John is the project manager for the ABC project. He is finalizing the budget of the project. He is concerned about the direct costs involved in the project. Which of the following can be considered a direct cost in the project?
Correct Answer:
C
Direct costs can be traced directly to a cost object such as a product. In other words, direct costs do not have to be allocated to a product, department, or other cost object. For example, if a company produces Chairs, the cost of the wood and the cost of the carpenter are direct costs. These costs are traceable by the production department. On the other hand, the rent of the production area, warehouse, and office is not a direct cost.
Answer options A, D, and B are incorrect. These are examples of indirect costs.
Mary is the project manager for her company. She's working with the project team to compress the project schedule as the project must be completed by December 30. For some of the project activities, she and the project team have agreed to crash the project work. What must be true of these project activities for crashing to be acceptable?
Correct Answer:
B
Crashing is the addition of project resources to complete effort-driven activities in faster time. By adding more labor the activity can be completed faster. Crashing is a schedule compression technique to obtain the greatest amount of compression for the least incremental cost. Crashing works for activities where additional resources will shorten the duration. Approving overtime, bringing in additional resources, paying to expedite delivery to activities on the critical path are examples of crashing.
Answer option A is incorrect. An activity of fixed duration, such as printing 100,000 brochures in a printing press, won't be completed faster by adding more effort. Answer option D is incorrect. Activities need not be risk-free to use project crashing. Answer option C is incorrect. All effort-driven activities are susceptible to the Law of
Diminishing Returns. By adding more labor the value of the yield of the work decreases because of the cost of the labor added to the project work.
Holly is the project manager for her organization. She is creating the activity list and would like to tag those activities that are comprised of discrete effort. What is discrete effort?
Correct Answer:
B
Discrete effort is a term used to describe the work that can be measured and traced to the components in the work packages. It is the actual work to create the project deliverables. Discrete effort refers to the particular work effort that can be identified and traced as having a direct tie to the final completion of the project- related work breakdown structure components and the deliverables. It is necessary that all the efforts have a specific measurable end product or end result.
Answer options A, D, and C are incorrect. These are not valid definitions of discrete effort.
You are the project manager of the NDF project. You need to determine how often a
complete project report can be made, including forecasted project completion information for your project. How often should the report be created?
Correct Answer:
C
Performance reports should be created regularly or on an exception basis. A performance report tracks the performance of the program/project team members. A template can be created that tracks performance, such as work results, schedule, costs, and other factors. The performance report must include both the positive and negative performance for the staff.
Answer option A is incorrect. Weekly may be appropriate for many projects, but it does not include the opportunity to create a report by exception.
Answer option D is incorrect. Regular reporting is also needed or at least, an option for the project manager.
Answer option B is incorrect. This is not a valid answer as milestones will vary per project and does not offer an opportunity for exceptions reporting.
What component of the change management system is responsible for evaluating, testing,
and documenting changes created to the project scope?
Correct Answer:
B
The change management system is comprised of several components that guide the change request through the process. When a change request is made that will affect the project scope. The Configuration Management System evaluates the change request and documents the features and functions of the change on the project scope. What is Configuration Management System? Configuration Management System is a subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, service, or component of the project. It also controls any changes to such characteristics, and records and reports each change and its implementation status. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes. Audits are performed as part of configuration management to determine if the requirements have been met.
Answer option D is incorrect. Integrated Change Control, part of the change control system, does not document changes to the features and functions of the project scope. It evaluates the change's impact on eight knowledge areas: scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement. What is Perform Integrated Change Control? Perform Integrated Change Control is the process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and controlling changes to the deliverables and organizational process assets in a project. Perform Integrated Change Control has to do with influencing the things that cause change, determining that the change is required or has happened, and managing the change.
Answer option A is incorrect. Verify scope is a process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables. It is an inspection- driven process the stakeholders will complete to inspect the project scope deliverables. It is typically performed at the end of the phase and at the end of the project.
Answer option C is incorrect. The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is an information system consisting of the tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project management processes. It is used to support all aspects of the project from initiating through closing, and can include both manual and automated systems. It is the parent of the change control process. It is a system that includes all of the change control processes for scope, time, cost, and procurement. Configuration management is part of the PMIS.
