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CAPM Practice: Demonstrate an understanding of the various project life cycles and processes

Question 89 of 95 in Demonstrate an understanding of the various project life cycles and processes

Zuri Mansour manages ongoing customer support at Monolith Build Co, handling service tickets and maintenance requests that recur monthly. Her manager asks if this work should be treated as a project. What is the PRIMARY reason this work is NOT a project?

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Correct answer: It is ongoing and repetitive rather than temporary with a defined end

Explanation

Projects are temporary endeavors with a defined beginning and end, created to produce a unique product, service, or result. Ongoing operations are continuous and repetitive. Customer support work that recurs monthly is operational, not project work.

**Why not B:** Many operational activities do not require a formal business case or project-level approval to proceed, but this is not what distinguishes them from projects. The defining characteristic is the ongoing, repetitive nature of the work, not the approval process.

**Why not C:** The absence of a project manager does not make work non-project. Operations can have managers, and small projects sometimes lack a formally assigned project manager. The distinction is about the nature of the work (temporary vs. ongoing), not the management structure.

**Why not D:** Operational work absolutely creates value for the organization and its customers. Customer support directly serves clients and sustains the business. The distinction between projects and operations is not about value creation but about whether the work is temporary or ongoing.

Key Concept

This question covers Demonstrate an understanding of the various project life cycles and processes under Demonstrate an understanding of the various project life cycles and processes (Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts).

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