Hi Folks,

Hope you had tried answering our 200 PMP sample questions by registering to the link provided on the earlier post.

In the meantime, here are the answers to the 15 PMP sample questions with explanations.

1.) Which of the following is not a tool and technique used during the quality control process?

Ans (D) Quality Audits.

Reason : Quality audits is a structured independent review to determine whether project activities comply with organizational and project policies and is done as part of the quality assurance process. Please refer PMBOK 4th edition Project Quality Management PN 204 for more details.

2.) Your project just completed, and one of your subcontractors has sent you the tickets for the next IPL cricket match to thank you for your business. What is the BEST way to respond?

Ans (B) Thank the subcontractor, but politely refuse the gift.

Reason: The PMP Code of Professional Conduct says that you’re not allowed to accept any kind of gift, not even if it’s after the project has finished. That would be the same thing as taking a bribe.

3.) A project manager is reporting the final status of the closed contract to the stakeholders. Which form of communication is appropriate?

Ans. (C) Formal Written.

Reason: All project reports must be communicated as formal written documents.

4.) A project manager is conducting a bidder conference to select the most suitable sellers. Which of the following tools will NOT be helpful?

Ans. (D) Teaming Agreements .

Reason: The project manager is in the process of conduct procurements and all of the above are tools and techniques that can be used in the process except teaming agreements which is part of the plan procurement process. For more information refer PMBOK 4th edition Project Procurement Management PN 319

5.) As a project manager, you are in the final stages of determining your cost baseline for the project and funding requirements. Which process are you currently in?

Ans. (C) Cost Budgeting.

Reason: The cost performance baseline and project funding requirements are outputs of the 'determine budget' process and it is done as part of the cost budgeting for the project. Please refer to PMBOK 4th edition Project Cost Management PN 177 for more details

6.) Which of the following is the power that is based on the ability to reward?

Ans. (B) Reward Power.

Reason: The power that a project manager may possess to reward is referred to as reward power.

7.) Which of the following are the MOST important to deriving the total funding requirements and periodic funding requirements of the project?

Ans. (B) Cost Baseline and Management Reserve.

Reason: The total funds required in the project are those included in cost baseline, plus management reserve if any. Remember, the cost baseline includes contingency reserves because the cost baseline will include projected expenditures plus anticipated liabilities. Please refer to PMBOK 4th edition Project Cost Management PN 179 for more details

8.) The popular iterative four step approach of Plan-Do-Check-Act was advocated by which of the following quality theorists ?

Ans. (B) W. Edwards Deming.

Reason: PDCA (plan-do-check-act) is an iterative four-step problem solving process typically used in business process improvement. It is also known as the Deming cycle, Shewhart cycle, Deming wheel, or plan-do-study-act. It was proposed by W. Edwards Deming in the 1950's and suggests that business processes should be analyzed and measured to identify sources of variations that cause products to deviate from customer requirements. He recommended that business processes be placed in a continuous feedback loop so that managers can identify and change the parts of the process that need improvements. Plan: Design or revise business process components to improve results. Do: Implement the plan and measure its performance. Check: Assess the measurements and report the results to decision makers. Act: Decide on changes needed to improve the process

9.) Of the following, which conflict resolution technique is believed to generate the LEAST enduring positive results?

Ans. (D) Forcing.

Reason: Forcing is the only technique that can generate the LEAST positive enduring results.

10.) The process of predicting future performance based on the current performance is called ?

Ans. (B) Trend Analysis.

Reason: In project management, as well as other areas, trend analysis refers to a mathematical technique that uses historical results to predict future outcome.

11.) You are a project manager managing a project with limited resources. Which of the following schedule network analysis techniques would be most useful to modify the project schedule for limited resources?

Ans. (A) Control chart.

Reason: A control chart is a statistical tool used to distinguish between variation in a process resulting from common causes and variation resulting from special causes. Some variation may be the result of causes which are not normally present in the process. This could be special cause of variation. Some variation is simply the result of numerous, ever-present differences in the process. This is a common cause variation. Control charts differentiate between these two types of variation. It presents a graphic display of process stability or instability over time. Process stability is defined as a state in which a process has displayed a certain degree of consistency in the past and is expected to continue to do so in the future.

12.) You are managing a project to build a multi-story complex in your city. You are waiting for the clearance to start construction of a building. This is an example of which kind of dependency?

Ans. (C) Critical Chain Method.

Reason: The critical chain method is a schedule network analysis technique that modifies the project schedule to account for limited resources. In the critical chain method, initially the project schedule network diagram is built using duration estimates and dependencies. Since the resources are a constraint, the resource availability is entered next and the resource's limited schedule result is determined. Hence the critical chain method is a network analysis technique used when project resources are constrained. For more information please refer to PMBOK 4th edition Project Time Management PN155

13.) As part of project stage review, you are presenting project performance reports to the stakeholders. The reports show both cost and schedule variances are positive for the project. What does it indicate about the current project status?

Ans. (C) Project is under budget and ahead of schedule.

Reason: Remember, Cost Variance = Earned Value (EV) - Actual Cost (AC). Positive cost variance indicates that the project is under budget. Similarly, Schedule Variance = Earned Value (EV) - Planned Value (PV). Positive schedule variance indicates that the project is ahead of schedule.

14.) A popular Japanese technique which advocates continuous small improvements involving everyone from top management to the lowest level in the organization is called?

Ans. (B) Kaizen.

Reason : The term (In the Japanese language, kaizen stands for "improvement") refers to a philosophy or practice focusing on continuous improvement in manufacturing activities and business activities in general. When used in the business sense and applied to the workplace, kaizen typically refers to activities that continually improve all functions of a business. This can include manufacturing to management and from the CEO to the assembly line workers. By improving standardized activities and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate waste. For more information on this technique check the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen

15.) Which of the following does not signify the obstacles to effective delegation of authority?

Ans. (D) Project Charter provides the high level project description and product characteristics.

Reason : It authorizes the project and provides the project manager the authority to assign organization resources.