ISM 3541 Part 1 Key Terms

Cost Performance Index (CPI)

It measures the value of work completed compared to the actual cost spent on the project. As per the PMBOK Guide, "The CPI is a measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources, expressed as a ratio of earned value to actual cost."

Planned Value (PV)

Planned Value is the approved value of the work to be completed in a given time. It is the value that should have been earned as per the schedule. As per the PMBOK Guide, "PV is the authorized budget assigned to work to be accomplished for an activity or WBS component."

Progressive Elaboration

a concept acknowledging the learning process humans engage as projects are executed where as time progresses, the person gains greater level of detail. The evolution of context with time is the reason the analytics are gathered to measure the estimated time versus the actual time and as we become more accurate at defining and estimating work then the data will show our effectiveness.

Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

is a ratio of the earned value (EV) to the planned value (PV). If the SPI is less than one, it indicates that the project is potentially behind schedule whereas a Schedule Performance Index of greater than one, indicates the project is running ahead of schedule.

Earned Value (EV)

is the value of work performed expressed in terms of the approved budget assigned to that work for an activity or WBS component.