6.4: PgMP-Style Questions

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Page ID: 137956

Guharaman Janakiraman
De Anza College

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Sample Questions

All five component projects in a program report green status. However, the program manager discovers that the outputs of two components are incompatible and cannot be integrated. What does this situation indicate?
1. The component project managers have been dishonest in their reporting.
2. Component-level reporting does not capture program-level integration issues, which require program-level monitoring.
3. The program governance board has failed in its oversight role.
4. The program WBS was poorly constructed.
A program's CPI is 0.88 and its SPI is 0.94. What do these numbers tell you?
1. The program is under budget and ahead of schedule.
2. The program is over budget and behind schedule.
3. The program is over budget but ahead of schedule.
4. The program is under budget but behind schedule.
A component project manager submits a change request to add a new feature to their deliverable. The feature would benefit their component but would require a dependent component to modify its data interface, adding three weeks to that component's schedule. What should the program manager do?
1. Approve the change because it benefits the requesting component.
2. Reject the change because it affects another component.
3. Evaluate the cross-component impact on schedule, cost, and benefits, and present the analysis to the program change board for a decision.
4. Ask the two component managers to resolve it between themselves.
A program has a BAC of $40 million. After 18 months, the EV is $18 million and the AC is $22 million. What is the CPI and what does it indicate?
1. CPI = 1.22; the program is under budget.
2. CPI = 0.82; the program is getting 82 cents of value for every dollar spent.
3. CPI = 0.82; the program is 82% complete.
4. CPI = 1.22; the program is 22% ahead of schedule.
During program delivery, a risk identified in the program risk register materializes: a key supplier goes bankrupt, affecting three component projects. What should the program manager do first?
1. Terminate the three affected components.
2. Implement the risk response strategy from the risk management plan.
3. Escalate immediately to the governance board.
4. Add the event to the issues log and continue monitoring.
A program manager holds weekly integration meetings with component managers. The meetings have been devolving into individual project status updates, consuming two hours with little focus on cross-component issues. What should the program manager do?
1. Cancel the meetings because they are not productive.
2. Restructure the meetings to focus exclusively on cross-component dependencies, integration issues, and shared resource conflicts.
3. Extend the meetings to three hours to cover both status updates and integration issues.
4. Replace the meetings with written status reports.
A component has completed its deliverables and is ready for closure. However, two other components depend on outputs from this component that have not yet been formally accepted. What should the program manager do?
1. Close the component and address acceptance later.
2. Delay the component closure until the dependent components have formally accepted the outputs and confirmed they meet integration requirements.
3. Transfer the acceptance responsibility to the program management office.
4. Allow the component manager to decide when to close.
Which of the following best describes the difference between project-level quality management and program-level quality management?
1. Project quality focuses on deliverable specifications; program quality focuses on whether integrated outputs produce the intended outcomes.
2. Project quality is more important because it produces the actual deliverables.
3. Program quality replaces project quality once components are integrated.
4. They are the same activity performed at different scales.
A program has six component projects. Components 1, 2, and 3 are in the oversight and integration subphase. Component 4 is being authorized. Components 5 and 6 have been transitioned and closed. What does this illustrate about program delivery?
1. The program is behind schedule because not all components are in the same phase.
2. Multiple components operate in different subphases simultaneously, which is normal for program delivery.
3. The program manager should wait until all components are authorized before beginning oversight.
4. Components 5 and 6 closed too early.
Using the EVM data from Question 4 (BAC = $40M, EV = $18M, AC = $22M), calculate the EAC and VAC. What do these numbers tell the governance board?
1. EAC = $48.8M, VAC = -$8.8M; the program is projected to exceed its budget by $8.8 million at current performance.
2. EAC = $36M, VAC = +$4M; the program will finish under budget.
3. EAC = $40M, VAC = $0; the program will finish on budget.
4. EAC cannot be calculated without knowing the project duration.

Answer Key

1. B. Component-level reporting measures individual project performance, not integration, so program-level monitoring is needed to catch compatibility issues.
2. B. CPI below 1.0 means over budget, and SPI below 1.0 means behind schedule.
3. C. Program-level changes require cross-component impact assessment before the change board decides.
4. B. CPI = EV/AC = $18M/$22M = 0.82, meaning the program is getting 82 cents of value for every dollar spent.
5. B. The risk management plan should include pre-planned response strategies, and implementing the planned response is the correct first step.
6. B. Integration meetings should focus on integration, while individual project status belongs in separate component-level meetings.
7. B. Component closure should be coordinated with dependent components so they aren't left without needed outputs.
8. A. Program quality assesses whether integrated outputs produce intended outcomes, while project quality assesses deliverable specifications.
9. B. Components move through delivery subphases at different times, so having them in different subphases simultaneously is normal.
10. A. EAC = BAC/CPI = $40M/0.82 = $48.8M, and VAC = BAC − EAC = -$8.8M, meaning the program is projected to exceed budget by $8.8 million.

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