The correct answer is A because the specialists described in the question are not casual reviewers or occasional outside advisers; they are VM team members whose specialized knowledge is required for the study. The CVS logic is that essential team members should remain engaged through the full Job Plan so that information, function thinking, creativity, evaluation, development, and presentation remain connected. The SAVE Study Guide identifies technical champions as team members selected for technical expertise and states that value team members are expected to “participate in all meetings,” gather and analyze information, identify functions, contribute ideas, and evaluate ideas using their experience and expertise. ( )

Options B, C, and D incorrectly isolate specialist participation to one phase. That weakens team continuity and can cause poor assumptions, missed functions, unrealistic ideas, or weak evaluation. The facilitator may manage time efficiently through preparation, agenda control, and disciplined facilitation, but should not remove required specialists from the VM Job Plan phases. The Study Guide also emphasizes keeping team members together whenever possible to maintain continuity. ( )

References/topics: VM Facilitation; Team Dynamics; Technical Champions; Value Team Member Responsibilities; Job Plan Discipline.

The correct answers are A, D, and E . A RACI matrix is a facilitation and stakeholder-management tool used to clarify how individuals or stakeholder groups participate in activities, tasks, deliverables, or decisions. In VM practice, this supports the facilitator’s responsibility to coordinate participation, communication, and accountability across the multidisciplinary study environment. The SAVE Study Guide emphasizes that VM is performed through a systematic process by a multidisciplinary team and that proper stakeholder participation is necessary to capture real needs versus wants and achieve maximum value. ( )

A RACI matrix identifies the level of stakeholder involvement in activities by assigning roles such as Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. It also identifies stakeholders required to provide feedback, which aligns with the Consulted role. Cornell’s RACI definition describes Consulted parties as people whose opinions are sought and who provide knowledge or information before a decision is made. It also describes Informed parties as stakeholders kept updated on progress, process execution, and quality. ( it.cornell.edu ) Therefore, the matrix also helps identify what reasonable information should be provided to stakeholders. Threats and opportunities belong to risk or SWOT analysis, while weighted performance attributes belong to criteria weighting or evaluation methods.

References/topics: VM Facilitation; Stakeholder Engagement; Communication Planning; Team Roles and Responsibilities; RACI Matrix.

The correct answers are A. Cost and D. Innovation . In the CVS®/Value Methodology program-management context, a balanced scorecard is used to measure organizational or program performance from more than one viewpoint, rather than judging success only by a single financial result. The traditional balanced scorecard framework includes financial, customer, internal process, and innovation/learning perspectives. Kaplan and Norton’s original balanced scorecard concept includes an innovation and learning perspective, which makes Innovation a direct match. ( Harvard Business Review )

Cost is also acceptable because it represents the financial perspective of the scorecard. Financial measures commonly include cost, profit, expense control, return, and other resource-based measures. ACCA explains the financial perspective as measuring traditional financial performance, including costs and related financial indicators. ( ACCA Global )

Design is incorrect because it is a technical or product-development activity, not a balanced scorecard perspective. Marketing is also incorrect because it may support customer strategy, but the actual scorecard perspective is normally called the customer perspective , not marketing. Therefore, the best two answers from the given options are Cost and Innovation .

References/topics: VM Programs; Balanced Scorecard; Financial/Cost Perspective; Innovation and Learning Perspective; Program Performance Measurement.

The correct answers are A, C, and D . In FAST diagramming, scope lines define the boundary of the subject being studied. They separate what is included in the VM study from functions that explain the larger reason for the study or the initiating input outside the study boundary. SAVE’s VM glossary explains that a FAST diagram includes scope lines and classified functions such as basic, higher-order, and lower-order functions. It also defines subject scope as the portion of the project, product, or process selected for the value study. ( )

Option A is correct because scope lines represent the limits of the VM study subject. Option C is correct because the basic function is placed immediately to the right of the left scope line; it represents the essential purpose of the subject within the study. Option D is correct because the higher-order function is placed to the left of the left scope line and explains the broader need or goal for which the basic function exists. SAVE defines the higher-order function as outside the scope of the subject under study. ( )

Option B is not selected because the key convention is boundary placement, not “solid line” style. Option E is incorrect because the lower-order function is outside the right scope boundary, not immediately left of it.

References/topics: Function Analysis Phase; FAST Diagram; Scope Lines; Basic Function; Higher-Order Function; Lower-Order Function.

The correct answer is A. creative steps from analytical steps . The VM Job Plan is structured so the team does not mix information gathering, function analysis, idea generation, judgment, and proposal development into one uncontrolled discussion. SAVE guidance describes the Job Plan as the process that guides the study team in identifying and focusing on key project functions to create ideas that result in value improvement. ( )

This separation is important because the Creative Phase requires free idea generation without premature criticism, feasibility judgment, or cost filtering. The Evaluation Phase then applies analytical judgment to screen, rank, and select ideas with value potential. The Development Phase further analyzes selected alternatives through cost, performance, risk, and implementation considerations. SAVE’s VM Standard also states that a qualifying value study follows an organized Job Plan with defined phases, including Function Analysis, Creative, Evaluation, Development, and Presentation. ( )

Option B is incorrect because designers may be part of the multidisciplinary VM team. Option C is incorrect because cost and function are intentionally related during VM analysis. Option D is incorrect because project needs and functions are also connected; functions express what must be done to satisfy needs.

References/topics: Value Methodology and Job Plan; Creative Phase; Evaluation Phase; Function Analysis; Analytical vs Creative Thinking.

The correct answers are B and D . A risk register is used to document, organize, and evaluate risks so that the VM team can understand how uncertainty may affect proposed alternatives. The two essential risk-register elements shown in the choices are probability of occurrence and impact on the scope . Probability identifies how likely the risk is to happen. Impact identifies what the consequence will be if the risk occurs, including possible effects on scope, cost, schedule, quality, performance, implementation, or stakeholder acceptance.

In the VM Job Plan, risk thinking becomes especially important when ideas move from creativity into evaluation and development. At that point, alternatives are no longer just possibilities; they must be tested for feasibility, consequences, and implementation exposure. A risk with high probability and high impact demands more attention than one with low probability and minor impact.

Option A, performance criteria , is related to evaluation criteria, not a core risk-register field. Option C, function of the risk , is not a standard risk-register element. Functions belong to Function Analysis and are normally expressed in verb-noun format, while risks are documented as uncertain events or conditions.

References/topics: Evaluation Phase; Development Phase; Risk Register; Risk Probability; Risk Impact; VM Proposal Screening.

The correct answer is C. Coarse, medium, and fine filters . In the VM Job Plan, the Evaluation Phase converts the large number of ideas generated during the Creativity Phase into a smaller, rationally selected group of ideas suitable for Development. SAVE’s Value Methodology Standard states that the Evaluation Phase uses a structured evaluation process to select ideas with potential for value improvement while still delivering required functions and respecting performance requirements and resource limits. ( )

The SAVE International Core Competencies directly classify Evaluation Phase techniques as coarse filter, medium filter, and fine filter methods. These appear under “Apply Evaluation Techniques,” with coarse filters representing simple screening, medium filters supporting intermediate comparison, and fine filters supporting more detailed evaluation before ideas move into development. ( )

Option A, weighted evaluation, can be part of a detailed or fine-filter evaluation, but it is not the complete filtering approach named in the CVS/VM Guide framework. Options B and D are more closely associated with idea generation or creative stimulation, not the primary structured filtering process of the Evaluation Phase.

References/topics: Evaluation Phase; Apply Evaluation Techniques; Coarse Filter; Medium Filter; Fine Filter; Idea Selection.

The correct answer is C. Before the VM study begins . Customer information must be acquired during the Preparation Phase , also called the pre-study effort, because the VM facilitator needs accurate project knowledge before the formal study session starts. This includes the customer’s objectives, needs, constraints, priorities, budget concerns, schedule requirements, performance expectations, risk issues, and definition of success. Without this information, the VM team may begin the study with an unclear scope, incomplete data, or incorrect assumptions.

The customer’s input also helps the facilitator select the right team members, prepare the agenda, identify required documents, define study boundaries, and confirm the decision-making framework. By the time the team enters the Information Phase, the study should already be organized and supported by relevant background data.

Option A is weaker because waiting until the study begins reduces efficiency and may waste team time. Option B is incorrect because the final presentation is for communicating recommendations, not collecting basic customer requirements. Option D is incorrect because conceptual development occurs after functions and ideas have already been analyzed.

References/topics: Preparation Phase; Pre-Study Activities; Customer Requirements; Study Scope; VM Job Plan; Information Readiness.

The correct answers are A, C, and E . In Value Methodology, an unwanted function is a negative or undesirable function created by the selected design approach, process method, or operating solution. The SAVE glossary defines an unwanted function as one identified by the customer, user, or stakeholder as undesirable and caused by the approach used to achieve the subject’s purpose. The SAVE Value Methodology Standard similarly classifies it as a negative secondary function caused by the method used to achieve the basic function, such as heat generated by lighting that then requires cooling. ( UW Courses )

Therefore, C is correct because unwanted functions are typically byproducts of how another required or basic function is performed. A is correct because these negative functions can reduce performance, quality, reliability, safety, or user satisfaction. E is correct because unwanted functions consume resources through added mitigation, maintenance, energy, rework, or corrective measures.

Option D is incorrect because Value Index is used broadly in Function Analysis to compare cost and worth and select improvement opportunities, not to define unwanted functions. ( UW Courses ) Option B is too broad; unwanted functions may become targets for elimination, but that is not their defining characteristic.

References/topics: Function Analysis Phase; Function Classification; Secondary Functions; Unwanted Functions; Function Cost and Worth.

The correct “How” direction follows the classical FAST logic path from the broader purpose toward the dependent means of accomplishment. SAVE defines FAST as a graphical representation of dependent relationships between functions and states that a Classical FAST model displays function interrelationships using how-why logic . In this eyeglasses example, Improve vision is the higher-order purpose: it explains why the basic function exists. The basic function is Correct vision , because prescription eyeglasses exist primarily to correct the user’s vision. Moving in the “How” direction, the system corrects vision by Position lenses and Secure lenses ; the frame, bridge, arms, and nose pads exist to keep corrective lenses in the proper relationship to the eyes. The farthest “How”/lower-order decision is Select eyeglasses and Select contact lenses , representing the selected means or alternative correction approach.

The distractors are not on the critical function logic path. Secure position and Resist damage are supporting or secondary dependability functions. Complement appearance is a sell/aesthetic function, because it improves user acceptance but does not define the primary functional logic. SAVE’s glossary distinguishes higher-order, lower-order, and secondary functions and explains that secondary functions support the basic function through a specific design approach.

References/topics: Function Analysis Phase; FAST Diagramming; How-Why Logic; Critical Function Logic Path; Basic, Higher-Order, Lower-Order, and Secondary Functions.