Top Operation Management Terminology
- Activity-Based Management (ABM)
A strategy focusing on business processes and activities as fundamental cost objects. - Affinity Diagram
A tool used to organize ideas and data into groups based on natural relationships. - Benchmarking
The process of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry best practices. - Brand Architecture
A system is organizing and structuring a company’s brands within its portfolio. - Burn Rate
The rate at which a company spends its capital before generating positive cash flow. - Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
A process-level improvement training and appraisal program for developing products and services. - Change Management
The discipline guides preparing, equipping, and supporting individuals to adopt change. - Cloud Computing
The delivery of computing services over the internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. - Competitive Positioning
Establishing a brand’s position in the market relative to competitors. - Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)
A systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives. - Cross-Functional Team
A group of people with different functional expertise working toward a common goal. - Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
The cost associated with convincing a customer to buy a product/service. - Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
A strategy for managing a company’s interactions with current and potential customers. - Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI)
A measure reflecting customer satisfaction for a company’s products/services. - Data Warehousing
The storage of large amounts of structured data in a central repository. - Design Thinking
A methodology providing a solution-based approach to solving problems. - Disruptive Innovation
An innovation significantly alters the way industries, businesses, or consumers operate. - Ecosystem Mapping
A visual representation of the relationships between different stakeholders in a business environment. - Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
The unique set of benefits an employee receives in return for the skills, capabilities, and experience they bring to a company. - Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)
A plan-based business strategy that aims to identify, assess, and prepare for any dangers or risks. - Gamification
The application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts. - Growth Strategy
A plan for expanding a company’s business in the market. - Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
A software solution used for data entry, tracking, and data information needs of the HR department. - Innovation Audit
An assessment identifying the innovation capabilities and performance of a company. - Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
A strategic approach to coordinating and integrating multiple marketing communication tools. - Inventory Management
Supervising non-capitalized assets and stock items. - Joint Venture (JV)
A business arrangement where two or more parties agree to pool their resources to accomplish a specific task. - Kaizen
A Japanese term meaning “continuous improvement” is used in business management. - Key Success Factors (KSFs)
These are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well for a company to achieve its business goals. - Knowledge Management
The process of creating, sharing, using, and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. - Lean Startup
A methodology for developing businesses and products that aims to shorten product development cycles. - Management by Exception (MBE)
A management style in which managers only intervene when results differ significantly from what is expected. - Market Penetration
The strategy is to increase sales of existing products within an existing market. - Mind Mapping
A visual representation of ideas and concepts that helps in brainstorming and organizing information. - Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)
A decision-making process involves evaluating and comparing multiple options based on different criteria. - Net Present Value (NPV)
A financial metric that evaluates the profitability of an investment by calculating the present value of expected future cash flows. - Omni-Channel Retailing
A multichannel approach to sales that seeks to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience. - Operational Excellence
A philosophy of leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving that results in continuous improvement. - Outsourcing
The business practice of hiring an outside party to perform services that traditionally were performed in-house. - Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)
A principle suggests that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. - Performance Management
A continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams. - Pivot
A fundamental change in a business’s strategy to ensure growth or sustain the business. - Predictive Maintenance
Techniques help to determine the condition of in-service equipment and predict when maintenance should be performed. - Process Improvement
A systematic approach to help an organization optimize its underlying processes. - Prototyping
The creation of a working model of a product to test and refine ideas before final production. - Public Relations (PR)
The practice of managing communication between an organization and its public. - Regulatory Compliance
The process by which a company ensures that it follows external laws and regulations. - Revenue Stream
The various sources from which a business earns money are from selling goods or services. - Risk Mitigation
The process of developing strategies to reduce, eliminate, or manage the impact of risk. - Scenario Analysis
A process of analyzing possible future events by considering alternative possible outcomes. - Service Design
The activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication, and material components of a service. - Social Responsibility
The ethical obligation of a business is to contribute to the welfare of society. - Stakeholder Analysis
A technique used to identify and assess the impact of key stakeholders in a project or business. - Strategic Fit
The degree to which an organization’s resources and capabilities align with the external environment. - Succession Planning
A process for identifying and developing future leaders at all levels of an organization. - Supply Chain Optimization
Ensuring that the supply chain operates at maximum efficiency and effectiveness. - Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. - Target Market
A specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services. - Time Management
Organizing and planning how to divide your time between different activities. - Total Addressable Market (TAM)
The total revenue opportunity is available for a product or service. - Transformation Management
The process of overseeing and guiding the strategic change initiatives in an organization. - User Experience (UX)
The overall experience of a person using a product, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is. - Value Proposition
The unique value a company offers customers through its products or services. - Vertical Market
A market in which vendors offer goods and services specific to an industry, trade, profession, or other groups of customers with specialized needs. - Visionary Leadership
A leadership style in which the leader inspires others with a compelling vision of the future. - Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A hierarchical decomposition of a project into smaller components. - Workforce Diversity
Including people from different backgrounds, cultures, and demographics within an organization. - Workflow Automation
Process design, execution, and automation are based on workflow rules, where tasks are automatically routed between people, technology, and data. - Zero Defects
A philosophy is encouraging businesses to set up processes to avoid mistakes and defects in production. - Business Ecosystem
A network of interconnected organizations that affect and depend on each other. - Core Competency
A defining capability or advantage that distinguishes an enterprise from its competitors. - Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
A prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. - Decision Matrix
A tool used for systematically evaluating multiple options based on a set of criteria. - Digital Twin
A virtual model is designed to reflect a physical object or system accurately. - Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
A formula used to determine the most cost-effective quantity of inventory to order. - Force Field Analysis
A method for analyzing the forces that drive and resist change in an organization. - Gap Analysis
A tool for assessing the differences between the current state and the desired state of an organization. - Holacracy
A system of management in which authority and decision-making are distributed throughout self-organizing teams. - Incident Management
The process of managing the lifecycle of incidents to ensure that normal service operations are restored as quickly as possible. - Just-In-Time (JIT) Inventory
A strategy that aligns raw-material orders from suppliers directly with production schedules. - Lean Enterprise
A business model emphasizing waste reduction, value creation, and efficiency. - Margin of Safety
The amount by which a company’s sales can drop before it reaches its break-even point. - Organizational Agility
The ability of an organization to quickly adapt to market changes and external conditions. - Process Automation
The use of technology to perform repetitive tasks without human intervention. - Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
A problem-solving method is used to identify the root causes of faults or problems. - Strategic Roadmap
A high-level strategic plan outlining the steps required to achieve long-term goals. - Tactical Planning
Short-term actions and plans that contribute to achieving long-term strategic goals. - Upsell
A sales technique in which a seller encourages the customer to purchase a more expensive item or add-on. - Virtual Organization
An organization using electronic means to communicate and operate without a physical location.