Smart Data: Enterprise Performance Optimization Strategy

IDEF LEXICON FOR EXECUTIVES

The following definitions are consistent with other authoritative references:

Activities. Actions performed by people and machines, usually in combination, to produce certain outcomes, products, or accomplishments. Activities are used to define and describe processes.

Inputs. Resources such as capital and materials that are consumed or transformed by the activities that manifest in value-added outcomes with associated accounting for time, cost, and quality.

Controls. Constraints on activities imposed by sources of regulation. Sources of regulation may be identified as organizations that issue controlling laws, regulations, policies, guidance, plans, budgets, and schedules that define expectations for how work is done, and their accomplishments and attributes. Controls may be self-imposed as in the case of business rules, for instance or may be externally imposed as in the case of laws and regulations.

Outputs. All results that may be identified as accomplishments, products, assets, cost, and time consumed. Outputs can be expressed as positive values or negative values. In the production of goods and services, outputs will be a combination of positives and negatives with the difference being gain, profit, or value.

Mechanisms. Methods or procedures that enable work to be done as defined by processes that include people and machines, i.e., associated jobs and organizations as well as specific equipment, hardware, and software (infrastructure).

The precision ...