Glossary – M

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Machine translation

Automatic translation by computer. Also called automated translation. See also translation.

Maintenance Plan

A project document that defines the scope and plans for continued systems maintenance.

Major defect

A defect that is likely to result in failure or to materially reduce the usability of the end product for its intended purpose. See also critical defect, defect, minor defect.

Make-or-buy analysis

A management technique used to determine whether a particular product or service can be produced or performed cost effectively by the performing organization or should be contracted out to another organization. The analysis considers both the direct costs of procuring the product or service and administrative costs associated with managing the contractor.

Management by exception (MBE)

A management style in which management focuses only on situations in which there are significant differences between actual results and planned results. See also management styles.

Management by objectives (MBO)

A management theory that calls for managing people based on documented work statements that are mutually agreed upon by manager and subordinate. Progress on these work statement is periodically reviewed and compensation is tied to performance. See also management styles.

Management by walking around (MBWA)

A management style in which a leader is visible and helpful by walking around to listen, share ideas, and compliment efforts. See also management styles.

Management information system (MIS)

A system that provides the information needed to effectively manage an organization.

Management reserve

A separately planned amount of money or time intended to reduce the impact of missed cost, schedule, or performance objectives, which are impossible to plan for.

Management styles

See activity-based management, evidence-based management, management by exception, management by objectives, management by walking around, result-oriented management.

Manager

An individual whose primary high-level job functions are budgeting, coordinating, directing, organizing, planning, reporting, and staffing.

Mandatory requirement

A requirement that is dictated by Federal regulation or directive and is critical for system go-live.

Manufacturing resource planning (MRP)

Integration of all aspects of planning for the resources in a manufacturing organization.

Manuscript (MS)

An author’s original form of work (hand written, typed, or on a storage medium).

Margins

The white spaces surrounding text blocks.

Mark up

To write editing or composition instructions on a document.

Market analysis

Identification of the demographics and psychographics of segments of an overall market. See also demographics, psychographics.

Market capital

The ability of an organization to interact with customers, suppliers, partners, and other external stakeholders. See also human capital, innovation capital, intellectual capital, organizational capital.

Market research

Research conducted to determine the buying habits of individuals.

Marketing

The combination of traditional marketing and public relations with social media and other Internet-based initiatives to optimize an organization’s ability to reach buyers directly.

Marketing mix

A mix of product, price, promotion, and place (distribution) that best meets the needs of targeted customers.

Marketing research

Qualitative and quantitative research performed to help an organization best target and reach their customers.

Marketing strategy

The process of concentrating an organization’s limited resources on the most optimal sales opportunities.

Marketing types

See affiliate marketing, affinity marketing, direct marketing, internal marketing, neuromarketing, niche marketing, online marketing, permission-based marketing, relationship marketing, technical marketing, viral marketing.

Marketing writing

See copy writing.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

A theory of motivation in which a person’s needs arise in an ordered sequence: physical needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

Master Project Schedule

The highest level summary schedule for a project, depicting overall project phasing and all major interfaces, contractual milestones, and project elements.

Masthead

A graphic image at the top of a web page which can contain image maps, photos, shapes, and/or text.

Matrix organization

An organizational structure in which some form of lateral authority, influence, or communication overlays the vertical hierarchy, creating dual lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability where employees report to both a functional manager with quality responsibility and a business/product manager with profit responsibility; for example, where a project manager shares responsibility with functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of integrated project team members.

Maturity level

A defined position in an achievement scale that establishes the attainment of certain capabilities.

MBE

Management by exception.

MBO

Management by objectives.

MBWA

Management by walking around.

M-commerce

Commerce that occurs on a mobile device, such as a PDA or a web-enabled phone. See also e-commerce, m-commerce, t-commerce, u-commerce.

Mean

The value that results from dividing the sum of all values by the number of values in data set. Also called average.

Mechanical

Camera-ready copy annotated with printer’s instructions.

Mechanical separation

Overlays attached to a mechanical which are used to denote color breaks, one overlay for each color to be printed.

Media commerce

See M-commerce.

Median

In statistics, the middle value in a data set.

Mediation

Process in which a neutral third party facilitates communication and negotiation among disputing parties to find a mutually acceptable resolution. See also arbitration, assessment, mediation-arbitration.

Mediation-arbitration

A blend of mediation and arbitration that uses a neutral third party as both a mediator and arbitrator. See also arbitration, assessment, mediation.

Meetup.com

A social networking site that helps connect groups of people who have shared interests.

Memory-aided translation

See computer-assisted translation.

Mental models

Interrelated perceptions of reality that people build as they draw inferences and gather information about the world that surrounds them.

Mentoring

A relationship in which one person assists in the personal and professional development of another, outside the normal manager/subordinate relationship.

Meta-analysis

A statistical technique that distills the results of several studies into one overall estimate of the effect of an intervention. See also systematic review.

Metacognition

An awareness of one’s own learning processes.

Metadata

Data that describes other data; that is, the information that a database or application stores to describe an organization’s business data. See also data types.

Metadata design

The process of dividing data assets into manageable groups based on common characteristics.

Metaphor

An implied comparison using words figuratively. See also rhetorical strategies.

Metatag

An HTML tag that can contain keywords and descriptive information used by search engines in query results.

Metonymy

The substitution of one word or phrase for another that is closely associated. See also rhetorical strategies.

Metrics

Units of measurement used to assess, calculate, or determine progress performance in terms of monetary, schedule, or quality results.

Microsite

An individual site or group of pages connected to a parent site accessed by clicking on an ad.

MIDI

Musical instrument digital file format.

Milestone

A scheduled project checkpoint that signifies the completion of a phase, major deliverable, or set of related deliverables for which an individual or team is accountable and which is used to measure progress.

Milestone Schedule

A summary-level schedule that shows major milestones.

MIME

Multi-purpose internet mail extensions.

Mind mapping

A brainstorming tool that creates a visual representation of complex ideas, information, and data, and their interconnections.

Minesweeping

The process of clicking on all elements of an interface when it is not clear which items are active ‘clickable’ elements and which are content.

Minimalism

An approach to instruction and documentation, defined by John Carroll in The Nurnberg Funnel, that emphasizes the importance of realistic action- and task-based activities and experiences for effective learning and information seeking.

Minor defect

A defect that is not likely to materially reduce the usability of the product for its intended purpose, or is a departure from established standards having little bearing on the effective use or operation of the product. See also critical defect, defect, major defect.

MIS

Management information system.

Mission Statement

A statement of purpose and motivation for an organization or team, which can include definitions of the business and the customers, strategies, goals, metrics, standards, and values, meant to motivate, inspire, and guide decision making throughout the organization.

Mitigation

A risk response strategy that seeks to reduce the probability and/or impact of a risk to below an acceptable threshold. See also acceptance, avoidance, transference.

Mitigation strategy

Carefully organized steps taken to reduce or eliminate the probability of a risk occurring or the impact of a risk on the project.

Mixed life-cycle project

A project that has both development/modernization/enhancement (DME) and steady state aspects. For example, a mixed life-cycle project could include a prototype or module of a system that is operational with the remainder of the system in DME phases; or, a service contract for steady state on the current system with a DME requirement for system upgrade or replacement.

MMX

Multimedia extension.

Mobcast

An audio program that can be received on cell phones or mobile devices. Also called mobilecast, movlog.

Mobilecast

See mobcast.

Mobile device

A pocket-sized computing device, such as a smartphone or PDA.

Moblog

A blog that is posted and maintained using a mobile phone. See also blog types.

Mockup

A simulation of a final published product. Also called dummy.

Mode

In statistics, the most frequently occurring value in a data set.

Model

A representation of the components of a process or system to assist in understanding, analyzing, improving, and/or replacing the process.

Modeling

Creating a graphic representation of the activities and subprocesses within a process along with their interrelationships. Also called flowcharting.

Modification

A change, usually written, to a project’s scope or the terms of a contract.

Module

An instructional package that provides the information required to master specific knowledge and skills.

Monitoring

The capture, analysis, and reporting of project performance, usually as compared to plan.

Monopoly right

The owner’s exclusive right to a copyright, patent, service mark, trademark, or trade secret for a specific period of time.

Monospaced type

A typeface in which every character is the same width. See also proportionally spaced type.

Monte Carlo analysis

A technique that performs a project simulation many times to calculate a distribution of likely results.

Mouseover

A special effect caused when the mouse moves over a graphic image; for example, color changes or animation.

MOV

Apple QuickTime digital movie file format.

Movlog

Mobile video blog. See also blog types.

MP3

MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 file format.

MPP

Microsoft Project file format.

MRP

Manufacturing resource planning.

MS

Manuscript.

Multicasting

Audio, video, email, or applications broadcast over the web.

Multicultural communication

Communication that does not exclude or offend anyone due to unintended cultural misunderstandings.

Multimedia

Communication that combines two or more mediums, such as animation, audio, graphics, text, and video.

Multimedia design

Combining elements—including animation, audio, photos, and video—to communicate a concept or information, usually in an interactive form, via an interactive CD or DVD, kiosk, or website.

Multimedia extension (MMX)

A multimedia accelerator in Intel Pentium processors.

Multiplatform

Software that is usable by several types of computers or operating systems.

Multi-purpose internet mail extensions

An Internet protocol that allows the exchange of various file types, including application programs, ASCII text, audio, images, and video.

Multivariate

A metric that measures more than one variable.

Musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) software

Software that records what notes are being played, when, and for how long.

MySpace

A social networking site that allows users to meet new people and allows friends to keep in touch.

MySQL

An open source relational database management system.

Mystery shoppers

People who conduct market research disguised as customers; for example, to compare prices or evaluate customer service.

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