22 Business Analysis: Needs & Planning Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. A project has both a project manager and a business analyst. Which statement BEST describes how responsibility for scope is divided between them?

   • A.The analyst owns product scope and requirements; the manager owns project scope and schedule.✓ Answer
   • B.Product scope and project scope are identical, so either role may be given ownership of both.
   • C.The analyst owns project scope and the schedule; the manager owns the product's requirements.
   • D.The manager owns product scope and project scope; the analyst simply records the decisions made.

   Product scope is the set of features and functions of the solution, and the business analyst owns the requirements that define it. Project scope is the work needed to deliver that solution, which the project manager plans and controls, so the two remain distinct even when one person performs both jobs on a small project.

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2. 2. A team learns that a new online form may be hard to complete for customers with poor internet access. Whose analysis does this risk primarily belong to?

   • A.The delivery team, because risks found during development are handled inside the team.
   • B.The sponsor, because ownership of risk always rests with whoever funds the work.
   • C.The business analyst, because it concerns whether the product meets the business need.✓ Answer
   • D.The project manager, because every risk identified on a project is a project risk by definition.

   The business analyst analyses product risk, meaning anything that threatens the solution's ability to meet the business need or be used as intended, while the project manager analyses project risk such as threats to schedule, cost and resources. A form that some customers cannot use is a threat to the product's fitness for purpose.

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3. 3. A stakeholder orders the items in the team's backlog each iteration and accepts the increments the team completes. Which role is described?

   • A.The process owner, accountable for an end-to-end business process.
   • B.The product owner, who orders the backlog and accepts the increments delivered.✓ Answer
   • C.The sponsor, who funds the work and champions it in the organisation.
   • D.The product manager, accountable for the product across its lifecycle.

   The product owner is the adaptive role that owns and orders the product backlog and accepts what the team delivers, which is exactly the behaviour described. A product manager looks after the product in its market over the long term, a process owner is accountable for a business process, and a sponsor funds and champions the work.

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4. 4. Which responsibility BEST matches the role of a process owner?

   • A.Being accountable for the performance of an end-to-end business process.✓ Answer
   • B.Deciding the order in which backlog items are delivered in each iteration.
   • C.Approving the funding and making the final go-live decision for a solution.
   • D.Running the day-to-day activities and staffing within one step of a process.

   A process owner is accountable for how a whole business process performs from beginning to end, which is why the analyst consults that person about changes affecting the process. A process manager, by contrast, supervises the day-to-day running of part of the process rather than owning its overall results.

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5. 5. A business analyst has finished the options analysis and has evidence favouring one option. Who decides which option will be pursued?

   • A.The project manager, because the choice changes the schedule, cost and staffing.
   • B.The business analyst, because the analyst holds the most complete evidence of the case.
   • C.The delivery team, because it will build whichever option is finally chosen.
   • D.The business sponsor or problem owner, using the analyst's recommendation.✓ Answer

   The analyst's job is to compare options, assess feasibility and recommend the most viable one with supporting evidence, but the decision authority sits with the business sponsor or problem owner who funds the work and answers for the business outcome. Confusing the recommendation with the decision is a common error.

   Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - recommending a solution optionReport a problem with this question

6. 6. How does an adaptive delivery approach change the way business analysis work is planned, compared with a predictive approach?

   • A.Analysis is planned in increments and refined continuously rather than fixed up front.✓ Answer
   • B.Analysis planning is dropped entirely because the delivery team decides what gets built.
   • C.Analysis is planned once at the start and cannot be revised after the sponsor approves it.
   • D.Analysis planning becomes more formal, requiring a change board to approve each decision.

   Adaptive work progressively elaborates the analysis, refining a backlog as understanding grows, while predictive work front-loads the analysis and baselines it under formal change control. Planning still happens in both cases; what changes is how much is decided up front and how rigorously changes are controlled.

   Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - influence of the delivery approach on business analysisReport a problem with this question

7. 7. A situation statement is built from which three components?

   • A.The problem, the proposed solution, and the date the fix is expected.
   • B.The problem or opportunity, its effect, and the impact of solving it.✓ Answer
   • C.The goal, the objective, and the measure used to track achievement of it.
   • D.The stakeholder list, the requirements, and the acceptance criteria used.

   A situation statement objectively names the problem or opportunity, the effect it is having, and the impact that addressing it would produce. It is deliberately solution-neutral, so naming a technology, a fix or a delivery date inside the statement makes it wrong.

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8. 8. Which of the following is written as a proper situation statement?

   • A.The order system must be replaced with a new platform before the next budget year ends.
   • B.Customers are unhappy, so the team should find out what software competitors are using.
   • C.Order errors are a problem, and the warehouse needs extra staff to check every order.
   • D.Order errors reach customers, causing returns and rework; fixing this would protect revenue.✓ Answer

   Only this option states the problem, the effect it produces and the impact of addressing it without prescribing a solution. The other three jump straight to a fix - a new platform, a software comparison or extra staff - which locks in an answer before the underlying cause has been established.

   Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - solution-neutral problem definitionReport a problem with this question

9. 9. A business analyst has drafted a situation statement describing a recurring billing problem. What should the analyst do NEXT?

   • A.Estimate the cost of correcting each of the billing errors found.
   • B.Obtain stakeholder agreement that the situation statement is accurate.✓ Answer
   • C.Begin evaluating vendors who could supply a replacement billing system.
   • D.Write the project charter so that the work can be formally authorised.

   The drafted statement is only a proposal until the stakeholders confirm it describes their situation correctly, so obtaining that agreement is the next step. Everything that follows - assessing the current state, identifying options and building a business case - rests on a shared and approved understanding of the problem.

   Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - needs assessment sequenceReport a problem with this question

10. 10. An organisation authorises a project without performing a needs assessment. Which outcome is MOST likely?

    • A.The project must use a predictive approach because no requirements were elicited.
    • B.The solution addresses only part of the real problem and includes unneeded features.✓ Answer
    • C.The delivery team is unable to estimate the work, so no schedule can be produced.
    • D.The sponsor loses the authority to approve any change once the project is authorised.

    Skipping the needs assessment means nobody has established what the underlying business problem actually is, so the delivered solution typically misses the real cause, solves only part of it, and carries features that nobody needed. The other outcomes do not follow from omitting the assessment.

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11. 11. Customers complain about late deliveries and the team proposes hiring more drivers. What should the business analyst do FIRST?

    • A.Repeatedly ask why deliveries are late until the underlying cause is identified.✓ Answer
    • B.Compare the delivery times with the industry average for similar carriers.
    • C.Record extra drivers as a requirement and pass it to the delivery team.
    • D.Add the extra drivers first and measure whether delivery times improve.

    Late deliveries are a symptom; asking why repeatedly drives past the symptom to the underlying cause, which might be routing, order timing or warehouse picking rather than driver numbers. Acting on the proposed fix before the cause is known risks spending money without changing the outcome.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - root cause analysisReport a problem with this question

12. 12. What does a gap analysis compare?

    • A.One vendor's proposal against the proposals submitted by other vendors.
    • B.The estimated cost of an option against the benefits it is expected to return.
    • C.The current state of the organisation against its desired future state.✓ Answer
    • D.The requirements already delivered against those still waiting to be built.

    A gap analysis sets the as-is state beside the to-be state and names the differences between them. Those gaps are what define the capabilities the organisation still needs, and therefore which solution options are worth evaluating.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - current state and future stateReport a problem with this question

13. 13. How do an organisation's goals differ from its objectives?

    • A.Goals belong to the project team, while objectives belong only to the sponsor.
    • B.Goals are broad and long-range; objectives are specific and shorter-term.✓ Answer
    • C.Goals are set after the business case; objectives are set before it is written.
    • D.Goals are specific and measurable, while objectives state a broad direction.

    Goals are broad statements of what the organisation wants to achieve over a longer horizon, while objectives are the narrower, nearer-term results that make those goals attainable. Both should be written so they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

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14. 14. An analyst needs data on processing times, but the organisation does not collect it and cannot begin doing so. Which technique is MOST appropriate?

    • A.Benchmarking the process against comparable organisations or industries.✓ Answer
    • B.Running a focus group with the staff members who currently perform the work.
    • C.Building a prototype of the future processing screen for stakeholders.
    • D.Writing acceptance criteria for the processing requirement in advance.

    Benchmarking exists precisely for the case where an organisation has no usable internal data and cannot feasibly collect it, because it borrows comparable measures from similar organisations or from industry figures. The other techniques gather opinions or describe a future design; none of them produces the missing performance measurement.

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15. 15. Which statement about the business case is correct?

    • A.It is produced by the delivery team after the requirements have been documented.
    • B.It is a living document that informs the charter and states how benefits are measured.✓ Answer
    • C.It replaces the project charter as soon as the sponsor signs the recommendation.
    • D.It is finalised at approval and is never revisited once the project has started.

    The business case captures the problem, the analysis of the situation, the recommendation and how the expected benefits will be evaluated, and the analyst builds it with the sponsor before the project is authorised. It feeds the project charter and is revisited as circumstances change, which is why it is described as a living document.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - business caseReport a problem with this question

16. 16. In which situation would an organisation typically proceed WITHOUT preparing a formal business case?

    • A.The work is required in order to comply with a government or regulatory mandate.✓ Answer
    • B.The delivery team has recommended an adaptive approach rather than a predictive one.
    • C.Several feasible options exist and the analyst has to choose between them all.
    • D.The sponsor expects the payback period to run longer than was originally planned.

    When work must be done to satisfy a mandate, the organisation has no real choice to justify, so a formal business case adds little. The same reasoning applies to work driven by direct competitive pressure or by executive direction; choosing between viable options, by contrast, is exactly when a business case is needed.

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17. 17. How does the length of an option's payback period relate to the risk it carries?

    • A.The longer the payback period, the greater the risk the investment carries.✓ Answer
    • B.Payback period reports return as a percentage and says nothing about risk.
    • C.The longer the payback period, the lower the risk, because costs are spread out.
    • D.Payback period converts future benefits into today's money, removing risk.

    Payback period measures how long it takes to recover the money invested, so a longer period leaves the investment exposed to change and uncertainty for longer and is therefore riskier. Return on investment is the technique that expresses a percentage return, and net present value is the one that restates future benefits in today's money.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - valuation techniquesReport a problem with this question

18. 18. A stakeholder list for a needs assessment names the sponsor, the people who will use the solution and the people who will build it. Which group is still missing?

    • A.Those who will attend the team's iteration review meeting weekly.
    • B.Those who supplied the funding forecast used during the analysis.
    • C.Those who will support the solution once it is in daily operation.✓ Answer
    • D.Those who maintain the organisation's project management templates.

    Stakeholder identification must reach beyond the sponsor, the users and the builders to everyone whose work changes or who keeps the solution running afterwards, including operations and support. Leaving that group out is a classic cause of requirements that surface only after go-live, when changing them costs the most.

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19. 19. On a responsibility assignment matrix for a needs assessment, what does the letter A identify?

    • A.Anyone who receives a copy of the results once they have been published.
    • B.The analyst who carries out the work of the needs assessment itself.
    • C.The one person accountable for approving the needs assessment and business case.✓ Answer
    • D.Each of the managers who provide input on the problem being analysed.

    In this kind of matrix the A marks accountability, the authority to approve, and only one person may hold it for any single item so that approval is never ambiguous. The analyst performing the work is marked R, those giving input are C, and those merely kept informed are I.

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20. 20. An analyst has grouped stakeholders by how much power they hold and how much interest they have. What is that grouping used for?

    • A.Deciding the order in which known defects will be corrected.
    • B.Deciding how much effort to spend on engaging each group.✓ Answer
    • C.Deciding which delivery approach the project ought to follow.
    • D.Deciding which requirements enter the first release of a product.

    Classifying stakeholders by power and interest tells the analyst how closely each group must be involved and how often it needs to hear from the project, which is what shapes the engagement and communication approach. It says nothing about release content, delivery approach or defect priority.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - stakeholder analysis and engagementReport a problem with this question

21. 21. An analyst must gather input from several hundred stakeholders spread across many countries. Which approach is MOST appropriate?

    • A.Individual interviews arranged separately with each of those stakeholders.
    • B.Observation of a few of the most experienced users as they do the work.
    • C.A facilitated workshop celebrated with a small representative sample of them.
    • D.A structured survey sent to all of them, with the responses analysed together.✓ Answer

    A survey is the technique that scales to a large, geographically dispersed population and returns input that can be compared and counted. Workshops are for building consensus quickly among a manageable group, interviews for depth with an individual, and observation for work that people cannot easily describe.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - selecting a communication approachReport a problem with this question

22. 22. With whom should the business analyst plan the business analysis approach, and why?

    • A.Only the delivery team, because it carries out all of the analysis tasks.
    • B.Nobody, because the analysis approach is the analyst's decision to make.
    • C.Only the sponsor, because the sponsor approves every analysis deliverable produced.
    • D.The project manager, so the analysis fits inside the overall project plan.✓ Answer

    The business analysis plan records how requirements will be elicited, analysed, prioritised, approved and changed, and it forms part of the wider project work plan, so it is developed together with the project manager. Its level of formality is then right-sized to the project's size, complexity, risk and delivery approach.

    Source: PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline, business analysis frameworks - business analysis planningReport a problem with this question

Practice questions based on the PMI CAPM Examination Content Outline and standard project-management and business-analysis concepts. CAPM, PMP and PMBOK are marks of the Project Management Institute; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by PMI. PMI sets and periodically revises the exam's length, scoring and eligibility requirements — read the current CAPM handbook and Exam Content Outline on PMI's site before you apply or test. About the CAPM exam →