MEM Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield MEM facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which document formally authorizes a project and names the project manager, granting authority to apply organizational resources? → Project charter
2. Order-to-delivery time is lead time. → TRUE
3. An engineering team is resistant to adopting a new project management tool mandated by corporate. The most effective change management approach is to: → Explain the 'why,' involve team members in rollout planning, and provide training
4. What are three popular project management methods? → agile, scrum, and waterfall
5. Which document in systems engineering defines the high-level technical requirements a system must satisfy? → System requirements specification (SRS)
6. A loan of $10,000 is to be repaid in equal annual payments over 5 years at 8% annual interest. What is the approximate annual payment? → $2,505
7. In the context of MEM financial management, what does 'leverage' refer to? → Using debt financing to amplify returns on equity
8. How to eliminate project risks? → It is impossible to avoid project risks completely, all projects have inherent risks
9. When comparing two alternatives with different useful lives using the present worth method, what technique should be applied? → Use the least common multiple of the service lives
10. early market entrants who weren't the first → early followers
11. Which aggregate planning strategy maintains a constant workforce and uses inventory buildup and backorders to absorb demand variation? → Level strategy
12. Which leadership theory focuses on the exchange relationship between leader and follower, where compliance is motivated by rewards and punishments? → Transactional Leadership Theory
13. What is the 'time value of money' principle in engineering financial management? → A dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future
14. Choose a waterfall-compatible project. → Expanding a highway
15. A project manager wants to ensure continuous improvement in project quality. Which tool compares a project's process metrics to industry benchmarks? → Benchmarking
16. A technology company that invests heavily in R&D to build proprietary platforms that lock in developers is executing which type of strategy? → Ecosystem strategy
17. What is a 'risk register' in engineering project management? → A document that identifies, analyzes, and records responses to project risks
18. Design or customer-set control chart limits → FALSE
19. When using the Ansoff matrix to guide technology-based growth strategy, 'product development' means: → Creating new products for existing markets where the firm already competes
20. A project manager encounters a situation where a vendor offers a personal gift during contract negotiations. The BEST course of action is: → Decline the gift and report it per organizational ethics policies
21. In Six Sigma, what role does a 'Black Belt' typically perform? → A full-time project leader who leads complex DMAIC improvement projects and mentors others
22. Which depreciation method results in higher depreciation expense in early years of an asset's life? → Double declining balance depreciation
23. A 'blue ocean strategy' is characterized by: → Creating uncontested market space by redefining industry boundaries
24. Which of the following correctly describes the relationship between risk and required return for engineering projects? → Higher-risk projects require a higher MARR to compensate investors
25. This is a collection of widely held ideals and ideas. → Paradigm
26. Which risk response strategy involves transferring the financial consequence of a risk to a third party? → Risk transfer
27. What does a sensitivity analysis in engineering economics primarily determine? → How much a key variable can change before the project decision reverses
28. An engineering manager evaluates two projects with identical NPVs. Project A has a 2-year payback; Project B has a 5-year payback. Which is generally preferred? → Project A, because shorter payback reduces risk and improves liquidity
29. when various stages of the creation of a new product happen at once. → parallel development process
30. In financial analysis, what does 'sensitivity analysis' examine? → How changes in key assumptions affect project outcomes