GLOSSARY TERMS

C - D

 

-C-

Calendar Unit: The smallest unit of time used in scheduling the project. Calendar units are generally in hours, days, or weeks, but can also be in shifts or even in minutes. Used primarily in relation to project management software.

Change: Alternation or variation to a scope of work and/or the schedule for completing the work.

Change Analysis: The function of reviewing a change to a program or system to assess impact on related programs or systems, prior to applying the change.

Change Control: The process by which a change is proposed, evaluated, approved or rejected, scheduled, and tracked.

Change Control Board (CCB): A formally constituted group of stakeholders responsible for approving or rejecting changes to the project baselines.

Change Order: A formal authorization by the Procurement Contracting Officer for a change or variance to an existing contract.

Chart of Accounts: Any numbering system used to monitor project costs by category (e.g., labor, supplies, and materials). The project chart of accounts is usually based upon the corporate chart of accounts of the primary performing organization. See also code of accounts.

Client: The customer who has contracted for services.

Code of Accounts: Any numbering system used to uniquely identify each element of the work breakdown structure. See also chart of accounts.

Configuration: (1) The requirements, design, and implementation that define a particular version of a system or system component. (2) The functional and/or physical characteristics of hardware/software as set forth in technical documentation and achieved in a product.

Configuration Control: The process of evaluating, approving or disapproving, and coordinating changes to configuration items after final establishment of their configuration identification.

Configuration Management: The process of identifying and defining the hardware or software elements in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout the system life cycle, recording and reporting the status of configuration items and change requests, and verifying the completeness and correctness of configuration items.

Constraint: The logical relationship between the start and/or finish of one activity and the start and/or finish of another activity, Constraints may indicate time between activities as implied by the lag.

Constraints: Conditions that define or restrict how project goals and objectives are met (constraints may include procedures, environment, staff, technical requirements, budgets, and schedules).

Contingency Planning: The development of a management plan that identifies alternative strategies to be used to ensure project success if specified risk events occur.

Contingency Reserve: A separately planned quantity used to allow for future situations, which may be planned for only in part (sometimes called “known unknowns”). For example, rework is certain, the amount of rework is not. Contingency reserves may involve cost, schedule, or both. Contingency reserves are intended to reduce the impact of missing cost or schedule objectives. Contingency reserves are normally included in the project’s cost and schedule baselines.

Contract: A contract is a mutually binding agreement, which obligates the seller to provide the specified product, and obligates the buyer to pay for it.

Contract Change (Contract Directed Change): A revision approved by the customer in writing directing a change to the contract. Contract changes authorize a change in scope of work or schedule and normally result in a dollar change to the Total Contract Baseline.

Contract Close-out: Completion and settlement of the contract, including resolution of all outstanding items.

Contractor/Supplier: An entity in private industry that enters into contracts with another customer.

Contract Management Plan:

Control: The process of comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, evaluating possible alternatives, and taking appropriate corrective action as needed.

Control Account: A management control point at which actual costs can be accumulated and compared to Earned Value. A Control Account is a natural point for cost/schedule planning and control since it represents the work assigned to one responsible organizational element and one Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) element.

Control Account Manager (CAM): The person within the organization selected and designated by management to be responsible for the scope, baseline, schedule, resource control, performance and analysis of a Control Account.

Corrective Action: Changes made to bring expected future performance of the project into line with the plan.

Cost Benefit Analysis: Evaluation of the estimated cost to achieve project objectives against the value of anticipated benefits.

Cost Budgeting: Allocating the cost estimates to individual project elements.

Cost Control: Controlling changes to the project budget.

Cost Estimate: An evaluation of all costs of the elements of a project or effort as defined by an agreed-upon scope.

Cost Estimating: Estimating the cost of the resources needed to complete project activities.

Cost of Quality: The costs incurred to ensure quality. The cost of quality includes quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and rework.

Cost Performance Index (CPI): The ratio of budgeted costs to actual costs (BCWP/ACWP). CPI is often used to predict the magnitude of a possible cost overrun using the following formula: original cost estimate/CPI=projected cost at completion. See also earned value.

Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Contract: A type of contract where the buyer reimburses the seller for the allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract) plus a fixed amount of profit (fee).

Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) Contract: A type of contract where the buyer reimburses the seller for the seller’s allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract), and the seller earns its profit if it meets defined performance criteria.

Cost Proposal: An all-inclusive statement of work effort and associated cost factors, which includes, but is not limited to machine and human resources, software development, and internal training.

Cost Performance Index (CPI): A relative percentage indicator of cost efficiency. Values greater that 1.0 indicated efficiency is better (e.g. CPI = 1.3 indicates work has been accomplished 30% more efficiently than baselined. Values less than 1.0 indicate efficiency is worse (e.g. CPI = .80 indicates work has been accomplished 20% less efficiently than baselined).

Cost/Schedule Control System Criteria (C/SCSC): A set of criteria designed to define an adequate contractor cost and schedule management control system. The criteria are set forth in DoD Instruction 7000.2, “Performance Measurement for Selected Acquisitions,” with further guidance contained in the “C/SCSC Joint Implementation guide” (JIG) issued by the Departments of the Air Force, the Army, the Navy, the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The basic purpose is to assure that the contractor has in place, and uses, adequate cost and schedule control systems providing reliable contract status at least monthly.

Cost/Schedule Performance Report (CSPR): An Earned Value report which provides current period, cumulative and at completion data for cost and schedule performance.

Cost/Schedule Status Report (C/SSR): A reporting method to summarize cost and schedule performance method. The two formats of the C/SSR are described in detail in DoDI 5000.2, Part 20, and DI-F-6O1O.

Cost Variance (CV): (1) Any difference between the estimated cost of an activity and the actual cost of that activity. (2) In earned value, BCWP less ACWP.

Cost: Cost is a measurement, in monetary terms, of the amount of resources used for some purpose.

Critical Activity: Any activity on a critical path. Most commonly determined by using the critical path method. Although some activities are “critical” in the dictionary sense without being on the critical path, this meaning is seldom used in the project context.

Critical Path: In a project network diagram, the series of activities that determines the earliest completion of the project. The critical path will generally change from time to time as activities are completed ahead of or behind schedule. The critical path is usually defined as those activities with float less than or equal to a specified value, often zero. See critical path method.

Critical Path Method (CPM): A network analysis technique used to predict project duration by analyzing which sequence of activities (which path) has the least amount of scheduling flexibility (the least amount of float). Early dates are calculated by means of a forward pass using a specified start date. Late dates are calculated by means of a backward pass starting from a specified completion date (usually the forward pass’s calculated project early finish date).

Current Finish Date: The current estimate of the point in time when an activity will be completed.

Current Start Date: The current estimate of the point in time when an activity will begin.             

Customer: The recipient and/or ultimate owner of the deliverable produced as a result of an agreement.

Customer Reporting Level: The lowest level of the Work Breakdown Structure at which performance data in the CSSR is reported to the customer.

 

 

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Data Management: The function of organizing, cataloging, structuring, locating, storing, maintaining, retrieving, securing, and recovering data, including the processes of data modeling, data administration, and data base administration.

Deliverable: Any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item that must be produced to complete a project or part of a project. Often used more narrowly in reference to an external deliverable, which is a deliverable that is subject to approval by the project sponsor or customer.

Deviation: A departure from established requirements. A deviation in the work product may be classified as an imperfection, nonconformance, or defect, based on its severity in failing to meet or unnecessarily exceed the requirements.

Direct Costs: Any cost, which can be identified specifically with a particular final cost objective. It consists of those costs (labor, material, etc.) which can be directly charged to the contract without distribution to an overhead unit.

Direct Labor:. It consists of labor, which can be directly charged to the contract

Division/Department: A group with a common operational orientation, such as Technical, Operations and Quality Assurance.

Duration (DU): The number of work periods (not including holidays or other non-working periods) required completing an activity or other project element. Usually expressed as workdays or workweeks.