In quantitative risk analysis for a project, sensitivity analysis is applied to the identified risks and their estimated impacts. What is the primary purpose of performing sensitivity analysis in project risk management?

Introduction / Context:
Quantitative risk analysis helps project managers understand how individual risks and uncertainties affect overall project objectives such as cost, schedule, and scope. Sensitivity analysis is one of the key techniques used in this process. It examines how variations in a given input, such as a specific risk, influence the outcome of the project model, allowing decision makers to focus attention on the most critical risks.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- A set of project risks has been identified and quantified. - Sensitivity analysis is being performed as part of risk analysis. - The question asks for the primary purpose of this analysis. - The context is standard project risk management practice.

Concept / Approach:
Sensitivity analysis varies one risk or uncertainty at a time while holding others constant to see how much it changes a key project objective. By doing this for each important risk, the project manager can see which risks the outcome is most sensitive to. Tools like tornado diagrams visually show which variables have the greatest effect. This information helps the team prioritize response planning and monitoring efforts on the risks that could most significantly affect the project if they occur.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that sensitivity analysis belongs to quantitative risk analysis, not requirements management. Step 2: Identify that its purpose is to evaluate how changes in individual risks influence project results. Step 3: Look for an option that focuses on determining which risks have the largest potential impact on project outcomes. Step 4: Confirm that the option describing identification of risks with the greatest impact matches the definition of sensitivity analysis.

Verification / Alternative check:
A useful verification is to think about tornado diagrams. In these diagrams, longer bars represent risks or variables whose variation changes the outcome the most. This shows that sensitivity analysis is about ranking risks by impact, not about stakeholder feelings, hidden requirements, or satisfaction measures. Therefore, the correct choice is the one that emphasizes potential impact on project objectives.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B is wrong because stakeholder concern levels are addressed in qualitative risk analysis and stakeholder management, not in sensitivity analysis. Option C is wrong because identifying hidden requirements is part of requirements elicitation and scope definition, not a risk sensitivity technique. Option D is wrong because analyzing requirements versus customer satisfaction belongs to value analysis or prioritization, not sensitivity analysis of risks. Option E is wrong because sensitivity analysis evaluates the impact of risks on project objectives, not the performance of individual team members.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often confuse sensitivity analysis with overall risk ranking or risk scoring from qualitative methods. Another pitfall is to think sensitivity analysis is only about cost, when it can apply to schedule or other objectives as well. It is also easy to mix up sensitivity analysis with scenario analysis or decision tree analysis, which use different approaches to modeling uncertainty and choices.

Final Answer:
The primary purpose of sensitivity analysis is to identify the risks that have the largest potential impact on overall project objectives.