MEM Principles of Project Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager encounters a situation where a vendor offers a personal gift during contract negotiations. The BEST course of action is:
- Accept the gift as a goodwill gesture to maintain the relationship
- Decline the gift and report it per organizational ethics policies (Correct answer)
- Accept the gift but disclose it after contract signing
- Defer the decision to the legal team without disclosing
Correct answer: Decline the gift and report it per organizational ethics policies
Accepting gifts during procurement can create conflicts of interest; ethical standards require declining and reporting such situations.
Question 2: Which type of project organizational structure gives the project manager the MOST authority over resources?
- Functional
- Weak matrix
- Balanced matrix
- Projectized (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Projectized
In a projectized structure, team members report directly to the project manager, who controls resources, budget, and priorities.
Question 3: What is the key difference between a project and an operation in engineering management?
- Projects use budgets; operations do not
- Projects are temporary and produce unique outcomes; operations are ongoing and repetitive (Correct answer)
- Projects are led by project managers; operations are led by engineers
- Projects follow a fixed methodology; operations are ad hoc
Correct answer: Projects are temporary and produce unique outcomes; operations are ongoing and repetitive
By definition, a project has a defined start and end date with unique deliverables, while operations sustain ongoing business functions.
Question 4: During project execution, a risk that was not previously identified materializes. This is best described as a:
- Residual risk
- Secondary risk
- Workaround situation (Correct answer)
- Known unknown
Correct answer: Workaround situation
A workaround is an unplanned response to an emerging risk or issue that was not identified in the risk register.
Question 5: A project manager wants to ensure continuous improvement in project quality. Which tool compares a project's process metrics to industry benchmarks?
- Control chart
- Benchmarking (Correct answer)
- Pareto chart
- Scatter diagram
Correct answer: Benchmarking
Benchmarking compares actual or planned practices to those of comparable projects or industry standards to identify improvement opportunities.
Question 6: What is the primary output of the 'Close Project or Phase' process?
- Updated risk register
- Final product, service, or result transition and lessons learned (Correct answer)
- Approved change requests
- Validated deliverables
Correct answer: Final product, service, or result transition and lessons learned
Closing formalize acceptance of the final deliverable, documents lessons learned, and archives project records for organizational knowledge.
Question 7: In agile project management, what is the purpose of a 'definition of done' (DoD)?
- A checklist that defines when a sprint can begin
- A shared team agreement on criteria that must be met before a user story is accepted as complete (Correct answer)
- A contract clause specifying project completion conditions
- A stakeholder sign-off form for each release
Correct answer: A shared team agreement on criteria that must be met before a user story is accepted as complete
The DoD ensures consistent quality standards across the team by defining measurable completion criteria for user stories or increments.
MEM Principles of Project Management 5
A project manager encounters a situation where a vendor offers a personal gift during contract negotiations.
The BEST course of action is: