The correct answer is A . The purpose of controlling a project is to monitor and measure performance against the project plan. Control is the management practice that compares actual progress with planned performance, identifies deviations, evaluates their causes and consequences, and supports corrective or preventive action. It applies across scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, risks, issues, changes, communications, and stakeholder engagement. Option B is incorrect because project control does not mean preventing all scope change. Change may be legitimate when it is justified, assessed, approved, and reflected in the appropriate project documentation. The purpose is controlled change, not absolute immobility. Option C is also incorrect because authorizing the initiation of each stage is a governance or stage-gate decision, not the core purpose of project control. In practice, controlling a project provides decision-makers with reliable information about whether the project remains on track and whether intervention is required. PMBOK similarly defines monitoring and controlling project work as tracking, reviewing, and reporting overall progress to meet performance objectives defined in the project management plan. The source question set gives performance monitoring against the plan as the correct control purpose.
Reference topics: project control, performance measurement, project plan, monitoring, corrective action, integrated project control.
