PMP Tests - Notes

1. Agressor - Criticizes everything and everybody on PM
2. Dominator - Professes to know everything about project management.
3. Devil's Advocate - Finds fault in all areas of PM
4. Total Float = LF - EF  or LS - ES
5. Free Float =  ES of next activity - EF
6. The critical path method (CPM) is a popular approach to project scheduling that considers the amount of float on project activities. Critical chain takes CPM a step further by adding time buffers to account for limited resources.
7. fast tracking: performing more critical activities in parallel
8. crashing critical path: Shortening duration of critical activities
Handling Conflicts:
9. Forcing - Win-Lose situation
10. Confronting - Win-Win
11. Compromise - Lose-Lose
12. Plan Risk Responses is the process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and to reduce threats to project objectives (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition, page 301).

Monitor and Control Risks is the process of implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, and monitoring residual risks (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition, page 308).

Assess the priority of identified risks using their probability of occurrence.  - Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

13.  configuration management activities included in the integrated change control process are... configuration identification, configuration status accounting, and configuration verification and audit. 

14. A lag directs a delay in the successor activity. Waiting time is also referred to as lag
15. Requests for change can be direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated, and can be optional or legally/contractually mandated.- directing and managing the project execution

16. Stakeholders` ability to influence the final characteristics of the project`s product, without significantly impacting cost, is highest at the start of the project and decreases as the project progresses towards completion. 

17. A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is used to illustrate the connections between work packages or activities and project team members. One example of a RAM is a RACI (responsible, accountable, consult, and inform) chart 

18. The different types of estimates are:

Definitive: - 5% to +10% accuracy
Budgetary: -15% to +25% accuracy
Order of magnitude: - 50% to +50% accuracy 

19. Project Management System: The aggregation of the processes, tools, techniques, methodologies, resources, and procedures to manage a project.

20. When checklists are used, the completed checklists become part of the organizational process assets updates. 


21. Report Performance is a process of collecting and distributing performance information, including status report, progress measurements, and forecasts.

Report Performance process involves periodic collection and analysis of baseline versus actual data to understand and communicate project progress and performance, as well as to forecast the project results.
 
22.  Precision Versus Accuracy:

PMBOK defines precision as, “the values of repeated measurements are clustered and have little scatter”, while accuracy is defined as, “the measurement value is very close to the true value”.

Consider this; a wire manufacturer is molding copper wires. The wire must be 1.8mm to 2.2mm in diameter. A quality inspector takes 100 measurements of the wire diameter for in two days. Assume that the first 50 measurements (taken on day 1) were in the range of 2.2mm to 2.3mm, while the next 50 measurements (taken on day 2) were in the range of 1.9mm to 2.0mm. What must be concluded regarding the samples taken on these two days?

Day 1: Measurements are precise, but not acceptable since they are not accurate.

Day 2: Measurements are precise and accurate as well.

Assume that the same procedure was repeated on day 3 and further 50 measurements were observed in the range of 1.8mm to 2.2mm. Now what must be concluded regarding the samples taken on day 3?

Day 3: Measurements are less precise, but acceptable since they are within specification limits and are accurate.

In short, precision is a measure of variance in the measurements, regardless whether the measurements were on target or off target. While accuracy is the measure of conformance to specification limits.

23. Attribute Sampling vs. Variable Sampling

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There are two types of data/measurements, ‘variable’ (also called ‘continuous’) and attribute (also called ‘discrete’). Discrete or attribute data can only measured by categories (like yes/no, true/false, pass/fail etc.) or intervals (like absolute rank, educational level, types etc.). Attribute data is always about counting of measurements falling in different categories. Attribute data cannot be further divided, for example if I say I have 10 students who are either taking a math class or a science class, there will be no student who would be taking 50% of the match class and 50% of the science class.

On the other hand, variable or continuous data can be further divided into more classifications and that will still have meaning. For example if I measure temperature for two rooms, 22F and 23F respectively, this does not mean that a temperature of 22.2F or 22.5F cannot be recorded.

Having said that and clearing the concepts of attribute and variable data, answering your question is very simple. If we are taking samples on attribute measurements, we are doing attribute sampling and vice versa.

24. The project manager is responsible to manage stakeholder expectations.  

25. Cost management plan does not include cost estimation, i.e., tools for cost estimating are not used for creation of cost management plan. These tools will be used in the Estimate Costs process. 

26. Mitigation may require prototype development to reduce the risk of scaling up from a bench-scale model of a process or product. 

27. Fixed-price contracts involve setting a fixed total price for a defined product or service to be provided.   The profit is not known at the time of contract sign-off; only the fixed price of the contract is determined at that time. 

28. Just-in-time manufacturing is a process that continuously stresses waste reduction by optimizing the processes and procedures necessary to maintain a manufacturing operation. Part of this process is JIT purchasing or inventory where the materials needed appear just in time for use, thus eliminating costs associated with material handling, storage, paperwork, and even inspection.

29. Communication methods like individual and group meetings, video and audio conferences, instant messaging, and other remote communication methods are used for distributing information. 

30. Stakeholder influences, risk, and uncertainty are greatest at the start of the project. These factors decrease over the life of the project. The cost of changes and correcting errors typically increase substantially as the project approaches completion.      

31. Opportunity cost is the cost of passing up the next best option. The opportunity cost of choosing project A (over project B, which is the next best option) is equal to NPV of the next best available option. Net present value of project B is chosen = $ 300,000 


32. Standardized schedule network diagram templates can be used to expedite the preparation of networks of project activities. They can include an entire project or only a portion of it. Portions of a project schedule network diagram are often referred to as a subnetwork or a fragment network. Subnetwork templates are especially useful when a project includes several identical or nearly identical deliverables. 

33. A lead allows an acceleration of the successor activity.  - Finish-to-start with a 2-week lead.

34.  A lag directs a delay in the successor activity.  A technical writing team can begin editing the draft of a large document 15 days after they begin writing it.  This is a start-to-start relationship. 

35. Theory Z focuses on increasing employee loyalty toward the company by providing a job for life with a strong focus on the well-being of the employee, both on and off the job. Theory Z was developed by Ouchi.