PRINCE2F Practice Question: Overview of PRINCE2 and the project environment
Which THREE of the following are reasons why projects fail, which PRINCE2 aims to address?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Poor planning
PRINCE2 is explicitly designed to counter common causes of project failure, and poor planning (A) is one of them: the method addresses this through its Plans theme, which requires product-based planning, defined stages, and a Project Plan plus Stage Plans with tolerances. Insufficient stakeholder involvement (D) is also targeted, since PRINCE2's Organization theme defines roles and responsibilities (e.g., Executive, Senior User, Senior Supplier, Project Manager) and its Communications Management Approach ensures stakeholders are identified, engaged, and informed throughout the project. Lack of clear objectives (E) is addressed by the Business Case theme and the 'continued business justification' principle, which demand a documented, measurable justification with defined benefits, costs, risks, and success criteria that are reviewed at each stage boundary. By contrast, too much change control (B) is not a recognized cause of failure that PRINCE2 aims to fix — PRINCE2 actually mandates change control via the Change theme and issue/change logs, so excessive control is not the problem being solved. Lack of HR policies (C) is an organizational/HR governance matter outside PRINCE2's scope, as the method covers project roles and tolerances rather than employment or personnel policies.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Poor planning
Why this is correct
Poor planning is a recognised cause of project failure that PRINCE2 addresses through its Plans theme and product-based planning technique. This satisfies the stem by naming one of the three failure reasons the method is designed to counter.
- ✗
Too much change control
Why it's wrong here
Too much change control is not a recognised failure reason; PRINCE2 addresses uncontrolled change, not excessive control. Insufficient change control lets scope creep erode the Business Case. Excessive change control would be the correct answer only if the stem asked about over-bureaucratic governance, not project failure causes.
- ✗
Lack of HR policies
Why it's wrong here
HR policies are outside PRINCE2's scope.
- ✓
Insufficient stakeholder involvement
Why this is correct
Insufficient stakeholder involvement causes failure because requirements and acceptance criteria emerge late, driving rework and scope creep. PRINCE2 addresses this through the organisation theme, defining roles such as senior user and project board, plus the communications management approach, ensuring stakeholders are identified, engaged and represented throughout the project lifecycle.
- ✓
Lack of clear objectives
Why this is correct
Unclear objectives leave teams without a defined scope or success criteria, so effort scatters and acceptance becomes subjective. PRINCE2 counters this through the business case, which ties the project to measurable benefits, and the project initiation documentation, which records agreed objectives before work begins.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PRINCE2F question is part of Courseiva's 1,189-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PRINCE2F practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PRINCE2F exam.