Glossary

Balanced Scorecard - Developed in 1992 by Professors Kaplan & Norton, there exist ample references on this methodology for those interested in pursuing the subject further. Suffice to know that the balanced scorecard consists of a balanced (in the sense that they are internally AND externally oriented) set of performance indicators designed to communicate an organisation's strategy, targets & performance responsibilities for both management & staff.

Corporate Transformation - Transformation is a fundamental shift from one paradigm to another, since fundamental change, by definition, necessarily affects how all members of an organisation see, think and behave; otherwise a change initiative would be superficial and short lived, but not paradigmatic. For most transformations, change is not simply an exchange of one paradigm for another. It is more a shift from an old (inflexible, dysfunctional) model to a new (more flexible and adaptive) model (Kilmann & Colvin, 1988)

KPI - this commonly used acronym stand for key performance indicator and is another term for performance measure.

ScoreTrak® - developed in Australia, a simple to use web-based software application that enables easy access to monitor & manage Balanced Scorecards, Ideas & Action Plans. ScoreTrak® will identify where things are going well and not so well across all areas of the organisation. Transparency is a key attribute of ScoreTrak®.

Simplex™ - a step-by-step process for tackling complex problems, as identified in ScoreTrak®, or elsewhere, then generating well considered and actionable ideas for improving our performance.

SCORETRAK SOFTWARE TERMINOLOGY

Colour coding - KPIs or performance measures are colour coded according to their Actual result compared to Target. This coding enables quick and effective analysis of data to identify problem areas as well as high performing areas.

Dashboard - provided for each KPI or performance measure, Dashboards provides users the facility to view a full periodic history of Actuals and Targets and colour-coded Scores for the particular measure as well trends over time in a chart, either by period or year to date.

Data Owners - distinct from Measure Owners, Data Owners are responsible for collecting and inputting data into ScoreTrak®.

Display Thresholds - these are the colour coding thresholds for Scores. Scores are computed when Actuals are entered against Target. See your ScoreTrak® administrator for further information. Refer also Score below.
Drill-down analysis - a feature enabling users to drill down a Tree hierarchy in ScoreTrak® to lower sub-measure levels. Often poor performance is masked at higher levels and the issue may be at these lower levels.

Feedback & Suggestions - yet to be released (Nov - Dec 2006) this function will enable users and all stakeholders to enter their comments and or suggestions for improvement.

Filter - measures in ScoreTrak® may be filtered by performance, team, owner or measure name. This feature enables users to view data in manageable chunks.

Ideas & Activities - yet to be released (Nov - Dec 2006) this function will enable users to monitor and manage Ideas and their related Activities. Colour coding is also used to track Ideas & Activities that are implemented on time and those that may slip behind schedule.

Measure Owners - distinct from Data Owners, Measure Owners are accountable for the performance measure in terms of its outcome or Score.

Objectives - Strategy & Business - ScoreTrak enables the measurement of key objectives be they strategic or business related. A strategic objective will be typically generated by the management team and a business objective generated by operational teams. A strategic objective could be related to market share while a business objective related to reducing agency costs.

Performance Explorer - enables you to sort out the better performing measures from the poorer performers. Also where data may not exist, PE will detect those too.

Performance Measure - Simple Data & Formula - also referred to as a KPI (key performance indicator) ScoreTrak has 2 types of performance measure, a Simple Data measure and a Formula measure. Formula measures are made up of Simple Data measures. The calculation itself may be formulaic based on standard operators or weighted indexes where measures are of different data type (i.e. Apples and oranges)

Perspective - used interchangeably with terms like KRA (key result area) a perspective is tantamount to a strategic theme an organization considers critical at all levels of the organization. Perspectives for a hospital might include - Patients, Internal Processes, Learning Innovation & Growth and Finance.

Scenario - scenarios are groupings of data that allow comparisons. For instance Actual scenario compared with Target scenario. There exists no limit to the number of scenarios applied to a performance measure - e.g. Benchmarks, Best Practice.

Score - in our new program Actual data may be compared with Target or other available Scenarios. The result is termed a Score and expressed as a percentage. The Score algorithm also allows for the fact that high values may be good or bad depending on the measure itself - e.g. Revenues and infection rates. Algorithms take this into account and calculate Score.

ScoreBoard - ScoreBoards comprise strategically grouped colour-coded key performance indicators which may be viewed by team (area) and/or month. The idea here is to have all key performance indicators viewable on the one page.

Team - a team in ScoreTrak® may be a geographic or functional area in an organization.

Trees - Measure & Strategy Type - the ScoreTrak® database relies on hierarchical relationships (trees) to facilitate multi-dimensional drill downs measure and team and period. Trees may be Measure or Strategy Trees - clients use a Strategy Tree for their balanced scorecard. Measure Trees are used where all measures aggregate upwards to the one measure at the top of the tree - for example Profit or Loss.