Database Interview Questions - 1

Friday, April 30, 2010

Q: What are the various types of Exceptions?
A: User defined and Predefined Exceptions.


Q: Can we define exceptions twice in same block?
A: No.

Q: What is the difference between a procedure and a function?
A: Functions return a single variable by value whereas procedures do not return any variable by value. Rather they return multiple variables by passing variables by reference through their OUT parameter.

Q: Can you have two functions with the same name in a PL/SQL block?
Yes.

Q: Can you have two stored functions with the same name?
Yes.

Q: Can you call a stored function in the constraint of a table?
No.

Q: What are the various types of parameter modes in a procedure?
A: IN, OUT AND INOUT.

Q: What is Over Loading and what are its restrictions?
A: OverLoading means an object performing different functions depending upon the no. of parameters or the data type of the parameters passed to it.

Q: Can functions be overloaded?
A: Yes.

Q: Can 2 functions have same name & input parameters but differ only by return datatype?
A: No.

Q: What are the constructs of a procedure, function or a package?
A: The constructs of a procedure, function or a package are:

·         variables and constants

·         cursors

·         exceptions

Q: Why Create or Replace and not Drop and recreate procedures?
A: So that Grants are not dropped.

Q: Can you pass parameters in packages? How?
A: Yes. You can pass parameters to procedures or functions in a package.


Q: What are the parts of a database trigger?
A: The parts of a trigger are:

·         A triggering event or statement

·         A trigger restriction

·         A trigger action

Q: What are the various types of database triggers?
A: There are 12 types of triggers, they are combination of:

·         Insert, Delete and Update Triggers.

·         Before and After Triggers.

·         Row and Statement Triggers.


(3*2*2=12)

Q: What is the advantage of a stored procedure over a database trigger?
A: We have control over the firing of a stored procedure but we have no control over the firing of a trigger.

Q: What is the maximum no. of statements that can be specified in a trigger statement?
A: One.

Q: Can views be specified in a trigger statement?
A: No

Q: What are the values of :new and :old in Insert/Delete/Update Triggers?
A:       INSERT : new = new value, old = NULL

DELETE : new = NULL, old = old value

UPDATE : new = new value, old = old value

Q: What are cascading triggers? What is the maximum no of cascading triggers at a time?
A: When a statement in a trigger body causes another trigger to be fired, the triggers are said to be cascading. Max = 32.

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Project Management Terminology - Z

Thursday, April 29, 2010

ZERO FLOAT  

Zero float is a condition where there is no excess time between activities.

An activity with zero float is considered a critical activity.

 

 

 

 

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Project Management Terminology - Y

YTD (YEAR-TO-DATE)

The period between the beginning of the calendar year and the present date. It is often used to calculate a company's income up to the present date and may be compared to the same period of the previous year to evaluate a company's financial health.

 

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Project Management Terminology - X

XML

A subset of SGML that is optimized for delivery over the Web, XML provides a uniform method for describing and exchanging structured data that is independent of applications or vendors.

The key is that with XML, the information is in the document, while the rendering instructions are elsewhere. In other words, content and presentation are separate. XML is the Web's language for data interchange and HTML is the Web's language for rendering.

 

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Project Management Terminology - W

WHAT-IF ANALYSIS   The process of evaluating alternative strategies. 

WHAT-IF SIMULATION   Changing the value of the parameters of the project network to study its behaviour under various conditions of its operation. 

WORK   The total number of hours, people or effort required to complete a task. 

WORK BREAKDOWN CODE   A code that represents the 'family tree' of an element in work breakdown structure. 

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE   Way in which a project may be divided by level into discrete groups for programming, cost planning and control purposes. 
Note: see also 'work package'.
(The WBS is a tool for defining the hierarchical breakdown of work required to deliver the products of a project. 
Major categories are broken down into smaller components.
These are sub-divided until the lowest required level of detail is established. 
The lowest units of the WBS become the activities in a project. 
The WBS defines the total work to be undertaken on the project and provides a structure for all project control systems.) 

WORK LOAD   Work load is the amount of work units assigned to a resource over a period of time. 

WORK PACKAGE   A group of related tasks that are defined at the same level within a work breakdown structure.(In traditional cost/schedule systems, the criteria for defining work packages is as follows:
1) Each work package is clearly distinguishable from all other work packages in the programme.
2) Each work package has a scheduled start and finish date.
3) Each work package has an assigned budget that is time-phased over the duration of the work package.
4) Each work package either has relatively short duration, or can be divided into a series of milestones whose status can be objectively measured.
5) Each work package has schedule that is integrated with higher-level schedules. 

WORK UNITS   Work units provide the measurement units for resources.For example, people as a resource can be measured by the number of hours they work. 

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Project Management Terminology - V

VALUE   A standard, principle or quality considered worthwhile or desirable. 

VALUE ENGINEERING   A technique for analyzing qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits of component parts of a proposed system. 

VALUE MANAGEMENT   A structured means of improving business effectiveness that includes the use of management techniques such as value engineering and value analysis. 

VALUE PLANNING   A technique for assessing, before significant investment is made, the desirability of a proposal based on the value that will accrue to the organization from that proposal. 

VARIANCE   A discrepancy between the actual and planned performance on a project, either in terms of schedule or cost. 

VARIANCE AT COMPLETION   The difference between Budget at Complete and Estimate at Complete. 

VARIATION   A change in scope or timing of work which a supplier is obliged to do under a contract. 

VARIATION ORDER   The document authorizing an approved technical change or variation. 

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Project Management Terminology - U

UNLIMITED SCHEDULE   Infinite schedule, schedule produced without resource constraint. 

USERS   The group of people who are intended to benefit from the project

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Project Management Terminology - T

TARGET COMPLETION DATE   A date which contractors strive toward for completion of the activity.

TARGET DATE   Date imposed on an activity or project by the user. There are two types of target dates, target start dates, and target finish dates. 

TARGET FINISH DATE   The date planned to finish work on an activity.

TARGET FINISH-ACTIVITY   Target Finish is the user's imposed finish date for an activity. A Target Finish date is used if there are predefined commitment dates.

TARGET FINISH-PROJECT   A user's Target Finish date can be imposed on a project as a whole. A Target Finish date is used if there is a pre-defined completion date.

TARGET START - ACTIVITY   Target Start is an imposed starting date on an activity.

TARGET START DATE   The date planned to start work on an activity.

TASK   The smallest indivisible part of an activity when it is broken down to a level best understood and performed by a specific person or organization.

TEAM BUILDING   The ability to gather the right people to join a project team and get them working together for the benefit of a project.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT   Developing skills, as a group and individually, that enhance project performance.

TEAM LEADER   Person responsible for leading a team.

TECHNICAL ASSURANCE   The monitoring of the technical integrity of products.

TECHNICAL GUIDE   A document that guides managers, team leaders and technical assurance co-coordinators on planning the production of products.

TECHNICAL PRODUCTS   Products produced by a project for an end user.

TENDER   A document proposing to meet a specification in a certain way and at a stated price (or on a particular financial basis), an offer of price and conditions under which the tenderer is willing to undertake work for the client.

TERMINATION   Completion of the project, either upon formal acceptance of its deliverables by the client and/or the disposal of such deliverables at the end of their life.

TERMS OF REFERENCE   A specification of a team member's responsibilities and authorities within the project.

TIED ACTIVITIES   Activities that have to be performed sequentially or within a predetermined time of each other.

TIME ANALYSIS   The process of calculating the early and late dates for each activity on a project, based on the duration of the activities and the logical relations between them.

TIME BASED NETWORK   A linked bar chart, a bar chart that shows the logical and time relationships between activities.

TIME LIMITED SCHEDULING   Scheduling of activities, so that the specified project duration, or any imposed dates are not exceeded.
Note: This may cause the envisaged resource levels to be exceeded.

TIME NOW   Specified date from which the forward analysis is deemed to commence.
(The date to which current progress is reported. Sometimes referred to as the status date because all progress information entered for a project should be correct as of this date.)

TIME RECORDING   The recording of effort expended on each activity in order to update a project plan.

TIME SHEET   A means of recording the actual effort expended against project and non-project activities.

TIME-LIMITED RESOURCE SCHEDULING   The production of scheduled dates in which resource constraints may be relaxed in order to avoid any delay in project completion.

TIME-SCALED NETWORK DIAGRAM   A project network diagram drawn so that the positioning of the activity represents schedule.

TOP DOWN COST ESTIMATING   The total project cost is estimated based on historical costs and other project variables and then subdivided down to individual activities.

TOTAL FLOAT   Time by which an activity may be delayed or extended without affecting the total project duration (or violating a target finish date.)

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)   A strategic, integrated management systems for customer satisfaction that guides all employees in every aspect of their work.

TRANSIT TIME   Dependency link that requires time and no other resources. It may be a negative time.

TURNAROUND REPORT   A report created especially for the various responsible managers to enter their progress status against a list of activities that are scheduled to be in progress during a particular time window.

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Project Management Terminology - S

SAFETY PLAN   The standards and methods which minimize to an acceptable level the likelihood of accident or damage to people or equipment. 

SCHEDULE   A Schedule is the timetable for a project. It shows how project tasks and milestones are planned out over period of time. 

SCHEDULE CONTROL   Controlling schedule changes. 

SCHEDULE DATES   Start and finish dates calculated with regard to resource or external constraints as well as project logic.

SCHEDULE PERFORMANCE INDEX (SPI)   Ratio of work accomplished versus work planned, for a specified time period. The SPI is an efficiency rating for work accomplishment, comparing work accomplished to what should have been accomplished.

SCHEDULE VARIANCE (COST)   The difference between the budgeted cost of work performed and the budgeted cost of work scheduled at any point in time.

SCHEDULED FINISH   The earliest date on which an activity can start, having regard to resources or external constraints as well as project logic.

SCHEDULING   Scheduling is the process of determining when project activities will take place depending on defined durations and precedent activities. Schedule constraints specify when an activity should start or end based on duration, predecessors, external predecessor relationships, resources availability, or target dates.

SCOPE   The scope is the sum of work content of a project.

SCOPE CHANGE   Any change in a project scope that requires a change in the project's cost or schedule.

SCOPE CHANGE CONTROL   Controlling changes to the scope.

SCOPE OF WORK   A description of the work to be accomplished or resources to be supplied.

SCOPE VERIFICATION   Ensuring all identified project deliverables have been completed satisfactorily.

S-CURVE   A display of cumulative costs, labour hours or other quantities plotted against time.

SECONDARY RISK   The risk that may occur as a result of invoking a risk response or fallback plan.

SECONDMENT MATRIX   An organizational structure whereby team members are seconded from their respective departments to the project and are responsible to the project manager.

SEQUENCE   Sequence is the order in which activities will occur with respect to one another.

SLACK   Calculated time span within which an event has to occur within the logical and imposed constraints of the network, without affecting the total project duration.
Note 1: It may be made negative by an imposed date
Note 2: The term slack is used as referring only to an event.

SLIP CHART   A pictorial representation of the predicted completion dates of milestones (also referred to as Trend Chart)

SLIPPAGE   The amount of slack or float time used up by the current activity due to a delayed start or increased duration.

SOFT PROJECT   A project that is intended to bring about change and does not have a physical end product.

SOFT SKILLS   Soft skills include team building, conflict management and negotiation.

SOURCE SELECTION   Choosing from potential contractors

SPLITTABLE ACTIVITY   Activity that can be interrupted in order to allow its resources to be transferred temporarily to another activity.

SPONSOR   Individual or body for whom the project is undertaken and who is the primary risk taker.

STAGE   A nature high level subsection of project that has its own organizational structure, life span and manager.

STAGE PAYMENT   Payment part way through a project at some predetermined milestone.

STAKEHOLDER   A person or group of people who have a vested interest in the success of an organization and the environment in which the organization operates.
(Project stakeholders are people or organizations who have a vested interest in the environment, performance and/or outcome of the project.)

START EVENT OF A PROJECT   Event with succeeding, but no preceding activities. Note: There may be more than one start event.

STARTING ACTIVITY   A starting activity has no predecessors. It does not have to wait for any other activity to start.

START-TO-START LAG   Start-to-start lag is the minimum amount of time that must pass between the start of one activity and the start of its successor(s). This may be expressed in terms of duration or percentage.

STATEMENT OF WORK   A document stating the requirements for a given project task.

STATUS REPORTS   Written reports given to both the project team and to a responsible person on a regular basis stating the status of an activity, work package, or whole project. Status Reports should be used to control the project and to keep management informed of project status.

STEERING GROUP   A body established to monitor the project and give guidance to the project sponsor or project manager.

SUBCONTRACT   A contractual document which legally transfer the responsibility and effort of providing goods, services, data, or other hardware, from one firm to another.

SUBCONTRACTOR   An organization that supplies goods or services to a supplier.

SUBNET OR SUBNETWORK   A division of a project network diagram representing a subproject.

SUBPROJECT   A group activities represented as a single activity in a higher level of the same.

SUCCESS FACTORS   Critical factors that will ensure achievement of success criteria.

SUCCESSES CRITERIA   Criteria to be used for judging if the project is successful.

SUCCESSOR   A successor is an activity whose start or finish depends on the start or finish of a predecessor activity.

SUNK COSTS   Unavoidable costs (even if the project were to be terminated.)

SUPER-CRITICAL ACTIVITY   An activity that is behind schedule is considered to be super-critical. If it has been delayed to a point where its float is calculated to be a negative value.

SUPPLIER   Includes contractors, consultants and any organization that supplies services or goods to the customer.

SYSTEM   The complete technical output of the project including technical products.

SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES   Systems and procedures detail the standard methods, practices and procedures of handling frequently occurring events within the project.

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT   Management that includes the prime activities of systems analysis, systems design and engineering and systems development.

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Project Management Terminology - R

RECURRING COSTS   Expenditures against specific tasks that would occur on a repetitive basis. Examples are hire of computer equipment, tool maintenance, etc. 

RELATIONSHIP   A logical connection between two activities. 

REMAINING DURATION   Time needed to complete the remainder of an activity or project. 

REQUEST FOR CHANGE   A proposal by the project manager for a change to the project as a result of a project issue report. 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL   A bid document used to request proposals from prospective sellers of products or services. 

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION   Equivalent to a Request for Proposal but with more specific application areas. 

REQUIREMENTS   A negotiated set of measurable customer wants and needs. 

REQUIREMENTS DEFINITION   Statement of the needs that project has to satisfy. 

RESOURCE   Any variable that is required for the completion of an activity and may constrain the project. 

Note1: A resource may be non-storable so that its availability has to be renewed for each time period (even if it was not utilized in previous time periods) 
Note2: A resource may be storable so that it remains available unless depleted by usage. 
Such a resource may also be replenished by activities producing credited and storable resource. 
(Resources can be people, equipment, facilities, funding or anything else needed to perform the work of a project) 

RESOURCE AGGREGATION   Summation of the requirements for each resource, and for each time period. 
Note: Where the earliest start time of an activity is used alone, it is often termed an 'early start' aggregation. Similarly a 'late start' aggregation uses the latest start times. 

RESOURCE ALLOCATION   Scheduling of activities and the resources required by those activities, so that predetermined constraints of resource availability and/or project time are not exceeded. 

RESOURCE ANALYSIS   The process of analysis and optimizing the use of resources on a project. Often uses resource leveling and resource smoothing techniques. 

RESOURCE ASSIGNMENT   The work on an activity related to a specific resource. 

RESOURCE AVAILABILITY   The level of availability of a resource, which may vary over time. 

RESOURCE BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE   A hierarchical structure of resources that enables scheduling at the detailed requirements level, and roll up of both requirements and availabilities to a higher level, and roll up of both requirements and availabilities to a higher level. 

RESOURCE CALENDAR   A calendar that defines the working and non-working patterns for specific resources. 

RESOURCE CONSTRAINT   Limitation due to the availability of a resource. 

RESOURCE CUMULATION   Process of accumulating the requirements for each resource to give the total required to date at all times throughout the project. 

RESOURCE DRIVEN TASK DURATIONS   Task durations that are driven by the need for scarce resources. 

RESOURCE HISTOGRAM   A view of project data in which resource requirements, usage, and availability are shown using vertical bars against a horizontal time scale. 

RESOURCE LEVEL   A specified level of resource units required by an activity per time unit. 

RESOURCE OPTIMISATION   A term for resource leveling and resource smoothing. 

RESOURCE PLAN   Part of the definition statement stating how the programme will be resource loaded and what supporting services, infrastructure and third party services are required. 

RESOURCE PLAN   Part of the definition statement starting how the programme will be resource loaded and what supporting services, infrastructure and third party services are required. 

RESOURCE PLANNING   Evaluating what resources are needed to complete a project and determining the quantity needed. 

RESOURCE REQUIREMENT   The requirement for a particular resource by a particular activity. 

RESOURCE SCHEDULING   The process of determining dates on which activities should be performed in order to smooth the demand for resources, or to avoid exceeding stated constraints on these restraints. 

RESOURCE SMOOTHING   Scheduling of activities, within the limits of their float, so that fluctuations in individual resource requirements are minimised. (In smoothing, as opposed to resource leveling, the project completion date may not be delayed. 

RESPONSIBILITY MATRIX   A document correlating the work required by a Work Breakdown Structure element to the functional organizations responsible for the accomplishing the assigned tasks. 

RETENTION   A part of payment withheld until the project is completed in order to ensure satisfactory performance or completion of contract terms. 

REVENUE COST   Expenditure charged to the profit and loss account as incurred or accrued due. 

RISK   Combination of the probability or frequency of occurrence of a defined threat or opportunity and the magnitude of the consequences of the occurrence. 
Note: Combination of the likelihood of occurrence of a specified event and its consequences.
(Potential occurrences or threats that would jeopardize the success of a project. The probability of an undesirable outcome.) 

RISK ANALYSIS   Systematic use of available information to determine how often specified events may occur and the magnitude of their likely consequences.
(A technique designed to quantify the impact of uncertainty) 

RISK ASSESSMENT   The process of identifying potential risks, quantifying their likelihood of occurrence and assessing their likely impact on the project. 

RISK AVOIDANCE   Planning activities to avoid risks that have been identified. 

RISK EVALUATION   Process used to determine risk management priorities. 

RISK EVENT   A discrete occurrence that effects a project. 

RISK IDENTIFICATION   Process of determining what could pose a risk. 

RISK MANAGEMENT   Systematic application of policies, procedures, methods and practices to the tasks of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, treating and monitoring risk. 

RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN   A document defining how Project Risk Analysis and Management is to be implemented in the context of a particular project and with impact and likelihood in columns. 

RISK PRIORITISING   Ordering of risks according first to their risk value, and then by which risks need to be considered for risk reduction, risk avoidance, and risk transfer. 

RISK QUANTIFICATION   Process of applying values to the various aspects of a risk.(Evaluating the probability of risk event effect and occurrence) 

RISK RANKING   Allocating a classification to the impact and likelihood of a risk. 

RISK REDUCTION   Action taken to reduce the likelihood and impact of a risk. 

RISK REGISTER   Formal record of identified risks. (A body of information listing all the risks identified for the project, explaining the nature of each risk and recording information relevant to its assessment and management.) 

RISK RESPONSE   Contingency plans to manage a risk should it materialize.(Action to reduce the probability of the risk arising, or to reduce the significance of its detrimental impact if it does arise) 

RISK SHARING   Diminution of a risk by sharing it with others, usually for some consideration. 

RISK TRANSFER   A contractual arrangement between two parties for delivery and acceptance of a product where the liability for the costs of a risk is transferred from one party to the other. 

RISK TREATMENT   Selection and implementation of appropriate options for dealing with risk.

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Project Management Terminology - Q

QUALITATIVE RISK ANALYSIS   A generic term for subjective methods of assessing risks 

QUALITY   A trait or characteristic used to measure the degree of excellence of a product or service. Meeting customer's needs 

QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)   The process of evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis to provide confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards. 

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN   A plan that guarantees a quality approach and conformance to all customer requirements for all activities in a project. 

QUALITY AUDIT   An official examination to determine whether practices conform to specified standards or a critical analysis of whether a deliverable meets quality criteria. 

QUALITY CONTROL (QC)   The process of monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with relevant standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance. 

QUALITY CRITERIA   The characteristics of a product that determines whether it meet certain requirements. 

QUALITY GUIDE   The quality guide describes quality and configuration management procedures and is aimed at people directly involved with quality reviews, configuration management and technical exceptions. 

QUALITY PLAN (FOR A PROJECT)   That part of the project plan that concern quality management and quality assurance strategies (See also ISO 10006) 

QUALITY PLANNING   Determining which quality standards are necessary and how to apply them. 

QUALITY REVIEW   A review of a product against an established set of quality criteria.

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Project Management Terminology - P

PARALLEL ACTIVITIES   Parallel activities are two or more activities than can be done at the same time. This allows a project to be completed faster than if the activities were arranged serially. 

PARENT ACTIVITY   Task within the work breakdown structure that embodies several subordinate 'child' tasks. 

PARTIES (TO A CONTRACT)   The persons or companies who sign a contract with one another. 

PATH   Activity or an unbroken sequence of activities in a project network. (Refer to critical path method for information on critical and non-critical paths). 

PERCENT COMPLETE   A measure of the completion status of a partially completed activity. May be aggregated to sections of a project or the whole project. 

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES   Performance measurement techniques are the methods used to estimate earned value. Different methods are appropriate to different work packages, either due to the nature of the work or to the planned duration of the work package. 

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION   Statement of the totality of needs expressed by the benefits, features characteristics, process conditions, boundaries and constraints that together define the expected performance of a deliverable. 
Note: A performance specification should provide for innovation and alternative solutions, by not defining or unduly constraining the technical attributes of the intended deliverable. 

PERFORMING   A team building stage where the emphasis is on the work currently being performed. 

PHASE (OF A PROJECT)   That part of a project during which a set of related and interlinked activities are performed. 
Note: A project consists of a series of phase that together constitute of whole project life cycle. 

PHYSICAL PERCENT COMPLETE   The percentage of the work content of an activity that has been achieved. 

PILOT   A form of testing a new development and its implementation prior to committing to its full release. 

PLAN   A plan is an intended future course of action. It is owned by the project manager, it is the basis of the project controls and includes the 'what' the 'how', the 'when', and the 'who'. 

PLANNED ACTIVITY   An activity not yet started. 

PLANNED COST   Estimated cost of achieving a specified objective. 

PLANNER   A member of a project team or project support office with the responsibility for planning, scheduling and tracking of projects. They are often primarily concerned with schedule, progress and manpower resources. 

PLANNING   The process of identifying the means, resources and actions necessary to accomplish an objective. 

PLANNING STAGE   The stage prior to the implementation stage when product activity, resource and quality plans are produced. 

PORTFOLIO   A grouping or bundle of projects, collected together for management convenience. They may or may not have a common objective, they are often related only by the use of common resources. 

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT   The management of number of projects that do not share a common objective. 

POSITIVE FLOAT   Positive float is defined as the amount of time that an activity's start can be delayed without affecting the project completion date. An activity with positive float is not on the critical path and is called a non-critical activity. The difference between early and late dates (start or finish) determines the amount of float. 

POST IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW   A review between 6-12 months after a system in a project has met its objectives to verify that it continues to meet user requirements. 

POST PROJECT APPRAISAL   An evaluation that provides feedback in order to learn for the future. 

PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM METHOD   One of the two methods of representing project as network, in which the activities are represented by nodes and the relationships between them by arrows. 

PRECEDENCE NETWORK   A multiple dependency network. An activity-on-node network in which a sequence arrow represents one of four forms of precedence relationship, depending on the positioning of the head and the tail of the sequence arrow. The relationships are:
a) Start of activity depends on finish of preceding activity, either immediately or after a lapse of time.
b) Finish of activity depends on finish of preceding activity, either immediately or after a lapse of time.
c) Finish of activity depends on start of preceding activity, either immediately or after a lapse of time. 

PRECEDING EVENT   In an activity-on-arrow network, an event at the beginning of an activity. Pre-commissioning that work which is carried out prior to commissioning in order to demonstrate that commissioning may be safely undertaken. 

PREDECESSOR   An activity that must be completed (or be partially completed) before a specified activity can begin. 

PREDECESSOR ACTIVITY   In the precedence diagramming method this is an activity which logically precedes the current activity. 

PRIMER OR LEAD CONTRACTOR   A main supplier who has a contract for much or all of the work on a contract. 

PROGRESS PAYMENTS   Payments made to a contractor during the life of a fixed-price type contract, on the basis of some agreed-to formula, for example, Budget Cost of Work Performed or simply costs incurred. 

PROBABILISTIC NETWORK   Network containing alternative paths with which probabilities are associated. 

PROBABILITY   Likelihood of a risk occurring 

PROCESS   Set of interrelated resources and activities which transform inputs into outputs. 

PROCUREMENT   The securing of goods or services 

PROCUREMENT PLANNING   Determining what to procure and when. 

PRODUCT BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE   A hierarchy of deliverable products which are required to be produced on the project. It forms the base document from which the execution strategy and product-based work breakdown structure may be derived. It provides a guide for Configuration Control documentation. 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION   The description of the purpose form and components of a product. It should always be used as a basis for acceptance of the product by the customer 

PRODUCT FLOW DIAGRAM   Represents how the products are produced by identifying their derivation and the dependencies between them. 

PROGRAMME   A broad effort encompassing a number of projects and/or functional activities with a common purpose. 

PROGRAMME BENEFITS REVIEW   A review to assess if targets have been reached and to measure the performance levels in the resulting business operations. 

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR   The senior manager with the responsibility for the overall success of the programme. 

PROGRAMME DIRECTORATE   A committee that directs the programme when circumstances arise where there is no individual to director the programme. 

PROGRAMME EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE (PERT)   PERT is a project management technique for determining how much time a project needs before it is completed. Each activity is assigned a best, worst, and most probable completion time estimate. These estimates are used to determine the average completion time. The average times are used to calculate the critical path and the standard deviation of completion times for the entire project. 

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT   The effective management of several individual but related projects of functional activities in order to produce an overall system that works effectively. 

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT OFFICE   The office responsible for the business and technical management of a specific contract or programme. 

PROGRAMME MANAGER   Individual or body with responsibility for managing a group of projects. 

PROGRAMME SUPPORT OFFICE   A group that gives administrative support to the programme manager and the programme executive. 

PROGRESS   The partial completion of a project, or a measure of the same. 

PROGRESS REPORT   A regular report to senior personnel, sponsors or stakeholders summarizing the progress of a project including key events, milestones, costs and other issues. 

PROJECT   Unique set of co-ordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or organization to meet specific objectives within defined time, cost and performance parameters. (See also BS ISO 10006). 
(Alternative definition: An endeavour in which human, material and financial resources are organized in a novel way to deliver a unique scope of work of given specification, often within constraints of cost and time, and to achieve beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives.)

PROJECT APPRAISAL   The discipline of calculating the viability of a project. 

PROJECT BOARD   A project board is the body to which the Project Manager is accountable for achieving the project objectives. 

PROJECT BRIEF   Statement that describes the purpose, cost, time and performance requirements/constraints for a project (A statement of reference terms for a project. A written statement of the Client's goals and requirements in relation to the project.) 

PROJECT CALENDAR   A calendar that defines global project working and non-working periods. 

PROJECT CHAMPION   Person within the parent organization who promotes and defends a project. 

PROJECT CLOSURE   Formal termination of a project at any point during its life. 

PROJECT CO-ORDINATION   Communication linking various areas of a project to ensure the transfer of information or hardware at interface points at the appropriate times and identification of any further necessary resources. 

PROJECT CO-ORDINATION PROCEDURE   Defines the parties relevant to the project and the approved means of communicating between them. 

PROJECT COST MANAGEMENT   A subset of project management that includes resource planning, cost estimating, cost control and cost budgeting in an effort to complete the project within its approved budget. 

PROJECT CULTURE   The general attitude toward projects within the business. 

PROJECT DEFINITION   A report that defines a project i.e. why it is required, what will be done, how when and where it will be delivered, the organization and resources required, the standards and procedures to be followed. 

PROJECT DIRECTOR   The manager of a very large project that demands senior level responsibility or the person at the board level in an organization who has the overall responsibility for projects management. 

PROJECT ENVIRONMENT   The project environment is the context within which the project is formulated, assessed and realized. This includes all external factors that have an impact on the project. 

PROJECT EVALUATION   A documented review of the project's performance, produced at project closure. It ensures that the experience of the project is recorded for the benefit of others. 

PROJECT FILE   A file containing the overall plans of a project and any other important documents. 

PROJECT INITIATION   The beginning of a project at which point certain management activities are required to ensure that the project is established with clear reference terms and adequate management structure. 

PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENT   A document approved by the project board at project initiation that defines the terms of reference for the project. 

PROJECT ISSUE REPORT   A report that raises either technical or managerial issues in a project. 

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE COST   Cumulative cost of a project over its whole life cycle. 

PROJECT LIFE-CYCLE   All phases or stages between a project's conception and its termination. 
Note: The project life cycle may include the operation and disposal of project deliverables. This is usually known as an 'extended life cycle'. 

PROJECT LOG   A project diary. A chronological record of significant occurrences throughout the project. 

PROJECT LOGIC DRAWING   A representation of the logical relationships of a project. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT   Planning, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all those involved in it to achieve the project objectives on time and to the specified cost, quality and performance. (Alternative definition: The controlled implementation of defined change.) 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE   This is an inclusive term that describes the sum of knowledge within the profession of project management. As with other professions, such as law and medicine, the body of knowledge rests with the practitioners and academics that apply and advance it. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN   A plan for carrying out a project, to meet specific objectives, that is prepared by or for the project manager. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE   Computer application software designed to help with planning and controlling resources, costs and schedules of a project. It may also provide facilities for documentation management, risk analysis etc. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM   Members of the project team who are directly involved in its management. 

PROJECT MANAGER   Individual or body with authority, accountability and responsibility for managing a project to achieve specific objectives. 

PROJECT MATRIX   An organization matrix that is project based in which the functional structures are duplicated in each project. 

PROJECT MONITORING   Comparison of current project status with what was planned to be done to identify and report any deviations. 

PROJECT NETWORK   Representation of activities and/or events with their inter-relationships and dependencies. 

PROJECT NETWORK TECHNIQUES   Group of techniques that, for the description, analysis, planning and control of project, considers the logical inter relationships of all project activities. The group includes techniques concerned with time, resources, costs and other influencing factors, e.g. uncertainty. 
Note: The terms 'program evaluation and review technique' (PERT) 'critical path analysis' (CPA), 'critical path method' (CPM) and 'precedence method' refer to particular techniques and should not be used as synonyms for project network. 

PROJECT ORGANIZATION   Structure that is created or evolves to serve the project and its participants. (A term which refers to the structure, roles and responsibilities of the project team and its interfaces to the outside world.) 

PROJECT PHASE   A group of related project activities that come together with the completion of a deliverable. 

PROJECT PLAN   A document for management purpose that gives the basics of a project in terms of its objectives, justification, and how the objectives are to be achieved. This document is used as a record of decisions and a means of communication among stakeholders. It gives the supporting detail to the project definition which details the schedule, resource and costs for the project. 

PROJECT PLANNING   Developing and maintaining a project plan. 

PROJECT PORTFOLIO   The constituent projects within a programme. 

PROJECT PROCEDURES MANUAL   A collected set of the management and administrative procedures needed for the project 

PROJECT PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT   A subset of project management that includes procurement planning, source selection, enquiry, tender assessment, placement of purchase orders and contracts for goods and services, contract and purchase order administration and close-out in an effort to obtain goods and services from outside organizations. 

PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT   Formal statement that compares the project progress, achievements and expectations with the project plan. 

PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT   A subset of project management that includes quality planning, quality assurance and quality control to satisfy the needs and purpose of the project. 

PROJECT REVIEW CALENDAR   Calendar of project review dates, meetings and issues of reports set against project week numbers or dates. 

PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT   A subset of project management that includes risk identification, risk quantification, risk response development and risk response control in an effort to identify, analyse and respond to project risks. 

PROJECT SCHEDULE   Project programme (Planned dates for starting and completing activities and milestones.) 

PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT   A subset of project management that includes initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification and scope change control in an effort to ensure that the project has all of the necessary work required to complete it. 

PROJECT SPONSOR   
(1) The individual or body for whom the project is undertaken, the primary risk taker
(2) The individual representing the sponsoring body and to whom the project manager reports.
(3) A person or organization providing funds for the project. 

PROJECT START-UP   The creation of the project team. 

PROJECT STATUS REPORT   A report on the status of accomplishments and any variances to spending and schedule plans. 

PROJECT STRATEGY   A comprehensive definition of how a project will be developed and managed. 

PROJECT SUCCESS/FAILURE CRITERIA   The criteria by which the success or failure of a project may be judged. 

PROJECT SUPPORT OFFICE   The central location of planning and project support functions. Often provides personnel and facilities for centralized planning, cost management, estimating, documentation control and sometimes procurement to a number of projects. 

PROJECT TEAM   Set of individuals, groups and/or organizations that are responsible to the project manager for undertaking project tasks. (Includes all contractors and consultants.) 

PROJECT TECHNICAL PLAN   A plan produced at the beginning of a project that addresses technical issues and strategic issues related to quality control and configuration management. 

PROJECT TIME MANAGEMENT   A subset of project management that includes activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development and schedule control in order to complete the project on time. 

PUBLIC RELATIONS   An activity meant to improve the project organisation's environment in order to improve project performance and reception.

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Chitika

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