Application Area Knowledge, Standards and Regulations
　　应用领域知识、标准与规章制度
　　Application areas are categories of projects that have common elements significant in such projects, but are not needed or present in all projects. Application areas are usually defined in terms of:
　　应用领域是本类项目具有明显的（但并非所有项目所具备或所必须具备的）共同因素的项目类型。应用领域一般按以下方式定义：
　　Functional departments and supporting disciplines, such as legal, production and inventory management, marketing, logistics, and personnel
　　职能部门和辅助学科，如法律、生产和库存管理、营销、物流和人事管理。
　　Technical elements, such as software development or engineering, and sometimes a specific kind of engineering, such as water and sanitation engineering or construction engineering
　　技术因素，如软件开发或工程，有些时候是一种具体的工程，如给水排水工程或土建工程。
　　Management specializations, such as government contracting, community development, and new product development
　　管理专门化，如政府合同、社区开发或新产品开发。
　　Industry groups, such as automotive, chemical, agriculture, and financial services.
　　工业集团，如汽车、化工、农业或金融服务。
　　Each application area generally has a set of accepted standards and practices, often codified in regulations. The International Organization for Standardization （ISO） differentiates between standards and regulations as follows:
　　每一个应用领域一般都有一套公认的经常以规章制度形式颁布的标准和做法。国际标准化组织（Iso）把标准和规章制度做了如下区分（ISO/IEC Guide 2: 1996）:
　　A standard is a “document established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.” Some examples of standards are computer disk sizes and the thermal stability specifications of hydraulic fluids.
　　标准是一个“在经常和反复的使用中构成了活动或其结果的规则、原则或特征，并由共识确立或者公认机构批准的文件，其目的是在既定的环境中实现最佳程度的秩序”。标准的一些例子有，电脑磁盘的尺寸和液压流体的热稳定性。
　　A regulation is a government-imposed requirement, which specifies product, process or service characteristics, including the applicable administrative provisions, with which compliance is mandatory. Building codes are an example of regulations.
　　规章制度是一个“政府机构施加的要求。这些要求可能会决定产品、过程或服务遵守政府强制要求的特征，包括适用的行政管理条文”。建筑法规就是规章制度的一个例子。
　　There is an overlap in the concepts of standards and regulations that cause confusion. For example:
　　标准和规章制度这两个概念因有重复之处会引起混乱，例如：
　　Standards often begin as guidelines that describe a preferred approach and later, with widespread adoption, become generally accepted as if they were regulations
　　标准常常以描述一项为多数人选用的最佳方案的准则形式开始，然后，随着其得到广泛采用而得到了普遍公认，如规章制度一样。
　　Different organizational levels can mandate compliance, such as when a government agency, the management of the performing organization, or the project management team establishes specific policies and procedures.
　　不同的组织层次可能要求强制遵守，如当政府机构、实施组织的管理层，或者项目管理团队确立了具体的方针和程序时。

Understanding the Project Environment
　　理解项目环境
　　Virtually all projects are planned and implemented in a social, economic, and environmental context, and have intended and unintended positive and/or negative impacts. The project team should consider the project in its cultural, social, international, political, and physical environmental contexts.
　　几乎所有的项目都是在某种社会、经济和环境的条件下对之进行规划与付诸实施的，因此都会产生意料之中的和未曾意料的积极和消极影响。项目团队应当将项目置于其所处的文化、社会、国际、政治和自然的环境及其同这些环境之间的关系中加以考虑。
　　Cultural and social environment. The team needs to understand how the project affects people and how people affect the project. This may require an understanding of aspects of the economic, demographic, educational, ethical, ethnic, religious, and other characteristics of the people whom the project affects or who may have an interest in the project. The project manager should also examine the organizational culture and determine whether project management is recognized as a valid role with accountability and authority for managing the project.
　　文化与社会环境。项目团队需要理解项目与人们之间是如何相互影响的。要做到这一点，也许要求理解项目影响或对其有利害关系人群的经济、人口、教育、道德、种族、宗教状况，以及其他特征。项目经理还应当研究组织文化并确定组织是否已经承认管理该项目是有正当手续的，可以向各方面说明情况并获得了管理权限的角色。
　　International and political environment. Some team members may need to be familiar with applicable international, national, regional, and local laws and customs, as well as the political climate that could affect the project. Other international factors to consider are time-zone differences, national and regional holidays, travel requirements for face-to-face meetings, and the logistics of teleconferencing.
　　国际与政治环境。某些团队成员需要熟悉相应的国际、国家、地区和当地的法律和习惯，以及可能影响本项目的政治气候。需要考虑的其他国际因素是举行面对面会议时的时区差别、国家与地区节假日、旅行出差要求与电话会议的后勤保证问题。
　　Physical environment. If the project will affect its physical surroundings, some team members should be knowledgeable about the local ecology and physical geography that could affect the project or be affected by the project.
　　自然环境。如果项目影响到自然环境，某些团队成员应当具备有关能够影响本项目或受本项目影响的当地生态系统与地理的知识。