🎓Knowledge Management: Taxonomy (Definitions)

"A classification system." (Ruth C Clark & Chopeta Lyons, "Graphics for Learning", 2004)

"A hierarchical structure within which related items are organized, classified, or categorized, thus illustrating the relationships between them." (Richard Caladine, "Taxonomies for Technology", 2008)

"A taxonomy is a hierarchical structure displaying parent-child relationships (a classification). A taxonomy extends a vocabulary and is a special case of a the more general ontology." (Troels Andreasen & Henrik Bulskov, "Query Expansion by Taxonomy", 2008)

"An orderly classification that explicitly expresses the relationships, usually hierarchical (e.g., genus/species, whole/part, class/instance), between and among the things being classified." (J P Getty Trust, "Introduction to Metadata" 2nd Ed., 2008)

"This term traditionally refers to the study of the general principles of classification. It is widely used to describe computer-based systems that use hierarchies of topics to help users sift through information." (Craig F Smith & H Peter Alesso, "Thinking on the Web: Berners-Lee, Gödel and Turing", 2008)

"A kind of classification method which organizes all kinds of things into predefined hierarchical structure." (Yong Yu et al, "Social Tagging: Properties and Applications", 2010)

"Any system of categories used to organize something, including documents, often less comprehensive than a thesaurus." (Steven Woods et al, "Knowledge Dissemination in Portals", 2011)

"Generally, a collection of controlled vocabulary terms organized into a structure of parent-child relationships. Each term is in at least one relationship with another term in the taxonomy. Each parent's relationship with all of its children are of only one type (whole-part, genus-species, or type-instance). The addition of associative relationships creates a thesaurus." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"A definitional hierarchy of concepts. Traditional taxonomies are tree-structured (a concept is assumed to have exactly one superconcept and multiple subconcepts). The higher a concept is positioned in the definitional hierarchy, the more individuals it describes (the comprehension of the concept), but the less definitional properties are needed (the meaning of a concept)." (Marcus Spies & Said Tabet, "Emerging Standards and Protocols for Governance, Risk, and Compliance Management", 2012) 

"A hierarchical representation of metadata. The top level is the category, and each subsequent level provides a refinement (detail) of the top-level term." (Charles Cooper & Ann Rockley, "Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy" 2nd Ed., 2012)

"A hierarchical structure of information components, for example, a subject, business–unit, or functional taxonomy, any part of which can be used to classify a content item in relation to other items in the structure." (Robert F Smallwood, "Managing Electronic Records: Methods, Best Practices, and Technologies", 2013)

"A classification of text" (Daniel Linstedt & W H Inmon, "Data Architecture: A Primer for the Data Scientist", 2014)

"A hierarchical structure of information components (e.g., a subject, business unit, or functional taxonomy), any part of which can be used to classify a content item in relation to other items in the structure." (Robert F Smallwood, "Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices", 2014)

"provides context within the ontology. Taxonomies are used to capture hierarchical relationships between elements of interest. " (Judith S Hurwitz, "Cognitive Computing and Big Data Analytics", 2015)

"Taxonomy is the science and practice of classification. Taxonomies are used when categorizing real-life as well as artificial phenomenon and the aim is to make systematic studies easier." (Ulf Larson et al, "Guidance for Selecting Data Collection Mechanisms for Intrusion Detection", 2015)

"A taxonomy is a hierarchy that is created by a set of interconnected class inclusion relationship." (Robert J Glushko, "The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition" 4th Ed., 2016)

"A hierarchical structure of information components, for example, a subject, business unit, or functional taxonomy, any part of which can be used to classify a content item in relation to other items in the structure." (Robert F Smallwood, "Information Governance for Healthcare Professionals", 2018)

🎓Knowledge Management: Ontology (Definitions)

"A data model that represents the entities that are defined and evaluated by its own attributes, and organized according to a hierarchy and a semantic. Ontologies are used for representing knowledge on the whole of a specific domain or on of it." (Gervásio Iwens et al, "Programming Body Sensor Networks", 2008)

"An ontology specifies a conceptualization, that is, a structure of related concepts for a given domain." (Troels Andreasen & Henrik Bulskov, "Query Expansion by Taxonomy", 2008)

"A semantic structure useful to standardize and provide rigorous definitions of the terminology used in a domain and to describe the knowledge of the domain. It is composed of a controlled vocabulary, which describes the concepts of the considered domain, and a semantic network, which describes the relations among such concepts. Each concept is connected to other concepts of the domain through semantic relations that specify the knowledge of the domain. A general concept can be described by several terms that can be synonyms or characteristic of different domains in which the concept exists. For this reason the ontologies tend to have a hierarchical structure, with generic concepts/terms at the higher levels of the hierarchy and specific concepts/terms at the lover levels, connected by different types of relations." (Mario Ceresa, "Clinical and Biomolecular Ontologies for E-Health", Handbook of Research on Distributed Medical Informatics and E-Health, 2009)

"In the context of knowledge sharing, the chapter uses the term ontology to mean a specification of conceptual relations. An ontology is the concepts and relationships that can exist for an agent or a community of agents. The chapter refers to designing ontologies for the purpose of enabling knowledge sharing and re-use." (Ivan Launders, "Socio-Technical Systems and Knowledge Representation", 2009)

 "The systematic description of a given phenomenon, which often includes a controlled vocabulary and relationships, captures nuances in meaning and enables knowledge sharing and reuse. Typically, ontology defines data entities, data attributes, relations and possible functions and operations." (Mark Olive, "SHARE: A European Healthgrid Roadmap", 2009)

"Those things that exist are those things that have a formal representation within the context of a machine. Knowledge commits to an ontology if it adheres to the structure, vocabulary and semantics intrinsic to a particular ontology i.e. it conforms to the ontology definition. A formal ontology in computer science is a logical theory that represents a conceptualization of real world concepts." (Philip D. Smart, "Semantic Web Rule Languages for Geospatial Ontologies", 2009)

"A formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts. It is used to reason about the properties of that domain, and may be used to define the domain." (Yong Yu et al, "Social Tagging: Properties and Applications", 2010)

"Is set of well-defined concepts describing a specific domain." (Hak-Lae Kim et al, "Representing and Sharing Tagging Data Using the Social Semantic Cloud of Tags", 2010)

"An ontology is a 'formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualisation'. It is composed of concepts and relations structured into hierarchies (i.e. they are linked together by using the Specialisation/Generalisation relationship). A heavyweight ontology is a lightweight ontology (i.e. an ontology simply based on a hierarchy of concepts and a hierarchy of relations) enriched with axioms used to fix the semantic interpretation of concepts and relations." (Francky Trichet et al, "OSIRIS: Ontology-Based System for Semantic Information Retrieval and Indexation Dedicated to Community and Open Web Spaces", 2011)

"The set of the things that can be dealt with in a particular domain, together with their relationships." (Steven Woods et al, "Knowledge Dissemination in Portals", 2011) 

"In semantic web and related technologies, an ontology (aka domain ontology) is a set of taxonomies together with typed relationships connecting concepts from the taxonomies and, possibly, sets of integrity rules and constraints defining classes and relationships." (Marcus Spies & Said Tabet, "Emerging Standards and Protocols for Governance, Risk, and Compliance Management", 2012)

"High-level knowledge and data representation structure. Ontologies provide a formal frame to represent the knowledge related with a complex domain, as a qualitative model of the system. Ontologies can be used to represent the structure of a domain by means of defining concepts and properties that relate them." (Lenka Lhotska et al, "Interoperability of Medical Devices and Information Systems", 2013)

"(a) In computer science and information science, an ontology formally represents knowledge as a set of concepts within a domain, and the relationships between pairs of concepts. It can be used to model a domain and support reasoning about concepts. (b) In philosophy, ontology is the study of the nature of being, becoming, existence , or reality , as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology deals with questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences." (Ronald J Lofaro, "Knowledge Engineering Methodology with Examples", 2015)

"It is a shared structure which classify and organizes all the entities of a given domain." (T R Gopalakrishnan Nair, "Intelligent Knowledge Systems", 2015)

"The study of how things relate. Used in big data to analyze seemingly unrelated data to discover insights." (Jason Williamson, "Getting a Big Data Job For Dummies", 2015)

"An ontology is a formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualization." (Fu Zhang et al, "A Review of Answering Queries over Ontologies Based on Databases", 2016)

🎓Knowledge Management: Explicit Knowledge (Definitions)

"Knowledge that is easily codified, shared, documented, and explained." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"The knowledge that deals with objective, rational, and technical knowledge (data, policies, procedures, software, documents, etc.)." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management" 8th Ed., 2011)

"Explicit knowledge is information that is captured in a way that it can be shared. People can learn it without having to rely directly on other people. In knowledge management practice, explicit knowledge is contrasted with tacit knowledge, which is knowledge that is inside people’s heads." (Laura Sebastian-Coleman, "Measuring Data Quality for Ongoing Improvement", 2012)

"Recorded information, for example, a written policy or procedure." (Joan C Dessinger, "Fundamentals of Performance Improvement" 3rd Ed., 2012)

"Knowledge that can be codified using symbols such as words, numbers, and pictures." (Project Management Institute, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)", 2017)

🎓Knowledge Management: Knowledge Management (Definitions)

"The conscious and systematic facilitation of knowledge creation or development, diffusion or transfer, safeguarding, and use at the individual, team- and organizational level." (Martin J Eppler, "Managing Information Quality" 2nd Ed., 2006)

"The field of study that relates to the centralized management of a company’s corporate knowledge and information assets in order to provide this knowledge to as many company staff members as possible and thus encourage better and more consistent decision making." (Evan Levy & Jill Dyché, "Customer Data Integration", 2006)

"Discipline that intends to provide, at its most suitable level, the accurate information and knowledge for the right people, whenever they may be needed and at their best convenience." (J Ares, "Guidelines for Deploying a Knowledge Management System", 2008)

"The process of creating, capturing and organizing knowledge objects. A knowledge object might be a research report, a budget for the development of a new product, or a video presentation. Knowledge Management programs seek to capture objects in a repository that is searchable and accessible in electronic form." (Craig F Smith & H Peter Alesso, "Thinking on the Web: Berners-Lee, Gödel and Turing", 2008)

"The process established to capture and use specific knowledge in an organization for the purpose of improving organizational performance." (Murray E Jennex, "Technologies in Support of Knowledge Management Systems", 2009)

"1.The management of an environment where people generate tacit knowledge, render it into explicit knowledge, and feed it back to the organization. The cycle forms a base for more tacit knowledge, which keeps the cycle going in an intelligent learning organization. (Brackett 2011) 2.The discipline that fosters organizational learning and the management of intellectual capital as an enterprise resource." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management" 1st Ed., 2010)

"The process that helps organizations identify, select, organize, disseminate, and transfer important information and expertise that are part of the organization's memory and that may reside in unstructured form within the organization." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management" 8th Ed., 2011)

"Knowledge management is a set of practices related to how organizations learn from their own experiences. Many of these practices focus on ensuring that what employees know and learn is captured in a shareable form (explicit knowledge)." (Laura Sebastian-Coleman, "Measuring Data Quality for Ongoing Improvement ", 2012)

"The accumulation, organization, and use of experience and lessons learned, which can be leveraged to improve future decision-making efforts. KM often involves listing and indexing subject matter experts, project categories, reports, studies, proposals, and other intellectual property sources or outputs that are retained to build corporate memory. Good KM systems help train new employees and reduce the impact of turnover and retirement of key employees." (Robert F Smallwood, "Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices", 2014)

"The process of capturing, using, leveraging, and sharing organizational knowledge." (Sally-Anne Pitt, "Internal Audit Quality", 2014)

"The intentional process of creation, acquisition and sharing of knowledge and its utilization as a key factor in the creation of added value. It is an inextricably human and cooperative process." (António C Moreira & Ricardo A Zimmermann, "Electronic Government: Challenges for Public Services Consumer Behaviour and Value Creation", 2015)

"Knowledge management is considered as a systematic process of managing knowledge assets, processes, and environment to facilitate the creation, organization, sharing, utilization, and measurement of knowledge to achieve the strategic aims of an organization." (Haitham Alali et al, "Knowledge Sharing Success Model of Virtual Communities of Practice in Healthcare Sector", 2016)

"Knowledge management promotes activities and processes to acquire, create, document, and share formal explicit knowledge and informal implicit knowledge. Knowledge management involves identifying a group of people who have a need to share knowledge, developing technological support that enables knowledge sharing, and creating a process for transferring and disseminating knowledge." (Ciara Heavin & Daniel J Power, "Decision Support, Analytics, and Business Intelligence" 3rd Ed., 2017)

"The process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge." (Izabella V Lokshina et al, "Internet of Things and Big Data-Driven Data Analysis Services for Third Parties", 2019)

"The methods and underlying policies for sharing information effectively so that the sum of the skills, experience and entrepreneurial attributes of all stakeholders is greater than the sum of the individual parts. If done well, each stakeholder also benefits, thus increasing the ‘sum of the individual parts’ that go on to increase the ‘sum of the whole’ in a virtuous circle." (Sue Milton, "Data Privacy vs. Data Security", 2021)

🎓Knowledge Management: Knowledge (Definitions)

"Justified true belief, the know-what/-how/-who/-why that individuals use to solve problems, make predictions or decisions, or take actions." (Martin J Eppler, "Managing Information Quality" 2nd Ed., 2006)

"An individual’s understanding of facts or information. Knowledge provides the basis for performing a skill that an individual must have to perform a task successfully." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management" 2nd Ed., 2009)

"1.Generally, expertise; familiarity gained through experience or association; cognizance, the fact or condition of knowing something; the acquaintance with or the understanding of something; the fact or condition of being aware of something, of apprehending truth or fact." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"The body of information and facts about a specific subject. Knowledge implies familiarity, awareness, and understanding of information as it applies to an environment. A key characteristic of knowledge is that 'new' knowledge can be derived from 'old' knowledge." (Carlos Coronel et al, "Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management" 9th Ed., 2011)

"The fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association. Knowledge adds understanding and retention to information." (Craig S Mullins, "Database Administration", 2012)

"The metadata about all the changes that a participant has seen and maintains." (Microsoft, "SQL Server 2012 Glossary", 2012)

"A collection of specialized facts, procedures, and judgment rules. Knowledge refers to what one knows and understands. Knowledge is categorized as unstructured, structured, explicit, or implicit. What we know we know we call explicit knowledge. Knowledge that is unstructured and understood, but not clearly expressed, we call implicit knowledge." (Ciara Heavin & Daniel J Power, "Decision Support, Analytics, and Business Intelligence 3rd Ed.", 2017)

"A mixture of experience, values and beliefs, contextual information, intuition, and insight that people use to make sense of new experiences and information." (Project Management Institute, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)", 2017)

"Knowing something with the familiarity gained through experience, education, observation, or investigation; it is understanding a process, practice, or technique, or how to use a tool." (Project Management Institute, "Project Manager Competency Development Framework" 3rd Ed., 2017)

"That array of facts and relationships that an individual has available to him or her for the performance of work, it may be part or all of an accepted body of knowledge, or knowledge that has been produced as largely self-generated content by the individual." (Catherine Burke et al, "Systems Leadership" 2nd Ed., 2018)

"The sum of a person’s - or mankind’s - information about and ability to understand the world." (Open Data Handbook)

🔦Process Management: Roles (Definitions)

"A job type defined in terms of a set of responsibilities." (Atul Apte, "Java Connector Architecture: Building Custom Connectors and Adapters", 2002)

"A set of expectations for behavior; describes the extent to which each individual performs activities related to project." (Timothy J  Kloppenborg et al, "Project Leadership", 2003)

"Specified responsibilities that identify a set of related activities to be performed by a designated individual (e.g., a project manager)." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"A definition of the behavior and responsibilities of an individual or set of individuals working together as a team." (Bruce MacIsaac & Per Kroll, "Agility and Discipline Made Easy: Practices from OpenUP and RUP", 2006)

"A defined set of work tasks, dependencies, and responsibilities that can be assigned to an individual as a work package. A role describes a collection of tasks that constitute one component of a process, and would normally be performed by an individual." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management" 2nd Ed., 2009)

"The set of expectations in a social system that define the services individuals or groups are supposed to provide." (Alexander Grashow et al, "The Practice of Adaptive Leadership", 2009)

"The characteristic and expected behaviors of an individual, derived from his or her responsibilities and preferences in providing value to the organization." (David Lyle & John G Schmidt, "Lean Integration", 2010)

"1.Generally, a label assigned to a set of connected behaviors, rights and obligations. 2.In data modeling, the way in which entities of one type relate to entities of another type in a relationship. 3.In data security, a name used to refer to the logical set of related responsibilities assignable to a person or organization, and to parties with these assigned responsibilities." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"A defined function to be performed by a project team member, such as testing, filing, inspecting, coding." (Cynthia Stackpole, "PMP® Certification All-in-One For Dummies®", 2011)

"Description of specific skills, qualifications and work profiles in software development. These should be filled by the persons (responsible for these roles) in the project." (Tilo Linz et al, "Software Testing Foundations" 4th Ed., 2014)

"Usual or expected functionality of an actor in the context of an activity or a business process; an actor can have one or several roles. " (Gilbert Raymond & Philippe Desfray, "Modeling Enterprise Architecture with TOGAF", 2014)

"A defined function to be performed by a project team member, such as testing, filing, inspecting, or coding." (Project Management Institute, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide )", 2017)

"In ITIL, this is a set of responsibilities, activities and authorities granted to a person or team. A role is defined in a process. One person or team may have multiple roles, for example the roles of configuration manager and change manager may be carried out by a single person." (Brian Johnson & Leon-Paul de Rouw, "Collaborative Business Design", 2017)

"A defined function to be performed by a project team member, such as testing, filing, inspecting, coding." (Jeffrey K Pinto, "Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage" 5th Ed., 2018)

"A set of responsibilities, activities and authorities granted to a person/team." (ITIL)

🔦Process Management: Baseline (Definitions)

"A documented characterization of the actual results achieved by following a process, which is used as a benchmark for comparing actual process performance against expected process performance." (Sandy Shrum et al, "CMMI: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement", 2003)

"A range of expected results that would normally be achieved by following a defined process. Often expressed in terms of the process control limits defined by the discipline of statistical process control." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"Documented process performance values used as a reference to compare actual and expected process performance." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"A documented characterization of the range of expected results that would normally be achieved by following a specific process under typical circumstances." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management" 2nd Ed., 2009)

"A documented characterization of the results achieved by following a process that is used as a benchmark for comparing actual process performance against expected process performance." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management" 2nd Ed., 2009)

[capability baseline:] "A statistically based description of the performance or results of a process that has been performed repeatedly. Capability baselines can quantify attributes of the process (e.g., effort or duration) or of the product produced by the process (e.g., amount or quality). Control charts used in statistical process control are one form of capability baseline. However, other statistical representations may be more appropriate, depending on the nature of the data being characterized. The purpose of a capability baseline is to predict outcomes and to interpret the results of process performance." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management" 2nd Ed., 2009)

📊Business Intelligence: Lagging Indicator (Definitions)

"When something consistently occurs a given period of time after something else, it is sometimes called a lagging indicator. The term is frequently applied to a curve of something that is correlated with the curve of something else, except it occurs a fixed period of time later (i.e., is shifted to the right on a graph with a time scale). For example, retail prices many times are lagging indicators of wholesale prices. Conversely, wholesale prices are often leading indicators of retail prices." (Robert L Harris, Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference, 1996)

"An indicator that follows the occurrence of something; hence used to determine the performance of an occurrence or an event. By tracking lagging indicators, one reacts to the results. For example, the high and low temperature, precipitation, and humidity of a given day." (Lynne Hambleton, "Treasure Chest of Six Sigma Growth Methods, Tools, and Best Practices", 2007)

"Data that reflects a slower reaction to economic or market changes; useful to describe trends." (Annetta Cortez & Bob Yehling, "The Complete Idiot's Guide® To Risk Management", 2010)

"An indicator that precedes the occurrence of something; hence, such indicators are used to signal the upcoming occurrence of an event. By tracking leading indicators, one can prepare or anticipate the subsequent event and be proactive. For example, barometric pressure and doplar radar of a surrounding region are indicators of ensuing weather." (Clyde M Creveling, "Six Sigma for Technical Processes: An Overview for R Executives, Technical Leaders, and Engineering Managers", 2006)

"Information that helps to forecast an increase in risk likelihood or severity before it appears in actual risk measures." (Annetta Cortez & Bob Yehling, "The Complete Idiot's Guide® To Risk Management", 2010)

"Backward-looking performance indicators that represent the results of previous actions. Characterizing historical performance, lagging indicators frequently focus on results at the end of a time period; e.g., third-quarter sales. A balanced scorecard should contain a mix of lagging and leading indicators." (Intrafocus) 

🔦Process Management: (Capability) Maturity Model [CMM] (Definitions)

[capability maturity model:] "A model that contains the essential elements of effective processes for one or more disciplines and describes an evolutionary improvement path from ad hoc, immature processes to disciplined, mature processes with improved quality and effectiveness." (Sandy Shrum et al, "CMMI®: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement", 2003)

[capability maturity model (CMM):] "A formal document describing the requirements for a 'good' process, using some structure or taxonomy. Process maturity models define how you “ought to” produce a product, and typically require that the process be defined, documented, taught, practiced, measured, improved, and enforced." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"A model to categorize the maturity of an organization by different levels. Most famous are the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and its successor, the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). Following this approach, many organizations have developed SOA maturity models." (Nicolai M Josuttis, "SOA in Practice", 2007)

"A Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is an evolutionary roadmap for implementing the vital practices from one or more domains of organizational process. It contains the essential elements of effective processes for one or more disciplines. It describes an evolutionary improvement path from an ad hoc, immature process to a disciplined, mature process with improved quality and effectiveness." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management 2nd Ed.", 2009)

"A structured collection of characteristics of effective processes at progressive levels of quality and effectiveness. A maturity model provides a common language and a shared vision for process improvement, a standard for benchmarking, and a framework for prioritizing actions. A maturity model assumes a natural evolutionary path for organizational process improvement." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"A framework that describes, for a specific area of interest, a number of levels of sophistication at which activities in this area can be carried out." (Jim Davis & Aiman Zeid, "Business Transformation: A Roadmap for Maximizing Organizational Insights", 2014)

"First introduced by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute in 1991 to improve the process of software development. However, their broader applicability was recognized, and the model was expanded in 2000 to apply to enterprise-wide process improvement." (Sally-Anne Pitt, "Internal Audit Quality", 2014)

[Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI):] "A process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes, which will improve their performance." (Adam Gordon, "Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK" 4th Ed.", 2015)

[capability maturity model integration (CMMI):] "A process model that captures the organization’s maturity and fosters continuous improvement." (Shon Harris & Fernando Maymi, "CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide" 8th Ed., 2018)

"A set of structured levels that describe how well an organization can reliably and sustainably produce required outcomes." (Yassine Maleh et al, 'Strategic IT Governance and Performance Frameworks in Large Organizations", 2019)

[Capability Maturity Model (CMM):] "A five level staged framework that describes the key elements of an effective software process. The Capability Maturity Model covers best practices for planning, engineering and managing software development and maintenance ." (IQBBA)

[Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI):] "A framework that describes the key elements of an effective product development and maintenance process. The Capability Maturity Model Integration covers best-practices for planning, engineering and managing product development and maintenance. (CMMI)

"A structured collection of elements that describe certain aspects of maturity in an organization, and aid in the definition and understanding of an organization's processes. A maturity model often provides a common language, shared vision and framework for prioritizing improvement actions." (SQA)

"A Maturity Model is a framework that is used as a benchmark for comparison when looking at an organisation's processes." (Experian) [source]

"A means of identifying and/or measuring the maturity of something of interest, such as a Service, Capability, Function, Skill, or Competency." (IF4IT)

🔦Process Management: Affinity Diagram (Definitions)

"A tool used to gather and group ideas; usually depicted as a “tree” diagram." (Clyde M Creveling, "Six Sigma for Technical Processes: An Overview for R Executives, Technical Leaders, and Engineering Managers", 2006)

"A process workflow model (diagram) showing the flow from one activity to the next." (Toby J Teorey, "Database Modeling and Design" 4th Ed., 2010)

"A form of visualization that shows patterns of ideas or data, by grouping them by topic or some attribute they share." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"A group creativity technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis." (For Dummies, "PMP Certification All-in-One For Dummies" 2nd Ed., 2013)

"In UML, a diagram that represents work flows for activities. They include several kinds of symbols connected with arrows to show the direction of the work flow." (Rod Stephens, "Beginning Software Engineering", 2015)

"A technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis." (Project Management Institute, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)", 2017)

"A graphical representations of workflows of stepwise activities and actions with support for choice, iteration and concurrency." (IQBBA)

🔦Process Management: Business Processes (Just the Quotes)

"Linking the basic parts are communication, balance or system parts maintained in harmonious relationship with each other and decision making. The system theory include both man-machine and interpersonal relationships. Goals, man, machine, method, and process are woven together into a dynamic unity which reacts." (George R Terry, "Principles of Management", 1960)

"If we view organizations as adaptive, problem-solving structures, then inferences about effectiveness have to be made, not from static measures of output, but on the basis of the processes through which the organization approaches problems. In other words, no single measurement of organizational efficiency or satisfaction - no single time-slice of organizational performance can provide valid indicators of organizational health." (Warren G Bennis, "General Systems Yearbook", 1962)

"Five coordinating mechanisms seem to explain the fundamental ways in which organizations coordinate their work: mutual adjustment, direct supervision, standardization of work processes, standardization of work outputs, and standardization of worker skills." (Henry Mintzberg, "The Structuring of Organizations", 1979)

"At the heart of reengineering is the notion of discontinuous thinking - of recognizing and breaking away from the outdated rules and fundamental assumptions that underlie operations. Unless we change these rules, we are merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We cannot achieve breakthroughs in performance by cutting fat or automating existing processes. Rather, we must challenge old assumptions and shed the old rules that made the business underperform in the first place." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) [source]

"Conventional process structures are fragmented and piecemeal, and they lack the integration necessary to maintain quality and service. They are breeding grounds for tunnel vision, as people tend to substitute the narrow goals of their particular department for the larger goals of the process as a whole. When work is handed off from person to person and unit to unit, delays and errors are inevitable. Accountability blurs, and critical issues fall between the cracks." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) 

"Reengineering triggers changes of many kinds, not just of the business process itself. Job designs, organizational structures, management systems - anything associated with the process - must be refashioned in an integrated way. In other words, reengineering is a tremendous effort that mandates change in many areas of the organization." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) [source]

"A business process is a collection of activities that takes one or more kinds of input and creates an output that is of value to the customer. A business process has a goal and is affected by events occurring in the external world or in other processes." (James A Champy & Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"A process perspective sees not individual tasks in isolation, but the entire collection of tasks that contribute to a desired outcome. Narrow points of view are useless in a process context. It just won't do for each person to be concerned exclusively with his or her own limited responsibility, no matter how well these responsibilities are met. When that occurs, the inevitable result is working at cross–purpose, misunderstanding, and the optimization of the part at the expense of the whole. Process work requires that everyone involved be directed toward a common goal; otherwise, conflicting objectives and parochial agendas impair the effort."  (James A Champy & Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"Reengineering posits a radical new principle: that the design of work must be based not on hierarchical management and the specialization of labor but on end-to-end processes and the creation of value for the customer." (James A Champy & Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"Enterprise Engineering is not a single methodology, but a sophisticated synthesis of the most important and successful of today's change methods. 'Enterprise Engineering' first explains in detail all the critical disciplines (including continuous improvement, radical reinvention of business processes, enterprise redesign, and strategic visioning). It then illustrates how to custom-design the right combination of these change methods for your organization's specific needs." (James Martin, "The Great Transition, 1995)

"Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling, and problem solving." (John P Kotter, "Leading Change", 1996) 

"To attain quality, it is well to begin by establishing the 'vision' for the organization, along with policies and goals. Conversion of goals into results (making quality happen) is then done through managerial processes - sequences of activities that produce the intended results." (Joseph M Juran, "How to think about quality", 1999)

"Process makes you more efficient." (Steve Jobs, BusinessWeek, 2004)

"Enterprise architecture is the process of translating business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating and improving the key requirements, principles and models that describe the enterprise's future state and enable its evolution. The scope of the enterprise architecture includes the people, processes, information and technology of the enterprise, and their relationships to one another and to the external environment. Enterprise architects compose holistic solutions that address the business challenges of the enterprise and support the governance needed to implement them." (Anne Lapkin et al, "Gartner Clarifies the Definition of the Term 'Enterprise Architecture", 2008

"Implementing new systems provides organizations with unique opportunities not only to improve their technologies, but to redefine and improve key business processes. Ultimately, for organizations to consider these new systems successes, the post-legacy environment must ensure that business processes, client end users, and systems work together." (Phil Simon, "Why New Systems Fail: An Insider’s Guide to Successful IT Projects", 2010)

"Organizations often fail to understand that business processes do not exist in a vacuum; they must be viewed against the backdrop of the technology used to enable those processes. Systems and business processes are related in a symbiotic - but not causal - manner." (Phil Simon, "Why New Systems Fail: An Insider’s Guide to Successful IT Projects", 2010)

"Processes take place over time and result in change. However, we’re often constrained to depict processes in static graphics, perhaps even a single image. Luckily, a good static graphic can be just as successful, perhaps even more so, than an animation. Giving the reader the ability to see each 'frame' of time can of f er a valuable perspective." (Felice C Frankel & Angela H DePace, "Visual Strategies", 2012)

"Understanding an organization's current processes and issues is not enough to build an effective data governance program. To gather business, functional, and technical requirements, understanding the future vision of the business or organization is important. This is followed with the development of a visual prototype or logical model, independent of products or technology, to demonstrate the data governance process. This business-driven model results in a definition of enterprise-wide data governance based on key standards and processes. These processes are independent of the applications and of the tools and technologies required to implement them. The business and functional requirements, the discovery of business processes, along with the prototype or model, provide an impetus to address the "hard" issues in the data governance process." (Neera Bhansali, "Data Governance: Creating Value from Information Assets", 2014)

🔦Process Management: Cycle Time (Definitions)

"The amount of time needed to complete an activity." (Dale Furtwengler, "Ten Minute Guide to Performance Appraisals", 2000)

"The speed with which an operation takes place from beginning to end. In product development, cycle time is often the time it takes from concept to product launch." (Steven Haines, "The Product Manager's Desk Reference", 2008)

"The time required to execute a process from start to finish." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"The available time in each workstation to complete tasks in order to process a product. The cycle time often be used to determine the production capacity of the assembly lines." (Hindriyanto D Purnomo, "Metaheuristics Methods for Configuration of Assembly Lines: A Survey", 2014)

"The time interval required to complete a task or function. A cycle starts with the beginning of the first step in a process and ends with the completion of the final step." (Ciara Heavin & Daniel J Power, "Decision Support, Analytics, and Business Intelligence" 3rd Ed., 2017)

"The time that an entity spends in the system, from the beginning to the end of a process." José I Gomar-Madriz et al, "An Analysis of the Traveling Speed in the Traveling Hoist Scheduling Problem for Electroplating Processes", 2020)

"The total process time from beginning to the end in order to complete a cycle of the operation." (Gökçe Ç Ceyhun, "An Assessment for Classification of Distribution Network Design", 2020)

"How frequently an item or product actually is completed by a process, as timed by direct observation. Also, the time it takes an operator to go through all of his or her work elements before repeating them." (Lean Enterprise Institute)

"The time taken to complete an activity." (Microsoft, "Dynamics for Finance and Operations Glossary")

🔦Process Management: Process Reengineering (Definitions)

"Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"The process of analyzing a legacy system and producing a new, more maintainable system." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"Activities that seek to radically change business processes and support systems in an organization." (Joseph Sarkis & R P Sundarraj, "Implementation Management of an E-Commerce-Enabled Enterprise Information System", 2009)

"Activity consisting in rationalizing and streamlining business processes, often associated with the implementation of an Enterprise System" (Andrea Masini, "ERP-Driven Performance Changes and Process Isomorphism", 2009)

"Reengineering involves a major restructuring (or overhaul) of an organization’s key operations. Another term for reengineering is business process redesign. There are certain features that are typical of a reengineered process. This includes: 1) Creating cross-functional teams, 2) Streamlining the business process, 3) Designing multiple versions of a business process and 4) Sharing information and resources." (Richard A Gershon, "Intelligent Networking and Business Process Innovation: A Case Study Analysis of Home Box Office and Dell Computers", 2009)

"The examination and modification of a system to reconstitute it in a new form and the subsequent implementation of the new form." (Teta Stamati, "Migration of Legacy Information Systems", 2009)

"A technique for evaluating how an enterprise (or part of an enterprise) operates. This involves process modeling, specifically with an eye to identifying processes that do not contribute to the enterprise’s profitability." (David C Hay, "Data Model Patterns: A Metadata Map", 2010)

"A methodology in which an organization fundamentally and radically changes its business processes to achieve dramatic improvement." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management" 8th Ed, 2011)

"The process of analyzing and radically transforming existing business activities, eliminating or minimizing costs and maximizing value in order to achieve breakthrough levels of performance improvement." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"The radical redesign of an organization's business, where one takes a current process and makes changes to increase its efficiency and create new processes." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management" 8th Ed., 2011)

"The radical redesign of processes for the purpose of extensive (not gradual) performance improvements." (Joan C Dessinger, "Fundamentals of Performance Improvement" 3rd Ed., 2012)

"the analysis and redesign of workflows and business processes to improve costs and customer service." (Thomas C Wilson, "Value and Capital Management", 2015)

"Using information technology to improve performance and cut costs. Its main premise is to examine the goals of an organization and to redesign work and business processes from the ground up rather than simply automate existing tasks and functions." (William Stallings, "Effective Cybersecurity: A Guide to Using Best Practices and Standards", 2018)

"Involves the analysis and redesign of firms’ processes and workflows to achieve sustainable improvements in quality of response and cost competitiveness." (Debasish Roy, "Critical Success Factors of Analytics and Digital Technologies Adoption in Supply Chain", 2021)

🔦Process Management: Process Reengineering (Just the Quotes)

"At the heart of reengineering is the notion of discontinuous thinking - of recognizing and breaking away from the outdated rules and fundamental assumptions that underlie operations. Unless we change these rules, we are merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We cannot achieve breakthroughs in performance by cutting fat or automating existing processes. Rather, we must challenge old assumptions and shed the old rules that made the business underperform in the first place." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) [source]

"In reengineering, managers break loose from outmoded business processes and the design principles underlying them and create new ones. [...] Reengineering requires looking at the fundamental processes of the business from a cross-functional perspective. [...] The reengineering team must keep asking Why? and What if? Why do we need to get a manager’s signature on a requisition? Is it a control mechanism or a decision point?" (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) [source]

"In short, a reengineering effort strives for dramatic levels of improvement. It must break away from conventional wisdom and the constraints of organizational boundaries and should be broad and cross-functional in scope. It should use information technology not to automate an existing process but to enable a new one." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) [source]

"Reengineering triggers changes of many kinds, not just of the business process itself. Job designs, organizational structures, management systems - anything associated with the process - must be refashioned in an integrated way. In other words, reengineering is a tremendous effort that mandates change in many areas of the organization." (Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate", Magazine, 1990) [source]

"Business process reengineering encompasses the envisioning of new work strategies, the actual process design activity, and the implementation of the change in all its complex technological, human, and organizational dimensions." (Thomas H Davenport, "Need radical innovation and continuous improvement? Integrate process reengineering and TQM", Planning Review 21 (3), 1993)

"Business Process Reengineering seeks radical rather than merely continuous improvement. It escalates the efforts of JIT and TQM to make process orientation a strategic tool and a core competence of the organization. BPR concentrates on core business processes, and uses the specific techniques within the JIT and TQM 'toolboxes' as enablers, while broadening the process vision." (Henry J Johansson, Business process reengineering: Breakpoint strategies for market dominance", 1993)

"Business reengineering isn't about fixing anything. Business reengineering means starting all over, starting from scratch. Business reengineering means putting aside much of the received wisdom of two hundred years of industrial management [...] How people and companies did things yesterday doesn't matter to the business reengineer." (James A Champy & Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed." (James A Champy & Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"Reengineering posits a radical new principle: that the design of work must be based not on hierarchical management and the specialization of labor but on end-to-end processes and the creation of value for the customer." (James A Champy & Michael M Hammer, "Reengineering the Corporation", 1993)

"Thorough rethinking of all business processes, job definitions, management systems, organizational structure, work flow, and underlying assumptions and beliefs. BPR’s main objective is to break away from old ways of working, and effect radical (not incremental) redesign of processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical areas (such as cost, quality, service, and response time) through the in-depth use of information technology." (Elvira Rolón, "Healthcare Process Development with BPMN", 2010)

🔦Process Management: Just in Time (Definitions)

"A manufacturing method in which product parts and components arrive at the manufacturing facility as needed for production of ordered product, rather than being stockpiled on site. This method requires strong supply chain management." (Steven Haines, "The Product Manager's Desk Reference", 2008)

"A theory in materials management that calls for delivering materials at time of installation only, thus, not having any materials stored on-site." (Christopher Carson et al, "CPM Scheduling for Construction: Best Practices and Guidelines", 2014)

"Information delivered at the time it will be used, not before and not after." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"An inventory scheduling system in which material and parts arrive at a work place when needed, minimizing inventory, waste, and interruptions." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management" 8th Ed., 2011)

"An inventory management practice where inventory items are supplied just in time for use to minimize inventory levels." (Rod Stephens, "Beginning Software Engineering", 2015)

"An approach of sequencing the arrival of material to a work center just prior to consumption to avoid large work-in-process inventories." (Gartner)

"Producing or conveying only the items that are needed by the next process when they are needed and in the quantity needed." (Lean Enterprise Institute)