PMP · Question #922
A project manager is working on a software development contract. The project is halfway through a 3-year contract when there is a change in the political landscape and 20% of the stakeholders are repl
The correct answer is C. Stakeholder analysis. Given significant changes in stakeholders and resulting project disruptions, conducting a stakeholder analysis is essential to understand the new project landscape.
Question
A project manager is working on a software development contract. The project is halfway through a 3-year contract when there is a change in the political landscape and 20% of the stakeholders are replaced. Almost immediately decisions become delayed, invoices go unpaid, and meetings become unmanageable. What tool would assist the project manager to better understand the new project landscape?
Options
- ACommunication analysis
- BPower distance analysis
- CStakeholder analysis
- DEngagement analysis
How the community answered
(26 responses)- A4% (1)
- B8% (2)
- C73% (19)
- D15% (4)
Why each option
Given significant changes in stakeholders and resulting project disruptions, conducting a stakeholder analysis is essential to understand the new project landscape.
Communication analysis focuses on the effectiveness of communication channels and methods, but first, the project manager needs to understand who the new stakeholders are and their influence before optimizing communication.
Power distance analysis is a concept from cultural dimensions theory and while relevant to understanding cultural dynamics, it's not the direct tool to address specific issues arising from replaced stakeholders.
When a significant portion of stakeholders are replaced, their influence, interests, and potential impact on the project change. A stakeholder analysis would help the project manager identify the new stakeholders, assess their power and interest, and determine appropriate engagement strategies to address issues like delayed decisions and unpaid invoices.
Engagement analysis assesses how stakeholders are currently involved, but a comprehensive stakeholder analysis is needed first to identify who needs to be engaged and why, especially after new stakeholders are introduced.
Concept tested: Stakeholder identification and analysis in response to change
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/project-stakeholder-management
Topics
Community Discussion
8
Viktor S.Jul 5, 2026C is the answer here. You lost 20% of your stakeholders to a political shakeup, so you need to reevaluate who has what power, interest, and influence on the project. The PMBOK is explicit that you redo stakeholder analysis whenever significant changes hit the project, and swapping out a fifth of your key players definitely qualifies. The other options might sound tempting, but you have to figure out who these new people are before you can fix your communications or engagement strategies.
Hiroshi T.Jul 6, 2026Agreed on C, and to add precision: the PMBOK Guide 7th edition frames this under the Engage Stakeholders performance domain, where significant organizational change triggers a refresh of the stakeholder register first, then the engagement plan, in that order.
Hiroshi T.Jun 30, 2026Saw this on my exam last month. PMBOK Guide section 13.1 points straight to C.
Orla P.Jun 16, 2026I first leaned toward A because the delayed decisions and unpaid invoices screamed communication breakdown, but when I re-read the stem and saw that 20 percent of stakeholders were replaced, the real issue is that you have new people and you do not know their interests, influence, or expectations yet. That is stakeholder analysis, plain and simple, and until you do it nothing else will function properly.
Toby R.Jun 23, 2026Sat for the exam last month and had something almost identical to this. The instinct is to jump to A because communication is visibly breaking down, but the stem is really telling you 20% of the stakeholders got swapped out and nobody knows who holds what authority anymore. Stakeholder analysis is the tool that maps influence, interest, and power dynamics for the new people so you can figure out why decisions stalled and invoices are sitting unpaid. C is the answer because you have to re-baseline your understanding of the stakeholder landscape before you can fix the communication flow.
Hiroshi T.Jun 24, 2026Good call on C, and worth noting that the PMBOK Guide 6th Edition frames this under Monitor Stakeholder Engagement, not the initial Identify Stakeholders process, since the stakeholder register already exists and you are updating it based on changes that occurred mid-project.
Yuki V.Jul 5, 2026Had almost this exact question on my exam last month and picked C because anytime stakeholders get replaced or the landscape shifts, the PM needs to redo stakeholder analysis to figure out who the new players are and where they stand. The memory hook that got me through it was simple: new faces means re-analyze the stakeholder matrix, every time.
Toby R.Jul 7, 2026Passed last month and can confirm C is right, but the trigger word they actually used in my version was "organizational change" not "stakeholder replacement," so watch for that phrasing because the answer is still the same.