MGT510 Glossary

EDU401 · Glossary ·  Aesthetics

Aesthetics is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature. It examines what makes something beautiful, sublime, disgusting, fun, cute, silly, entertaining, pretentious, discordant, harmonious, boring, humorous, or tragic.

 Affinity Diagram

A way to organize idea data into coherent patterns or themes. A large number of ideas are generated and then organized into groupings to reveal major themes.

 Authoritarian Culture

An organizational culture characterized by the holding of all power (decision making and information) at the top of the organization. The authoritarian organization seeks to maintain the status quo and forces workers to conform, never question or give feedback, play politics, and wait for orders.

 Benchmarking

A systematic process of continuously measuring an organization's critical business processes against business leaders anywhere in the world to gain information which will help the organization take action to improve its performance. Steps include Planning the Study, Collecting Information, Analyzing Results, Implementing Improvements.

 Boundary

The beginning or end point in the portion of a process from a Supplier to a Customer that will be the focus of the process improvement effort.

 Brainstorming

A group decision-making technique designed to generate a large number of creative ideas through an interactive process. Brainstorming is used to generate alternative ideas to be considered in making decisions.

 Center Line

The line on a control chart that represents the average (mean or median) value of the items being plotted.

 Check Sheet

A data collection form consisting of multiple categories. Each category has an operational definition and can be checked off as it occurs. Properly designed, the Check Sheet helps to summarize the data, which is often displayed in a Pareto Chart.

 Coach

A key resource person from within the organization who will support the CEO's leadership of the CQI. A respected peer from the hospital work force who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about CQI, eager to learn and eager to help others learn.

 Collaborative Culture

An organizational culture characterized by a shared vision, shared leadership, empowered workers, cooperation among organizational units as they work to improve processes, a high degree of openness to feedback and data, and optimization of the organizational whole versus its many parts.

 Common Cause System of Variation

The collection of variables that produce common cause variation and the interaction of those variables.

 Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

The culture, strategies and methods necessary for continual improvement in meeting and exceeding customers' expectations.

 Control Chart

A display of data in the order that they occur with statistically determined upper and lower limits of expected common cause variation. It is used to indicate special causes of process variation, to monitor a process for maintenance, and to determine if process changes have had the desired effect. One of the basic tools of the New Quality Technology.

 Control limits

Expected limits of common cause variation. Sometimes they are referred to as upper and lower control limits. They are not specification or tolerance limits.

 Cross Functional Approach

According to old paradigm, centuries old hierarchical form of organization with a vertical chain of command was the norm until recently emergence of new paradigm), when organizational complexity demanded horizontal as well as vertical coordination in order to plan and control processes that flowed laterally. If no lateral coordination is achieved, the organization becomes a collection of islands of specialization without integration, a requirement of systems approach. There is widespread agreement that cross functional teams provide the best vehicle for linking organizational activities and processes.

 Customer

The receiver of an output of a process, either internal or external to an organization or corporate unit. A customer could be a person, a department, a company, etc.

 Customer Data Table

A tool for translating customers' words into requirements, quality indicators and features of the product or service.

 Data Collection

Gathering facts on how a process works and/or how a process is working from the customer's point of view. All data collection is driven by knowledge of the process and guided by statistical principles.

 Deming Cycle

Deming Cycle for Continuous Improvement is a visualization of the CQI process usually consisting of four points - Plan, Do, Check, Act -- linked by quarter circles. The cycle was first