possible for a project to be both behind schedule and under budget at the same time. true

Logistics, in contrast to supply chain management, is the work required to move and position inventory throughout a supply chain. true

Many conflicts on projects have multiple causes. true

Meetings and reports are two common approaches that project managers can adopt to report project performance to sponsors, management and clients. true

One important way to build team capacity is to create a desirable team identity. true

One of the important factors that should influence the selection of contract type is the degree of risk to be assumed by both the seller and the buyer. true

Outputs of Plan Procurements include procurement documents and evaluation criteria that define how the client company will evaluate and rank proposals received from bidders. true

Proactive project managers realize that conducting clear, succinct, one-way communication is a major key to their team's success. false

Project manager strategies to promote organization, project and team member needs may vary from one stage of team development to another. true

Project managers can further team development by securing agreement on common goals and objectives for the project. true

Some scope changes start as proposed changes to cost or schedule, just as some changes to cost or schedule start as proposed scope changes. true

The adoption of specific ground rules that specify acceptable and unacceptable behaviors can help prevent potential problems and improve working relationships and communication. true

The ideal time to on-board core team members is to include them in the chartering process. true

The negotiation process involves several steps including preparation for negotiation and determination of your "walk away point" true

The purpose of a check sheet is to quickly understand the primary causes of a particular problem using the 80/20 rule. false

The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is a measure of schedule efficiency on a project. true

Two types of control are used extensively on projects: steering control and go / no go control. true

When many members of the project team disagree, then it may be best to delay the decision, gather more data, or agree to let one person make the decision for the team. true