The Project Integration Management knowledge area accounts for 9 percent (27) of the questions on the CAPM exam. The PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Sections 4.1 through 4.7, cover the seven tasks in the Project Integration Management knowledge area.

Project Integration Management recognizes that no part of the profession of project management acts in isolation, and in fact there is a high degree of interdependency between various parts of the profession of project management. As such, a lot of the information discussed in this chapter reaches across many other knowledge areas within the profession. In addition to recognizing the interdependency of all other knowledge areas, Project Integration Management also specifically addresses those activities, such as change control processes, which are carried out over more than one knowledge area.

The 27 practice questions in this chapter are mapped to the style and frequency of question types you will see on the CAPM exam.

Q QUESTIONS

1.   Which of the following activities would you undertake as a project manager to best understand the project environment?

A.   Schedule and all resources

B.   Cultural and social issues

C.   Project budget approval process

D.   Detailed requirements analysis

2.   Which of the following is a best practice to maximize the chances of project success?

A.   Calculate the project timeline and initial budget.

B.   Recruit the key project skills as early as possible.

C.   Develop the project charter and scope of work.

D.   Write a comprehensive change control process.

3.   Which project document should you look at to ensure that you have the authority needed to carry out your project manager roles and responsibilities?

A.   Work breakdown structure

B.   Project charter

C.   Requirements document

D.   Project schedule

4.   To complete the project charter, which of the following should be in place?

A.   The detailed features list to be delivered

B.   The not-to-exceed price for the project

C.   The agreed-upon contract for the project

D.   The estimated labor costs of the project

5.   Who provides you with a statement of work (SOW)?

A.   The end-user group

B.   Your line manager

C.   The project director

D.   The project sponsor

6.   When writing the project charter, which of the following would be least likely to help you clarify the influences on the project?

A.   Existing skills and knowledge within the organization

B.   Regulatory standards that are about to be approved

C.   The infrastructure in place to support an IT solution

D.   The likely political changes in local government

7.   What do you do if the project charter you have developed has not yet been approved by the project sponsor?

A.   Start interviewing potential team members in anticipation of project approval.

B.   Start working on the project plan as a work in progress.

C.   State the likely impact of proceeding without approval.

D.   Negotiate a compromise with the line manager that considers the next project.

8.   Which of the following tools and techniques would best help you proceed with the project chartering process?

A.   Matrix management structure

B.   Available project templates

C.   Lessons learned

D.   Expert judgment of others

9.   Which of the following is essential for the project charter to be approved?

A.   Detailed work and schedule estimates

B.   A list of all the resources required

C.   The business need for the project

D.   A list of all the risks in the project

10.   What is the document called that contains the market demand and cost–benefit analysis that justifies the go-ahead for the project?

A.   Contract

B.   Statement of work

C.   Business case

D.   Organizational asset

11.   To ensure that you take a comprehensive approach to identifying stakeholders, you decide to seek the expert judgment of this stakeholder:

A.   Database architect

B.   Resource allocation manager

C.   Competitors

D.   Project sponsor

12.   For a project, which deliverable should be created after the project statement of work?

A.   Scope statement

B.   Management plan

C.   Charter

D.   Requirements document

13.   What document formally authorizes a project?

A.   Business case

B.   Project charter

C.   Project statement of work (SOW)

D.   Project management plan

14.   Select the process that assigns the project manager to a project.

A.   Develop Project Charter

B.   Develop Project Management Plan

C.   Develop Business Case

D.   Develop Strategic Plan

15.   Which two knowledge areas are involved in the Initiating process group?

A.   Project Integration Management and Project Scope Management

B.   Project Scope Management and Project Schedule Management

C.   Project Integration Management and Project Stakeholder Management

D.   Project Scope Management and Project Risk Management

16.   You have identified specific resource requirements in your project charter. What is this called?

A.   An estimate of the resources required for the various project phases

B.   A preassignment section on why the project is dependent upon the expertise of persons

C.   A RACI chart showing all project resources

D.   A RACI chart that includes roles and responsibilities of your project’s stakeholders

17.   You are a project manager carrying out the first adaptive project for the company. For each iteration, you will need to ensure your team carries out all of the following except:

A.   Collect Requirements

B.   Define Scope

C.   Create WBS

D.   Develop Project Charter

18.   Which of the following are documents that are generally originated outside of the project and are used as input to the project?

A.   Business requirements document

B.   Business documents

C.   Stakeholder requirements document

D.   Project change control process

19.   What two things does a project charter link together?

A.   The sponsor and the project manager

B.   The objectives and the timeline

C.   The project and the strategic objectives of the company

D.   The funding and the deliverables

20.   What two outputs are created in the Develop Project Charter process?

A.   Project charter and constraint list

B.   Project charter and business documents

C.   Project charter and organizational process assets

D.   Project charter and assumption log

21.   For each project, you use a template to create a customized communications management plan and stakeholder engagement plan. These are both examples of documents:

A.   Provided by the sponsor for the project

B.   Created by the business analyst during the initiation phase

C.   That are components of a project management plan

D.   Created as a part of the Initiating process group

22.   What document contains a set of approvals for the project requirements?

A.   Business case

B.   Solution requirements

C.   Project charter

D.   Feasibility study

23.   Which of the following best describes the main purpose of the project management plan?

A.   To initiate and approve the project

B.   To define both project and product scope

C.   To describe how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled

D.   To assess which projects should be done

24.   Which project change requests must go through the approved change control process?

A.   Only those that have an impact on project scope

B.   Any change request that affects scope, time, cost, or quality

C.   Only those change requests that the project manager decides should go through the process

D.   All change requests must go through the change control process

25.   What is the name of the group of people responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and deciding on changes to the project?

A.   Change control board

B.   Project steering group

C.   Project team

D.   Stakeholders

26.   Consulting stakeholders and project team members and using your own knowledge are all examples of what sort of tool or technique used in the Project Integration Management knowledge area?

A.   Stakeholder engagement

B.   Meetings

C.   Expert judgment

D.   Analytical techniques

27.   What is the correct order of project activities?

A.   Develop project management plan, execute project, develop project charter, conduct project selection

B.   Conduct project selection, develop project charter, execute project, develop project management plan

C.   Conduct project selection, develop project charter, develop project management plan, execute project

D.   Develop project charter, develop project management plan, execute project, conduct project selection

QUICK ANSWER KEY

1. B

2. C

3. B

4. C

5. D

6. D

7. C

8. D

9. C

10. C

11. D

12. C

13. B

14. A

15. C

16. B

17. D

18. B

19. C

20. D

21. C

22. C

23. C

24. D

25. A

26. C

27. C

A ANSWERS

1.   Which of the following activities would you undertake as a project manager to best understand the project environment?

A.   Schedule and all resources

B.   Cultural and social issues

C.   Project budget approval process

D.   Detailed requirements analysis

  B. When planning and implementing a project, one of the considerations is the project environment, including the cultural and social issues that may affect the success of the project.

  A, C, and D are incorrect. A and C are incorrect because they are specific to the workings of the project rather than to the environment the project exists within. D is incorrect because requirements are details evaluated later in the planning processes.

2.   Which of the following is a best practice to maximize the chances of project success?

A.   Calculate the project timeline and initial budget.

B.   Recruit the key project skills as early as possible.

C.   Develop the project charter and scope of work.

D.   Write a comprehensive change control process.

  C. A project charter with a well-defined scope of work is necessary to calculating timelines, calculating budgets, recruiting skills, and creating a change management process. The development of the project charter is part of the initiation phase.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. They are part of scope control and detailed planning, which follow project charter creation. A is incorrect because a project timeline and budget cannot be created without knowing what is in scope for the project. B is incorrect and should be undertaken as early as possible, but skills cannot be determined until the scope of the effort is determined. D is incorrect because the timing for a change control process is after an understanding of the scope of the effort is complete.

3.   Which project document should you look at to ensure that you have the authority needed to carry out your project manager roles and responsibilities?

A.   Work breakdown structure

B.   Project charter

C.   Requirements document

D.   Project schedule

  B. The project charter is the document that formally authorizes a project and gives the project manager the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. A project manager is identified and assigned as early in the project as is feasible. The project manager should always be assigned prior to the start of planning, and preferably while the project charter is being developed. Without an approved charter, the project manager has no authority within the organization.

  A, C, and D are incorrect. A and D are incorrect because they are a part of the project plan, which follows from a project’s charter. The work breakdown structure (WBS) itemizes the work to be done in the project. The project schedule aligns the work to be done with a calendar for completion. C is incorrect because a requirements document is created as a part of the Execution phase and details the product that will be created by the project charter.

4.   To complete the project charter, which of the following should be in place?

A.   The detailed features list to be delivered

B.   The not-to-exceed price for the project

C.   The agreed-upon contract for the project

D.   The estimated labor costs of the project

  C. The project charter inputs may include the contract if the project is being done for an external customer. The other options are all subsets of an agreed-upon contract or calculations that lead to an agreed-upon contract.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because only a high-level list of features is created at the project charter point. B is incorrect because the not-to-exceed detail may be a component of the contract with the external organization; however, not all contracts have a not-to-exceed component. D is incorrect because although labor costs may have been estimated to arrive at pricing, those costs would be a variable used in calculating the contract price.

5.   Who provides you with a statement of work (SOW)?

A.   The end-user group

B.   Your line manager

C.   The project director

D.   The project sponsor

  D. The project statement of work (SOW) is provided by the project initiator or sponsor for internal projects based on a business need, product, or service requirement.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because the end-user group represents the stakeholders who will ultimately use the product of the project on an ongoing basis; this group may have input to the product that is needed but would not provide the final statement of work. B is incorrect as it implies a matrix management organization, and in that situation the line manager is responsible for your career, not your project. C is incorrect because there is no project role called “project director” (in the financial industry there are often managing directors, but those still are not project managers).

6.   When writing the project charter, which of the following would be least likely to help you clarify the influences on the project?

A.   Existing skills and knowledge within the organization

B.   Regulatory standards that are about to be approved

C.   The infrastructure in place to support an IT solution

D.   The likely political changes in local government

  D. As a project manager, you must consider many factors when developing a project charter; however, external political changes will have the least impact on an internal software solution being developed by your own company.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because it is important to know the existing skills and knowledge within the organization when resourcing the project and that will be dealt with after the project charter is written and hopefully approved. B is incorrect because both existing and pending regulatory changes can directly influence the scope and efforts of the project. C is incorrect because the existing infrastructure in use by IT is extremely important, given that the solution will be developed in-house.

7.   What do you do if the project charter you have developed has not yet been approved by the project sponsor?

A.   Start interviewing potential team members in anticipation of project approval.

B.   Start working on the project plan as a work in progress.

C.   State the likely impact of proceeding without approval.

D.   Negotiate a compromise with the line manager that considers the next project.

  C. As a project manager you must not start a project without an approved charter. If the project starts without approval, organizational resources may be misdirected or wasted and rework may be created. Your authority to proceed should be given by the ultimate authority: the project sponsor.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect, as it would let people know about a project that has not yet been authorized, and in the world of dealing with the emotions of team members, it might get someone’s hopes up falsely. B is incorrect because a project plan follows a project charter; the project plan requires the authority to manage the project, and said authority has not yet been acquired. D is incorrect, although an interesting answer—recall that the line manager’s job and your project manager’s job have two different goals and you need to be true to the goal of the project.

8.   Which of the following tools and techniques would best help you proceed with the project chartering process?

A.   Matrix management structure

B.   Available project templates

C.   Lessons learned

D.   Expert judgment of others

  D. When developing a project charter, the input of expert judgment often is used to help identify the inputs that must be considered in this process.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because a matrix management structure involves the line or direct managers, who would not have knowledge of the inputs needed for your project. B is incorrect because this may be helpful, but templates in and of themselves are skeletons of documents without specific reference to inputs you may need. C is incorrect because lessons learned do come from prior projects, but asking experts should come first.

9.   Which of the following is essential for the project charter to be approved?

A.   Detailed work and schedule estimates

B.   A list of all the resources required

C.   The business need for the project

D.   A list of all the risks in the project

  C. The business need for the project is an essential input to the project charter. The detailed estimates and lists of risks are produced as part of project planning, which comes after the project chartering process. Some general and top-level resources are included in the project charter, but not all the resources for the project.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because detailed work and schedule estimates are developed during the planning phase of a project. B is incorrect because the detailed resources required will not be known until the full set of requirements is developed. D is incorrect because of the word all. Risks are important, but the only risks identified at the Develop Project Charter process are high-level risks—product risks come later.

10.   What is the document called that contains the market demand and cost–benefit analysis that justifies the go-ahead for the project?

A.   Contract

B.   Statement of work

C.   Business case

D.   Organizational asset

  C. The business case contains the business need and cost–benefit analysis that justify the go-ahead of the project; it is created because of market demand, organizational need, customer request, technological advance, or legal requirement. All other options are inputs to the process of developing a project charter.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because a contract implies an external entity involved with your own company; therefore, a contract would not contain cost–benefit information. B is incorrect because a statement of work (SOW) identifies all the deliverables for the project without regard for cost–benefit analysis. D is incorrect because an organizational process asset references the templates for documents used within an organization and may include policies and process references as well.

11.   To ensure that you take a comprehensive approach to identifying stakeholders, you decide to seek the expert judgment of this stakeholder:

A.   Database architect

B.   Resource allocation manager

C.   Competitors

D.   Project sponsor

  D. As part of stakeholder analysis, groups or individuals, such as senior management, project sponsor, project team, industry groups, and even technical or professional associations, should contribute to the process.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because the database architect may not be a member of the project team. B is incorrect because the resource allocation manager’s job is to supply project resources as they are needed. C is incorrect because competitors are not a source of identifying stakeholders for an internal project, though they may be a stakeholder group that should be analyzed during the project.

12.   For a project, which deliverable should be created after the project statement of work?

A.   Scope statement

B.   Management plan

C.   Charter

D.   Requirements document

  C. With the business need identified and high-level deliverables defined in the statement of work (SOW), the project charter is created next to give the project manager the authority to work on the project and create the product deliverables.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. Each is an output of the planning phase, which follows the initiation phase. If the project charter does not exist, the project manager has no mandate to create the scope statement, management plan, or requirements document.

13.   What document formally authorizes a project?

A.   Business case

B.   Project charter

C.   Project statement of work (SOW)

D.   Project management plan

  B. The Develop Project Charter process assigns the project manager and produces the project charter that officially authorizes the project.

  A, C, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because the business case explains the need for the project. C is incorrect because the SOW, part of the agreements, is a written description of the project’s product, service, or result. The business case and agreements serve as inputs to the Develop Project Charter process. D is incorrect because the project management plan is developed after the project charter is approved and the project manager is assigned.

14.   Select the process that assigns the project manager to a project.

A.   Develop Project Charter

B.   Develop Project Management Plan

C.   Develop Business Case

D.   Develop Strategic Plan

  A. The Develop Project Charter process assigns the project manager and produces the project charter that authorizes the project and links the need for the project to the organization’s strategic plan.

  B, C, and D are incorrect. B is incorrect because the project management plan is created by the project manager in the planning phase. C is incorrect because it is a made-up process name; the business case provides the strategic and financial justification for the project and therefore precedes the project charter. D is incorrect because it is a made-up process name; the strategic plan precedes the project charter.

15.   Which two knowledge areas are involved in the Initiating process group?

A.   Project Integration Management and Project Scope Management

B.   Project Scope Management and Project Schedule Management

C.   Project Integration Management and Project Stakeholder Management

D.   Project Scope Management and Project Risk Management

  C. The knowledge area Project Integration Management contains the Develop Project Charter process, and the Project Stakeholder Management process contains Identify Stakeholders.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because Project Scope Management has no processes in the Initiating process group. B is incorrect because neither Project Scope Management nor Project Schedule Management have processes in the Initiating process group. D is incorrect because Project Risk Management has no processes in the Initiating process group.

16.   You have identified specific resource requirements in your project charter. What is this called?

A.   An estimate of the resources required for the various project phases

B.   A preassignment section on why the project is dependent upon the expertise of persons

C.   A RACI chart showing all project resources

D.   A RACI chart that includes roles and responsibilities of your project’s stakeholders

  B. When physical or team resources for a project are determined in advance, they are considered preassigned.

  A, C, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because estimating resources required for the various project phases is done in the Planning process group. C and D are incorrect because the RACI chart is a useful tool to use to ensure clear assignment of roles and responsibilities when the team consists of internal and external resources.

17.   You are a project manager carrying out the first adaptive project for the company. For each iteration, you will need to ensure your team carries out all of the following except:

A.   Collect Requirements

B.   Define Scope

C.   Create WBS

D.   Develop Project Charter

  D. A project charter would be created one time, at the beginning of the first iteration. In each successive iteration, small working products would be delivered through the cycle of collecting requirements, defining the scope of what will be worked on within the next iteration, and creating a work breakdown structure of tasks and deliverables in the iteration.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because an iteration in an adaptive project is driven by the requirements, fine-tuning a small set of requirements, and creating a working product for those requirements. B is incorrect because defining the scope of what will and will not be done in each iteration is crucial to the success of the iteration. C is incorrect because understanding the tasks of what must be done in each iteration defines who will be needed to accomplish the tasks, thus making this an essential step.

18.   Which of the following are documents that are generally originated outside of the project and are used as input to the project?

A.   Business requirements document

B.   Business documents

C.   Stakeholder requirements document

D.   Project change control process

  B. Business documents are provided by the sponsor as an input to the Develop Project Charter process.

  A, C, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because the business requirements document may be developed within the project as a part of the project charter. C is incorrect because stakeholder requirements are documented within the Collect Requirements process. D is incorrect because a project’s change control process is decided after the project charter is complete.

19.   What two things does a project charter link together?

A.   The sponsor and the project manager

B.   The objectives and the timeline

C.   The project and the strategic objectives of the company

D.   The funding and the deliverables

  C. Each project is undertaken for the benefit of the company, and the charter brings together the “why” of the project with how it aligns to strategic goals.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because a project manager is given authority in the project charter; the manager may change, but the charter doesn’t have to simultaneously change. B is incorrect because the timeline is not set in the project charter. D is incorrect because the funding and deliverables are both identified in the charter, but funding is not a fixed amount for most projects.

20.   What two outputs are created in the Develop Project Charter process?

A.   Project charter and constraint list

B.   Project charter and business documents

C.   Project charter and organizational process assets

D.   Project charter and assumption log

  D. The assumptions about a project are created together with the project charter.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because a constraint list is not created as an output of the Develop Project Charter process. B is incorrect because business documents are an input to the Develop Project Charter process. C is incorrect because organizational process assets preexist a project charter.

21.   For each project, you use a template to create a customized communications management plan and stakeholder engagement plan. These are both examples of documents:

A.   Provided by the sponsor for the project

B.   Created by the business analyst during the initiation phase

C.   That are components of a project management plan

D.   Created as a part of the Initiating process group

  C. A communications plan and a stakeholder engagement plan are part of a project management plan.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because the sponsor does not provide these documents; rather, they are created within the project. B is incorrect because these documents are created in the planning phase. D is incorrect because these documents are created as a part of the planning phase.

22.   What document contains a set of approvals for the project requirements?

A.   Business case

B.   Solution requirements

C.   Project charter

D.   Feasibility study

  C. A project charter contains the high-level product characteristics and is a signed-off, approved document.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because a business case does not contain project requirements; rather, it presents a business problem and ways to solve it. B is incorrect because solution requirements are developed during the collect requirements process and contain lower-level product details. D is incorrect because the feasibility study would precede the project.

23.   Which of the following best describes the main purpose of the project management plan?

A.   To initiate and approve the project

B.   To define both project and product scope

C.   To describe how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled

D.   To assess which projects should be done

  C. The project management plan describes how the rest of the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled and closed.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because the project charter initiates and approves the project. B is incorrect: the scope statement defines both project and product scope. D is incorrect: the business case can be used to assess which projects should be done.

24.   Which project change requests must go through the approved change control process?

A.   Only those that have an impact on project scope

B.   Any change request that affects scope, time, cost, or quality

C.   Only those change requests that the project manager decides should go through the process

D.   All change requests must go through the change control process

  D. All change requests must be considered as per the approved change control process.

  A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because all change requests, not just those that affect project scope, must go through the defined change control process. B is incorrect because all change requests, not just those that affect scope, time, quality, and cost, must go through the defined change control process. C is incorrect because the project manager does play a proactive part in influencing those factors that may lead to change requests being initiated, but once initiated the requests must all go through the approved change control process.

25.   What is the name of the group of people responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and deciding on changes to the project?

A.   Change control board

B.   Project steering group

C.   Project team

D.   Stakeholders

  A. The change control board is responsible for reviewing, evaluating, and deciding on changes to the project.

  B, C, and D are incorrect. B is incorrect because the project steering group is responsible for providing senior-level advice, oversight, and project governance. C is incorrect because the project team is responsible for carrying out the project work under the guidance of the project manager. D is incorrect because stakeholders have many roles within the project, and members of the change control board are certainly stakeholders, but the broadest definition includes everyone who can affect or be affected by the project.

26.   Consulting stakeholders and project team members and using your own knowledge are all examples of what sort of tool or technique used in the Project Integration Management knowledge area?

A.   Stakeholder engagement

B.   Meetings

C.   Expert judgment

D.   Analytical techniques

  C. The description in the question refers to different categories of experts who may be consulted for their advice and opinion.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because stakeholder engagement is the activity carried out as the focus of the Project Stakeholder Management knowledge area. B is incorrect because meetings are used to gather groups of stakeholders together to discuss and make decisions. D is incorrect because analytical techniques are mathematical techniques used to interpret raw data.

27.   What is the correct order of project activities?

A.   Develop project management plan, execute project, develop project charter, conduct project selection

B.   Conduct project selection, develop project charter, execute project, develop project management plan

C.   Conduct project selection, develop project charter, develop project management plan, execute project

D.   Develop project charter, develop project management plan, execute project, conduct project selection

  C. Project selection feeds into the project charter, which in turn feeds into the development of the project management plan. The project management plan is used as the basis for project execution.

  A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because project selection and development of the project charter must be carried out before the development of the project management plan. B is incorrect because the development of the project management plan must occur before execution of the work. D is incorrect because conducting project selection must be done first in the process.