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Sl.No Table of Content Page No

1 Operations Management 3

2 Supply Chain Management 11

3 Inventory Management 25

4 Project Management 35

5 MS Project 59

6 Six Sigma 66

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Operations Management
Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling the
process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods and
services. It is the administration of the business practices to create the highest level of efficiency
possible within an organization. Operations managers play a leading role in managing both raw
materials and personnel. Oversight of inventory, supplies and purchasing is central to the job.

Question 1. Define The Term Operations Management?

Answer:Operations management manages the resources needed to produce the company’s products
and services. It involves managing people, machines and information.

Question 2. Explain The Decisions Operations Managers Make?

Answer:Operations managers must plan the production schedule. This entails deciding how much to
produce and in what order. This information would be used to make purchasing and staffing
decisions.
Operations managers must manage inventory. They must arrange the inventory in the warehouse.
They also facilitate the movement of inventory from the warehouse to the retail facilities or the
customer. Operations managers also must manage quality levels. This may include inspection of
materials, and the use of quality tools such as control charts.

Question 3. Describe The Transformation Process of a Business. Give Three Examples. What
Constitutes the Transformation Process at an Advertising Agency, A Bank, And A Tv Station?
Answer:The transformation process involves taking the various inputs and transforming them into
outputs. An advertising agency would transform the time of its staff into an advertising campaign. A
bank may use the time of a teller, an input computer, and a bank branch to accept a deposit. A TV
station could use the time of its production crew, the video equipment, and the studio to produce a
news story.

Question 4. What Are the Three Major Business Functions, And How Are They Related to One
Another? Give Specific Examples?
Answer:The three major business functions are finance, marketing and operations. Operations entail
the production of a product or service and must manage the inputs to production such as workers'
time, aluminum, and machine time to create airplane parts Finance manages the assets, such as the

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building used for production, investments and cash flows related to production, such as providing the
needed machines. Marketing generates sales of the product or service, such as finding customers for
the proposed airplanes.

Question 5. Identify The Two Major Differences Between Service and Manufacturing
Organizations. Find an Example of a Service And Manufacturing Company And Compare
Them?
Answer:Manufacturing organizations produce a physical product that can be stored in inventory.
Service organizations cannot create an inventory of the service since it is intangible. For example,
Ford Motors is a manufacturer. It makes automobiles, customers have little contact with the
operation, and they can create an inventory of vehicles. McDonalds is an example of a service
organization. Customers go directly to the restaurant where they are served quickly by the staff.

Question 6. What Are the Three Historical Milestones in Operations Management? How Have
They Influenced Management?
Answer:Three historical milestones are the industrial revolution, total quality management (TQM)
and global competition. The industrial revolution changed production processes from a labor focus to
a machine focus. TQM caused managers to be more focused on quality and preventing defects.
Finally, global competition caused managers to further increase their focus on quality, realizing that
to not improve was to “lose the race.”

Question 7. Identify Three Current Trends in Operations Management and Describe Them.
How Do You Think They Will Change the Future of Om?
Answer:
The lean systems concept is a current trend in operations management. This involves taking a total
system approach to creating an efficient operation. This includes concepts such as just-in-time (JIT),
total quality management (TQM), continuous improvement, resource planning, and supply chain
management (SCM).
Companies are using the Internet to reach out to customers, and suppliers directly. Amazon.com has
been able to sell books and many other items directly from its warehouse to people like you and me.
The Internet is changing how the supply chains work since we can now eliminate the “middle man”
or distributor by selling directly from the factory to the final or end customer. Companies can also
ease transactions between businesses, known as B2B commerce, by using electronic trading
networks.
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Large information systems, called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, are allowing
companies to increase efficiency. These large, sophisticated software programs coordinate, across the
entire enterprise, the activities involved in producing and delivering products to customers.
Each of these concepts makes intensive use of information and cooperation between partners. OM
will most likely continue to be more information intensive and require greater cooperation among all
the players in the value chain.

Question 8. Define The Terms Total Quality Management, Just-in-time, And Reengineering.
What Do These Terms Have in Common?
Answer:Total quality management (TQM) is a philosophy that focuses on meeting the needs of the
customer. TQM is not inspection, but actually the prevention of defects. It involves everyone in the
organization. Just-in-time is a philosophy that focuses on reducing inventory and other wastes and on
the production of the right number of items at the right time. Reengineering focuses on improving
business processes in order to improve efficiency. Each of these techniques strives to allow more
responsive and more efficient production leading to higher quality and higher customer satisfaction.

Question 9. Describe Today’s Om Environment. How Is It Different from That of A Few Years
Ago? Identify Specific Features That Characterize Today’s Om Environment?
Answer:Today’s OM environment is more global, more service oriented, and uses more information
technology than that of even a few years ago. Companies can outsource steps of their operation
easier. Now even service operations are outsourced off-shore. Information technology allows
companies to cooperate more closely, creating tighter supply chains, quicker response and less waste.
Specific features include greater outsourcing, greater use of information technology, and deeper
cooperation in the supply chain.

Question 10. Is Operations Management Is Important in All Types Of Organization?

Answer:In some types of organization it is relatively easy to visualize the operations function and
what it does, even if we have never seen it. For example, most people have seen images of
automobile assembly. But what about an advertising agency? We know vaguely what they do – they
produce the advertisements that we see in magazines and on television – but what is their operations
function? The clue lies in the word ‘produce’. Any business that produces something, whether
tangible or not, must use resources to do so, and so must have an operations activity. Also the
automobile plant and the advertising agency do have one important element in common: both have a

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higher objective – to make a profit from producing their products or services. Yet not-for-profit
organizations also use their resources to produce services, not to make a profit, but to serve society in
some way.

Question 11. What Is Operations Management in The Smaller Organization?

Answer:Operations management is just as important in small organizations as it is in large ones.
Irrespective of their size, all companies need to produce and deliver their products and services
efficiently and effectively. However, in practice, managing operations in a small or medium-size
organization has its own set of problems. Large companies may have the resources to dedicate
individuals to specialized tasks but smaller companies often cannot, so people may have to do
different jobs as the need arises. Such an informal structure can allow the company to respond
quickly as opportunities or problems present themselves. But decision making can also become
confused as individuals’ roles overlap. Small companies may have exactly the same operations
management issues as large ones but they can be more difficult to separate from the mass of other
issues in the organization.

Question 12. What Is Operations Management in Not-for-profit Organizations?

Answer:
Terms such as competitive advantage, markets and business, which are used in this book, are usually
associated with companies in the for-profit sector. Yet operations management is also relevant to
organizations whose purpose is not primarily to earn profits. Managing the operations in an animal
welfare charity, hospital, research organization or government department is essentially the same as
in commercial organizations. Operations have to take the same decisions – how to produce products
and services, invest in technology, contract out some of their activities, devise performance measures,
and improve their operations performance and so on.
However, the strategic objectives of not-for-profit organizations may be more complex and involve a
mixture of political, economic, social and environmental objectives. Because of this there may be a
greater chance of operations decisions being made under conditions of conflicting objectives. So, for
example, it is the operations staff in a children’s welfare department who have to face the conflict
between the cost of providing extra social workers and the risk of a child not receiving adequate
protection.

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Nevertheless, the vast majority of the topics covered in this book have relevance to all types of
organization, including non-profit, even if the context is different and some terms may have to be
adapted.

Question 13. What is the Input–transformation–output Process?

Answer:All operations produce products and services by changing inputs into outputs using an
‘input-transformation-output’ process. Put simply, operations are processes that take in a set of input
resources which are used to transform something, or are transformed themselves, into outputs of
products and services. And although all operations conform to this general input–transformation–
output model, they differ in the nature of their specific inputs and outputs. For example, if you stand
far enough away from a hospital or a car plant, they might look very similar, but move closer and
clear differences do start to emerge. One is a manufacturing operation producing ‘products’, and the
other is a service operation producing ‘services’ that change the physiological or psychological
condition of patients.

Question 14. What Is the Processes Hierarchy?

Answer:So far we have discussed operations management, and the input–transformation–output
model, at the level of ‘the operation’. For example, we have described ‘the whistle factory’, ‘the
sandwich shop’, ‘the disaster relief operation’, and so on. But look inside any of these operations.
One will see that all operations consist of a collection of processes (though these processes may be
called ‘units’ or ‘departments’) interconnecting with each other to form a network. Each process acts
as a smaller version of the whole operation of which it forms a part, and transformed resources flow
between them. In fact, within any operation, the mechanisms that actually transform inputs into
outputs are these processes. A process is ‘an arrangement of resources that produce some mixture of
products and services’. They are the ‘building blocks’ of all operations, and they form an ‘internal
network’ within an operation.
Each process is, at the same time, an internal supplier and an internal customer for other processes.
This ‘internal customer’ concept provides a model to analyze the internal activities of an operation. It
is also a useful reminder that, by treating internal customers with the same degree of care as external
customers, the effectiveness of the whole operation can be improved.

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Question 15. Operations Management Is Relevant to All Parts of the Business?
Answer:
It is not just the operations function that manages processes; all functions manage processes. For
example, the marketing function will have processes that produce demand forecasts, processes that
produce advertising campaigns and processes that produce marketing plans. These processes in the
other functions also need managing using similar principles to those within the operations function.
Each function will have its ‘technical’ knowledge. In marketing, this is the expertise in designing and
shaping marketing plans; in finance, it is the technical knowledge of financial reporting.
Yet each will also have a ‘process management’ role of producing plans, policies, reports and
services. The implications of this are very important. Because all managers have some responsibility
for managing processes, they are, to some extent, operations managers. They all should want to give
good service to their (often internal) customers, and they all will want to do this efficiently. So,
operations management is relevant for all functions, and all managers should have something to learn
from the principles, concepts, approaches and techniques of operations management. It also means
that we must distinguish between two meanings of ‘operations’:

• ‘Operations’ as a function, meaning the part of the organization which produces the
products and services for the organization’s external customers;
• ‘Operations’ as an activity, meaning the management of the processes within any of
the organization’s functions.

Question 16. What Is Mixed High- And Low-visibility Processes?

Answer:Some operations have both high- and low-visibility processes within the same operation.
In an airport, for example: some activities are totally ‘visible’ to its customers such as information
desks answering people’s queries. These staff operate in what is termed a front-office environment.
Other parts of the airport have little, if any, customer ‘visibility’, such as the baggage handlers. These
rarely-seen staff perform the vital but low-contact tasks, in the back-office part of the operation.

Question 17. What Are Implications of the Four Vs Of Operations Processes?

Answer:
All four dimensions have implications for the cost of creating the products or services.
Put simply, high volume, low variety, low variation and low customer contact all help to keep
processing costs down. Conversely, low volume, high variety, high variation and high customer
contact generally carry some kind of cost penalty for the operation. This is why the volume

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dimension is drawn with its ‘low’ end at the left, unlike the other dimensions, to keep all the ‘low
cost’ implications on the right. To some extent the position of an operation in the four dimensions is
determined by the demand of the market it is serving. However, most operations have some
discretion in moving themselves on the dimensions.

Question 18. What Are the Activities Of Operations Management?

Answer:Operations managers have some responsibility for all the activities in the organization which
contribute to the effective production of products and services. And while the exact nature of the
operations function’s responsibilities will, to some extent, depend on the way the organization has
chosen to define the boundaries of the function, there are some general classes of activities that apply
to all types of operation.
• Understanding the operation’s strategic performance objectives. The first responsibility of
any operations management team is to understand what it is trying to achieve. This means
understanding how to judge the performance of the operation at different levels, from
broad and strategic to more operational performance objectives. This is discussed.
• Developing an operations strategy for the organization. Operations management involves
hundreds of minute-by-minute decisions, so it is vital that there is a set of general
principles which can guide decision-making towards the organization’s longer-term goals.
This is an operations strategy.
• Designing the operation’s products, services and processes. Design is the activity of
determining the physical form, shape and composition of products, services and processes.
It is a crucial part of operations managers’ activities.
• Planning and controlling the operation. Planning and control is the activity of deciding
what the operations resources should be doing, then making sure that they really are doing
it. various planning and control activities.
• Improving the performance of the operation. The continuing responsibility of all
operations managers is to improve the performance of their operation.
• The social responsibilities of operations management. It is increasingly recognized by
many businesses that operations managers have a set of broad societal responsibilities and
concerns beyond their direct activities. The general term for these aspects of business

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responsibility is ‘corporate social responsibility’ or CSR. It should be of particular interest
to operations managers, because their activities can have a direct and significant effect on
society.

Question 19. What Is the Model of Operations Management?

Answer:
The first is the input–transformation–output model and the second is the categorization of operations
management’s activity areas. The model now shows two interconnected loops of activities.
The bottom one more or less corresponds to what is usually seen as operations management, and the
top one to what is seen as operations strategy.

Question 20. What Is the Visibility Dimension?

Answer:
Visibility is a slightly more difficult dimension of operations to envisage. It refers to how much of the
operation’s activities its customers experience, or how much the operation is exposed to its
customers. Generally, customer-processing operations are more exposed to their customers than
material- or information-processing operations. But even customerprocessing operations have some
choice as to how visible they wish their operations to be. For example, a retailer could operate as a
high-visibility ‘bricks and mortar’, or a lower-visibility web-based operation. In the ‘bricks and
mortar’, high-visibility operation, customers will directly experience most of its ‘value-adding’
activities. Customers will have a relatively short waiting tolerance, and may walk out if not served in
a reasonable time.
Customers’ perceptions, rather than objective criteria, will also be important. If they perceive that a
member of the operation’s staff is discourteous to them, they are likely to be dissatisfied (even if the
staff member meant no discourtesy), so high-visibility operations require staff with good customer
contact skills. Customers could also request goods which clearly would not be sold in such a shop,
but because the customers are actually in the operation they can ask what they like! This is called
high received variety. This makes it difficult for high-visibility operations to achieve high
productivity of resources, so they tend to be relatively high-cost operations.

Conversely, a web-based retailer, while not a pure low-contact operation, has far lower visibility.
Behind its web site it can be more ‘factory-like’. The time lag between the order being placed and the
items ordered by the customer being retrieved and dispatched does not have to be minutes as in the
shop, but can be hours or even days. This allows the tasks of finding the items, packing and

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dispatching them to be standardized by staff who need few customer contact skills. Also, there can be
relatively high staff utilization. The web-based organization can also centralize its operation.

Supply Chain Management

1. Define Supply Chain Management.
Supply chain management, or as it is popularly called, SCM is defined as the thorough supervision of
every aspect of the supply chain (including raw materials, data, and finances) from the start to finish.

In the process of creating and satisfying demands, supply chain management works to integrate and
stabilize the flow of processes from the production of goods to their eventual delivery.

This puts executives in supply chain management in direct touch with everyone, from suppliers to
customers.

2. What is the Ultimate Objective of Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain management is driven towards achieving efficiency in its operations and maximizing
productivity in an organization. Companies hope to satisfy the demands of people by delivering the
right goods to them on time while profiting from doing so.

While streamlining the whole process, supply chain managers ensure that waste is minimized, and
there is productive utilization of everyone’s time, allowing the organization to cut costs. All of these
smaller goals lead to one ultimate goal, which is to achieve efficiency.

3. What Do You Mean by Affreightment?

The term affreightment arises from freight. It refers to the amount of money that is paid to a charterer
in return for renting his vessel to carry the goods.

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4. What Comprises Supply Chain Management?
Supply chain management is incomplete without including collaborative and integrative practices with
its channel partners. Suppliers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and customers are involved in the
success of a supply chain operation.

Supply chain managers must collaborate with suppliers, keep track of demand, integrate the services of
wholesalers and distributors, and effectively communicate with everyone involved, including
customers, in the process.

5. How Do You Define SKU Keeping in Mind the Supply Chain?

SKU stands for a stock-keeping unit. It is related to the inventory management field. When we say
SKU, it refers to a particular item stored in a particular place in the inventory.

6. What Do You Understand by Compliance Labels?

A compliance label for a product is made with due attention to the standardized procedures of the
industry associated with the product. It plays a crucial role in import/export where it is in the hands of
the government agencies to define and check these label requirements for exported or imported
products.

7. What is the Role of Logistics in Supply Chain Management?

The entire process of monitoring the transporting of goods and services from one place to its intended
destination is termed as “logistics.” The term logistics was originally used to refer to the transportation
of equipment to military armies on the ground.

However, in modern times, logistics is not just limited to its definition. It can shapeshift very easily to
fit into the demands of an organization. It is more than just delivering the final goods to the consumers.

The logistics department is also tasked with the responsibility of warehousing, managing outbound and
inbound transportation, planning to meet demands, and handling materials. They are also in charge of
inventory management, transport management, and fulfillment of orders.

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8. What is the Importance of Logistics?
Logistics is important because if the consumers do not get their desired goods, the whole point of
production is invalid. Logistics might seem like an insignificant process that is carried out at the end,
but it carries the load of the entire process of production.

Logistics isn’t something that comes into play when the goods are manufactured and ready to be
shipped. It is a process that is active throughout the production. In fact, logistics sets into motion even
before the production starts. The procurement process of raw materials is the role of logistics.

Moving on, it also takes care of transportation and warehousing. Finally, when it comes to the delivery
of goods, everyone is aware of the charm that logistics works in bringing our goods safely — and on
time — to us.

9. What is the Difference Between Supply Chain Management and Logistics?

Supply chain management and logistics are two very different processes. While supply chain
management is confined to the bigger picture, logistics is comparatively small.

• Logistics is all about producing the goods in one organization and distributing them amongst
the consumers who demand the goods.
• Supply chain management, on the other hand, is a group of organizations that strive to
distribute goods in voluminous quantities among their consumers. In this sense, it is a large
scale operation involving multiple moving parts.

10. What are the Activities Carried Out in Logistics?

Logistics operations are mainly confined to three broad categories. This includes collecting goods from
the supplier, warehousing, and delivering to intended consumers.

However, that’s just a very vague definition of everything that goes on at the operational level in
logistics.

To begin with, the desired resources are picked up from the supplier, and packaged for transportation.
This can be via air, sea, or road. At the destination, the goods are cleared of customs and delivered to
the warehouse where they are stored.

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While at a storage facility, these goods are checked for quality and are grouped accordingly. Details of
the inventory are checked for deficits if any.

In case there is a shortage of goods, replenishing is done. Goods are then sent to stores or wholesalers
for distribution. Logistics also covers the returns process.

In short, logistics is responsible for procuring goods from suppliers, managing received goods, and
facilitating delivery to end customers.

11. Define Advance Shipping Notice.

It is sent to the customer before the delivery. It contains all the information about the shipment of their
products. It comprises details related to the carrier of the shipment, when the shipment can be
expected, etc.

12. What Do You Understand by Anti-Dumping Duty?

It is an import duty that is levied when the charges of the imported goods are lower than the decided
price in the market of the exporter’s country. This results in deficits in the domestic market of the
importing country.

13. Can You Explain Less Than Truckload?

“Less than truckload” occurs when the transport owner and shipper enter a contract where the owner is
not paid in full for the truck. The price of the shipment is taken into account depending on the weight
of the goods and the distance it will travel.

14. What is Dead Weight Tonnage?

The difference in a ship’s laden weight and unladen weight is known as dead weight tonnage. What
this means is, that the weight of all items on the ship is taken into account except for the weight of the
ship.

15. What Do You Mean by Blanket Way Bill?

A Way Bill containing two or more consignments of freight is known as Blanket Way Bill.

16. What are the Main Issues Transportation Faces During Warehousing?

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The process of warehousing is not as simple as we think. It suffers from tracking and communication
issues. A warehouse’s safety is a major deciding factor for storing goods.

Any delays are accounted for and the costs incurred are also sometimes concerning.

17. During Warehouse Transportation, What are the Safety Points to be Taken Care of?
Warehouse transportation is not the safest process out there. It comes with its own set of risks. One
must always be careful enough to dodge them.

• Sharp objects must be cleared off right away.

• Any loose flooring or those that can cause tripping should be taken care of.
• Spills should also be taken care of right away.
• Fire exits should be functional.
• Proper use of garbage cans should be encouraged.
• Items should be placed in their designated spots.
• Cords and wires must have a safe separate space away from the walking space

18. What are the Main Challenges Related to the Supply Chain that Companies are Currently
Facing?
The supply chain is a vast and fruitful field, brimming with immense opportunities for exploration and
experimentation. In the present competitive market, companies that do not invest in supply chain
management end up paying a hefty price.

These companies fail to take into account many crucial factors like:

• Rising costs throughout the supply chain.

• Consumer demands for improved delivery speed and customer satisfaction.
• Volatile risks in the supply chain such as market fluctuations, trade disputes, etc.
• The complexities of risk and cost management.

Although an interviewer might not ask each one of these questions to you during the supply chain
interview, we hope this article gave you a good idea of what you should expect.

19) What are the responsibilities of a logistician?

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Primary role of a logistician is to manage the supply chain transportation and storage of material and
transportation management

20) What is the different position a person can work in logistic industry?

A person can work under various position

• Logistic director
• Logistic supervisor
• Logistic associate
• Logistic engineer
• Logistic coordinator
• Logistic specialist
• Logistic analyst

21) Explain what is supply chain management?

Supply chain management includes an integrated approach of planning, implementing and controlling
the flow of information, materials and service from raw material to the finished good for the ultimate
distribution to the customer

22) Explain what is ASN (Advance Shipping Notice)?

It is a notice that is sent to the customer about the detailed shipment information in advance of
delivery. It may also include carrier and shipment related information like time of shipment and
expected time of arrival.

23) Explain what is Anti-Dumping duty?

Anti-dumping duty is an import duty levied in cases where imported goods are priced at less than the
normal price in the exporter’s domestic market and cause material loss to the domestic industry of the
importing country.

24) Explain what is LTL (Less than truckload)?

LTL (Less than Truckload) shipment is a contract between the shipper and transport owner. According

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to the contract, instead of the entire truck, the shipment are priced according to the weight of the
freight and mileage within designated lanes.

25) Explain the term deadweight tonnage?

Deadweight tonnage is the difference between the laden and unladen weight of the ship. In other
words, it is the weight of everything that ship carries except the ship itself.

26) Explain how to organize storage area for bulk items?

Look storage place which has the facility of single, double or multiple depth locations

• Bulk storage in vertical or straight direction: It is the most common method of organizing the
container, it is organized in a vertical direction piling the container over each other.
• Bulk storage at angle: It is one of the solutions that can be applied in a situation when there is a
limited place to accommodate containers. But it is applicable in special cases only, depending
upon what material it carries.

27) Explain what is cross docking?

Cross docking is a process of unloading materials from an incoming semi-truck and loading directly
into out-bounds trucks or trailers. It reduces handling costs, operating costs and the storage of
inventory.

28) Explain what is TEU?

TEU stands for Twenty foot Equivalent Unit. It is a method of calculating vessel load or capacity, in
units of containers that are twenty feel long. For example, a 40ft long container measure 2TEUs.

29) What is the advice of shipment and advising bank?

• Advice of shipment: It is a notice sent to a foreign buyer or local trader informing them that
the shipment has processed forward and carried information about packing, routing, etc. A copy
of the invoice is often sent with it and if recommended a copy of landing also attached along
with that.
• Advising Bank: Advising bank is a bank operating in the seller’s country, that handles letters
of credit in behalf of a foreign bank

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30) Explain what is affreightment?

Affreightment is a contract between ship owner and merchant, where ship owner provides or rented the
space in the ship to the merchant for an agreed amount and for a specific period. In this contract,
merchant is liable for the payment whether or not the ship is ready for the shipment.

31) What does a bill of lading include?

A bill of lading includes following details

• Name and complete address of shippers and receivers

• Special account numbers or PO used between business for order tracking
• Instruction for the carrier for secure delivery
• Date of the shipment
• Number of shipping units
• Types of packaging that includes cartons, pallets, skids and drums
• Description about the shipped items (common name & material of manufacture)
• Declared value of the goods being shipped
• Note included if there is any hazardous substance in it
• Exact weight of the shipments – for multiple commodities, weight for each commodity is
mentioned separately
• Freight classification of the items shipped, according to NMFC (National Motor freight
classification)

32) Explain what is blanket way bill?

A way bill which covers two or more consignment of freight is referred as blanket way bill.

33) What are the activities performed at operational level in logistics’?

Various activities at operational level includes

• Goods receipt and checking

• Bulk storage
• Order picking
• Stock replenishment
• Order marshalling
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• Load Scheduling
• Returns
• Availability of Personnel
• Update of stock
• Completion of documentation

34) Mention what is freight class based on?

Freight class is based on four factors

• Density: Weight per cubic foot

• Freight Stowability: width and length based on carrier mode rules
• Ease of handling: Evaluation of the effort required in transporting
• Liability: It includes liability to damage, breakability and perishability, freight price per pound
and susceptibility of theft

35) Explain what is declared the value for carriage?

Declared value for carriage is the value of the goods, declared by the shipper on the bill of lading, to
determine the limit of the carrier’s liability or a freight rate.

36) Explain what is export declaration?

Export declaration is a government document that defines the goods to be supplied out of the country.
This declaration should be filed by exporter to the U.S government.

37) Explain what is documents against acceptance?

A documents against acceptance are an arrangement or provision, where exporter instructs a bank to
hand over shipping and title documents to the importer only if the importer agrees the accompanying
bill of exchange or draft by signing it. This provision ensures that the buyer is legally bound to pay the
full price to the exporter for the shipments, before ownership is transferred.

38) Explain what is the difference between document against acceptance and document against
payment?

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Document against payment: The document remains with bank and importers have to pay the exporter
before they release the documents. In this payment is immediate, and document is released quickly

Document against acceptance: In this importer gives 30-45 days to bank to deduct the amount and then
release the documents. In this provision, there is much risk, and if there is no sufficient balance in the
account then, the process will get delayed.

39) Explain what is Carton Clamps?

It is the most versatile attachment used for handling and transporting multiple unpalletized products
such as furniture, carton, appliances, etc.

40) What is SKU number?

Stock Keeping Unit also referred as SKU number is a unique code used to identify particular line
items.

41) What are APS, ASN and ASRS?

• APS: It stands for Advance Planning and Scheduling

• ASN: It stands for Advanced Shipment Notifications
• ASRS: Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems

42) What is compliance labels?

Compliance label are used as shipping labels, carton labels, pallet labels and they usually contain bar
codes. It is used for the identification of goods delivered.

43) Explain what is consignment inventory?

Consignment inventory is in the possession of the customer but still owned by the supplier. It means
you will pay the supplier only when their goods are sold.

44) Explain what is chargeback?

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When any shipment that does not meet the customers decided terms and conditions, a financial penalty
is charged against the supplier by customer. This charge is referred as charge back. For example, lack
of proper packaging or labelling.

45) Explain what is cycle time?

Cycle time is the time consumed to get and order from order entry to the shipping dock.

46) Explain what is bonded warehouse?

Bonded warehouse is a dedicated portion of a facility where imported goods are stored before the
customs duties or taxes are being paid.

47) Explain what is blind shipment and bread bulk?

When the source of the supplier is hidden from the customer, such shipment is referred as a blind
shipment.

Bread bulk is referred to overseas shipments, where the cargo being shipped consists of smaller units
like crates, bales, cartons and so on.

48) What are the major transportation issues in warehousing?

The major transport issues in warehousing are

• Costs
• Delays
• Tracking and communications
• Warehouse Safety

49) Explain what is batch picking?

The technique of transporting inventory which are grouped into small batches at one go is known as
batch picking.

50) Explain what is wave picking?

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Wave picking is a technique of assigning orders into groups and release them together, so as to allow
several activities to run parallel and complete the task.

51) Explain what is the difference between logistics and transport?

Logistics: Logistics is referred as the procedure of managing goods, resources and information from
the source to the consumers in a manner that it fits the requirements of both parties.

Transportation: Transport is the movement of the goods from one point to the other. It is considered
as part of logistics.

52) In inventory management what do you mean by allocation?

It is a demand which is created by the Sales Order or Work Orders next to a particular team.

53) Explain what is a capacity requirement planning?

It is a process for determining the quantity of machine and manual labor resources necessary to
assemble a production.

54) Explain what is activity based costing?

It is a method which helps in the breakdown of the costs into specific activities in order
to maintenance of accuracy in the distribution of costs in product costing.

55) Explain what is the meaning of Triage?

The sorting of products or goods based on their condition or quality is referred as Triage. Some of the
goods needs to be repaired and sent back, others have to be sold off as used or defective goods.

56) Explain what is meant by Reverse Logistics?

Reverse Logistics is the collection of all processes that come into play for goods that move in the
reverse directions which means transportation of goods customer to the business.

57) What are the main supply chain challenges companies face today?

The five big challenges that companies face today is

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• Ignoring the continued growth of e-commerce as a channel in the industrial sector
• No attention to the potential risk like volatile transportation costs
• Over expectation that supply chain management technologies will fix everything
• Over-reliance on past performance to predict future sales
• Increase complexity added to supply chain operations with implementation of unnecessary
technologies
• Lack of understanding of the full capacities of suppliers and service

58) What are the areas should be focussed more in order to improve warehouse transportation?

• Delivery Frequency
• Turnaround Times
• Journey Times
• Fixed Routing
• Unification of product
• Performance standard
• Vehicle fill
• Scheduling
• Vehicle and operational records
• Preloading

59) Explain what is WTS (Warehouse Tracking System)? How does it work?

WTS or Warehouse Tracking System is a software application which is specifically designed for the
warehouse industry. It uses the system of barcode labels which allows you to track product movement,
audits and shipments easily. It enables you to identify each piece of stock by a unique serial number.

60) With the help of WTS how you can generate an Invoice?

There are two ways you can generate Invoice using WTS technique

• One way of creating an invoice is assigning it directly with the orders that you are working on
• And the other way is to export the order to QuickBooks and create the invoice there.

61) How Warehouse Tracking System will be helpful in warehouse transportation?

In the warehouse, WTS will help you

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• Eliminate searching for lost products and saves your transportation time
• Reduce picker walk time
• Monitor warehouse activity and order status in real time

62) What are the important aspects of transportation and fleet management?

The important aspects of transportation and fleet management

• Transport Acquisition
• Transport Planning
• Routing maintenance planning
• Fleet maintenance and Scheduling
• Risk management
• Human resource management

63) From health and safety point what are things to be taken care while warehouse
transportation?

• Don’t leave items in aisles on the floor or perched insecurely on a surface

• Clean up all spills immediately
• Don’t block fire exits, sprinklers or fire extinguishers
• Put items in their assigned places
• Don’t leave sharp tools or cutters perching out
• Keep cord and wires off the floor
• Report loose flooring or tripping hazards
• Dispose of trash immediately in proper containers

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Inventory Management
Question 1. Do You Know When Should A Physical Inventory Be Taken?
Answer:A inventory should be taken at least once a year. If items are perishable, seasonal or highly
demanded a inventory should be taken more often.

Question 2. Explain Can A Computer Help In Forecasting Future Demand?

Answer:Yes, In the market today there are many computer software packages that can compute
forecasted demand for goods held in inventory.

Auditing Interview Questions

Question 3. Do You Know What Does Eoq Stand For?
Answer:EOQ stands for Economic Order Quantity.

Question 4. Tell Me Can Forecasting Help In Controlling Inventory?

Answer:Yes, through the use of forecasts inventory levels can be set to meet the demands while
keeping levels as low as possible.

Question 5. Tell Me What Is Forecasting?

Answer:Forecasting is the process of estimating the future demand of a product.

Question 6. What Is Raw Material?

Answer:Are those basic inputs that are converted into finished product through the manufacturing
process. Raw materials inventories are those units which have been purchased and stored for future
productions.

Question 7. Do You Know What Is A Order Point?

Answer:A order point is a point in time at which a order is placed to replenish goods in inventory.

Question 8. Do You Know What Is Demand?

Answer:Demand is the quantity that customers are willing to buy. Demand can be found through
forecasting and is needed to find the EOQ level.

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Question 9. Tell Me What Is An Order Quantity?
Answer:An order quantity is the amount of goods that an order requests be shipped to the store.

Question 10. Tell Me What Types Of Forecasting Can I Do?

Answer:There are two types of forecasting qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative uses personal
opinions to determine forecasts. Quantitative uses numerical data and statistical modeling to
determine forecasts.

Question 11. Explain What Is Lead Time?

Answer:
Lead time is the period of time from which a order for goods is placed until it is received by the store. Lead
time is an important consideration for determining when orders should be placed.

Question 12. Suppose I Get A Discount Will It Effect The Eoq Model?
Answer:
Yes, a discount will cause the basic EOQ model to fail. To use a discount in determine a EOQ you
must use the EOQ model with quantity discounts.

Question 13. Tell Me What Is Cycle Count?

Answer:
A cycle count is an inventory auditing procedure, which falls under inventory management, where a
small subset of inventory, in a specific location, is counted on a specified day. Cycle counts contrast
with traditional physical inventory in that a full physical inventory may stop operation at a facility
while all items are counted at one time.
It helps to see the difference between Actual stock and Book Stock. Book Stock is the stock available
in the system.

Question 14. Do You Know What Is TheEoq Formula?

Answer:
The EOQ formula is the square root of 2 times demand times order completion cost divided by
carrying cost. The mathematical formula is square root of 2DS/C.

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Question 15. Tell Me What Do The Letters In The Eoq And Stocking Cost Formula Stand For?
Answer:
The letters in the formulas represent the quantity ordered(Q), the carrying cost of a unit(C), the
demand for the units(D) and the cost of completing a order(S).

Question 16. Tell Us What Does Inventory Affect In A Store?

Answer:
Inventory levels and their values can affect the income of the store, the amount of taxes paid, and the
total stocking cost.

Question 17. Tell Me What Skills Make You Great At What You Do As An Inventory
Specialist?
Answer:
I am a stickler for perfection and organization. In addition to this, I possess great leadership qualities
which make it easy for me to direct personnel to do their job properly. Possessing knowledge of
accounting procedures makes it easy for me to manage related bookkeeping and budget management
tasks.

Question 18. Do You Know What Is Interference?

Answer:
Interference is a factor in forecasting demand. Interference is made up of all the factors that a
forecaster has no control over. Factors that may be considered interference include natural disasters,
unusual customer demands, or rare events in the business period.

Question 19. Do You Know As An Inventory Specialist, What Are Your Specific Duties?
Answer:
Working as an inventory specialist, I am required to develop and implement an overall inventory
management plan which includes materials procurement, inventory stock levels, and facility needs
and personnel management. Additionally, I am required to provide direction to staff members who
handle inventory control and make sure any overstocking or shortages are handled in a time efficient
manner.

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Question 20. Explain Me What Is Opening Stock And Closing Stock?
Answer:At the beginning of a reporting period, or after a cycle count, the stock available in your
inventory account is the Opening Stock. It is also called as Beginning Inventory.
So, there's an Opening Stock. Then, lots of transactions happens - Items are purchased and Sold. And
finally Closing Stock is calculated.
Closing stock is the amount of inventory that a business still has on hand at the end of a reporting
period. This includes raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory. The amount of
closing stock can be ascertained with a physical count of the inventory. It can also be determined
byusing a perpetual inventory system and cycle counting to continually adjust inventory records to
arrive at ending balances.

Closing Stock is an asset. In Inventory Account, it is under debit. In trading Account, it is under
credit. Because, it is still not traded.

Question 21. Explain Me When Should Reorders Be Placed?

Answer:
Times for reordering goods vary dependent on the control system you use and its lead time. In fixed
order quantities reorders should be placed when the safety stock is reached. In fixed period systems
the reordering is done at set time periods. In just in time systems reordering is based on matching the
demand with supply. For just in time a close watch on inventory levels is needed so that reorders are
placed before goods are out of stock.

Question 22. Explain Me What If There Is No Savings Or The Models Produce Even Results?
Answer:
If there is no savings a error in the calculations may have occurred or the model does not fit your
case. For instances were the total stocking costs are even you may use either order quantity.

Question 23. Explain Why Is Procurement Considered Such An Important Part Of Inventory
Control?
Answer:
Procurement is the backbone of inventory management. Inventory specialists have to create and
maintain liaison with vendors and suppliers, and customers to ensure that supplies are obtained in a
timely manner and that there are no shortages when the need arises.

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24. Tell Me What Are The Important Considerations In Inventory Control?
Answer:For inventory control to work at its best a store must consider the costs of acquisition,
carrying, ordering, and stock-out. the store must also look at its reordering system, its budgeting for
inventory, insurance and forecasted demand.

Question 25. Explain Me Is The Optimal Order Or Production Frequency Calculated On A

Regular Basis As Part Of A Continuous Improvement Process?
Answer:
Once you've reduced inventories, you'll have to put new processes in place to lower them even more
over time. We use an analytical tool that highlights the biggest levers for continually reducing
inventory.
For example, instead of working to improve sales forecast accuracy from 70 percent to just 75
percent, establishing a team that's focused on reducing lead times from Asian suppliers may have
more impact.

Question 26. Explain What Is Weighted Average Cost?

Answer:
A weighted inventory average determines the average cost of all inventory items based on the
inventory items' individual cost basis and the quantity of each item held in inventory.
When a business purchases items for inventory, the business may pay different prices for the
inventory items. This price differential can apply to both different inventory items and the same
inventory items purchased at different times.
The average cost is computed by dividing the total cost of goods available for sale by the total units
available for sale. This gives a weighted-average unit cost that is applied to the units in the ending
inventory.
Weighted Average Unit Cost = Total Cost of Inventory / Total Units in Inventory

For Ex:
Lets say, we buy item A for 10 AED. We have 10 qty of Item A.
Therefore, total cost of Item A is 10 x 10 = 100 AED.
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In that we sold 3 items. 7 qty left in stock. Total cost of those 7 items = 7 x 10 = 70 AED.
After 3 months, item A cost is reduced to 8 AED. And then we bought 10 more for 8 AED.

Therefore, total cost = 8 x 10 = 80 AED.

Now, we have 7 items bought for 10 AED and 10 items bought for 8 AED.
Total 17 items.
Therefore total cost = 70 AED + 80 AED = 150 AED.
Now, when we calculate the weighted average cost of the 17 items which are to be sold = 150
AED/17 = 8.82 AED.

Question 27. Do You Know Who Decides Key Inventory-related Policy Such As Striking The
Right Balance Between Customer Service And Cost-effective Product Inventory Levels?
Answer:
Many decisions about inventory levels are strategically important. So instead of relying solely on the
supply organization to decide, executives need to have a major say in the fundamental issues that
impact inventory management-everything from determining the right breadth and complexity of
product offerings to optimal plant and distribution footprints.

Question 28. What Are Finished Goods?

Answer:
Inventories are those completely manufactured products which are ready for sale. Stocks of raw
materials and work-in-process facilitate production, while stock of finished goods is required for
smooth marketing operations. Thus, inventories serve as a link between the production and
consumption of goods.

Question 29. Tell Us Do You Apply The Above Practices To All Parts Of Your Inventory
(finished Goods, Raw Material, Works In Process And Spare Parts) And In All Organizational
Entities?
Answer:
One of the most common mistakes made by supply organizations is looking at only a small subset of
all inventory-the finished goods sitting in major warehouses-even though raw materials, works in
process, spare parts and even goods in retail stores can make up 50 percent of the total. As a result,

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they miss potential savings. An organizational map of all inventories will help better prioritize ways
to reduce inventories. And all the inventory techniques we've discussed apply.

Question 30. Do You Know What Is Cogs (cost Of Goods Sold) Formula?
Answer:
For manufacturers, “cost of goods sold” (COGS) is the cost of buying raw materials and
manufacturing finished products.
For retailers, it's the cost of obtaining or buying the products sold to customers.

Opening Stock (Beginning inventory) + Purchases – Closing Stock (End Inventory) = COGS
If the company is in a service industry, COGS is the cost of the service it offers.
COGS can help companies work out how much they should charge for their products and services,
and the level of sales they need to sustain in order to make a profit.

The price paid for products is particularly crucial to retailers, as it is often their greatest area of
expenditure. But all businesses can benefit from an analysis of COGS, as it can highlight ways of
improving efficiency and cutting expenditure.

Question 31. Tell Me Do You Have Regular Visibility Into Excess And Obsolete Stock, And Is It
Linked To Targeted Action Plans To Sell Off Or Reduce This Inventory?
Answer:
Typically, excess and obsolete stock stems from ineffective sales forecasting, planning or using a
business model that fails to factor in product complexity and life cycles correctly. Inventory leaders
establish processes to determine why excesses are being created and then develop a plan of action to
sell it off. In some instances, the fear of the write-off has led to a large buildup over time of obsolete
inventory.

Question 32. Tell Me Are You Able To Break Down Your Operating Inventory Into The Three
Major Categories When Reporting Levels-safety, Replenishment And Excess Or Obsolete
Stock?
Answer:
This breakdown makes it easier to make sound decisions about appropriate levels for each of these
three areas. It helps determine the minimum safety stock needed to provide an insurance policy

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against supply chain problems either from manufacturing glitches or distribution uncertainties so that
customers get what they ordered.
It's useful for pinpointing the amount of inventory required to replenish deliveries every two weeks.
And it helps companies find ways to avoid a backlog of excess or obsolete inventory.

Question 33. Explain Me What Should Be Recorded In A Physical Count Of Inventory?

Answer:
When conducting a physical inventory the classification, location and number in stock of a good
should be recorded.
Question 34. Explain Me What Are The Types Of Reordering Systems That Can Be Used In
Inventory Control?
Answer:
There are several types of reordering systems, in this module we discussed three. The fixed order
quantity uses fixed quantities of goods ordered at various order points to replenish inventory.
The fixed order period use fixed times of reorder with various order quantities to replenish inventory
to preset levels. The final system, just in time uses a constant flow of goods to match the level of
demand.

Question 35. Do You Know How Is Gr/ir Account Related To Inventory?

Answer:
If you are involved with inventory, then you need the GR/IR account (Inventory Account) when the
IR is posted.
If you are not involved about inventory, then the system does not need the GR/IR account when the
IR is posted, the system needs a G/L instead of the GR/IR account.

Question 36. Tell Me How To Determine The Frequency For Ordering And Inventory
Production If It's Not Set Solely By Factories Or The Supply Organization?
Answer:
Ideally, there are two factors: companies should consider calculations that minimize the overall cost
such as inventory and changeover costs. They also should base frequency on negotiations between
the different parties involved and factor in upcoming events such as promotions and uncertainties like
bad weather.

Question 37. Explain Me Do I Need ToRecompute Stocking Costs For The Eoq Level?
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Answer:
Yes, in order to compare stock costs when using the EOQ model you must compute the costs for both
the original level and the EOQ level of order quantities.

Question 38. Tell Us What Makes A Good Forecasting Model?

Answer:
A good forecast model will have reasonable costs. the accuracy of its forecasts will allow good
decision making. The model will have ample data available for its use and a relevant time span. The
model finally will have a low interference level.

Question 39. How To Determine The Numbers To Use In The Eoq Formula?
Answer:
To determine which numbers to use you must look for the following items. The number of items per
order is the quantity(Q). The number of items that can be sold is D. D may be the forecast demand for
that particular good. The cost of placing the order is used for S. The final number to find is the
carrying cost(C) which is the cost of the item to be held in inventory.

Question 40. Explain How Can The Value Of Inventory Be Determined?

Answer:
The value can be found using four methods in inventory control. The first is the specific cost in which
each item's cost is added together for the inventory's value. A second method is to use the weighted
average of the costs for a period to determine value. A third method is first in, first out. In this
method value is measured using the latest costs of goods while working towards the beginning of the
period until all goods in inventory are valued. The final method is last in, first out. In this method the
costs of gods at the beginning of the period are used to determine the inventory's value much like
FIFO.

Question 41. Tell Me What Is Shrinkage Calculation In Inventory?

Answer:
In financial accounting, the term inventory shrinkage is the loss of products between point of
manufacture or purchase from supplier and point of sale. The term shrink relates to the difference in
the amount of margin or profit a retailer can obtain. If the amount of shrink is large, then profits go
down which results in increased costs to the consumer to meet the needs of the retailer.

33
In retail terms, shrinkage refers to a company's percent loss resulting from damage, product
expiration and theft of unsold products. Retail shrinkage can happen anywhere along the production
and sale chain, including at the factory, in transit or at the retail location.
You can calculate retail shrinkage by dividing the value of goods lost to shrinkage by the total value
of goods that are supposed to be in the inventory.
Shrinkage =
(Total value of the goods that you are supposed to have in your inventory - Total value of the goods
that is physically stocked in your inventory) / Total value of the goods that you are supposed to have
in your inventory.
i.e. Shrinkage = (Book stock - Actual Stock) / Book Stock
= Total Value of goods lost / Total value of the goods that you are supposed to have in your
inventory

Question 42. Explain Me What Is Total Stocking Cost?

Answer:
Total stocking cost is the cost to the store of holding a good in its inventory. The stocking cost
consists of the carrying cost times half the quantity in inventory and the order completion cost times
demand divided by the quantity. In its mathematical form the cost is represented by TSC=(Q/2)C +
(D/Q)S.

Question 43. What Is Work-in-process?

Answer:
Inventories are semi-manufactured products. They represent products that need more work before
they become finished product for sale.

Question 44. Do You Know What Is The Importance Of Eoq?

Answer:
The EOQ level is the point at which stocking costs are at their lowest point for a given item.

34
Project Management

1) How will you identify stakeholders and why do you need to know more about them?

The process of identifying the key stakeholders begins when a project starts.

To recognize the decision-makers, you ask the following questions:

• Who will furnish funds for the project?

• Who will supply resources for the seamless execution of the project?
• Who are the end customers for the outcome of the project?
• Who will offer other types of support?
• Who will be giving guidelines/regulations that need to be followed while working on the
project?
• Who will provide specifications for the project?

Knowing about stakeholders and engaging them throughout the project lifecycle is crucial for project
success. The reason being that the project is being undertaken to fulfill its objectives and expectations.

2) What is stakeholder analysis and Power-Interest Grid used for?

35
Stakeholder analysis involves preparing a list of all the potential stakeholders who will be associated
with the project in some way or the other. A power-interest grid is used for categorizing stakeholders
and prioritizing them based on significance and impact.

Source: projectmanagement.com

Stakeholder analysis and power-interest grid help in prioritizing the positions of the stakeholders in the
project for developing relevant stakeholder engagement strategies for different groups.

3) What kind of documents do you need during project initiation?

a. Business Case Document:

It acts as a reference point for the initiation of any internal project. This document offers a detailed
financial analysis of the potential investments and benefits likely to come from the project along with
the financial justification of whether the project should be done or not.

b. Agreement:

The agreement is one of the first documents a PM refers to understand more about the project. It is the
contract signed with the client and outlines the scope, time, cost, and terms/conditions agreed between
the performing and the requesting organization.

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c. Project charter:

This document outlines the specific objectives of the project and establishes the formal authorization of
the project. The project charter has the name of the PM and is signed by the sponsor.

d. Stakeholder register:

A stakeholder register includes the details about the interest and powers of different stakeholders, their
current level of engagement. New stakeholders keep getting added to the register as they get identified
during the project lifecycle.

4) What are the techniques that you can use to collect project requirements? (Mention
techniques for collecting requirements + different classification of requirements.)

Requirement collection and final concurrence happen with the project stakeholders with the help of
functional experts and business analysts.

The crucial techniques used for requirement gathering are:

• Data gathering (pondering, standardization, focus groups, questionnaires, and surveys and
interviews)
• Data analysis (examining different project documents)
• Observation (monitoring the performance of the team members)
• Affinity diagram (grouping of requirements and ideas)
• Prioritization of the requirements by using techniques like MoSCoW
• Prototyping

Gathered requirements can be classified into different categories such as transition, reliability,
functional, non-functional, security, quality, and regulatory and user-interface-drive. They help the
team in visualizing different aspects of the project requirements and addressing them accordingly.

5) What is the importance of maintaining a requirement traceability matrix?

The purpose of designing a requirement traceability matrix is to track each requirement at every stage
of development. The end goal is to make sure that no phase gets closed till all the requirements are
considered. Additionally, it helps the team to avoid missing any requirements.

37
6) What are the details that a project plan should include? (Mention project baseline and who
prepares project management plans.)

A project plan is a blueprint that includes detailed information about how the project will be executed,
monitored, and closed. It comprises the project scope, schedule, cost estimates, and budget constraints
known as project baselines. A project plan is prepared by the PM with the help of inputs given by the
core team members involved in designing various components of the plan.

7) What is a WBS and how does it help in preparing a good plan?

38
WBS is referred to as Work breakdown structure which is a crucial technique for having a complete
idea about the project scope. It entails breaking up the project work into smaller and manageable
chunks known as work packages.

A well-thought WBS leads to the development of an accurate and robust project plan. WBS helps the
PM and the team in refining and defining the specific project requirements and scope in detail for
seamless execution and tracking of the project progress. The result is coherent project management.

8) How does the RACI matrix helps in resource management?

Once the project manager starts assigning roles and responsibilities among various team members, it
becomes extremely important for a PM to chart a RACI matrix.

In simplest terms, the RACI matrix is a responsibility assignment chart used to map out every task,
milestone, and key decision required to complete a project. As there are many stakeholders and
involved in a project having clarity about the duties of every member helps in removing doubts for
which the RACI matrix is crucial.

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It's one of the most popular responsibility based assignment charts with four possible roles
“accountable”, “inform”, “responsible”, “consult”.

9) What is the role of a critical path in project planning?

The critical path is crucial for effective project planning as it helps in determining the best possible
timeline for completing the project by outlining the sequence of dependent tasks that forms the longest
duration. Identifying, managing, and monitoring the critical path and ensuring all its activities aren’t
delayed is vital for completing the project within the deadline.

10) What are the steps that you will take to do risk planning?

Effective risk planning is central to the success of a project by minimizing threats and maximizing
opportunities. The steps involved in risk planning are:

• Discovering risks
• Analyzing potential risks including their probability and anticipated impact
• Prioritizing risks
• Developing risk responses for opportunities and hazards
• Maintaining a risk register

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Risk planning compiles all the risk events, their probabilities, impact, and response plan that will serve
as a reference point for establishing cost estimates and project schedules.

11) You will be using QA and QC for ensuring the quality of the final deliverables. What’s the
difference between them?

Keeping the quality of project deliverables in check is highly important which is done using Quality
Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC).

QA involves the principles and processes to do the project work and sticking to these processes ensures
the final deliverables will meet the expectations of the project. QA is done through seamless execution
and development.

QC includes analyzing the final deliverables based on the laid down guidelines and leveraging
inspection to check whether the outcomes meet the expected standards.

12) What kind of bid documents can be used for procurement management? And, what kind of
contract types will you use for engaging with contractors and suppliers?

The crucial types of bid documents that can be used for procurement management are:

• Procurement Statement of Work (SOW)

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• Request for Information (RFI)
• Invitation for Bid (IFB)
• Request for proposal (RFP)
• Invitation for Quote (IFQ)
• Purchase Order (PO)

There are three types of contracts used for engaging with contractors and suppliers:

• Fixed-Price Contract
• Cost Reimbursable Contract
• Time and Materials Contract

13) How do you plan to tackle project execution?

Effectively handling project execution requires the PM to act as a leader and work in collaboration
with project stakeholders, sponsors, and peers by demonstrating excellent communication and
interpersonal skills.

14) How does organizational structure influence resource acquisition? And, how can you acquire
the necessary resources?

Resource acquisition ideally happens first from internal sources and then from external resources. If
the organization is functional or matrix it will happen internally as the resources will be by default a
part of other groups. For a project manager, this can become daunting.

If it is a strong-matrix organization the PM will have more say in resource allocation. In the case of a
weak-matrix organization, the same won’t be the case. However, in project-based organizations, most
of the resources are hired from outside so the PM has a lot of authority in selecting them.

42
Manpower and physical resources are acquired from within the organizations, common resource pools,
or various functional groups. A PM should be involved in proactive negotiations and work closely with
the procurement departments for hiring these resources from within the organization or outside
agencies.

15) What kind of motivation theories and formal techniques do you plan to use to keep the team
motivated?

One of the core responsibilities of a project manager is to ensure that the entire team is constantly
motivated. For the project success, motivational theories include:

• McGregor’s Theory
• Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
• McClelland’s Theory
• Hertzberg’s Theory
• Maslow’s Theory

The role of the PM is to understand the fundamentals of these theories and leverage them. Satisfying
the needs of team members, offering them a challenging environment to function, and rewarding them
timely keeps the team motivated.

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16) Are you aware of conflict management techniques that can be applied for managing conflicts
between stakeholders and team members?

Conflicts in a project are a result of disagreements between stakeholders and team members. They are
common and the PM must tactfully intervene and resolve them to create an environment of trust and
respect.

Conflict management techniques for a project manager include:

• Problem-solving/collaborating or confronting which is the best method to fix disputes

• Competing/Forcing
• Accommodating
• Avoiding/Withdrawing
• Reconciling/Compromising

17) What would be your leadership style when it comes to leading the team during execution?

A project manager’s role involves being a leader. The responsibility of the planning, procurement, and
execution of the project necessitates guiding the team members, showing them the right direction, and
motivating them. Leadership helps in project management to develop team spirit and support the team
in case of adversity.

There are different leadership styles for a project manager are:

• Democratic
• Autocratic

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• Liaises Faire

18) How will you manage underperforming team members?

A PM must keep a close observation of the performance of every team member to get a thorough idea
of what is going on in the team.

Ways in which a PM should try to deal with an underperforming team member are:

• Have a direct and informal conversation and take an empathetic approach to understand the
underlying cause.
• Offer meaningful help, encouragement, and training to motivate the underperforming team
member.
• Analyze if there is a possibility to change the role of that particular team member within the
same project after assessing their capabilities.
• Observe if the underperforming resource can be changed with a capable one.

Ultimately, the project manager should strike a balance between the project success and supporting the
underperforming team member to raise the bar of their performance.

19) How do you prevent Gold Plating?

Gold plating is one of the most common phenomena perceived during project execution. The
underlying notion is that customers will feel happy as the development team is delivering more than
what is expected.

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However, a PM should be completely aware of the idea, the tendency of the team and try to avoid gold
plating with the help of the following guidelines:

• Keep communication lines open with the entire team so the PM is aware of what’s going on.
• Never encourage the team members to add any extra features or functions to the product
without seeking approval from the client.

20) How will you execute a project with new change requests coming in?

Change requests are also referred to as “CR” are quite common in any project baseline. This involves
tweaking any aspect of the project plan such as the timeline, resources, technology, scope, and
requirements. These requests can be raised from the client or any other stakeholder, even the team
members or the PM.

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There are many reasons why CR comes in a project such as:

• A change from the stakeholder’s end when they want a new feature or technology to be added
or some changes in the aspects like the budget and timelines.
• Regulatory changes that require the project needs to comply leads to changes in the planned
project strategy.
• In the middle of a project, the team members might feel that they need to take corrective
measures to resolve an issue.

The key steps included while implementing change management are as follows:

• Performing a comprehensive impact analysis of the CR on different aspects of the project.

• Discussion with relevant stakeholders such as customers or sponsors. Letting all the
stakeholders know about the insights from the impact analysis of a CR and seeking their
approval after understanding the points.
• After the approval from the stakeholders, the PM should prepare an updated project plan and
get it confirmed with the sponsors.
• Once the sponsor approves the updated project plan the PM should start implementing the
change in the ongoing project.
• Maintain a history of all the changes happening in the project after implementing the CR.

The challenges in handling CR are:

• Lack of a formal change management plan.

• Stakeholders informally raise CR.
• Handling frequent CR is quite challenging.
• The inability of the PM or the team to deny a change request.
• A constant conflict between the team and stakeholders regarding the relevance of change
requests.

Handling change requests is one of the most common responsibilities of a PM that require dealing in a
formal and disciplined manner.

21) What’s the difference between project monitoring and controlling? (Mention how controlling
and monitoring should be done, should this be planned as part of the project management plan.)

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Monitoring includes determining differences between real project performances against the project
baseline. Controlling comprises detecting repair for handling the variances and suggesting corrective
measures.

Both project monitoring and controlling assist in keeping projects on track and are done from the
beginning to the end of the project. These processes need to be planned as a part of the project
management plan for the seamless functioning of the project lifecycle.

22) What do you know about performance reports? (Mention what are the performance reports
prepared by the team, the difference between the progress report and status report.)

Performance reports are created to demonstrate the status of the project and its actual performance in
comparison to the established baselines. While monitoring and controlling the project the team
prepares different performance reports such as:

• Progress report
• Status report
• Forecast report

A progress report highlights the work completed in the project so far but a status report is focused on
the discrepancies in the project performance to date.

23) How will you implement Earned Value Management? What are EVM and its use?

EVM is a project management methodology for computing the schedule and cost differences with the
help of schedule and cost performance index. It helps in creating new performance and cost predictions
in a project.

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EVM is a pragmatic technique for determining the discrepancies and performance of a project
numerically to help the team in making forecasts and planning relevant preventive measures for
handling the variances.

A PM should know how to implement EVM by maintaining a project schedule listing all the project
tasks along with their start/end dates and budget. This schedule will act as a reference point to measure
the project progress.

24) What do you know about fast-tracking and crashing techniques?

Fast-tracking and crashing techniques are leveraged to shorten the project duration while keeping the
project scope intact. They are applied in case there is a discrepancy noticed.

Crashing may add extra cost to the project by adding resources but fast-tracking can add additional risk
as the tasks are performed in parallel.

25) What are the activities that you plan to perform during the closing of a project?

The closing phase is quite crucial and is the introspection span for the team by consolidating all the
lessons learned.

The activities that help in making the process hassle-free are:

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• Examining and ensuring all the project criteria have been fulfilled.
• Consolidating and handing over the final deliverables to stakeholders.
• Submitting all the documents such as manuals, SOPs, and so on to the customer and taking a
formal signing-off.
• Creating the final project report highlighting the key points and consolidating lessons learned
for future reference.
• Concluding all the financial dealings with vendors and suppliers.
• Rewarding project contributors.
• Conducting appraisal performance for team members and provide feedback.
• Freeing up all the resources and equipment.
• Celebrating

Precise project closing gives an orderly end to the project and helps in moving on to the next step
seamlessly.

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26) How do you differentiate between trend analysis and variance analysis?

Variance analysis is done regularly and is a method for computing the variance between the actual
performance and the planned numbers that's the project baseline. It helps in tracking discrepancies so
preventive measures can be taken before any risk arises.

Trend analysis determines if any patterns or variances are cropping up during the project and
understanding the cause to design corrective measures. Trend analysis is done regularly but not as
frequent as variance analysis.

27) What’s the difference between corrective and preventive actions?

Corrective action is taken to remove the cause of an existing defect. For instance, a corrective measure
in a case when a project is lagging behind the schedule is to accelerate the remaining work to
compensate for the delay.

Preventing action is taken to eliminate the occurrence of potential variance. Let’s take the same case of
a project lagging behind the schedule. The team figured out that it happened due to a lack of effective
management. The preventive action is to provide clear guidance to the team for avoiding any such
events in the future.

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28) Tell us about yourself

Most project management job interviews start with this question. ‘Be relevant’ is the mantra to do well
in this question. Give a brief introduction of your background and educational qualifications. If you are
an experienced manager, emphasize the projects that you have done that are relevant to the job you
applied for. If you are a fresh graduate, you can tell them about any college projects that you have
done. Treat this question as an opportunity for self-promotion to show the employer why you are fit for
the job.

29) What, according to you, is an important skill for a project manager to succeed?

Well, if you are a project manager you might already be thinking that there can’t be one skill that is
enough to be successful. And, you are right. Your answer could be leadership skills, communication
skills, or time management skills. What the interviewer is looking for is the justification for the
answer. So, before you blurt out anything, have your reasons ready.

30) How do you begin a newly assigned project?

Through this question, the interviewer is essentially trying to check your clarity of thought. He/she
wants you to describe the important first steps you need to take to ensure the success of a project. A
good manager would try to understand ‘what’ of the project before ‘how’. What it means is your first
try to understand what is the objective or purpose of the project before diving into how to achieve the
goals of the project. Hence, anything on the above lines would get you some brownie points.

31) Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

This is a top project manager interview question. The answer shows whether you have realistic
expectations from the job you are applying for. It helps the interviewer check if your personal goals
align with that of the company.
If you are applying for an entry-level position, it might be too ambitious to say ‘I want to be the CEO
of this company’. It helps to research the employment growth in the company and estimate where you
could reach with your best performance in the next 5 years. On the other hand, if you are applying for a
senior position, you can talk about how you wish to take the company forward and what your
contribution towards that would be.

32) How important is it for a project manager to be ‘proactive’?

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By very nature, projects are unpredictable. Hence, it is essential that a manager anticipates problems
that can occur and plans ahead. Your answer then has to reflect the importance you attach to proactive
project management. Show the interviewer that you can handle risks and rise to the challenges that can
occur during the course of the project.

33) Can you describe some of the projects that you handled in your previous job?

They don’t want the entire list. Pick some examples based on the following criteria:

• How recently have you worked on it? (Don’t talk about a project that happened years ago)
• Has it been successful? (Don’t talk about the one in which failed. For obvious reasons, it doesn’t
help)
• Is it relevant to the job you are applying for?

The whole point of this question is to test your approach and your work ethic. So, make sure that the
answer reflects those. Most people get carried away by this question and rattle off a lot of details.
Please be concise and give only relevant details.

34) What are the knowledge areas relevant to doing a project?

This is a kind of question for which you need to have the answer ready. PMBOK guide describes 10
knowledge areas. Read about them in detail and try to paraphrase in your own words.

35) Describe all the steps involved from the time of project initiation to project completion.

The best answer to this question would be scenario-based. Sometimes, the interviewers themselves
give a hypothetical project and ask you how you would handle it.
For each stage phase the project follows, briefly mention the following:
The main objective of that phase
The key people involved
Your role in each of those phases

36) What qualities are required to be an effective project manager?

This question is different from the one in which you are asked to name only one skill. Apart from
technical skills, mention leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making skills,

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prioritization skills, risk management skills, etc. The follow-up question can be about how a certain
skill helps. So, do prepare a justification for each of the skills you talked about.

37) Did your colleagues or your manager ever challenge your decisions?

Many people think that it’s better to say ‘no’ to this question and move on to the next. But,
disagreements in projects are quite common. So, it is extremely unlikely nobody disagreed with your
decisions (Especially, if you are a senior project manager). So, it’s better to say yes and go on to
describe how you handled the situation. Show that you are a person who can take feedback
constructively and can take everybody along with you in a collaborative manner.

38) How do you ensure your team stays on track to meet project deadlines?

A sample answer can be ‘I clearly communicate what the expectations are before the team starts to
work on the task. I regularly take updates on the progress and if there is a lag anywhere I make myself
approachable for the team members to discuss their problems. Also, I appreciate and give feedback
once the project is completed to keep them motivated’

39) Do you know anything about the Pareto principle/analysis?

This is again a knowledge-based question. The Pareto principle states that 80% of the results come
from 20% of the actions. This is a statistical analysis that is used by project managers to prioritize
work. If you have enough experience as a project manager, most likely you have used this principle or
at least a variation of it. Apart from explaining what it is, talk about how you used it in your previous
job (if you did)

40) Do you think integrity is an essential quality of a project manager?

Of course, you have to say ‘yes’. Go on to describe why it is so. Any company wants an employee who
shares the values and principles of the company. If you are in a responsible position such as a project
manager, you are expected to show the way for others to follow. Earning the respect of your team
members and the trust of your bosses can only happen when you are ethically upright.

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41) If the customer is not happy with the result and does not accept the product. What would you
as a project manager do?

Keeping customers happy is important for companies. Hence, your answer should showcase that you
value customers as well. You can start by explaining that during the course of the project you regularly
interact with the customers so that they are on the same page as the project team. Despite this, if the
customers are unhappy with the result, say that you will try to clearly understand what modifications
they want and try to incorporate them. In case the changes cannot be made, you will try to convince
and explain to the customer that the project fits in with the agreed scope.

42) How should a project manager communicate a failure to his team?

A good project manager is optimistic. The way you handle failure reflects the true leader in you. If
your team worked on a project and it ultimately failed, they are bound to be unhappy. But as a
manager, it is your duty to ensure that failures don’t affect the morale of the team. You can tell the
interviewer that instead of blaming a particular person or a group, you make it a collective
responsibility. Also, mention that you communicate with the team members to learn from the mistakes
they made in this project and not repeat them in the future.

43) What was the biggest challenge that you faced while working on a project?

‘I didn’t have the right team’. ‘I don’t deal well with changes’. ‘My boss wasn’t very supportive’.
These would be bad answers to give your future employer. As a project manager, you are expected to
manage people and handle risks. So, don’t tell your interviewer that you fall short in those two areas.
Give an example of a situation in which the challenge was due to external factors. It can be about when
the project was abruptly shelved or when the funding for it has been stopped. Don’t forget to mention
how you handled the situation and what you learned from it.

44) What kinds of projects interest you the most? Why?

The one word that you need to focus on for this pm interview question is ‘relevance’. Do your research
about the company and the role you are applying for. Your answer to this should be about the kind of
projects that the company can offer.

45) What are the different kinds of project management tools you worked with?

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When the interviewer asks this question, it is to know whether you can use Lean, Kanban, Agile, etc. If
the company uses particular project management software, read up on it. Further, do mention how your
knowledge of a specific project management tool can help their company.

46) What kind of people do you find it difficult to work with?

This is a potential trap. ‘I get along with everyone’. Say this and you will open a floodgate of
questions. Focus on why you are being asked this question. They want to check your people
management skills. You can talk about how you are strictly professional and do not let your emotions
get the better of you while working with people. Bring out your maturity, emotional quotient while
answering this question.

47) Are there any projects that you do not want to work on?

If you say you are fine with any project, it might imply that you do not know yourself enough to
answer this question. Instead, it is better, to be honest, and communicate your preferences. But, if you
are applying for a software project manager position and say you hate software development, a slight
chance you will get the job. So, be a little smart.

48) How do you keep your team members motivated?

One of the important roles of a leader is to keep the morale of the team members high. Show the
interviewer that you are a team player and work collaboratively. Tell the interviewer that you would
like your team members to look up to you for advice. Also, they should feel free to share their ideas
and suggestions with you. Instead of imposing decisions, you allow the team members to contribute
and make it a collective effort.

49) How do you monitor and review the delegated responsibilities?

This is an extension of the question of how you ensure that your team members meet deadlines. Talk
about clearly defining the responsibilities, arranging regular meetings, empowering the team members
to approach if there are any concerns, and constant updates on the progress of the work.

50) What motivates you to give your best to your projects?

The answer varies from person to person. But responses can be ‘I like to be out of my comfort zone
and hence love challenging projects’. ‘Projects which help me learn and evolve, pushing my potential’.

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‘I am attracted to success and achievement. The thought of reaching the project goals within the
stipulated time motivates me’. Think about the answer that you want beforehand so as to justify your
statements with real-life examples.

51) How do you deal with changes to your project?

Changes and modifications are a part and parcel of most projects. An employer wants a project
manager who is flexible and adaptable to changes. The best answer can be about how you actually put
in place a change management process even before the changes occur. At the same time, showcase that
you are not a person shy to say ‘no’ when you feel that a certain change is not suitable for the project.

52) How good are your communication skills?

Project managers need to have good communication skills. So, don’t be too honest and say that
communication skills are your weakest area. The answer has to either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. But, don’t
sound overconfident while saying so. If they ask for examples, be ready with two or three examples in
different settings to justify your point.

53) What is your work style?

It is another question to check if you fit in with the company’s culture. It also indicates whether you
are self-aware to communicate your work style. Though it sounds vague, this question provides an
opportunity to show how you can be an asset to the company. You could talk about your emphasis on
speed and efficiency, how you like to work collaboratively, your way of communication, etc. Further,
you can mention how you organize your day and how many hours you work.

54) How do you improve your knowledge regarding project management?

Companies want their employees to be fully invested in the jobs that they are applying for. There are
many software tools coming up and many processes being invented regularly in the project
management landscape. Hence, project managers need to continually upgrade their skills to be
relevant. Basically, tell your interviewer about what you are doing to grow in your field. It could be
certification courses you are taking or workshops/courses you are attending. Also, you can talk about
your interactions with project managers and people in the field to stay up-to-date with the latest.

55) Why do you want to work with this company?

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You need to go prepared for this interview question. If their working style suits yours, you can discuss
it. If the job you are applying for is the next logical step for your current job, tell them that. Or, even
something like you being attracted to their work culture or vision, can be a good response. Better yet,
you can say how the job and the company align with your personal growth. This shows that you are
looking for a long-term collaboration with the company.

56) Did you face any problems with your co-workers in your previous company?

You might or you might not have faced issues with your former colleagues. But, if you mention that
you did, don’t be too negative. You can discuss the problem. However, put your emphasis on what you
did to resolve the problem. Give it a happy ending. You can also talk about what has been the learning
and how you would handle a similar kind of people in the future. It shows your leadership skills.

57) Do you have any questions?

Most of the applicants will say ‘no’ to this answer. But, by asking questions you can stand out from the
crowd. It also shows your interest in the company. Your questions can indicate that you want to know
a little more about the job you applied for. Or, you can ask them some questions about the organization
itself.

A project management interview need not be dreaded. The above sample project management
interview questions and answers should help you face the interviewer confidently. However, there
can’t be a single right answer for any of the questions. Use the answers as guiding tools but make sure
you take into consideration your own experiences, background, strengths, and weaknesses while
answering the PM interview questions. Good luck with your job hunt.

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MS Project

1) Explain what is link task in MS project used for?

As the name suggests, link task in MS project is used for linking any two tasks in a project.

2) Mention where is “summary task” in MS project?

Summary task is helpful in estimating the task period and the length in project, and organizing the task
in order. You can find “summary task” under main menu -> Insert -> Summary

3) List out the categories of tasks used in MS project?

There are major four types of tasks:

• Summary tasks: It consists of subtasks and their related properties

• Subtasks: It is a smaller task that are part of a summary task
• Recurring tasks: These are the tasks that falls at regular intervals
• Milestones: These are the prime priority task that are adjusted to zero duration and are like
short-term goals in the project

4) Mention what are the new features available in MS project 2013?

• Improved reporting tools: MS project 2013 offers advanced reporting tools and easy
accountability for organizations
• Office 365 Integration: Easy integration of office 365 to the MS project data
• New Project Templates: The new MS project provides project templates that can be compliance
to your requirement like marketing, construction, business, software development plan, etc.
• Better Presentation Tools: The timeline view gives better view of the progress of your project
and helps to schedule your project accordingly
• Task Path: This feature can be handy for a project manager handling large and complex
schedules. It allows the user to see the path for a specific task including Successors, Driven
successors, Predecessors and Driving Predecessors.

5) Explain what is a constraint in MS project? What are the types of constraint available in MS
project 2013?

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In MS project, constraint is used for scheduling the task and setting a due date for the task. The types
of constraint available in MS project are

• As soon as possible
• As late as possible
• Must start on
• Must finish on
• Finish no later than
• Start no later than
• Start no earlier than
• Finish no earlier than

6) Mention how to set a deadline in MS project?

To set a deadline in MS project

• Double-click a task -> it will open a task information dialog box

• Now, click on the advanced tab
• Then click on the arrow in the deadline field to show the calendar and then choose a date
• Now save this by clicking on the save button

7) Explain how you can move tasks in MS project?

You can move tasks in MS project 2013 by two techniques

• Move the task with drag and drop method

• Move the task with the cut and paste method

8) Explain how you can remove resource from your project?

To remove the resource from your project, first filter the task list to view only the tasks to which the
resource is allocated, and then you can edit or change each task to replace that resource.

• Choose a task-oriented view like Gantt chart and hide the summary tasks, this list will show
only work tasks and milestones
• Under View tab’s data section, click on the filter drop-down list and then select “Using
Resource.”

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• In the “show tasks using” drop-down list, select the resource and delete it that you don’t want
and then click ok
• To replace the resource, select “Assign Resources” under resource tab’s assignment section.
Select the task from the table you want to re-assign, and then, in the Assign resource dialog
box, choose the resource you want to replace and click replace
• Click the format tab, and turn the checkbox back on for “Show Summary Tasks.”
• Click resource sheet in the view tab’s resource view section and now you can delete the
resource

9) Mention what is the characteristics of Gantt Chart Basics?

• In Gantt chart, each task is displayed by one row

• Dates are displayed in incremental order like days, weeks or months as per the total length of
the project
• For each task expected, time is displayed by a horizontal bar whose left end indicates the
estimated beginning of the task and right end indicates the estimated completion date
• Task may run parallel, sequentially or overlapping
• The chart is represented in the bar formation to a length proportional to the fraction of the work
that has been completed
• On the left of the line, you will see the completed tasks
• Future tasks line lies to the right of the line
• Current task are cross the line and are behind schedule when filled in section is on the left of
the line and ahead of schedule when it is right of the line

10) Explain what is the use of work contour in MS project? What are the different types of
contour you use in MS project?

In MS project work, contour displays the distribution of working hours over the duration of the task.
The graph will show the peak according the work distribution over the week.

• Flat: Such contour signifies an even distribution of work

• Back-loaded: It will show the peak activity at the end of the project
• Front-loaded: It will show the peak working activity at the opening of the project
• Double peak: It will show two major periods of peak activity
• Early peak: It is same as the front loaded but with the rise to peak activity

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• Late peak: It is same as a back loaded contour with a ramp
• Bell: It shows a single peak in the central of the project
• Turtle: A bell with a ramp up and down

11) Explain how you can format a Gantt chart on MS project?

To format a Gantt chart on MS project

• First you have to click on Format icon from main menu bar
• Click customize quick access toolbar, which is last on the corner above menu bar
• -> click on more components -> select on, comments not in pattern
• -> click on Gantt Chart Wizard and then click add and ok
• Once Gantt chart wizard setup, it will open a window that displays various setting like
standard, critical path, baseline and other for your Gantt chart. You can select option according
to requirement and click next
• Likewise, you can also set information like resources and dates, resources or dates alone
• Once you exit wizard, basic formatting like color, font size and appearance can be changed
from the main menu (FORMAT) itself

12) Explain how you can link tasks in MS project?

You can link or connect any two tasks in a project to manifest their relationship, also referred as
dependency. Dependency drives the project schedule and once you change the tasks, every change
you make to one alter the task of other, which affects the next and so on. To link the task, you have to

• Click View -> Gantt Chart

• Hold down Cntrl and click the two tasks you want to link
• Click on Task -> Linked the selected tasks

13) Mention the types of task links in MS project?

There are four types of task links in MS project

• Finish to start link: In this link the second task cannot be initiated until the first task is
completed
• Start to start link: In this link, the second task can begin at any time after first task is initiated

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• Finish to finish link: In this link, two task does not have to end at the same time, the second
task can end anytime after first task is ended
• Start to finish link: In this link, the second task can’t finish until the first task begins.

14) Explain what is resource levelling?

Resource levelling is the coolest feature given by MS project; these tool schedules work without over
allocating work to the employees, especially for those who are indulged in multi-task activities. For
example, there is a project A and B and allotted time for this project is 3 and 2 days. When an
individual use resource levelling, it schedule the work as first 2 days for the project A and later two
days for project B and again on the last day it will return to project A.

15) Explain how you can create and code a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) in MS project?

• Inserting Tasks: If you forgot to insert task in the list you can add by clicking the place whee
you want to add a task and go to “Insert>New” task or press “insert.”
• Outlining Structure: You will be creating an outline of the project by assigning the project
name. In respect to do that you have to select all deliverables underneath the heading and then
click the Indent button. They will all line up, and the deliverable will appear in bold
• Assign numerical code to tasks: Once you have created a work breakdown, you can assign a
numerical code to it. In respect to do that go to “tools” in the task bar. Under “options”, you
will see “outline options”, under this you have to click on check box with the option “show
outline number”. You will see that the task list will have a numerical code in front of it.

16) What should you be aware of before importing excel file to MS project?

Before you import excel file, you should be aware of following things

• Make sure which excel file fields will be mapped to which MS project
• Not necessary that all fields in the excel should be imported to MS project, you have the
opportunity to choose the field you wanted to import
• Make sure that your import file has a column header
• Blank fields in the excel will be imported as a blank field the project
• Start and finish date in excel will be imported in the MS project start and finish field as start no
earlier than constraints for the tasks

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• If the map has to imported then, it should in Global.mpt file format on your machine, if it is not
in that format then import wizard will nod show the map as selection choice.

17) Explain the path for importing excel into the MS project?

Path for importing the file into MS project:

• File -> Open -> Files of type -> Excel workbook -> browse the file and select the file -> Now
click on Open -> Wizard will start -> Click Next

At the end of the run wizard, it will ask how you want to import the file

• As a new project
• Append the data to the active project
• Merge the data into the active project

After selecting any of the above options, you can click next to finish importing excel file to MS
project.

18) Explain how you can compare budget resource values in MS project?

• Go to Resource Usage view ( View -> Resource Usage)

• Add budget cost, Work, budget work and Cost columns to the table if they are not there already
• Tap on the drop down arrow to the right of the Resource Name column heading and then
choose “Group by” -> Custom group, in order to group the resource by custom resource test
field
• Tap on the down arrow in the Field Name cell in the Group By row section, after that in the
drop down list of resource fields, select the name of the custom text field for your budget
categories and then click apply
• Now in the group summary rows, compare the budget get cost or budget work values to the
cost or work values simultaneously
• To dismantle the group, you can choose NO groups by clicking down arrow to the right of the
Resource Name column heading

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19) Explain what are the setting you have to insert while entering Project Information into MS
Project?

• Start and Finish Date: For a project that is scheduled forward from the start date, enter only the
start date, while enter the finish date if you like to schedule backward from finish date
• Schedule From: You can select the finish date or start date whichever way you want to
schedule your task
• Current Date: By default this setting matches the computer clock settings; however it can be
configured according to your requirement
• Status Date: To track the progress on the project you can the current date status. This will show
the status of the project as of the current moment
• Calendar: From this drop-down list you can choose the base calendar template to use for the
project calendar
• Priority: By using this field you can prioritize your work and decide which work has to be
delayed and which has to be done immediately

20) Explain how to set work time exception in MS Project?

To alter the available working hours in Project 2013 for a particular day, you have to change the work
time exception settings. In order to do that

• Select the project and change the working time

• On the calendar choose the day you want to change
• Click the exception tab to display it, it will show a column with the name cell in a blank row,
type a name for the exception and press enter
• Tap the exception name you entered in step 3 and then click the details button. It will open a
detail dialog box for this exception. Where you will make the setting according to your
requirement like working time, recurrent pattern and range of recurrence.

22. Mention the top features of the Gantt Basics Chart

The top six features of Gantt are as follows:

• The display pattern shows a single task in a row.

• The dates are depicted in an increasing pattern according to the time taken for the project.

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• The horizontal bar displays the time of the beginning and the time of ending each of the tasks in
the project.
• It gives three options for running the tasks namely, overlap, sequential and parallel.
• It gives a chart with a bar diagram that shows the proportion of the work that has been done
until the time that has been taken.
• The completed work is shown on the left, and the pending ones are shown to the right.

Six Sigma
Please note that these responses are ideal and have been taken from coursebooks and other trusted sources.
Do remember to personalize your answers with specific examples from your own experiences to provide a
genuine and impactful interview conversation.

While starting a Six Sigma project, what do we need to see first?

First, we need to see that process is in control or not (stability), and if data is normal or not, if the
process is not stable, we cannot run the project, we need to make process stable, then we need to see
the process normality, as per the process normality/non-normality we do the process capability to see
whether the process is capable enough to run the project.

Name some Lean Six Sigma Tools?

1. Kaizen:
• Continuous Improvement, Helpful in establishing incremental improvements involving
everyone
• It focuses on simplification by breaking down complex processes into their
subprocesses and then improving them
• Kaizen Cycle:

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2. Pareto Chart:
• The Pareto principle (or the 80/20 Rule) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of
the effects come from 20% of the causes.
o Ex: 20% of the workers’ efforts deliver = 80% of the result.
• The Pareto principle (it’s just an observation and not law) says that one must realize
focusing upon the overall efforts contributed by the 20%s instead of wasting time on
80%. Near to perfection, it is!

3. Poka-yoke:(mistake-proofing or error prevention)

• Poka-Yoke is a Japanese improvement strategy for mistake-proofing to prevent
defects(or nonconformities) from arising during production processes.
• The simplest definition of ‘Mistake Proofing’ is that is a technique for eliminating
errorsby making it impossible to make mistakes in the process.

4. FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis):

• Identify the high priority failure modes and causes of defects in an operational or
transactional process.
• Identify high priority input variables (Xs) that impact important output variables (Ys).
• Evolve a consensus on the recommended corrective actions and procedures to follow.

5. Value Stream Mapping:

• A value stream is all the activities required to bring a service/product from a customer
request to fulfilment/completion
• The process starts with raw material or information and ends with the end customer.
• The process involves functions both internal and external to the firm.
• Activities can be described as value added (This step in the process adds form, function,
and value to the end product and for the customer) or non-value added (This step does
not add form, function, or assist in the finished goods manufacturing of the product)
• Process Cycle Efficiency (PCE): Overall efficiency of a process, it is the value-added
time
up on cycle time.
o PCE = Value Added Time / Cycle Time

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What is Load Testing process and how is it different from Performance Testing?
Load Testing is the process of putting demand on a software system or computing device and
measuring its process.
A performance test checks a system’s responsiveness and reliability when it faces a higher workload.
In other words, load testing evaluates the system’s operating capacity, while performance testing
determines whether the system functions properly.

What is the difference between Cpk and Ppk?

Cpk is process capability index, which measures how close a process is running to its specification
limits, relative to the natural variability of the process, and Ppk is process performance index, which
verifies if the sample that has been generated from the process is capable of meeting Customer CTQs
(requirements)

In what situations would you use a SIPOC tool?

Using a SIPOC tool is recommended when the answers to the following situations are not very clear:
• Who offers the inputs for refining the process?
• Do you know which specifications are placed on the inputs?
• Who are your potential customers in context to these processes?
• What are the exact requirements of the customer?

What are Control Charts?

Control Charts monitor changes in the Xs and detect changes that are due to special causes.
Used when the Xs cannot be mistake proofed or need to be controlled for inherent variations.
Selection of Control Charts

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What is a Cause-and-Effect Diagram?
• It is also called as the fish bone diagram or the Ishikawa diagram

• A visual tool used by an improvement team to brainstorm and logically organize possible
causes for a specific problem or effect.
• Summarize potential high-level causes.
• Provide visual display of potential causes.
• Stimulate the identification of deeper potential causes.

How to develop a SIPOC process map?

• SIPOC stands for Suppliers Input Process Output Customers.
• It defines that a process can be summarized as a series of consecutive steps and activities that
are executed in a timely manner to get a definite output

Let us look for an example of purchase order requisition of final example

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What is Lean Six Sigma and how does it combine the principles of Lean and Six Sigma
methodologies?
Lean Six Sigma is a powerful methodology that integrates the principles of both Lean and Six Sigma. Lean
focuses on eliminating waste, improving efficiency, and enhancing value for customers. Six Sigma, on the
other hand, centers around reducing variation and defects in processes to achieve consistent and high-
quality results. By combining these two methodologies, organizations can streamline processes, reduce
defects, improve customer satisfaction, and achieve sustainable improvements.

Can you explain the DMAIC process in Lean Six Sigma and walk us through each of its phases?
DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. It's a structured problem-solving
framework used in Lean Six Sigma projects.
• Define: In this phase, we identify the problem, define the project scope, set objectives, and
establish a project team
• Measure: During this phase, we gather relevant data to understand the current state of the process,
establish baseline metrics, and identify key performance indicators.
• Analyze: In this phase, we analyze the data to identify root causes of the problem using tools like
fishbone diagrams, Pareto charts, and scatter plots.
• Improve: This phase involves generating and selecting potential solutions, implementing changes,
and conducting pilot tests to validate the effectiveness of the improvements.
• Control: The final phase focuses on sustaining the improvements by establishing control
mechanisms, implementing monitoring systems, and creating a plan for ongoing maintenance.
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How do you identify and select a suitable project for applying Lean Six Sigma principles?
To select a suitable project for Lean Six Sigma, I consider the following criteria:
• Impact: The project should have a significant impact on process efficiency, quality, or customer
satisfaction.
• Feasibility: The project should be achievable within a reasonable timeframe and resources.
• Data Availability: I ensure that relevant data is accessible to analyze the process and measure
improvements.
• Alignment with Goals: The project should align with the organization's goals and strategic
objectives.

In the Define phase of DMAIC, what tools or techniques do you use to define the project scope and
set clear objectives?
In the Define phase, I use tools like project charters and SIPOC (Supplier, Input, Process, Output,
Customer) diagrams to define the project scope. These tools help in clarifying the boundaries of the
project, identifying stakeholders, and setting specific objectives that are measurable and aligned with the
organization's goals.

How do you gather data and perform a thorough analysis during the Measure phase to establish a
baseline for the project?
During the Measure phase, I start by identifying the relevant data sources and collecting data points. Tools
like data collection plans and check sheets help ensure consistency in data collection. I then use statistical
methods to analyze the data, such as calculating process capability indices and creating histograms. This
analysis helps establish a baseline performance level and identify areas for improvement.

What are some common tools you would use in the Analyze phase to identify the root causes of a
problem within a process?
In the Analyze phase, I employ various tools. These tools help pinpoint the root causes behind process
issues. They are as follows –
• Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagrams: To visually identify potential causes and categorize them into
categories like people, process, equipment, etc.
• Pareto charts: To prioritize potential causes based on their frequency or impact.
• Scatter plots: To identify correlations between variables and potential causes.

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• 5 Whys: To repeatedly ask "why" to delve deeper into the root causes of a problem.

Can you provide an example of how you've used process mapping to streamline a complex process?
This question can be answered in any a way that is most suited based on your personal experience. Here is
an example –
In a previous project, I was tasked with improving the order fulfillment process for an e-commerce
company. I used process mapping techniques, such as value stream mapping, to visualize the end-to-end
process. By mapping out each step, from order placement to delivery, I identified areas of inefficiency and
waste.

The process map revealed that there were unnecessary handoffs and delays between departments. By
streamlining communication channels and introducing automation at certain points, we reduced lead times
and improved order accuracy. This not only enhanced customer satisfaction but also reduced operational
costs.

In the Improve phase, how do you generate potential solutions and decide which ones to implement?
In the Improve phase, I encourage brainstorming sessions with the project team to generate a range of
potential solutions. I then evaluate these solutions using tools like a decision matrix or a weighted scoring
model. The criteria for evaluation may include factors like feasibility, cost, impact on performance metrics,
and alignment with the project goals. By objectively assessing the pros and cons of each solution, we can
select the most appropriate ones to implement.

What is the purpose of conducting a pilot test or a simulation before fully implementing changes in
the Improve phase?
The purpose of conducting a pilot test or simulation is to validate the effectiveness of the proposed
improvements on a smaller scale before implementing them organization-wide. This helps identify any
unforeseen issues or challenges and allows for adjustments to be made before committing to full-scale
implementation. Pilot tests or simulations provide tangible data that can be used to fine-tune the changes
and build confidence in the success of the larger implementation.

How do you ensure that the changes implemented in the Improve phase are sustained over time?
Sustaining improvements is critical to the success of Lean Six Sigma projects. To ensure sustainability, I
would suggest focusing on the following:

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• Developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Clearly documenting the improved processes
and ensuring that team members are trained to follow them.
• Establishing Metrics: Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) and tracking them over time to
monitor the continued success of the improvements.
• Continuous Monitoring: Regularly reviewing the process to identify any deviations from the
improved state and taking corrective actions.
• Employee Engagement: Involving and engaging employees in the improvement process, fostering a
culture of ownership and accountability.

The above-mentioned strategies help embed the improvements into the organization's practices for the long
term.

Tell us about a time when you had to manage resistance to change while implementing Lean Six
Sigma improvements. How did you handle it?
This question can be answered in the following way –
In a project where we were implementing Lean Six Sigma changes to a manufacturing process, there was
resistance from some of the production workers who were accustomed to the old methods. To address this,
I took the following steps:
• Communication: I communicated the rationale behind the changes and the benefits they would
bring, emphasizing how they aligned with the team's and the company's success.
• Involvement: I involved the workers in the improvement process, encouraging them to share their
insights and concerns. This increased their ownership of the changes.
• Training: I provided comprehensive training to ensure that the team felt confident in the new
processes and tools.
• Recognition: I recognized and celebrated the achievements and efforts of the team as the
improvements started to yield positive results.

By addressing their concerns, involving them in the process, and providing support, we were able to
overcome resistance and create a more positive attitude towards the changes.

How do you measure the success of a Lean Six Sigma project, and what metrics do you use to
demonstrate the impact of the improvements?

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To measure the success of a Lean Six Sigma project, I use a combination of quantitative and qualitative
metrics. Quantitative metrics may include:
• Process cycle time: To measure the time taken for the process to be completed.
• Defect rate: To quantify the number of defects or errors in the process.
• Cost savings: To calculate the financial impact of the improvements.

Qualitative metrics could include improved customer satisfaction scores, reduced employee frustration,
and enhanced collaboration between departments. By comparing these metrics to the baseline established
in the Measure phase, we can clearly demonstrate the positive impact of the improvements.

Can you provide an example of a mistake or challenge you faced during a Lean Six Sigma project
and how you addressed it?
This question can be answered in the following way –
In one project focused on reducing lead times in a service delivery process, we initially overlooked the
impact of a specific external vendor on the overall timeline. This resulted in incomplete improvements and
unmet expectations. To address this, we:
• Conducted a thorough root cause analysis to identify the source of the issue.
• Engaged with the vendor to understand their processes and limitations.
• Collaborated with the vendor to implement process changes that aligned with our goals.
• Adjusted our internal processes to accommodate the external vendor's timeline.

This experience taught me the importance of considering the entire value chain and external partners when
implementing improvements.

How do Lean Six Sigma principles align with the overall goals of an organization and its
commitment to continuous improvement?

Lean Six Sigma principles align seamlessly with an organization's commitment to continuous
improvement. By reducing waste, improving efficiency, and enhancing quality, Lean Six Sigma directly
contributes to achieving the organization's strategic objectives. The methodology encourages a data-driven
approach to decision-making, ensuring that improvements are based on accurate analysis rather than
guesswork. Moreover, the DMAIC framework provides a structured way to identify and address issues,
resulting in sustained improvements that contribute to the organization's long-term success.

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