Balanced Scorecard
A process introduced by Robert S. Kaplan and David Norton in 1992 designed to give managers tools for measuring the performance of a business from a: • Financial perspective, • Customer perspective, • Business process perspective, and a • Learning and growth perspective
Assessment
A personal opinion or judgement, which can be made with or without a basis, or grounding, for the claim. Business people function more effectively when they are aware of their assessments and are open to readdressing them.
Assertion
A statement or claim, based on observable facts, which carries an implied promise to provide evidence (making them grounded assertions as opposed to ungrounded ones).
Appropriate Technology
Using the simplest and most benign technology to achieve an intended purpose.
AccountAbility 1000S
AccountAbility is a not-for-profit certification and research organization founded in the UK in 1995. The 1000 Series is AccounAbility’s guidelines for reporting on social, environmental and ethical performance. More information: www.accountability.org.uk
Accountability
Being answerable, or responsible, to stakeholders. In Sustainable Management this goes beyond financial stakeholders to include any natural or social systems affected by a business, including customers, employees, and communities.
6 Sigma
A quality management system pioneered by Motorola and used by many manufacturing companies. Sigma refers to a standard deviation of a set of statistics. If defects occur according to a standard normal distribution, “six sigma” corresponds to approximately two quality failures per billion parts manufactured. In practical application of the Six Sigma methodology, however, the […]
