PMP Compliance and Business Value 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager discovers mid-project that a vendor's deliverable does not meet an industry regulatory standard. What is the BEST immediate action?
- Continue the project and document the deviation for post-project review
- Halt the vendor's work and issue a formal corrective action request (Correct answer)
- Notify the project sponsor and await direction before taking any action
- Remove the vendor from the project and find an alternative immediately
Correct answer: Halt the vendor's work and issue a formal corrective action request
Halting non-compliant work and issuing a corrective action request addresses the regulatory gap while preserving the vendor relationship.
Question 2: Which metric BEST demonstrates business value delivery at the end of a project?
- Schedule Performance Index (SPI) greater than 1.0
- All planned features delivered within budget
- Realized benefits aligned with the approved business case (Correct answer)
- Customer satisfaction score above the project baseline
Correct answer: Realized benefits aligned with the approved business case
Business value is measured by how well realized benefits align with the original business case, not just delivery metrics.
Question 3: A compliance audit reveals that the project team has been bypassing change control procedures. What should the project manager do FIRST?
- Terminate the team members responsible for the bypass
- Perform a root cause analysis to understand why procedures were bypassed (Correct answer)
- Close the project immediately to prevent further violations
- Report the findings to the PMO without further investigation
Correct answer: Perform a root cause analysis to understand why procedures were bypassed
Root cause analysis identifies why the control breakdown occurred so systemic fixes can be implemented.
Question 4: In a highly regulated industry, the project sponsor asks to skip a mandatory compliance gate to recover schedule. The BEST response is to:
- Skip the gate and document the risk in the issue log
- Comply with the sponsor's request since they own the project budget
- Explain that mandatory compliance gates cannot be waived and explore other schedule recovery options (Correct answer)
- Escalate to the PMO and pause all project work until resolved
Correct answer: Explain that mandatory compliance gates cannot be waived and explore other schedule recovery options
Mandatory compliance gates are non-negotiable; the project manager should protect compliance while seeking alternative schedule recovery.
Question 5: A benefits realization plan is MOST useful for:
- Tracking earned value during project execution
- Ensuring project deliverables are accepted by stakeholders
- Measuring whether expected business outcomes are achieved after project closure (Correct answer)
- Allocating resources across multiple concurrent projects
Correct answer: Measuring whether expected business outcomes are achieved after project closure
A benefits realization plan tracks whether the intended business outcomes are achieved, typically extending beyond project closure.
Question 6: Which document formally links project deliverables to the strategic objectives that justify the project's investment?
- Project charter
- Business case (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder register
- Risk register
Correct answer: Business case
The business case establishes the justification for the project by linking deliverables to strategic objectives and expected value.
Question 7: During a project review, it is discovered that the cost-benefit ratio has deteriorated significantly due to market changes. The project manager should FIRST:
- Continue the project as planned to honor original commitments
- Update the project schedule to reduce remaining costs
- Reassess the business case and present findings to the sponsor for a go/no-go decision (Correct answer)
- Immediately close the project and archive all documentation
Correct answer: Reassess the business case and present findings to the sponsor for a go/no-go decision
When the business case viability is in question, the sponsor needs updated information to make an informed continuation decision.
PMP Compliance and Business Value 2
A project manager discovers mid-project that a vendor's deliverable does not meet an industry regulatory standard.
What is the BEST immediate action?