CAM Project Integration Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Control Account Manager discovers that a scope change approved by the customer has not yet been reflected in the performance measurement baseline. What should the CAM do first?
- Process the change through the formal baseline change control process (Correct answer)
- Begin work on the new scope immediately to avoid schedule delays
- Adjust the control account budget informally and document it later
- Report the variance as unfavorable until the contract ends
Correct answer: Process the change through the formal baseline change control process
All approved scope changes must be incorporated into the baseline through formal change control before work and budgets are adjusted.
Question 2: Which document integrates the scope, schedule, and budget for a single control account under a CAM's responsibility?
- The control account plan (CAP) (Correct answer)
- The project charter
- The stakeholder register
- The risk management plan
Correct answer: The control account plan (CAP)
The control account plan brings together scope, schedule, and budget elements into one integrated management document for the control account.
Question 3: During integrated baseline review (IBR) preparation, a CAM finds that work package budgets do not sum to the control account budget. What integration principle is violated?
- Vertical traceability of the budget (Correct answer)
- Horizontal schedule logic
- Rolling wave planning
- Management reserve allocation
Correct answer: Vertical traceability of the budget
Vertical traceability requires that work package and planning package budgets sum exactly to the control account total.
Question 4: A CAM is asked to use management reserve to cover a cost overrun on existing in-scope work. What is the correct response?
- Decline, because management reserve is for unplanned in-scope work, not overruns (Correct answer)
- Accept, because reserves exist to absorb any cost growth
- Transfer the overrun to another control account with underruns
- Reduce planned value in future periods to hide the overrun
Correct answer: Decline, because management reserve is for unplanned in-scope work, not overruns
Management reserve may not be used to eliminate cost variances or cover overruns; overruns must remain visible in performance data.
Question 5: Which meeting best exemplifies integration management at the control account level?
- A monthly review where the CAM reconciles cost, schedule, and technical status together (Correct answer)
- A daily standup covering only staffing issues
- A procurement negotiation with a single vendor
- An HR performance appraisal for team members
Correct answer: A monthly review where the CAM reconciles cost, schedule, and technical status together
Integration means reviewing cost, schedule, and technical performance together to get a unified picture of control account health.
Question 6: A CAM receives conflicting direction: the program manager wants scope accelerated while the contracts office says no authorization exists. What should the CAM do?
- Hold work until proper work authorization is issued through the change process (Correct answer)
- Proceed based on the program manager's verbal direction
- Split the difference by starting only half the work
- Charge the effort to an unrelated control account temporarily
Correct answer: Hold work until proper work authorization is issued through the change process
Work must never begin without formal work authorization, regardless of verbal pressure from leadership.
Question 7: In an earned value management system, what links the contract statement of work to the individual control accounts?
- The work breakdown structure (WBS) (Correct answer)
- The organizational chart alone
- The invoice register
- The quality assurance log
Correct answer: The work breakdown structure (WBS)
The WBS decomposes the contract scope hierarchically, tying every control account back to the statement of work.
CAM Project Integration Management 2
A Control Account Manager discovers that a scope change approved by the customer has not yet been reflected in the performance measurement baseline.
What should the CAM do first?