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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT<br />

GLOSSARY OF TERMS<br />

appendix C<br />

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT<br />

GLOSSARY OF TERMS 8<br />

Activity Measures: Provide information on workload/volume <strong>of</strong> business (e.g., number <strong>of</strong> applications<br />

processed).<br />

Balanced Scorecard: A management instrument that translates an organization’s mission and<br />

strategy into a comprehensive set <strong>of</strong> performance measures to provide a framework for strategic<br />

measures and management. The scorecard measures organizational performance across several<br />

perspectives: financial, customers, international business processes, and learning and growth.<br />

Baseline: A set <strong>of</strong> data used as a base to measure the impact <strong>of</strong> changes over time.<br />

Benchmarking: The process <strong>of</strong> continuously comparing and measuring performance against others<br />

in order to gain information that will help take action to improve performance.<br />

Customer: The person or group that receives or uses government services, or the person or entity<br />

directly served by the county.<br />

Cost-effectiveness: Minimizing the cost <strong>of</strong> achieving an intended result through a certain strategy.<br />

Cost-efficiency: Minimizing the cost per unit <strong>of</strong> good/service produced.<br />

Efficiency Measures: Indicators that measure the cost, unit cost, or productivity associated with a<br />

given outcome or output. They provide information on how well the organization used its<br />

resources to produce certain goods and services (e.g., cost per operation, cost per applicant).<br />

Goals: The general ends toward which agencies or departments direct their efforts. A goal addresses<br />

issues by stating policy intention.<br />

Inputs: The resources that a county uses to produce services, including human, financial, facility,<br />

or material resources (e.g., number <strong>of</strong> dollars expended or tons <strong>of</strong> material used).<br />

Intermediate Outcome Measures: Provide short-term “markers/indicators” <strong>of</strong> progress towards a<br />

longer-term outcome.<br />

Mission: An enduring statement <strong>of</strong> purpose; the county or department’s reason for existence. The<br />

mission describes what the county or department does, who it does it for, and how it does it.<br />

Objectives: Clear targets for specific action. More detailed than goals, objectives have shorter time<br />

frames and may state quantity.<br />

8 These definitions are taken largely from the glossary published by the <strong>National</strong> Association <strong>of</strong> Counties at<br />

www.naco.org/research/issues/perf_tool.cfm<br />

144 Powering the Future: <strong>High</strong>-<strong>Performance</strong> <strong>Partnerships</strong>

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