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Quality Management PMP Questions
1. Quality Audits are a tool and technique of which Quality Management Process?
A. Plan Quality Management
B. Perform Quality Assurance
C. Control Quality
D. Validate Scope
2.
As part of the Control Quality process, your project team is focused on
completing an activity that keeps errors out of the hands of the
customer? They are most likely focused on:
A. Prevention
B. Inspection
C. Attribute sampling
D. Tolerances
3.
Your team members are arguing about the acceptable budget range for a
particular deliverable. Jim says the acceptable range is +/- 5%, and
Katherine says the acceptable range is +/- 10%. Where should Jim and
Katherine to look to determine the acceptable quality metric?
A. Cost Metrics
B. Scope Metrics
C. Quality Metrics
D. Schedule Metrics
4. Which of the following is unacceptable to the customer?
A. Low quality & high grade
B. High quality & high grade
C. High quality & low grade
D. Quality & grade refer to internal processes that do not involve the customer.
5.
You are experienced a number of problems with the smartphone you are
producing for your customer. The end users of the smartphones want a
lightweight device that takes photos. It should have fast-loading
software with reliable internet connection. Which of the problems below
is related to the grade of the phone?
A. The phone is slow to start up.
B. The camera is only .3 megapixels.
C. Internet connection drops regularly.
D. The phone is heavy.
6.
The target weight of a widget is three pounds. You as the project
manager take a sample and find that the weights of the five widgets are
3.4, 3.41, 3.4, 3.39, and 3.4 pounds each. You would describe the weight
of the widgets as:
A. Accurate but not precise
B. Precise but not accurate
C. Accurate and precise
D. Neither accurate nor precision.
Answers:
1.
B – Perform Quality Assurance.
When you first see a question like this one, you might be tempted to
memorize. Don’t! Apply your understanding. You can guess — even if you
aren’t 100% sure — that a Quality Audit is a structured process
undertaken to ensure that a process complies with all relevant policies
and procedures. (PMBOK, 243 & 247)
2.
B – Inspection.
Although a number of these statistical method might play a role in
ensuring a customer does not receive a deliverable with errors, the best
answer is “Inspection” based on its definition (PMBOK, 250).
3.
C – Quality Metrics.
This question probably wasn’t too hard in the context of an entire
article about quality. Imagine it, however, in the context of your
200-question PMP exam. You might be tempted to choose Cost or possible
Scope Metrics. Only Quality Metrics is a valid term used by PMI (PMBOK,
242).
4.
A – Low quality & high grade.
Remember, missing quality standards is always bad for a project, but low
grade is okay if that is the intent. High grade isn’t necessarily
better than low grade when considering cost. Our high grade litter box
cost much more than our low grade one! (PMBOK, 228).
5.
B – The camera quality is low.
Without knowing the quality specifications in detail, you must use the
information given in the problem to deduce the answer. While quality
standards are given for each of the other answers, the problem only
states that the phone must have a camera. So, it may be acceptable that
the camera is of low grade (PMBOK, 228).
6.
B – Precise but not accurate. Did you remember your darts? “Precision is a measure of exactness…[accuracy] is a measurement of correctness.” (PMBOK, 228.)
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1. The process of auditing the quality requirements and the results
from quality control measurements to ensure appropriate quality
standards and operational definitions are used is the definition of:
_____________
A. Quality assurance
B. Quality planning
C. Quality control
D. Scope validation
A. Pareto Chart
B. Control Chart
C. Histogram
D. Fishbone diagram
A. Checklist
B. Process Improvement Plan
C. Quality Management Plan
D. Quality Metrics
A. Quality, grade
B. Grade, standard
C. Grade, quality
D. Quality, standard
A. + / – 3 sigma
B. + / – 6 sigma
C. + / – 2 sigma
D. + / – 1 sigma
A. A process is considered as out of control if five
consecutive data points are above or below the mean. Hence the process
is out of control.
B. A process is considered as out of
control if six consecutive data points are above or below the mean.
Hence the process is within control.
C. A process is
considered as being within control if less than half the data points are
above or below the mean. Hence the process is within control.
D.
A process is considered as out of control if seven consecutive data
points are above or below the mean. Hence the process is out of control.
7. Which of these tools is NOT a part of the Seven Basic Tools of Quality?
A. Control Chart
B. Statistical Sampling
C. Flowcharting
D. Scatter Diagram
8. A project management team came up with certain metrics such as
defect frequency, failure rate, availability and reliability. These are
usually defined as an output of what process?
A. Plan Quality Management
B. Define Scope
C. Collect Requirements
D. Manage Quality
9. Which of these statements is accurate regarding quality management?
A. Modern quality management complements project management
B. Overworking the team to meet requirements is not likely to increase attrition and rework
C. Quality and grade are essentially the same
D. Project requirements are turned into customer needs, wants, and expectations
10. Experienced project managers always tell that accuracy and
precision are not the same. Precise measurements may not be accurate and
accurate measurements may not be precise. Which of the following
statementsabout the precision and accuracy are CORRECT?
A. Accuracy means the degree to which a set of inherent
characteristics fulfill requirements and Precision means a category
assigned to products or services having the same functional use but
different technical characteristics
B. Accuracy means the
values of repeated measurements are clustered and Precision means the
measured value is close to the actual value
C. Precision means
the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill
requirements and Accuracy means a category assigned to products or
services having the same functional use but different technical
characteristics
D. Precision means the values of repeated
measurements are clustered and Accuracy means the measured value is
close to the actual value
Answers:
2. D. Fishbone diagram
3. A. Checklist
4. A. Quality, grade
5. A. + / – 3 sigma
6. D.
A process is considered as out of control if seven consecutive data
points are above or below the mean. Hence the process is out of control.
7. B. Statistical Sampling
8. A. Plan Quality Management
9. A. Modern quality management complements project management
10. D.
Precision means the values of repeated measurements are clustered and
Accuracy means the measured value is close to the actual value
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(1) A project manager's main responsibility in a project meant to create a product is:
Hint: A project manager is responsible to ensure high quality in a way that the final product meets the specifications and quality benchmarks.
Hint: Process Analysis is done to identify the root causes of a problem and suggest preventive actions.
Hint: PMBOK 5 page 233, Sec 8.1.1 Plan Quality Management: Inputs (Project scope statement)
A planning phase for an engineering component generated 80 engineering drawings. The QA team randomly selected 8 drawings for inspection. This exercise can BEST be described as example of:
C. A is incorrect as it relates to performing measurements to present performance. B is incorrect as it relates to the specific measurements that shall be performed on the project work in order to measure quality. C is correct because process analysis is simply execution of the steps outlined in Process Improvement Plan D is incorrect because Process Improvement Plan is not a part of Quality Improvement Plan (per PMBOK)
A. The option B is incorrect because a Quality Audit is to identify inefficiencies, non-compliance in project activities. It does not necessarily identify the root cause.
D. Run Chart shows the past pattern of variation. Trend Analysis involves forecasting the future trend based on past performance.
D. Note that Pareto diagram is not the best tool for root-cause analysis. It mainly helps the project management team to quantify and categories the defects/issues according to sources (e.g. engineering defects, acoustic defects, setup problems, etc)
B. "Inspection” is what the team is doing on individual drawings; however, the entire exercise of random selection and inspecting a work product is known as “Statistical Sampling”
1. Quality is achieved when ___
a. We exceed customer’s every expectation.
b. We exceed customer’s expectation is some way or other.
c. The defined requirements of the customers are fulfilled.
d. The number of benefits far outweighs the number of defects.
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding Precision and
Accuracy?
a. Precision and accuracy are the same.
b. Precise measurements are not necessarily accurate, but accurate
measurements are definitely precise.
c. Precision cannot be measured accurately, and accuracy is never
precise.
d. Accuracy is correctness that the measured value is very close to
the true value. Precision is consistency that the value of repeated
measurements are clustered and have little scatter.
3. Modern quality management practices promote that:
a. Inspection helps to identify problems; therefore it is a method of
choice for quality management processes.
b. Prevention helps to avoid problems, and reduces the overall costs
of correcting them in the long run.
c. Inspection and Prevention are both Tools and Techniques of the
Quality Planning Process.
d. Cost of Conformance will always be lower than the cost of nonconformance.
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4. In the end, Quality is the responsibility of
a. The Customer
b. The Project Manager
c. The Team Members
d. The Senior Management
5. The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle was created by:
a. Dr Edwards Deming
b. Dr Joseph Juran
c. Philip Crosby
d. Steven Covey
6. Perform Quality Assurance process is:
a. Where the customer formally accepts the product.
b. Where the customer performs a test of the product of the project
to check for correctness of the work product.
c. Where any variances are recorded as changes and sent to Change
Control Board for review.
d. Where it is determined if the standards are being met, work is
continuously improved and problem areas are identified and
fixed.
7. An Ishikawa diagram is the same as a
a. Run Chart
b. Fish Bone Diagram
c. Pareto Chart
d. Delphi Technique Diagram
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8. Cost of failure detected internally is really an example of:
a. Cost of conformance
b. Quality Audit
c. Cost of Warranty
d. Rework
9. You are the project manager of for the Mind Your Own Music App
software development project, and are in the execution phase. Your
company’s management has recently decided to get the ISO 9001
certification. As a result, you now need to make sure that your project
complies and adhere to the additional requirements. An ISO 9001
certification helps in:
a. Creating company’s own standards for quality procedures.
b. Ensuring that your organization maps its processes to a proven
process methodology.
c. Creating a fixed path for the entire company to follow strictly,
without any deviations.
d. Ensuring that your project used both quality control and quality
assurance and integrates them within the project.
10. Six standard deviations equal to:
a. 99.73%
b. 68.26%
c. 99.99985%
d. 95%
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11. You are the project manager of a project to send a manned mission to
Mars. You are considering the likelihood of being sucked into a Black
hole, when a subject matter expert tells you that the likelihood of being
sucked into a black hole is statistically independent from the probability
of running out of oxygen. Statistical independence means that
a. The two events will surely happen at the same time
b. The two events may happen at the same time.
c. The probability of one event happening has no bearing on the
probability of the second event happening
d. The likelihood of one event happening will cause the second event
to not happen.
12. The customer asks you to provide comparison of the cost of quality on
the project, with respect to the return of investment. Which of the
following tools will you use:
a. Design of Experiments
b. Pareto Chart
c. Cost Benefit Analysis
d. Opportunity cost and sunk cost comparison.
13. You are managing the Breadcrumbs project at the behest of the PMO.
While taking over the project from the previous project manager, you
realize that three work packages have not been completed to the
specifications, and hence are not meeting the quality metrics set by the
customers. Not completing the work correctly is an example of which of
the following?
a. Cost of doing business
b. Cost of non-conformance
c. Cost of customer satisfaction
d. Cost of compliance
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14. After visiting your Japan counterparts in the Rising Sun project, you
decide to use the Kaizen method in project management. What is
proposed by Kaizen?
a. Large improvements for large benefits.
b. Small improvement for small benefits carried out for the long
term on a continuous basis.
c. Small improvements for large benefits over a relatively short time
period.
d. Large improvements for small benefits, which are not really worth
the effort.
15. The “Rule of Seven” comes into play when
a. 7 points become out of control
b. 7 points breach the standard deviation
c. 7 consecutive points are on one side of the mean, even though
they are within the control limits
d. 7 random points that are on any side of the mean, but within or
without the control limits.
16. Warranty costs is an example of:
a. Appraisal cost
b. Prevention cost
c. Service cost
d. Cost of non-conformance
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17. Two team members are discussing project baselines. One insists that a
Quality Baseline is required while the other insists that there are only 3
baselines – cost, schedule and scope. A Quality Baseline is created in
which process?
a. Plan Quality
b. Perform Quality Assurance
c. Perform Quality Control
d. None of the above. There is no such thing as a Quality baseline.
18. Which of the following is most TRUE regarding quality?
a. It is cheaper to build quality into a project.
b. Quality is driven by Inspection.
c. Quality is driven by Prevention.
d. Quality always costs more in the long run.
19. Joyce is a project manager working on the land reclamation project. She
wants to compare the amount of work completed on the project each
day to the daily rainfall. The tool of choice would be:
a. Statistical Sampling
b. Histogram
c. Scatter Diagram
d. Pareto Diagram
20. Quality Audits are used in the Perform Quality Assurance Process. They
are used as:
a. Inputs
b. Outputs
c. Tools & Techniques
d. Quality Baseline
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Answers to Questions:
1. C. According to PMBOK Guide, Quality is “the degree to which a set of
inherent characteristics fulfil requirements”. Giving any extras is like
“gold plating”. Exceeding requirements is giving extras that you think
will be appreciated by the user, but may not be true. True quality is
achieved when the given set of requirements are completed, and
delivered to the customer. No more, and no less.
2. D. Precision and Accuracy are not equivalent. Precise measurements are
not necessarily accurate and accurate measurements are not necessarily
precise. Accuracy is the correctness of a measured value with respect to
the true value. Precision is the consistency of repeated values, without
having much scatter.
3. B. Prevention over Inspection is always considered the better approach.
The cost of preventing mistakes is generally much lesser than the cost of
correcting them after the fact (after inspecting and finding problems). C
is incorrect as both of these tools and techniques are not used during
the Planning Processes. D is not necessarily true.
4. D. The project manager has the ultimate responsibility for “Product
Quality” of the project. However the ultimate responsibility for quality in
any organization resides on the senior management. They are the ones
to drive quality policies and provide support to enforce them.
5. A. The famous PDCA cycle was designed by Dr. Edwards Deming. Get
familiar with the theories from other management gurus. This is an easy
question if you know the theories.
6. D. Perform Quality Assurance is an Executing Process. The customer’s
testing and acceptance is done in the Verify Scope process. Changes are
handled through the Integrated Change Control Process. The correct
answer is D.
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7. B. Ishikawa diagram is the same as a Fish Bone diagram. Delphi
technique diagram is a made up term. The Delphi technique is a way to
collect anonymous feedback from experts. It is used during Collect
Requirements or during the early part of a project.
8. D. Choice B is incorrect because Quality Audit is a cost of conformance.
Internal failure costs are a cost of non-conformance. Such costs really
add to rework.
9. A. ISO is a system to ensure that a company establishes its own quality
standards and procedures, and follows them. It is not a quality
management system.
10. C. 6 Sigma or Standard deviations equal 99.99985% or 15 defects per
million.
11. C. Statistical independence simply means that the probability of one
event happening does not affect the probability of another event
happening. They are completely independent of each other, and do not
impact each other in any way.
12. C. The cost benefit analysis is the technique to compare the cost
(including cost of quality) versus the investment. Pareto chart is used for
finding the 20% issues that cause the 80% problems (80-20 Rule). Design
of experiments is a tool and technique to identify the factors that
influence certain variables of a process or a product.
13. B. Not completing work to the specifications results in cost of nonconformance.
14. B. Kaizen is to make continuous changes. Small changes in an
incremental way add to a big, radical change, which makes a big
difference in the project. Kaizen originated in Japan, as a way to save
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costs and improve quality on a continuously manner.
15. C. The “Rule of Seven” is invoked when there are 7 consecutive data
points on any one side of the mean, even if they are within the control
limits. This is a breach, and an out of control process should be invoked.
The assignable cause should be found and established.
16. D. Warranty cost is an example of the cost of non-conformance.
Appraisal costs and Prevention costs are cost of conformance. Service
cost is a made up term.
17. D. In PMBOK Version 4, the term “Quality Baseline” was removed. So
there is no such thing in the PMBOK guide. Be careful about the changes
that have happened in the PMBOK Guide Version 4.
18. C. Quality is a preventive activity and a proactive activity. Quality has to
be planned and designed into the process and the product. Not to be
inspected later on.
19. C. A Pareto diagram is to show the 80-20 rule in action. Statistical
sampling is to choose a sample set, scientifically, and not randomly. A
histogram can be used to display the frequency of different variables on
a project. A Scatter diagram tracks the relationship between 2 variables.
Use a Scatter Diagram to determine if there is correlation between two
characteristics.
20. C. Quality Audits are tools and techniques of the Perform Quality
Assurance process.
