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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Portfolio strategic alignment
The degree to which the collective set of portfolio components advances organizational strategy, assessed at the portfolio level rather than component by component.
Portfolio strategic plan
A document defining portfolio objectives, prioritization criteria, and intended component mix, serving as the baseline for evaluating strategic alignment.
Strategy traceability chain
The linkage from vision and strategic goals through portfolio objectives to component business cases, benefits, and KPIs, enabling alignment verification.
Weighted prioritization model
A scoring method that ranks components using criteria derived from strategic objectives, with weights set by governance rather than by sponsors.
Balanced Scorecard perspectives
Financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth viewpoints used to map how portfolio components contribute to organizational strategy.
Alignment re-evaluation trigger
A strategic change event that requires reassessing whether existing portfolio components still support objectives before the portfolio is re-approved.
Benefits realization evidence
Measured realized benefits compared against the benefits register, used as proof of strategic alignment rather than activity or output volume.
Portfolio governance
The framework of decision rights, accountability, review cadence, and escalation paths that controls portfolio-level decisions and investment commitments.
Portfolio board
The governing body holding authority for portfolio decisions such as approving, reprioritizing, pausing, or terminating components and reallocating funds.
Stage-gate review
A scheduled decision point at which governance chooses to continue, change, hold, or terminate a component based on defined criteria.
Governance tailoring
Scaling oversight rigor to a component's risk level, investment size, and strategic criticality so control is proportionate rather than uniform.
Tolerance breach escalation
The rule that a component exceeding approved cost, schedule, or benefit tolerances is escalated to the governing body rather than re-baselined locally.
Decision log
A governance record capturing each portfolio decision with its rationale, date, and accountable owner, preventing undocumented or ambiguous outcomes.
Separation of duties
A control principle preventing the person accountable for component delivery from being the sole approver of its continuation or funding.
Cost performance index
Earned value divided by actual cost (CPI = EV / AC); a value above 1.0 indicates favorable cost performance.
Schedule performance index
Earned value divided by planned value (SPI = EV / PV); a value above 1.0 indicates favorable schedule performance.
Estimate at completion
A forecast of total cost, commonly BAC divided by CPI, or actual cost plus remaining budget when variances are atypical.
To-complete performance index
TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC); the cost efficiency required on remaining work to finish within the approved budget.
Weighted portfolio aggregation
Combining component performance indices by budget or value weighting rather than simple averaging, so large components are not masked by small ones.
Portfolio rebalancing
Reallocating funds, resources, or priorities among components to restore performance and alignment, requiring governance approval when baselines change.
Capacity utilization metric
A performance measure comparing demand for skilled resources against available supply across the portfolio, revealing bottlenecks and overallocation.
Benefits shortfall
A gap between planned and realized benefits recorded in the benefits register, treated as a portfolio performance signal rather than only a delivery issue.
Portfolio risk exposure
Aggregate risk facing the portfolio, which exceeds the simple sum of component risks when risks are correlated or share common causes.
Risk appetite and tolerance
Governance-set levels of acceptable risk exposure; the portfolio manager operates within them and escalates exposures that breach defined thresholds.
Concentration risk
Over-reliance on a single vendor, technology, market, or key individual, creating portfolio-level exposure invisible in individual component reviews.
Expected monetary value
EMV = probability × impact; a quantitative technique for comparing and prioritizing risk exposures across portfolio components.
Dependency management
Tracking inter-component dependencies with owners and dates as portfolio risks, since unresolved dependencies threaten schedule and benefits.
Threat response strategies
Avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, and escalate; the standard set of options for addressing risks that could harm portfolio objectives.
Portfolio communications plan
A document specifying stakeholders, information needs, reporting cadence, channels, and escalation paths for portfolio-level communication.
Power-interest stakeholder grid
A classification placing stakeholders by influence and interest, guiding engagement strategy and communication frequency for each group.
Decision-oriented reporting
Portfolio reporting that states the decision required, options, recommendation, and consequences rather than presenting status metrics alone.
Escalation threshold
A predefined trigger level at which an issue, risk, or tolerance breach is raised to a higher authority, agreed in advance in the communications plan.