CAPM Practice Test 27 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are a business analyst for a large retail company implementing a new inventory management system. The project uses a waterfall business analysis framework. During the requirements phase, you have completed stakeholder analysis, conducted interviews, and documented functional requirements. Now, during requirements validation, the warehouse manager (a key stakeholder) states that the system must support real-time inventory updates from handheld scanners, a requirement not previously mentioned. The project manager is concerned because this requirement could impact the budget and schedule, and the design phase is scheduled to begin next week. You have a requirements prioritization meeting tomorrow. The warehouse manager insists this is critical for operations. The project sponsor expects all requirements to be finalized before design. What is the best course of action?

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

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact of the requirement on cost, schedule, and scope, and present options at the prioritization meeting.. As a business analyst following a waterfall framework, you must analyze the impact of a new requirement on cost, schedule, and scope before making decisions. Presenting this analysis at the prioritization meeting allows stakeholders to make an informed trade-off decision, aligning with the project sponsor's expectation that requirements are finalized before design begins. This approach maintains the integrity of the requirements validation process without prematurely escalating or rejecting the requirement.

Answer

Immediately escalate to the project sponsor to decide whether to include the requirement.

Answer

Add the requirement to the requirements document and adjust the project plan accordingly.

Answer

Reject the requirement because it was not identified during elicitation and will delay the project.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. A project administrator applies an organizational policy that requires a project charter signed by the sponsor and the functional manager before project work can commence. A project manager has not yet obtained these signatures. What is the effect on the project team's ability to start work?

Accepted Answer

The team cannot start work until both signatures are obtained.. The project charter is the document that formally authorizes the project and provides the project manager with authority. According to the policy, a signed charter with both approvals is required before work can commence. Without these signatures, the team cannot start work. Option C correctly describes this effect.

Answer

The team can start work as long as the sponsor has verbally approved.

Answer

The team can start work because the functional manager's approval is optional.

Answer

The team cannot start work regardless of dual approval; other conditions must also be met.

Question 3

A project has a cost baseline of $100,000. At the end of month 2, the planned value is $30,000, and the actual cost is $40,000. If the earned value is $25,000, what is the cost variance?

Accepted Answer

-$15,000. Cost variance (CV) = Earned Value (EV) - Actual Cost (AC) = $25,000 - $40,000 = -$15,000. A negative CV indicates the project is over budget. Therefore, option C is correct.

Answer

$15,000

Answer

-$10,000

Answer

$10,000

Question 4

A business analyst is evaluating a proposed solution and discovers that it does not fully address the root cause of the business problem. What should the analyst do next?

Accepted Answer

Revisit the needs assessment and adjust requirements.. When a proposed solution does not fully address the root cause, the business analyst should revisit the needs assessment to ensure requirements accurately reflect the problem and adjust them accordingly. Option B is wrong because proceeding with a flawed solution wastes resources and does not resolve the issue. Option C is wrong because while escalation may be needed, the first step is to reanalyze the problem and propose adjustments. Option D is wrong because terminating the project is premature without further analysis and potential requirement adjustments.

Answer

Proceed with implementation and document the gap.

Answer

Escalate to the project sponsor for a decision.

Answer

Recommend terminating the project.

Question 5

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.

Answer

Estimate Costs

Answer

Plan Cost Management

Answer

Determine Budget

Question 6

Refer to the exhibit. What issue does the Kanban board reveal?

Accepted Answer

The WIP limit is exceeded.. The Kanban board shows 4 items in the 'In Progress' column, but the Work-In-Progress (WIP) limit is set to 3. This indicates that the WIP limit is exceeded, violating Kanban principles and causing potential bottlenecks. Option A is incorrect because the issue is not about the number of done items but the limit in progress. Option B is incorrect as the backlog size is not the direct issue shown. Option D is a possible consequence but not the primary issue revealed by the board.

Answer

Not enough items are done.

Answer

The backlog is too large.

Answer

The team is overworked.

Question 7

Match each project document to its description.

Accepted Answer

Project Charter: Authorizes the project and identifies the project manager.. The correct matches are: Project Charter (authorization), Project Management Plan (execution approach), Scope Statement (detailed scope), and WBS (scope decomposition). Common confusions include swapping the charter with the management plan and equating the WBS to a risk register.

Answer

Project Charter: Describes how the project is executed.

Answer

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Identifies project risks.

Question 8

Which document serves as the primary source for defining the product scope?

Accepted Answer

Requirements documentation. Requirements documentation contains detailed product requirements that define the product scope. Option A is wrong because the stakeholder register lists stakeholders, not scope. Option C is wrong because the project charter provides high-level scope but not detailed product scope. Option D is wrong because the business case justifies the project but does not define scope.

Answer

Stakeholder register

Answer

Project charter

Answer

Business case

Question 9

Match each project role to its responsibility.

Accepted Answer

Project Manager: Accountable for achieving project objectives and managing day-to-day activities.. Matching project roles to responsibilities clarifies accountability. The project manager drives day-to-day work, the sponsor provides resources, and stakeholders have vested interests. Common confusions include swapping the sponsor's or functional manager's duties with those of the project manager.

Answer

Project Sponsor: Manages the project team and executes project tasks.

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Project Team Member: Provides funding and approves project changes.

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Functional Manager: Leads the project team and is responsible for project outcomes.

Question 10

Match each earned value management term to its formula.

Accepted Answer

PV: Budgeted cost of work scheduled. EVM metrics: PV and EV are budgeted costs, AC is actual cost. Variances: SV = EV-PV, CV = EV-AC. Indices: SPI = EV/PV, CPI = EV/AC.

Answer

EV: Actual cost of work performed

Answer

SV: EV - AC

Answer

SPI: AC / EV

Question 11

Refer to the exhibit. Based on the error log, which task has a dependency issue?

Accepted Answer

T2. The error log shows 'Dependency not met for T2: predecessor T1 not completed'. This indicates T2 has a dependency issue because its predecessor task (T1) has not finished, violating the logical relationship defined in the project schedule. In project management, a finish-to-start dependency requires the predecessor to be 100% complete before the successor can begin.

Answer

T3

Answer

T1

Answer

T4

Question 12

A project team is evaluating a proposed solution that reduces operating costs by $200,000 annually but requires an initial investment of $800,000. The project lifespan is 5 years and the discount rate is 8%. What is the net present value (NPV) of this solution? (Assume annual cost savings occur at year-end.)

Accepted Answer

-$1,458. The NPV is calculated as -$800,000 + $200,000 × PVIFA(8%, 5). PVIFA(8%, 5) = (1 - (1.08)^-5)/0.08 ≈ 3.99271. PV of savings = $200,000 × 3.99271 ≈ $798,542. NPV = -$800,000 + $798,542 = -$1,458. Thus, option C is correct. Option D ignores discounting entirely. Option A results from an erroneous positive calculation. Option B is too far negative.

Answer

$20,000

Answer

-$20,000

Answer

$200,000

Question 13

A global retail company is implementing a new e-commerce platform to replace a legacy system. The business analysis team has identified the following: The legacy system has been customized over 10 years, resulting in many undocumented business rules. The project timeline is aggressive (6 months), and the budget is fixed. The project sponsor insists on using an agile methodology to deliver quickly. The core team includes business analysts, developers, and testers, but the key business stakeholders (e.g., from merchandising, logistics, and customer service) are only available for one hour per week due to their operational roles. After the first sprint review, stakeholders expressed dissatisfaction that the delivered features do not match their expectations. The product owner is overwhelmed and struggles to prioritize the backlog. The business analysts notice that many requirements are still ambiguous and that the stakeholder feedback is inconsistent across different departments. The project is at risk of delivering a solution that does not meet business needs. What is the most effective course of action for the business analysts to take at this point?

Accepted Answer

Negotiate with the sponsor and stakeholders to extend the sprint duration to two weeks and require a minimum of three hours per week from key stakeholders. The root cause of the problem is insufficient stakeholder availability leading to poor requirements definition and inconsistent feedback. Extending the sprint duration to two weeks and requiring a minimum of three hours per week from key stakeholders directly addresses this by allowing more time for meaningful engagement and clarification. Option B (reducing scope) may help but does not resolve the core issue of stakeholder availability; it might still result in missing critical features. Option C (observation sessions) could uncover undocumented rules but does not directly improve stakeholder engagement in the iterative process. Option D (shifting to waterfall) conflicts with the sponsor's agile mandate and would not necessarily resolve the stakeholder availability constraint.

Answer

Immediately reduce the project scope to the most essential features and accelerate the next sprint

Answer

Conduct a series of observation sessions in the stores and warehouses to uncover undocumented business rules

Answer

Request that the project sponsor approve a shift to a predictive (waterfall) lifecycle to define all requirements upfront

Question 14

You are managing a predictive project to build a new office building. The project is in the execution phase. During a weekly progress meeting, the electrical contractor reports that a critical piece of switchgear has a 6-week lead time, but it was not ordered because the team assumed it would be procured later. The project schedule shows the switchgear installation activity is supposed to start in 4 weeks. The project manager reviews the procurement management plan and realizes the procurement process was not followed. The project has a tight deadline and cannot accommodate a 6-week delay. What is the best course of action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Expedite the procurement process by contacting the supplier to negotiate a faster delivery and simultaneously fast-track remaining activities to recover time.. The project manager must first attempt to recover the schedule by expediting procurement and fast-tracking remaining activities before considering formal changes. This aligns with the iterative nature of the execution phase, where the focus is on corrective action within the existing constraints. The procurement management plan was not followed, so the PM must now apply a workaround to mitigate the delay without immediately escalating to a change request.

Answer

Submit a change request to the CCB to extend the project schedule by 6 weeks.

Answer

Crash the project schedule by adding resources to other activities to offset the delay.

Answer

Implement a change request to reduce the scope of work, eliminating the need for the switchgear.

Question 15

Which TWO of the following are outputs of the Define Activities process? (Select exactly 2.)

Accepted Answer

Activity attributes. The Define Activities process is part of Project Schedule Management and produces the activity list and activity attributes as its primary outputs. The activity list identifies all scheduled activities, while activity attributes provide metadata such as predecessors, resources, and constraints. These outputs are essential for further schedule development.

Answer

Work breakdown structure

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Project schedule

Answer

Risk register