CAPM Business Analysis Frameworks Practice Question
A mid-sized insurance company is implementing a new claims management system using a traditional waterfall approach. The business analyst (BA) spent three months gathering and documenting detailed requirements, which were signed off by stakeholders. However, during the development phase, the claims processing team requests frequent changes due to evolving regulatory requirements and customer feedback. The project manager is concerned about scope creep and budget overruns. The development team is frustrated because rework is affecting their velocity. The BA needs to recommend an approach that balances flexibility with control. The organization has limited experience with agile methods but is open to change. The BA should recommend:
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume that any change from waterfall must mean a full switch to agile (Option B), but the CAPM exam tests the ability to recognize hybrid approaches as a practical compromise that leverages existing artifacts while introducing iterative flexibility.
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
✓
Adopt a hybrid approach that retains the high-level scope from the waterfall document but uses iterative cycles with rolling wave planning for detailed requirements
It balances the need for flexibility with control by retaining the high-level scope from the signed-off waterfall document while using iterative cycles and rolling wave planning to detail requirements as the project progresses. This hybrid approach accommodates evolving regulatory requirements and customer feedback without abandoning the existing investment in requirements, and it mitigates scope creep by keeping the overall scope fixed while allowing detailed adjustments in short cycles.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Adopt a hybrid approach that retains the high-level scope from the waterfall document but uses iterative cycles with rolling wave planning for detailed requirements
Why this is correct
A hybrid approach keeps the signed-off high-level scope under change control while iterative cycles with rolling wave planning absorb evolving regulatory detail. This satisfies the stem's constraint of balancing flexibility with control given limited agile experience, avoiding full waterfall rigidity or unmanaged scope creep.
- ✗
Switch to a pure agile framework using user stories and a product backlog, abandoning the existing detailed requirements
Why it's wrong here
Abandoning the signed-off requirements discards the regulatory traceability the insurer needs, and pure agile exceeds the organisation's limited experience. It tempts because user stories and a product backlog genuinely absorb frequent change, and would suit a team already fluent in agile delivery with no fixed baseline.
- ✗
Document every change request and ask the project sponsor for a budget increase to cover all rework
Why it's wrong here
Logging every change and requesting more budget preserves the waterfall baseline but leaves the underlying rework cycle unaddressed, so velocity stays depressed. It tempts because formal change control with sponsor funding is the standard waterfall mechanism for legitimate scope growth on a fixed-baseline contract.
- ✗
Continue with the waterfall approach but establish a strict change control board to evaluate all requests
Why it's wrong here
A strict change control board preserves waterfall's rigidity, so regulatory and customer-driven changes still cause rework and budget pressure. Change control boards govern baseline changes; they do not deliver iterative feedback. A hybrid or incremental approach would balance flexibility with control.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CAPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI 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 CAPM exam.