Question About Stakeholder Management vs. Resource Allocation

Question About Stakeholder Management vs. Resource Allocation – PMP Question Clarification

Hi everyone,

I came across the following PMP-style question and wanted to get your thoughts:

Question:A project manager is working on a complex project with many stakeholders and conflicting priorities. Senior management asked the project manager to avoid "noise" specifically for political projects. Although it is difficult to find resources for the project, what should the project manager do to ensure smooth progress of the project?

Options:A. Apply "If you do something nice for me I'll do something nice for you."B. Be consistent with words and actions to avoid conflicts with the stakeholders.C. Utilize compliments to obtain resources, and cooperate toward mutual goals.D. Allocate the scarce resources efficiently to meet the needs of the project.

Official solution: D

My concern:The scenario mentions avoiding “noise” for political projects, which implies the PM needs to actively manage stakeholder relationships and influence, not just allocate scarce resources. Option D focuses only on resource allocation and doesn’t address the political/stakeholder sensitivity described.

Option C, on the other hand, talks about cooperating toward mutual goals while influencing stakeholders (through compliments, rapport, etc.), which seems more aligned with both securing scarce resources and avoiding political conflict.

I wanted to check: Is the official solution oversimplified? Could C also be considered a valid answer in the context of stakeholder management and influence, even though D is technically correct for resource allocation?

Thanks for your insights!

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