Glossary

actionable measures
provides the basis for decisions at the level at which they are applied

customer-satisfaction measurement system

customer ratings of specific goods and service features and indicates the relationship between those ratings and the customer's likely future buying behavior

flexibility
the ability to adapt quickly and effectively to changing requirements

goods and service design flexibility

the ability to develop a wide range of customized goods or services to meet different or changing customer needs

goods quality
relates to the physical performance and characteristics of a good

innovation
the ability to create new and unique goods and services that delight customers and create competitive advantage

interlinking
the quantitative modeling of cause-and-effect relationships between external and internal performance criteria

learning
creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and modifying the behavior or employees in response to internal and external change

measurement
the act of quantifying the performance of organizational units, goods, and services, processes, people, and other business activities

operational efficiency
the ability to provide goods and services to customers with a minimum waste and maximum utilization of resources

processing time
the time it takes to perform some task

productivity
the ratio of the output of a process to the input

quality
measures the degree to which the output of a process meets customer requirements

queue time
a fancy word for wait time—the time spent waiting

service quality
consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations (external focus) and service-delivery system performance (internal focus) for all service
encounters

service upsets or service failures

errors in service creation and delivery

triple bottom line (TBL or 3BL)

the measurement of environmental, social, and economic sustainability

value of a loyal customer (VLC)

quantifies the total revenue or profit each target market customer generates over the buyer's life cycle

volume flexibility
the ability to respond quickly to changes in the volume and type of demand