According to the PMBOKGuide (specifically regarding Project Life Cycle and Project Characteristics), there is a standard relationship between time, risk, and cost as a project moves from initiation to closure.
* Risk and Uncertainty: These are at their highest at the start of the project because many variables, requirements, and external factors are unknown. As the project progresses, more information is gathered, the scope is clarified, and deliverables are completed, which causes risk and uncertainty to decrease over time.
* Cost of Changes: In the early stages (Initiation and Planning), the cost of making changes is relatively low because the work hasn ' t physically started and few resources have been spent. However, as the project moves into Execution and Monitoring and Controlling, more labor and materials are invested.
Changing a requirement late in the life cycle (such as during testing or right before closing) is significantly more expensive because it often requires " rework " or discarding completed work, causing the cost of changes to increase significantly.
Analysis of Options:
* A and B: Incorrect because risk and uncertainty naturally trend downward as the project's " cone of uncertainty " narrows through progressive elaboration.
* D: Incorrect because while it correctly identifies the decrease in risk, it ignores the financial reality that late-stage changes are the most expensive.