A project is just beginning, and management creates a long list of potential stakeholders. Which statement about identifying and engaging stakeholder, is correct?

Limiting stakeholder engagement to the execution phase contradicts PMI guidance, which calls for identification and engagement starting at initiation.

PMBOK and the PMI Stakeholder Engagement knowledge area stress that stakeholders must be identified as early as possible because late identification reduces the ability to influence expectations and manage resistance. Treating stakeholder satisfaction as a project objective ensures it receives the same planning, measurement, and management attention as scope, schedule, and cost. Starting this process at initiation maximizes the project's chance of achieving acceptance.

Treating stakeholders as a secondary priority risks unmanaged resistance that can derail project objectives, which PMI explicitly warns against.

Elevating stakeholder satisfaction above project objectives misrepresents PMI guidance; both are managed as co-equal project concerns, not ranked in opposition.