AFBM Journal vol 5 nos 1 & 2 - Special Edition 2008
Copyright Charles Sturt University
Paper 15. Glossary of Terminology Used1
Accelerating adoption
Increasing the number of improvements and innovations adopted per business per unit time and/or
increasing the number of businesses adopting improvements and innovations per unit time.
Accumulating growth
The sum over a number of years of the annual growth in profit which is the product of the number
of improvements and innovations implemented/unit time, and the level of impact on profit from
each improvement.
Adoption
The decision to implement an improvement or innovation as an appropriate course of action to
achieve a specific outcome e.g. increase in profit.
Adoption ceiling
The number of businesses having the capacity to implement an improvement or innovation per unit
time.
Adoption pathway
The sequence of stages required for successful adoption:
Awareness →
Understanding →
Decision
→
Trial
→
Consequences
Adoption rate
The number of businesses successfully implementing improvements or innovations/unit time
(successfully implementing = the improvement or innovation realises the full benefit expected).
Agility
A measure of how well a system can adjust and thrive in a dynamic environment by flexibly and
quickly responding to continuous, rapid and unanticipated change.
Awareness
Knowing of a practice or technology that may have potential to contribute to increasing profit.
Benchmarking
“Benchmarking is deciding what is important; understanding how you now do it and how well you
do it; learning from others how they do it; and applying what you have learnt in a way that leads
to your doing it better than before. Then you do it all again” (Evans 1994).
Measuring progress toward a goal at intervals prior to the anticipated attainment of the goal.
A standard that provides a measuring-stick for relative performance.
Capacity
The necessary knowledge, skills, technologies, tools, support and resources to achieve specific
outcomes.
Communication
The successful transmission of information so that the recipient understands what the sender
intends.
Commercialisation
Taking technologies or products into the marketplace, workplace and/or community. Note, the
definition used by the Department of Education, Science and Technology is: “manufacture, sale,
hire or other exploitation of a product or process, or the provision of a service, incorporating CRC
IP, or licensing of any third party to do any of those things”.
Concept
An abstraction representing an object, a property of an object, or a certain phenomenon which is
used to describe the empirical world.
1
Janice Timms and Richard Clark were the principal authors of this glossary.
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AFBM Journal vol 5 nos 1 & 2 - Special Edition 2008
Copyright Charles Sturt University
Continuous Improvement and Innovation (CI&I)
A shared process that enables individuals in teams, networks and partnerships to focus their
thinking and action to achieve improvements and innovations, regularly and frequently.
Critical Success Factors (CSFs)
Those things it is critical to have in order to achieve a focus or target outcome.
Culture
A system of shared philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs, expectations, attitudes
and norms that is considered valid by those within the system.
Decision
An opinion or conclusion reached after consideration or analysis. Within the adoption pathway, the
decision phase includes:
1. Analysing the potential impact that different practices or technologies are presumed, expected
or promoted as having in relation to increasing profit
2. Selecting to take forward to the trial phase, one or more particular practices or technologies
that appear to have the greatest potential to increase profit.
Design
To conceive and outline the set, sequence and relationship of components of something (e.g. a
system, process, strategy) which will achieve a particular outcome.
Development
The incorporation of knowledge and relevant results from research into complete technology
packages that are usable and of demonstrable value in achieving specific outcomes in the
workplace, market place or community.
Diffusion
The process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the
members of a social system” (Rogers 2003).
Dissemination
Dissemination (diffusion) is an interactive process with the help of which the participants create
and deliver information to each other about an innovation in order to reach mutual understanding.
Successful dissemination of an innovation produces change in people‟s thinking and actions.
Dissemination always consists of four recognizable and definable elements: innovation,
dissemination channels, time, and the people and communities which form the social system of the
dissemination process. (Rogers 1983).
Effectiveness
The degree to which specific target outcomes are achieved relative to the inputs invested.
Effectiveness
=
Outcomes
Inputs
Efficiency =
Outputs
Inputs
Efficiency
The degree to which specific target outputs are produced relative to inputs invested.
Evidence-based Practice
Evidence-based practice is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in
decision making. The evidence may come from research, measurements made in real world
situations or consensus judgment.
Focus
A specific area and target outcomes on which to concentrate attention, thinking and action.
Gross margin
The difference between the gross income and the variable costs directly associated with a
particular activity or enterprise. It excludes fixed or overhead costs.
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AFBM Journal vol 5 nos 1 & 2 - Special Edition 2008
Copyright Charles Sturt University
Improvement
Enhanced practices, processes, systems, products, services, outputs and outcomes of value in the
marketplace, workplace and/or community.
Improvement & Innovation Partnerships
A social infrastructure of people, teams, networks and partners committed to achieving measurable
improvement and innovation in their enterprises, businesses, supply chains, projects, organisations
or industries. They have a shared focus for improvement (often at a fairly high level of focus) and
within this focus choose relevant individual focuses that will make the most difference in their
situation. They regularly measure, share and celebrate their results with others, and benefit from
the achievements and support of others in the infrastructure.
Innovation
The creation and implementation of new products, services, systems, practices or processes that
generate additional value for a business, organisation industry or society.
Inputs
Resources put into systems, processes and practices to achieve outcomes.
Institutionalisation
The assimilation of changes in the policy, protocols, investments and practices of organisations or
systems, that enable a new concept or way of working to become a fundamental part of how the
organisations or systems operate in the future.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The specific, agreed measures that are of most value in measuring and assessing performance.
Leadership
A function in which a person draws together and influences others to achieve targeted outcomes in
a cohesive and coherent way by: developing and helping people to understand the target
outcomes; helping them to understand what and how they can contribute to achieving the targets;
guiding and showing the way; motivating and inspiring; helping others to realise their potential;
and taking effective action to continually improve their own leadership skills and realise their own
leadership potential.
Management
The process of leading and directing all or part of an organisation through the deployment and
manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). The main
functions of management are planning (i.e. defining goals for future organisational performance
and deciding on tasks and resources needed to be used in order to attain the goals), organising
(i.e. assigning tasks, grouping tasks into organisational units, and the assignment of authority and
allocation of resources across the organisation), leading and controlling (i.e. monitoring the
activities of people, determining whether the organisation is on target with its goals and making
changes when necessary).
Model
All models are representations of real things (e.g. systems, processes or real world situations)
simplified for some purpose. They include those features that are essential for the purpose and
they leave out those that are not essential. Models are usually used to help people to better
visualise, understand and comprehend the situation, system or process. They can provide a
framework for thinking, assessment or implementation. Descriptions of models often contain an
explanation of what the model does/is designed to achieve and in what contexts, its limits, the
assumptions underpinning it, its status and lineage (when it was first developed, how often it has
been used, what theories is it based on), descriptions of major improvements made to the model
over time, and evidence about its performance.
Network
A purposeful value-adding partnership based on reciprocal transactions between partners.
Outcome
The end result of converting inputs through practices, processes, systems, projects, products and
services to fulfil a need. The Department of Education, Science and Technology refers to outcomes
as being the benefits that will be achieved once research outputs are utilised by end-users.
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Output
The interim result or product of converting inputs through practices, processes, systems, products
and services in order to achieve a specific outcome and fulfil a need. The Department of
Education, Science and Technology refers to outputs as being tangible items delivered such as
gene markers, diagnostic tests etc.
Partnership
Interdependent (business-like) relationships between people for a specific purpose involving clear
rights, roles and responsibilities.
Performance
The level of achievement as measured against a specific criterion or indicator.
Process
A set and sequence of interconnected steps, activities, tools and resources to achieve specific
outputs and outcomes.
Program Return on Investment (ROI)
A summary measure of value of returns versus value of costs incurred. Returns are calculated
using the level of economic impact (gross margin) per business by the total number of businesses
achieving each level of impact.
Research
A process of inquiry leading to new knowledge and/or technology.
Research and development
A tightly coupled process of research and development of new practices, processes, systems,
products and/or services to achieve specific outcomes in the workplace, market place or
community.
Research outputs
Knowledge, information packages, publications, new technologies or techniques, policy analyses,
databases, standards, benchmarks.
Strategy
A systematic, long term plan or course of action designed to achieve specific outcomes, and to deal
with uncertain future circumstances which would impact on the achievement of the outcomes.
Sustainable
Capable of being sustained. Being able to continue into the future. Cost, energy and resource
expenditure does not exceed the benefits, value and returns. In terms of projects, the continued
achievement of outcomes continues after the project finishes.
Sustainable Improvement and Innovation (SI&I)
Sustainable Improvement and Innovation (SI&I) is a project system model that is designed to
achieve, and sustain the quality of, target outcomes, improvements and innovations in regions,
industries and organisations, while identifying and reducing negative short and long term, local and
global consequences of the project.
System
A set of interconnected, interacting, interrelated and interdependent parts or elements that form a
distinct, complex and unified whole that has a specific purpose. The removal or failure of one part
may incapacitate the entity as a whole.
Target
A set level of achievement/performance for which to aim.
Technology
Development and application of tools, machines, materials and processes that help to address
needs and problems. A technology consists of two essential components: a „hardware‟ aspect,
consisting of the tools, materials and mechanisms that embody the technology, and a „software‟
aspect, consisting of the information base or process in which the tool is embedded so that it can
be more easily integrated and applied in a management system.
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AFBM Journal vol 5 nos 1 & 2 - Special Edition 2008
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Technology throughput
The number of different technologies or innovations developed and integrated into businesses and
industry use per unit time.
Tool
An instrument that makes achieving outcomes more effective and easier.
Training
Acquiring knowledge and skills to use specific processes, tools, technologies, systems and
methodologies to improve performance.
Trial
A test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard or achieve a specific
outcome. Rigorous trials include designing and implementing a set of actions and making
observations to support or falsify presumptions, expectations or claims. Within the adoption
pathway, the trial phase includes:
1. Designing a valid and rigorous trial design
2. Gathering together the relevant information, skills, support and resources
3. Implementing the trial and gathering relevant, valid data
4. Appropriately analysing the data and results from the trial
5. Making conclusions about whether the technology produces the required impact, and therefore
whether or not to implement it fully.
Understanding
Comprehending and appreciating the nature, meaning and significance of something.
Utilisation
The term used by the Department of Education, Science and Technology to mean the take-up and
implementation of research outputs and outcomes by industry and other users.
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