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RESOURCE  Knowledge Area

This Knowledge Area includes processes to plan, obtain and manage various resources that are needed to accomplish the project objectives.

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These resources could be obtained from different divisions within the organization or from suppliers.

 

The resources include machinery, hardware and software and human resources to do the work.

 

 

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Questions for the Resource Knowledge Area
 
Question 1

  • Which of the following is most effective in motivating project resources in today’s hyper-connected, virtual and fast-paced work environment, where resources are usually involved in multiple projects?

    1. Theory X

    2. Theory Y and Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

    3. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

    4. Expectancy Theory and Theory X

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Question 2

  • Bob Simpson is working to obtain team members and equipment for his project to relocate employees to a new office in another part of the city. Which of the following project documents does he require to do the work?

    1. Project schedule

    2. Resource requirements

    3. Resource calendars

    4. All of the above

 

Question 3

  • Peter Perkins is a project manager for a software development firm. He is estimating the types and quantity of computer equipment and resource skills that he will require for a new project to customize and deploy an ERP application. The team also needs to support the network infrastructure at client offices in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Which of the following techniques can Peter use?

  1. Bottom-up estimating

  2. Alternatives analysis

  3. Parametric estimating

  4. All of the above

 

Question 4

  • Which of the following is a technique for controlling resources?

    1. Alternatives analysis

    2. Cost-benefit analysis

    3. Trend analysis

    4. All the above

 

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Question 5

  • Which of the following is not a technique for development of project resources?

    1. Try to place all active team members in the same office.

    2. Maintain an online team calendar.

    3. Use work performance information to optimize utilization of resources.

    4. Promote the use of online chats or instant messaging amongst team members.

 

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Question 6

  • You are working with a project team with members in different time zones. Which of the following techniques cannot be used for team building?

  1. Use of recognition and rewards to motivate the team

  2. Use of your conflict management skills

  3. Co-location

  4. Use of your negotiation and influencing skills

 

Question 7

  • Which of the following is not one of the trends or emerging practices in resource management?

  1. Delegating more and more decision-making down to project team members

  2. Developing a collaborative and supportive approach or managing projects

  3. Command-and-control structures for managing projects

  4. Encouraging a trend towards self-organizing teams

 

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Question 8

  • Which of the following is the best practice for when creating a RACI (responsible, accountable, consult and inform) matrix?

    1. For resource leveling, it is best to make sure each person is accountable for one activity only, especially if the activity is on the critical path. This helps the person dedicate his time to that activity.

    2. A project team member should be accountable for only one activity, regardless of whether the activity is on the critical path or not. Also, accountability for an activity should be on only one person.

    3. Make sure that the accountability for each activity is with only one person.

    4. Multiple persons can be consulted and informed for an activity. But only one person should be held responsible and accountable for an activity. This helps avoid confusion on who is in charge of the activity.

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Question 9

  • A methodology to identify the most critical limiting factor or bottleneck and then work to remove those, until it is no longer a limiting factor, is known as:

    1. Total productive maintenance (TPM)

    2. Theory of constraints (TOC)

    3. Total quality management (TQM)

    4. Continual improvement

 

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ANSWERS

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ANSWER 1
       The correct answer is Choice 2.

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Theory Y and Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory are correct answers. Resources nowadays are very informed and willing to accept new roles and challenges.

The best way to motivate them is to let them exercise their self-control and self-direction to complete their work. Theory Y advocates a participative management style. Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory states that hygiene factors must be properly implemented to remove job dissatisfaction.

In addition, motivational factors must be implemented to improve job satisfaction.

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ANSWER 2

      The correct answer is Choice 4.

 

He needs all the stated inputs to acquire the needed resources for the project, namely:

  • the project schedule,

  • the resource requirements, which describe the needed skills or equipment features, and

  • the resource calendars, which have the availability of the resources.

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ANSWER 3

        The correct answer is Choice 4.

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In this situational question, Peter is estimating the resources required by his project. He is now in the Estimate Activity Resources process. All the stated choices are tools and techniques for this process.

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ANSWER 4

        The correct answer is Choice 4.

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All the stated choices are techniques for the Control Resources process.

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ANSWER 5

        The correct answer is Choice 3.

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Optimizing the utilization of resources is not the applicable technique.

The activity, “development of project resources”, that is being discussed is part of the Develop Team process. A, B and D are techniques that are commonly used to develop the project team and improve their performance.

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ANSWER 6

       The correct answer is Choice 3.

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Colocation is placing team members in the same physical location to enhance in-person collaboration and their ability to work together as a team.

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ANSWER 7

       The correct answer is Choice 3.

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An emerging trend is to move away from the command-and-control structure and instead, move towards forming agile, self-organizing teams, where the members have a greater decision-making authority, more independence, and an expectation that they would complete their work without any external guidance or help.

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ANSWER 8

      The correct answer is Choice 3.

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In the RACI matrix, it is best to have the accountability (A) for an work package or deliverable assigned to only one person. This helps avoid misperception on who

has authority and is-charge for each deliverable. However, multiple people could be responsible, consulted or informed for those. See Page 317 of the PMBOK®.

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ANSWER 9

      The correct answer is Choice 2.

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Theory of constraints (TOC) is a method to identify and remove the most critical or limiting factor. Once that is removed, the next most critical factor is identified and removed. This methodology was introduced by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt in his book “The Goal” in 1984.

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