CAPM Practice Exam 2 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A project manager is leading a software development project. The sponsor has requested a new feature that was not part of the original scope. The project manager assesses that adding this feature will require additional resources and will extend the timeline by two weeks. What should the project manager do first?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact on the project constraints and submit a change request.. The correct first step is to analyze the impact on the project constraints (scope, time, cost, quality) and submit a formal change request. This follows the Integrated Change Control process, ensuring the sponsor and change control board (CCB) evaluate the trade-offs before any work begins. In software development, adding a feature without analysis risks scope creep and uncontrolled budget or schedule deviations.

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Refuse the request because it is out of scope.

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Instruct the team to implement the feature and track extra time as overtime.

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Immediately update the project schedule and budget.

Question 2

A team adopting Kanban wants to visualize its workflow and identify bottlenecks. Which Kanban practice should the team implement first?

Accepted Answer

Create a board that maps the team's actual process steps from start to finish.. Kanban begins with visualizing the workflow so the team can see how work actually moves. Mapping real process steps reveals queues, handoffs, and delays that cause bottlenecks. Once the workflow is visible, the team can apply WIP limits, manage flow, and make policies explicit. Jumping to limits or role changes before mapping the process would optimize a workflow the team does not yet understand.

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Set a work-in-progress limit on every column immediately, using a fixed number like five.

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Replace the team's existing roles and meetings with a continuous flow model before starting.

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Assign a dedicated Kanban manager to move cards between columns for the team.

Question 3

A BA is conducting a feasibility study. Which factor is assessed to determine if the project aligns with strategic goals?

Accepted Answer

Organizational feasibility. Organizational feasibility assesses whether the project aligns with the strategic goals of the organization by evaluating factors such as management support, stakeholder buy-in, and cultural fit. This ensures the project supports the overall business strategy and has the necessary organizational commitment to succeed.

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Technical feasibility

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Schedule feasibility

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Economic feasibility

Question 4

Which is an effective way to prioritize user stories in a product backlog?

Accepted Answer

Order by business value, risk, and dependencies.. Prioritizing user stories by business value, risk, and dependencies ensures that the most valuable and impactful features are delivered first. Option A (story points) indicates effort or size, not value. Option B (number of tasks) is irrelevant to priority. Option C (creation date) is chronological and does not reflect importance.

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Order by story points.

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Order by the number of tasks in each story.

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Order by the date they were created.

Question 5

A business analyst creates a document that maps each requirement to its source and to the test case that will verify it. This document is called:

Accepted Answer

Requirements Traceability Matrix. A Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) is precisely the document that maps each requirement to its source (business need, stakeholder, or document) and to the test case that will verify it. It provides bidirectional traceability, ensuring no requirement is orphaned and every requirement is tested.

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Use Case

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Business Requirements Document (BRD)

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User Story

Question 6

A startup is using Scrum to develop a mobile app. The product owner has a clear vision and has written detailed user stories for the first release. During sprint planning, the development team estimates that they can complete 40 story points per sprint. However, after two sprints, the team has only completed 30 points per sprint. The product owner is concerned and wants to hold the team accountable. The team says that the estimates were optimistic and that they are still learning the technology. The Scrum Master notices that the team is not using pair programming or test-driven development (TDD) as originally planned. The product owner suggests reducing scope for the next sprint to match the team’s actual velocity. The Scrum Master must decide the best way to proceed. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Encourage the product owner to use the actual velocity of 30 as the basis for future sprint planning. The Scrum Master should use empirical data (actual velocity of 30 story points) to guide future sprint planning, not the initial optimistic estimate. This aligns with the Agile principle of transparency and adapting based on real team performance, especially when the team is still learning the technology. The product owner can then adjust scope realistically, avoiding overcommitment and fostering trust.

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Replace the team lead to send a message about accountability

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Set a goal of 40 story points and ask the team to be more productive

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Insist that the team adopt pair programming and TDD immediately to improve productivity

Question 7

A business analyst is using a business analysis framework to identify stakeholders. Which technique is most effective for ensuring all affected parties are considered?

Accepted Answer

Creating a stakeholder map and validating with experts. Stakeholder mapping, when validated with experts, systematically identifies all affected parties by visually representing relationships, influence, and impact. This technique leverages expert judgment to cross-check the map against organizational knowledge, ensuring no stakeholder group is overlooked. It is more comprehensive than ad-hoc methods because it follows a structured framework (e.g., PMI's stakeholder identification process) and incorporates validation to fill gaps.

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Brainstorming with the project team

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Conducting one-on-one interviews with known stakeholders

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Distributing a questionnaire to the organization

Question 8

A business analyst is verifying that all requirements have corresponding test cases. They find a requirement that has no linked test case. What should the BA do first?

Accepted Answer

Request a test case to be created for that requirement.. Request a test case to be created for that requirement. In business analysis, traceability ensures every requirement has a corresponding test case to verify it is implemented correctly. When a requirement lacks a test case, the BA should first request one to maintain coverage. Option A is incorrect because the project manager does not typically authorize test cases; the BA or QA team handles them. Option B is incorrect because ignoring the issue violates traceability best practices. Option D is incorrect because removing the requirement is premature without analysis; the BA should first try to create a test case.

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Ask the project manager to approve the missing test.

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Ignore it as it may not be critical.

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Remove the requirement if it cannot be tested.

Question 9

Which of the following best describes a project versus ongoing operations?

Accepted Answer

Projects are temporary; operations are ongoing. Projects are temporary endeavors with a defined start and end, undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. Operations are ongoing and repetitive, sustaining the business. This distinction is fundamental in project management and is exactly what option D states.

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Projects have ongoing outputs; operations have defined deliverables

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Projects are repetitive; operations are unique

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Projects focus on profit; operations focus on value

Question 10

A business analyst is tasked with modeling the logical data requirements for a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. Which artifact should the BA create to show the relationships between customer entities and their attributes?

Accepted Answer

An entity-relationship diagram. The entity-relationship diagram (ERD) is the correct artifact because it specifically models logical data requirements by showing entities (e.g., Customer, Order) and their attributes (e.g., CustomerID, Name) along with the relationships between them (e.g., one-to-many). This directly addresses the task of modeling data for a CRM system, where understanding how customer data relates to other entities is critical.

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A context diagram

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A user story map

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A use case diagram

Question 11

Which THREE of the following are tools and techniques used in the Control Schedule process? (Select exactly 3.)

Accepted Answer

Performance reviews. Performance reviews (B) are a tool and technique in the Control Schedule process used to compare actual schedule performance against the baseline, often through earned value management (EVM) metrics like schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI). This helps identify deviations and trigger corrective actions.

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Rolling wave planning

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Critical path method

Question 12

A business analyst is validating requirements and discovers that several requirements conflict with each other. The project sponsor insists on including all conflicting requirements to satisfy different stakeholders. What is the best course of action for the BA?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with stakeholders to discuss trade-offs and prioritize requirements.. The business analyst's role includes facilitating stakeholder collaboration to resolve conflicts through trade-off analysis and prioritization. This aligns with the BABOK guide's requirement management process, where the BA helps stakeholders understand the impact of conflicting requirements and negotiate a prioritized set that delivers the most value within project constraints.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor and ask for a decision.

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Remove the conflicting requirements and proceed with the remaining ones.

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Include all requirements as requested and let the development team resolve conflicts during implementation.

Question 13

A project team is developing a quality management plan for a predictive software development project. Which tool is most appropriate to identify the root causes of potential defects?

Accepted Answer

Ishikawa diagram. The Ishikawa diagram (fishbone diagram) is used to identify root causes of problems. Option B (Pareto chart) is wrong because Pareto charts prioritize issues based on frequency, not root cause identification. Option C (Flowchart) is wrong because flowcharts map process steps, not root causes. Option D (Control chart) is wrong because control charts monitor process stability over time.

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Pareto chart

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Flowchart

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Control chart

Question 14

A business analyst is using a context diagram to model the scope of a system. What does a context diagram primarily show?

Accepted Answer

The system boundary and external entities that interact with it. A context diagram shows the system as a single process (or bubble) and depicts the external entities that interact with it, along with the data flows across the system boundary. It defines the scope of the system by making explicit what is inside and what is outside. This is the primary purpose of a context diagram in structured analysis.

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Internal architecture of the system

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Sequence of interactions between objects

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Detailed system processes and data flows

Question 15

Which THREE of the following are core values of the Agile Manifesto?

Accepted Answer

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.. The Agile Manifesto explicitly values 'Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.' This means that while processes and tools are important, the people doing the work and how they communicate take precedence. The Manifesto emphasizes that collaboration and human factors drive project success more than rigid adherence to prescribed procedures.

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Following a plan over responding to change.

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Contract negotiation over customer collaboration.

Question 16

A project team is working on a construction project. The project manager notices that the actual cost is consistently higher than planned. Which project management process is most directly responsible for monitoring and controlling costs?

Accepted Answer

Control Costs. The Control Costs process is directly responsible for monitoring project expenditures and managing changes to the cost baseline. When actual cost consistently exceeds planned cost, the project manager must use Control Costs to analyze variance, forecast future costs, and implement corrective actions to bring spending back in line with the budget.

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Estimate Costs

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Plan Cost Management

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Determine Budget

Question 17

Which THREE are principles of the Agile Manifesto? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Deliver working software frequently, with a preference to the shorter timescale.. The Agile Manifesto explicitly states 'Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.' This principle emphasizes iterative delivery and rapid feedback cycles, which are core to Agile frameworks like Scrum and XP.

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Use pair programming for all production code.

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Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

Question 18

A business analyst is assigned to a project that aims to streamline the supply chain process in a manufacturing company. The project has a tight deadline, and the project sponsor wants to use a proven framework to ensure efficiency. During the initial analysis, the analyst finds that the current process has many manual handoffs and inconsistent data formats. Several cross-functional teams have conflicting priorities. The sponsor asks for a recommendation that balances structure with flexibility. As the business analyst, which approach should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Use the BABOK guide as a framework to define business analysis activities and deliverables.. The BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) guide is the definitive framework for business analysis, providing a flexible structure of knowledge areas, tasks, techniques, and competencies that can be tailored to any project context. It directly addresses the analyst's need to define business analysis activities and deliverables while balancing structure with flexibility, as it is methodology-agnostic and can be adapted to tight deadlines and cross-functional conflicts. Unlike Six Sigma, PRINCE2, or Waterfall, BABOK is specifically designed for the business analysis role, making it the most appropriate recommendation for the sponsor.

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Adopt a Six Sigma DMAIC approach to reduce defects and standardize processes.

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Follow the Prince2 methodology for project management and business analysis.

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Implement a pure Waterfall approach with strict phase gates.

Question 19

A project team is adopting Kanban. They currently have a cycle time of 10 days and a throughput of 5 items per week. The team wants to improve predictability. Which action would most directly help?

Accepted Answer

Make the work items smaller.. Making work items smaller directly reduces variability in cycle time and throughput, which improves predictability in Kanban. Smaller items are easier to estimate, flow more consistently through the system, and reduce the risk of large items blocking the workflow, leading to more reliable delivery forecasts.

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Add more team members.

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Decrease the WIP limits.

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Increase the WIP limits.

Question 20

A financial services company is adopting Scrum for a critical compliance project. The team has six developers, one product owner, and one Scrum Master. After three sprints, the product owner is frustrated because the team has only delivered 40% of the planned features. The team says they are working full capacity but keep getting interrupted by urgent production support requests from the operations team. The Scrum Master notices that the team’s velocity is dropping each sprint. The product owner insists on increasing the sprint length from two weeks to four weeks to allow more time for delivery. However, the compliance deadline is fixed. The Scrum Master must recommend a course of action. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Ask the product owner to prioritize production support requests as part of the sprint backlog and limit work in progress. It addresses the root cause of the team's velocity drop: unplanned production support requests. By asking the Product Owner to prioritize these requests into the sprint backlog, the team can formally account for the work, limit work in progress (WIP), and maintain a sustainable pace. This aligns with Scrum's principle of transparency and allows the team to make realistic commitments while still protecting the fixed compliance deadline.

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Instruct the team to work overtime to meet the original sprint commitments

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Increase the sprint length to four weeks to give the team more time to complete work

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Remove the Scrum Master position to save costs and let the team self-manage