Business Environment Take-Home Quiz

Which of the following represents a compliance risk?

• A strike near the Panama Canal threatens a project’s on-time delivery.

• A rare material required for manufacturing may not be available in the quantity needed.

• A key technical contributor left the company for another job.

• A software developer does not enable two-factor authentication in a database containing customers’ financial data. 

Answer explanation

Every example here is an example of a risk, however, only the lack of two-factor authentication is an example of compliance risk. This is a compliance risk because of the lack of extra security, two-factor authentication. This is a legal risk when handling customer data. All other examples here are general project risks, not compliance risks.

While executing a large project for building a bridge, the PM has received a request that would affect the structure of the bridge and may need it to be completely redesigned. The change came from the local transportation department. What should the PM do next?   

• Stop all work on the bridge

• 
  Inform the department that work has already started and they cannot stop

• Review the change and determine how it will impact the overall project

• Inform the project sponsors and customers that the project will need to stop until this can be done

Answer explanation

The first step would be to assess the changes and understand how it would affect the project, which may lead to stopping the work and redesigning the bridge. You should never stop work on a project without first understanding the impact of a change on a project. Never take action without first reviewing and assessing your information.

Luke is 8 weeks into a 12-week project. The team is meeting all of its goals and morale is high. Luke’s firm is stressing the importance of compliance. What should Luke be focusing on for compliance in his project?

• 
  Defining processes and policies for his team.

• Monitor and control the existing processes and procedures.

• 
  Establishing a communications plan and policy for all stakeholders.

• 
  Define software usage procedures for team members.

Answer explanation

Note that Luke’s project is already underway. At this point, Luke should be monitoring and controlling processes and procedures. Every other task like defining processes and policies, establishing a communications plan, and defining procedures should have been done in the planning stage of the project.

There are several different project life cycle approaches you’ll need to know and be familiar with on your PMP exam. Which life cycle approach defines the project scope, timeline, and project costs early in the project?

• Predictive

• Iterative

• Incremental

• Adaptive

  
  

Answer explanation

The predictive approach requires the project scope, the project time, and project costs to be defined early in the project timeline. Predictive life cycles have predefined phases, where each phase completes a specific type of work and usually overlaps other phases in the project.

While conducting a risk assessment on a project, the project manager has identified a new regulatory risk. If the project is not completed by July 31, the company will have to scrap the project. What best describes this? 

• 
  Project constraint

• 
  Project work

• 
  Project requirement

• 
  Project scope

Answer explanation

There are 6 constraints on a project,: scope, cost, time, resources, risk, and quality. This project is constrained by time. The other choices are project requirements, not constraints.

Alyssa is a Scrum Master at an engineering firm with a weak matrix. While on a break, she finds an article from a business partner’s firm that states that they will be giving a large discount on the tools that Alyssa’s organization relies on. How should Alyssa proceed?

• Alyssa should contact the business partner to take advantage of this opportunity. 

• Alyssa should alert the product owners that rely on this software. 

• Alyssa should alert her PMO to this opportunity. 

• Alyssa should do nothing as she does not have procurement responsibilities or authority. 

Answer explanation

Because Alyssa is a ScrumMaster in a weak matrix organization, her best action would be to alert the product owners that use these tools. This is because not only does Alyssa not have procurement powers, neither would her PMO in a weak matrix. Alyssa does have the power to share this knowledge with the product managers; doing nothing would cause the organization to miss this opportunity. 

Alina is midway through developing software that her organization has prided itself on as being entirely unique. While at lunch with a friend, he mentions that his firm is developing a similar software, and plans to launch it next week. He shares a public article containing the press release with Alina. How should Alina proceed?

• Alina should offer to buy the software from her friend for her firm to release.

• Alina should do nothing as she is not supposed to know this information and it is unethical to act.

• Alina should immediately let her project sponsor know about this. 

• Alina should press her team to work faster to develop the software ahead of her friend’s firm.

Answer explanation

When something jeopardizes a project’s viability presents itself, the project sponsor should be immediately informed. Alina should not press her team to work faster, this does not negate the fact that this software is no longer unique. Alina should not ignore this. Because the press release was public, it is appropriate for her to share this information. It is not appropriate for Alina to buy the software from her friend. It is very unlikely that this would be possible, nor can it be assumed that this is within Alina’s power. 

Bruce has been awarded a large bid project to construct a bridge spanning a large river in a Colorado suburb. He will need to monitor all of the following groups for unexpected changes, except:

• Townspeople in the suburb where the bridge will be built

• City officials in the town that the bridge is in

• Cement providers for the bridge’s resources

• The competing firm who also bid on this project

Answer explanation

Because the project has already been awarded, Bruce does not need to monitor the competing firm. The townspeople, city officials, and resource providers will all impact the project, so these groups should be monitored continuously.

Pablo is a new project manager at your consulting firm. He asks for your advice on understanding your firm’s culture. Which of the following would be the least helpful for Pablo to learn about your firm’s culture?

• Reviewing select project charters

• Shadowing other project managers at the firm

• Reviewing lessons learned documents

• Interviewing employees

Answer explanation

Project charters are not likely to contain deep cultural information. The project charter is narrow and specific to a project and that project’s objectives. The lessons learned documents will have information that spans an entire organization. Additionally, interviewing employees and shadowing other team members with the similar role are great ways to learn about a firm’s culture.

The head of your organization has announced that going forward, your organization will only be required to work four days a week instead of five. As a project manager, what should you do next?

• Determine the impact on your project’s schedule.

• Determine the impact on your project’s scope. 

• Note this in your project’s issues log. 

• Note this in your project’s assumptions log. 

Answer explanation

Because the amount of available working days has decreased, the impact on your project’s schedule must first be determined. Reducing the number of working days in a week would not likely affect scope. While eventually, this may need to be noted in the assumptions log or the issues log, if an issue presents itself, the priority lies in assessing the impact on the project’s success before anything else.