A customer asks a project manager if a small change can be made during the delivery phase. The project manager does not agree to the change. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason?

A communication plan governs how and when information is shared among stakeholders and is not a mechanism for refusing a change request.

Scope creep is the uncontrolled expansion of project scope through informal or unauthorized changes, even small ones. During the delivery phase, a project manager declines such requests to protect the approved scope baseline and directs the requester through the formal change control process, where cost, schedule, and resource impacts can be properly assessed.

Resource constraints might influence whether a change could be accommodated, but they are not the primary or most likely reason a PM refuses an unplanned in-flight change.

An iterative approach is a delivery methodology that embraces change through defined iteration cycles, making it more likely to support change requests rather than refuse them.