Project Management Project Governance and Compliance 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager receives a gift from a vendor seeking a contract award. According to PMI's Code of Ethics, what is the BEST course of action?
- Accept it since it is a normal business practice
- Decline the gift and disclose the situation to the appropriate party (Correct answer)
- Accept only if the gift's value is below a personal threshold
- Accept it but document it in the project log
Correct answer: Decline the gift and disclose the situation to the appropriate party
PMI's Code of Ethics requires project managers to avoid conflicts of interest and situations that could compromise their impartiality, including receiving gifts from vendors.
Question 2: What is the PRIMARY difference between project governance and project management?
- Governance focuses on day-to-day task execution while management sets strategic direction
- Governance establishes the decision-making framework and accountability structures while management executes within that framework (Correct answer)
- Governance is performed by the project team while management is performed by executives
- There is no meaningful difference between the two concepts
Correct answer: Governance establishes the decision-making framework and accountability structures while management executes within that framework
Governance defines the authority, accountability, and oversight structures, while project management operates within those structures to deliver the project.
Question 3: A company requires all IT projects to undergo a security review before go-live. The project manager skips this step due to schedule pressure. This MOST directly violates which concept?
- Resource management principles
- Organizational governance and compliance requirements (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder engagement best practices
- Quality management standards
Correct answer: Organizational governance and compliance requirements
Skipping a mandatory organizational review violates the governance and compliance requirements established by the organization's policies.
Question 4: Which technique helps a project manager ensure all compliance requirements are tracked and met throughout the project?
- Earned value analysis
- Compliance requirements traceability matrix (Correct answer)
- Monte Carlo simulation
- Critical path method
Correct answer: Compliance requirements traceability matrix
A compliance requirements traceability matrix maps each regulatory or policy requirement to specific project deliverables, ensuring nothing is overlooked.
Question 5: During a project health check, an auditor finds that change requests are being informally approved via email without going through the change control board. This indicates a failure in:
- Risk management
- Project governance controls (Correct answer)
- Communications management
- Stakeholder management
Correct answer: Project governance controls
Bypassing the change control board breaks down the governance controls designed to protect project baselines and ensure accountability for changes.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of a REGULATORY compliance requirement for a US-based construction project?
- Following the project sponsor's preferred reporting format
- Adhering to OSHA safety standards on the job site (Correct answer)
- Using the PM's preferred scheduling tool
- Submitting weekly status reports to the PMO
Correct answer: Adhering to OSHA safety standards on the job site
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) sets legally mandated safety standards that all US construction projects must comply with.
Question 7: A project governance framework includes escalation thresholds. What is the PRIMARY benefit of defining these thresholds?
- Reducing the number of team meetings required
- Ensuring issues are resolved at the appropriate authority level without unnecessary escalation or delay (Correct answer)
- Eliminating the need for a risk register
- Automating project status reporting
Correct answer: Ensuring issues are resolved at the appropriate authority level without unnecessary escalation or delay
Escalation thresholds route issues to the right decision-maker efficiently, preventing both under-escalation of serious problems and over-escalation of minor ones.
Project Management Project Governance and Compliance 4
A project manager receives a gift from a vendor seeking a contract award.
According to PMI's Code of Ethics, what is the BEST course of action?