Project Management Professionals (PMP) Exam 7

Explanation:

The scenario describes a situation where, due to the nature of the project, the requirements are not clearly understood and can only be expressed at a high level. This situation presents an obstacle to collecting project requirements and creating a fully decomposed work breakdown structure (WBS) as part of initial project planning. Projects with a high level of uncertainty in requirements benefit from iterative and incremental approaches that allow the project scope to evolve over the course of the project. Demonstrating smaller increments of the product to the relevant stakeholders allows for short feedback loops to keep the evolving product or result of the project in alignment with stakeholder needs and expectations. For example, the project team might use prototypes to gain early feedback on the requirements. All of the incorrect answer choices represent strategies that would be unrealistic for a project with a high degree of uncertainty in the project requirements. Note that incorporating an agile lifecycle within a project management plan would make this a hybrid project.

Explanation:

The scenario describes a hybrid project carried out according to the project management plan with the deliverables developed using sprints. The question implies that the project manager lacks emotional competence, as exemplified by his failure to control his emotions during the sprint retrospectives. The project manager must learn to control his own emotions and lead by example before he can expect emotional competence from the project team members. Taking action, such as investing in training to improve his emotional intelligence (EI), would be one positive step in addressing the leadership problem. Once the project manager has addressed his own lack of emotional competence, he can then work with the project team members to develop the team's EI. Improving EI will likely have a positive effect on the turnover rate as well.

Explanation:

Hybrid projects take the best options from the various project management approaches available. For example, the scenario describes a traditional project, in which the team is requested to adopt agile ceremonies to speed up communication cycles during tight deadlines. Occasionally, especially as teams are first learning the methods, there may be gaps in communication and action. Project managers can assist in improving the effectiveness of agile ceremonies by validating with all the participants that the information shared with them was received and understood. Confirming that the ceremony is meeting its objectives and facilitating the necessary feedback loops supports the purpose. Those feedback actions may be gradually lessened as the ceremonies are internalized by the team and relevant stakeholders.

Explanation:

The scenario implies you are carrying out the Manage Team process. Manage Team is the process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes. Organizational process assets (OPAs) are an input to this process. Examples of the OPAs associated with the Manage Team process include certificates of appreciation, corporate apparel, and other organizational perquisites. Recognizing the contributions of the high-performing team members is part of the Manage Team process. The project manager can use the relevant OPAs to guide her through this process and provide the team members with the appropriate rewards and recognition.

Explanation:

The scenario describes a hybrid project that incorporates agile practices into a predictive project management framework. A developer raises an impediment during a daily standup meeting. Even though this issue represents a blocker for a particular developer and may result in a schedule delay, it might not be an impediment for the entire project team. Agile teams emphasize the use of generalizing specialists. Thus, it is possible that other team members might be able to assist in resolving this issue. The project team is responsible for producing the deliverables, collaborating on achieving the project's objectives. Swarming is a technique that is typically used when agile practices are incorporated into a project. With this technique, multiple team members focus collectively on resolving a specific impediment.

Note, when all of the team members leave their current tasks to help one developer, it is reasonable to assume that their tasks may also be delayed. While this assumption makes the correct answer arguable, of the choices provided, suggesting swarming is the project manager's best course of action.

Explanation:

Establishing the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule is the main purpose of developing the schedule management plan, which is the primary output of the Plan Schedule Management process. To develop this plan, four inputs are required: project charter, project management plan, enterprise environmental factors (EEFs), and organizational process assets (OPAs). The project charter and the project management plan are explicitly called out in the correct answer choice, whereas the EEFs and the OPAs are represented by the estimation databases and PMO templates correspondingly. Therefore, among the available options, the charter, the project management plan, estimation databases, and PMO templates represent the best answer to the question asked.

Explanation:

Data and metrics are very important to track, monitor, and control any project. This is true regardless of which project management approach is used. When teams and organizations shift from one approach to another or use various approaches for different projects with a program, it is common for multiple tools and software to be used. The intent of these tools is to assist the teams, stakeholders, and project organizations in managing their data and methodology. However, too many or divergent tools may cause more administration and maintenance. Therefore, project and program governance must determine which data is most relevant and worth the teams' time. The balance between collecting and communicating project data with the resource load to enter and upkeep the data can be difficult, but needed decision.

Explanation:

The roles typically associated with scrum include the scrum master, development team, and product owner. In this scenario, the product owner is the role that is vacant. Although the business analyst is a role that is typically associated with waterfall projects, the business analyst can also provide support to the team leader and product owner in an agile environment. The business analyst typically works with the customer to determine and refine project requirements and develop the requirements documentation. When agile methodologies are employed, the business analyst may also assist with the development and refinement of the product backlog. With scrum, the product owner is responsible for managing the product backlog and ensuring that it is prioritized according to business value. In this case, the business analyst will likely have much of the necessary skill set to serve as the product owner but will be lacking in knowledge and experience with agile. Thus, the scrum master should mentor the business analyst to close any agile knowledge gaps and ensure that all of the duties related to a product owner are fulfilled.

Explanation:

Managing changes to the project by following the organization's change control process established for the project is important in keeping the project under control and operating effectively. Changes to scope, like in the scenario of doubling the size of the patient pool as well as tracking the results in the new system, require evaluation, agreement, and approval. Who makes those approvals is up to the project organization and its change management plans. But before any changes are implemented or communicated, the change request must be submitted per the project's procedure and approved by those authorized to do so. A CEO's declaration of what should happen in the project does not substitute for the project's change control procedures and the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

Explanation:

Retrospectives are useful ceremonies ? whether in an agile project or a hybrid project such as the one(s) described in the scenario. Retrospectives can be conducted at a regular cadence throughout a project (regardless of whether the deliverables are produced using iterations or not) to gather lessons learned and identify ways for the project team to adapt and improve. The aims of retrospectives are to find ways for the team to acknowledge what they are doing well and improve where they can. The outputs generated from the findings are meant mainly for the project team to reflect on and take necessary actions. Visibility and easy accessibility is key to ensuring that the outputs are not discarded or forgotten but actioned upon.

Explanation:

Establishing the relative priorities of individual project risks, an activity described in the scenario, is done as part of the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process. This process prioritizes the risks for further analysis or action by assessing their probability of occurrence and impact as well as other characteristics. The assumption log, risk register, and stakeholder register are all project documents which may serve as inputs into the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process. Note, the question is asking for the 'least' likely activity to be performed as part of this process. The risk report is a project document that provides information on sources of overall project risk as well as the summary information on individual project risks and is created as an output from the Identify Risks process, rather than being used as an input to the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process, making the risk report the best answer to the question asked.

Explanation:

The scenario describes a situation where the development team wants to try pair programming as a strategy to improve productivity. Even though you, as the project manager, are skeptical that the approach will be effective, you should still support the project team with their efforts to improve productivity. After all, the purpose of a sprint retrospective is for the project team to inspect and adapt their practices in order to improve performance. Additionally, the team members are the experts with the development work and are in a better position to determine how they can best work together compared to a project manager. After the practice has been implemented, it will be incumbent on the project manager to verify any performance improvements and bring that information to the project team during the next sprint retrospective so the team can further reflect and adjust. A burndown chart will capture the team's velocity and allow a before and after comparison to determine whether or not pair programming was successful in improving productivity. Any knowledge gained should then be captured in the lessons learned register.

Note, the scenario implies the project is managed using hybrid methods. Therefore, incorporating pair programming may or may not require an approved change request. This would depend on how explicit the project management plan is in this case.

Explanation:

There is not enough information in the question to determine what resources exactly the scenario is talking about, and what does this checkout procedure mean. Prospective PMP aspirants have to keep in mind that questions on the real PMP exam may be short and vague. This question is a good example of what you may encounter on your exam. Regardless of how ambiguous the scenario is, always try to select the best answer to the question asked even if none of the choices looks like a perfect/ideal answer.

During the Direct and Manage Project Work process, the project manager is guiding, directing, and facilitating the plans of the project. Based on the scenario, it appears that the plans require the resources to be checked out. Those plans need to be better communicated and understood. There are many actions the project manager could take to direct and manage the project team to follow through with those plans. The answer choice that best aligns to that need is to discuss the purpose and rationale for the resource checkout and why the team should follow those plans.

Explanation:

It can be inferred from the question that the process of acquiring resources is being performed. One of the outputs from the Acquire Resources process is physical resource assignments. Documentation of the physical resource assignments records the material, equipment, supplies, locations, and other physical resources that will be used during the project. Based on the description provided by the question, the physical resource assignments is what has been accomplished.

Explanation:

To answer this question correctly, one should be able to distinguish a deliverable and work package from the schedule and activities. The planned work is contained within the lowest level of the components of the work breakdown structure (WBS). These components are called work packages. A work package can be used to group the activities where work is scheduled and estimated, monitored, and controlled. In the context of the WBS, work refers to work products or deliverables that are the result of activity and not to the activity itself. The work packages are further decomposed into schedule activities that are then sequenced to obtain the greatest efficiency given all the project's constraints. The Create WBS process provides a framework of 'what' has to be delivered but does not involve sequencing.

Explanation:

The scenario describes a situation where one project team member is dominating a meeting, and not all voices are being heard. The team charter should include meeting guidelines, including such things as not interrupting and allowing all project team members to have a voice. In this case, the senior developer may not even realize the disruption that he/she is creating and the impact on the other project team members. One way of addressing the issue would be to remind the project team members about their commitments by posting a copy of the team charter and reviewing it before the meeting. The incorrect answer choices represent actions that are either an overreaction or would not likely be effective in addressing the issue.

It should be noted that there are many ways of addressing the issue described in the question. The project manager probably should have been more proactive during the meeting to ensure that all voices are heard. Alternatively, the project manager might have spoken to the senior developer in private about his behavior to address the issue. Regardless, of the available options, posting the team charter, and reviewing the contents before the iteration planning meeting is the 'best' answer.

Explanation:

The scenario describes a situation where the resistance of certain key stakeholders has caused the project to run behind schedule and is asking what might have been done differently during project planning. Two of the answer choices represent activities, which are not associated with the Planning Process Group, and, as a result, those responses can be eliminated. Both of the remaining answer choices represent plausible actions that may have led to better stakeholder engagement. The actual PMP exam may present questions with more than one correct answer, and the PMP aspirant must select the 'best' answer among the potentially correct options. In this case, the development of the stakeholder engagement assessment matrix directly addresses the issue described by the question.

The stakeholder engagement assessment matrix is used as a tool during the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process and identifies key stakeholders along with their current and desired engagement level. Classifications for stakeholder engagement may include unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, and leading. In this scenario, certain key stakeholders were resistant to the project, which caused the project to run behind schedule. A stakeholder engagement assessment matrix is the best tool for identifying resistant stakeholders with enough influence to undermine a project. In this case, identifying the current and desired engagement levels of the key stakeholders might have allowed the project manager to take action to address the undesirable engagement levels and prevent the stakeholder's resistance from negatively impact the project's performance. Therefore, among the available options, the development of a stakeholder engagement assessment matrix is the best answer to the question asked.

Explanation:

Plan-driven managed projects can utilize some of the tools and techniques from agile methodology to support their project management. Incorporating agile methods with traditional plan-driven methods would make the overall project management approach hybrid. In the scenario described, the project team could use the agile technique of a spike. A spike is a short timeboxed effort established to address a risk, explore possible solutions, answer a question, or gather information, to name but a few common examples. While this may sound counter-intuitive, of the choices provided, addressing the audit as a spike is the best answer to the question asked.

Explanation:

The question implies the team is carrying out the Estimate Activity Resources process. This process uses many tools and techniques. One technique to understand the resource needs and the best potential solutions for the activity resources is data analysis. Data analysis can be conducted in many forms and formats. The objective is to evaluate possible options or approaches or values to determine the best activity resource estimates. Once a value or a range of values has been determined as reasonable, estimates can be set or decisions that are most suitable for the participants made. Therefore, of the choices provided, before making any decision, researching various resources levels, types, and methods is what the project manager should do first.

Explanation:

To properly close a project phase or project, appropriate stakeholders sign off that work has been delivered. Techniques in agile project management methodologies such as "definition of done" and "demonstrations" can also be applied in a plan-driven project. This approach helps ensure that stakeholders agree at the start of the project that the work is not only completed, but a shared understanding of done and the criteria to accept the work are exactly defined. Demonstrations serve as checkpoints throughout the project to demonstrate product increments to the relevant stakeholders, get feedback, and adjust as needed. By utilizing those two agile practices, project teams can better determine whether or not the project or phase can be successfully closed.

Explanation:

Developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project work is the main objective of the Estimate Costs process. Therefore, the question implies that you are conducting the Estimate Costs process and asks how this process will be affected by a large long-term multinational project. Thus, the answer choices that relate to other project management processes can be eliminated as correct responses. With the project lasting at least seven years, the impact of inflation over the course of the project must be considered. Additionally, since the project is international in scope, the project will likely be working with various currencies that will be subject to fluctuations in relative values. For large-scale projects that extend multiple years with multiple currencies, the fluctuations of currencies and inflation need to be understood and built into the Estimate Costs process. Exchange rates and inflation are considered enterprise environmental factors. Therefore, of the available choices, considering additional enterprise environmental factors is the best response.

Explanation:

The question states that the project manager is developing the cost management plan, which indicates that the Plan Cost Management process is being performed. A data analysis technique that can be used for this process includes an alternatives analysis, which is a technique used to evaluate identified options in order to select the options or approaches to use to execute and perform the work of the project. In this case, an alternatives analysis can consist of reviewing funding options such as self-funding, funding with equity, or funding with debt. Even though the question provides some financial data, there are other factors which should be taken into consideration before selecting the appropriate source of funding. Therefore, among the available options, the best course of action for the project manager is to perform an alternatives analysis.

Explanation:

The question states that the deliverables have been previously verified implying the Control Quality process has been completed and resulted in verified deliverables as one of its outputs. In the scenario described, you are performing the Validate Scope process which is the process of formalizing acceptance of completed and verified project deliverables. One of the tools and techniques associated with this process is an inspection. The inspection includes activities such as measuring, examining, and validating to determine whether the work and deliverables meet requirements and product acceptance criteria. A product review is an example of an inspection. In this scenario, the client performed a test which exposed a software bug and caused a deliverable to be rejected. Unless stated otherwise in the question text, deliverables are always placed under configuration control. Therefore, submitting a change request to fix the deliverable is what you should do.

Determining the most appropriate methodology to manage a project can be difficult. Fortunately, project managers have plenty of tools in their toolbox. One option available to project managers is the ability to blend or utilize various aspects, approaches, and methods from various project management methodologies. This is referred to as a hybrid approach. In the scenario described, going forward with the upfront-developed plans and be agile to incoming data and changing environmental conditions is ripe for a hybrid approach.

Explanation:

The question describes a project team that creates the team's working agreements as part of the Plan Resource Management process. The working agreements represent the team's social contract and should be documented in the form of a team charter. The team charter is an output of the Plan Resource Management process. One best practice for the team charter is to limit the working agreements to the top five to ten items. A comprehensive list of 37 agreements will likely be too cumbersome to be effective, and the really important agreements may get lost among less important items. Therefore, it would be appropriate to ask the project team for their top five to ten agreements and then capture them in the form of a team charter.

Note, the scenario presents a hybrid project in which elements of the traditional project management intertwine with agile practices. While such a combination may confuse, this information is not required to answer the question correctly. The information is provided as an example to demonstrate the various project management approaches.

Explanation:

The expected monetary value is an important calculation in performing decision tree analysis as part of the Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis process. You must account for not only the cost of the decision but the probability and payoff for each path.

In a decision tree, the EMV for a decision is calculated by multiplying the value of each possible profit outcome by its probability of occurrence and adding the products together.

The value of each possible outcome is the net path value. Remember: when you "net" something, you should consider both positive and negative flows. The formula to compute net path value is to subtract the path reward minus the cost of its decision.

For building the route to Brazos, here are the steps to compute the expected monetary value:

EMV = 0.8(12B - 10B) + 0.2(6B - 10B)

EMV = 0.8(2B) + 0.2(-4B)

EMV = 1.6B - 0.8B

EMV = 0.8B

Other answer choices do not properly factor the net path value (the payoff minus the cost of the decision) and sum the effects.

Below is the completed decision tree with all the net path values and the resulting expected monetary value of each choice. The EMV for the Brazos route is 0.8 billion, and the EMV for the Corazon route is -8.8 billion (note this is a negative number). Since the path with the largest expected monetary value is the Brazos route at 0.8 billion, that is the best choice.

Explanation:

To answer this question, the first step is to understand the meaning of the values displayed on the network activity node. The accepted convention is shown below, where:

• ES = early start
• EF = early finish
• LS = late start
• LF = late finish

The total float can be calculated using either one of the following two formulas:

• Total Float = LF - EF
• Total Float = LS - ES

To illustrate, we will use the first formula:

Total Float = LF - EF = 39 - 23 = 16

Here is the project schedule network activity node filled in with the correct answer for total float, 16:

Explanation:

Uncertainty is part of every project. In this situation, the team had identified that there is a risk of information not being properly maintained in the duplicate software systems. The identified risk was added to the project?s risk register, as implied from the scenario. Once the risk is realized, the risk becomes an issue. As an issue, the project team applies the risk response, if one was planned, or addresses the issue as part of the appropriate issue management process established for the project. In the scenario described, the team can take action to reconcile the differences in data integrity from the two project management information systems (PMIS). Once rectified and the resolution accepted, the issue and the risk can be marked as resolved.

Explanation:

When traditional, plan-driven projects take on or use agile tools and techniques, the overall project management approach is considered hybrid. The scenario provides an example of such a project. Certain agile ceremonies can be incorporated into traditional projects to help the project manager and team in various ways. In the situation described in the question, the project demands more frequent communication and alignment between the various stakeholders working on the construction site every day. This communication is essential to ensure there is a coordination of daily activities and a seamless flow of information. Daily standups are short time-boxed meetings attended by the team and relevant stakeholders. The team members report of work completed since the last daily standup, work to be done today, and any impediments to progress. This daily communication and coordination of activities may help the project manager, team, and other individuals and groups working on the construction site maintain safety and efficiency, as requested by the question.

Explanation:

Organizations seeking to blend a traditional plan-driven project management approach with certain agile methodologies should first assess their organizational culture and readiness to undertake such an initiative. Evolving the organization from carrying out its projects using one project management approach to another takes time and is recommended to undertake gradually and incrementally. In the scenario, senior leadership within the organization is promoting the inclusion of more agile practices into the current project methodologies. Such an organizational change to hybrid modalities may or may not be difficult. To know the extent of the difficulty an organization may endure, assessments of the organization?s readiness for learning, adapting, and applying new methods must be done first.

Explanation:

This question involves two Project Management Knowledge Areas: Project Risk Management and Project Procurement Management. Based on the scenario described, the project team is carrying out the Identify Risks process. Procurement documentation is an output from the Plan Procurement Management process and an input to the Identify Risks process. Procurement documentation may include bid documents, the procurement statement of work, payment information, contractor work performance information, plans, drawings, correspondence. Since procuring goods and services from outside the organization may increase or decrease overall project risk and may introduce additional individual project risks, reviewing procurement documentation is the best course of action for the project team.

Explanation:

Shifting the management of a project to a hybrid approach is a decision that identifies and evaluates the potential benefits and value, along with any impediments, detriments, and consequences. Weighing the pros and cons of a hybrid approach enables the project manager to understand and appreciate the reason for the new approach. This evaluation also ensures other stakeholders beyond the project team members are on board with the decision and its rationale.

Explanation:

The question indicates that a hybrid project is moving from a predictive phase to an agile phase. A project manager's role will change along with the change in the project management approach. The project manager's role with a predictive phase is typically more directive and controlling, whereas agile leadership requires servant leadership. Agile teams are considered self-organizing, such that the project manager would assign work to the project team, and the team would then collaborate to achieve the project goals. Thus, detailed product planning and delivery will be delegated to the project team. The incorrect answer choices represent actions that would be considered anti-patterns for agile methodologies.

Explanation:

The question implies that the project manager is carrying out the Collect Requirements process for a hybrid project. Workshops can be used to quickly define cross-functional requirements and reconcile stakeholder differences. The interactive nature of a workshop can be effective in helping the project manager build a consensus among the stakeholders. When agile methodologies are being incorporated into a project, a requirements gathering workshop may take the form of a story-writing workshop, where required functionality is captured in the form of a user story. Of the available choices, only a requirements workshop would meet the project manager's criteria for being able to 'quickly' gather feedback, and have the interactivity necessary to reconcile stakeholder differences and help build a consensus.

Explanation:

The total project budget includes the cost baseline plus the management reserves. The cost baseline is comprised of the work package estimates and contingency reserves. The contingency reserves are allocated for identified risks. Management reserves are withheld for unforeseen risks that affect the project. According to the scenario, the issues developed during the project were unexpected. Therefore, of the choices provided, using the management reserves is the best course of action for the project manager.

Note, the scenario describes issues, while the explanation refers to risks. Prospective PMP aspirants should keep in mind that the questions on the real PMP exam may have such discrepancy in their wording.

Explanation:

Burndown charts are powerful information radiators used to reflect the team?s progress towards their goals and objectives. In hybrid managed projects, like the one described in the scenario, the team members can use the burndown charts to track their progress. To provide an accurate picture of the team?s progress towards the iteration?s goal (assuming the work is done in iterations), the burndown chart should be updated regularly. Ideally, the burndown chart reflects the team?s daily progress towards their commitments. Updating their progress prior to the daily standup meetings enables the team to collectively see their progress and inform their decisions as to what needs their attention and what to work on next. Whether using software tools to automatically update the burndown chart or manually updating the burndown chart, the responsibility within the team is for all to update in a timely fashion.

Explanation:

Writing software code together as a pair and reviewing each other's work is known as pair programming. This practice is often used on agile projects. As far as traditional project management is concerned, the scenario suggests the team is in the Control Quality process and is using the tool of inspection, such as peer reviews, to determine if the software conforms to documented standards. The goal of the Control Quality process and the inspection is to verify the correctness of deliverables thereby producing the output of verified deliverables. The verified deliverables then become an input to the Validate Scope process to determine if the deliverables meet the acceptance criteria for formal acceptance by the customer or sponsor. Formal acceptance of the verified deliverables produces an output from the Validate Scope process called accepted deliverables. Since the team is conducting a code review to determine the correctness of the software, the result of their efforts will be a verified deliverable.

Explanation:

The total budget, or budget at completion (BAC), is $100,000. The cost so far, or actual cost (AC), is $60,000. You have completed 40% of the work which is the earned value (EV), i.e., EV = 40% x $100,000 = $40,000.

Understanding what exactly the question asks is the key to answering the question correctly. The last sentence of the question starts with "How much more will it cost to complete the project...", implying we are requested to find the estimate to complete (ETC). The ETC can be calculated as follows:

ETC = EAC - AC, where the EAC is the estimate to complete.

Selecting the correct formual for the EAC is another key to answering this question correctly. The last sentence ofthe question ends with "...if the cost performance remains unchanged?", implying that the formula for the EAC should consider the cost performance index (CPI), i.e.:

EAC = BAC / CPI

The CPI, in turn, can be claculated using the following formula:

CPI = EV / AC = 40,000 / 60,000 = 0.67

The rest of the calculations are shown below:

EAC = 100,000 / 0.67 = 149,254

ETC = 149,254 - 60,000 = 89,254

Therefore, the cost to complete the renovation if the cost performance remains unchanged is $89,254

Explanation:

The scenario describes a hybrid project where a change in the project team environment might have an impact on the productivity of the team. Burn charts are one way of visualizing the project's performance over time. Depending on the information that needs to be understood, different approaches can be used to build burn charts. Sprint burn charts typically show the story points completed by day over the course of a single iteration. Release burn charts document the work completed for each iteration over the course of a release. Finally, product burn charts typically display the story points completed for each iteration over the course of the entire project. Burndown charts record the work remaining (usually in the form of story points) over time. Burnup charts show the work completed by the project team over time. Burnup charts are better for understanding team productivity than burndown charts as they document the work completed by the project team. Burndown charts can provide a distorted view of team productivity as an increase/decrease in project scope will affect the trendline independent of the work actually accomplished. Therefore, of the available choices, the best way to understand the productivity impact of the change to the work environment is to review the product burnup chart.

Explanation:

When disputes arise on a project, claims administration can be an effective tool to help buyers and sellers reach an agreement and prevent damage caused by litigation and early contract termination. Filing a contract claim and working with the vendor to reach an agreement is a more direct problem-solving approach and therefore the 'best' answer choice. Claims administration also refers to using alternative dispute resolution. However, since mediation and arbitration can be costly, risky, and time-consuming, of the choices provided, negotiation is the preferred method of settling disputes and is, therefore, the best course of action in this situation.