Measuring performance and effectiveness for Mäori ... - Te Puni Kokiri

GLOSSARY
Aspirational goals
Expected performance that will not be
achieved in the next year.
Attribution
The extent to which an impact or outcome
can be directly assigned to the activities
undertaken by an agency or agencies.
Capability
What an organisation needs in terms of access
to leadership, people, culture, relationships,
processes and technology, physical assets, and
structures to efficiently deliver the goods and
services required to achieve the results sought
by the entity - whether those results are set by
reference to government policy or by statute.
Cost-effectiveness
Describes the relationship between the level
of resources used (costs) and progress toward
a predetermined outcome (effect). The terms
‘cost-effectiveness’ and ‘interventions’ are
not formally defined in legislation, so a broad
interpretation should be taken consistent
with the expectation that the major activities
that entities carry out add real value at a
reasonable cost. Assessing cost-effectiveness,
and identifying cost-effectiveness intentions,
involves entities tracking performance over
time to allow readers to understand whether
the costs of services are justified by the
impact and outcome results produced.
Dimensions of performance
Are the aspects or properties of performance
that a particular performance measure can
address. They include, but are not limited to,
quantity, quality, timeliness, location, and cost.
Disaggregation
The process of deconstructing an output
or outcome into their component parts, or
reporting performance separately for different
groups, e.g. population groups or product lines.
Effectiveness
The difference agencies make through the
services they provide. Effectiveness focuses on
the impact that has been achieved through
the delivery of one or more outputs.
Efficiency
The price of producing a unit of output
(‘technical efficiency’). Alternatively, it can
mean the proportion of output reaching target
groups (‘allocative efficiency’). To make valid
comparisons the outputs or output mixes
being compared must be homogenous.
Elements of non-financial
performance reporting
Include inputs, outputs, impacts, and
outcomes, which can be measured for the
purpose of reporting and assessing the entity’s
performance.
Equal employment opportunity
For the purposes of section 58 of the State
Sector Act an equal opportunities programme
means a programme that is aimed at the
identification and elimination of all aspects
of policies, procedures, and other institutional
barriers that cause or perpetuate, or tend to
cause or perpetuate, inequality in respect to the
employment of any persons or group of persons.
Intervention
Interventions include legislation, policies,
transfers, programmes and service delivery
arrangements.
29
G L O S S A R Y