Popular Terms

Adoption refers to a series of steps culminating in effective process or technology usage by Employees.

Affective computing (sometimes called artificial emotional intelligence, or emotion AI) is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, psychology, and cognitive science. While the origins of the field may be traced as far back as to early philosophical inquiries into emotion, the more modern branch of computer science originated with Rosalind Picard's 1995 paper on affective computing. A motivation for the research is the ability to simulate empathy. The machine should interpret the emotional state of humans and adapt its behaviour to them, giving an appropriate response to those emotions.

Artificial intelligence (AI, also machine intelligence, MI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to the natural intelligence (NI) displayed by humans and other animals. In computer science AI research is defined as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of successfully achieving its goals. Colloquially, the term 'artificial intelligence' is applied when a machine mimics 'cognitive' functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as 'learning' and 'problem solving'.

Ambient Wisdom is about sensitive, adaptive electronic environments that respond to the actions of persons and objects and cater for their needs. This approach includes the entire environment – including each single physical object – and associates it with human interaction. The option of extended and more intuitive interaction is expected to result in enhanced efficiency, increased creativity and greater personal well-being.

Actor–network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationship. It posits that nothing exists outside those relationships. All the factors involved in a social situation are on the same level, and thus there are no external social forces beyond what and how the network participants interact at present. Thus, objects, ideas, processes, and any other relevant factors are seen as just as important in creating social situations as humans. ANT holds that social forces do not exist in themselves, and therefore cannot be used to explain social phenomena. Instead, strictly empirical analysis should be undertaken to "describe" rather than "explain" social activity. Only after this can one introduce the concept of social forces, and only as an abstract theoretical concept, not something which genuinely exists in the world. The fundamental aim of ANT is to explore how networks are built or assembled and maintained to achieve a specific objective. Although it is best known for its controversial insistence on the capacity of nonhumans to act or participate in systems or networks or both, ANT is also associated with forceful critiques of conventional and critical sociology.

Augmented reality (AR) is a direct or indirect live view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are "augmented" by computer-generated perceptual information, ideally across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory. The overlaid sensory information can be constructive (i.e. additive to the natural environment) or destructive (i.e. masking of the natural environment) and is spatially registered with the physical world such that it is perceived as an immersive aspect of the real environment. In this way, Augmented reality alters one’s current perception of a real world environment, whereas virtual reality replaces the real world environment with a simulated one. Augmented Reality is related to two largely synonymous terms: mixed reality and computer-mediated reality.

Assets refer to Knowledge Assets in the enterprise which includes explicit as well as tacit knowledge residing in the enterprise.

Bimodal IT is the policy of maintain two distinct and coherent modes of IT delivery , one with a focus on stability and the other focused on Agility.

Bots are software applications running structurally repetitive Enterprise tasks at a much faster rate than would be possible for an Employee working single-handedly.

Calm computing is a state of technological maturity where a user's primary task is not computing, but where computing augments and brings relevant information to the experience. Rather than focusing on computing and data, calm computing places emphasis on people and tasks. Some key elements of Calm Computing are as follows:The user's attention to the technology will reside mainly in the periphery.The technology increases a user's use of his or her periphery. This creates a pleasant user experience by not overburdening the user with information.The technology relays a sense of familiarity to the user and allows awareness of the user's surroundings in the past, present, and future

Change Management refers to a structured approach to managing change from Employee, Team and Enterprise perspectives.

Chunking is a term referring to the process of taking individual pieces of information (chunks) and grouping them into larger units. The resulting chunks are easier to commit to memory than a longer uninterrupted string of information. By grouping each piece into a large whole, you can improve the amount of information you can remember.

It enables business users to automate connections themselves, saving valuable resources and ensuring users have what they need – when they need it.

Use of location data to inform citizens of resource usage.

Cognitive Bias refers to a systematic pattern of deviation from rational thinking whereby an Employee may perceive other employees or workplace situations in an illogical fashion. Heuristics are quick, informal and intuitive algorithms used by Employees for reasoning and decision making. Heuristics can lead to Cognitive Biases when they fail to produce correct judgements.

Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment, and are often studied in psychology and behavioural economics. This is an extension of the Cognitive Bias Codex which includes the definitions of the cognitive biases. Although the reality of these biases is confirmed by replicable research, there are often controversies about how to classify these biases or how to explain them. Some are effects of information-processing rules (i.e., mental shortcuts), called heuristics, that the brain uses to produce decisions or judgments. Such effects are called cognitive biases. Biases have a variety of forms and appear as cognitive ("cold") bias, such as mental noise, or motivational ("hot") bias, such as when beliefs are distorted by wishful thinking. Both effects can be present at the same time.

Collective Bargaining refers to a process of negotiation between employees and a group of Employers, aimed at regulating the terms of employment.

Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based upon the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely moulded by community relationships, with a smaller degree of development being placed on individualism.

Computational Statistics is the interface between Statistics and Computer science. It acts as an enabler for computationally intensive statistical methods needed to generate Enterprise or Business Intelligence.

Computer Vision is a science aimed at acquiring processing, analyzing and understanding images and high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce digital interpretations for an Enterprise. Computer vision tasks include methods for acquiring, processing, analysing and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions.

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy and authority and property rights.

Country Personality refers to an Employee's personality being a best-fit for a particular country owing to the country's way of life and general characteristics.

The Cynefin framework is a conceptual framework used to aid decision-making. Created in 1999 by Dave Snowden when he worked for IBM Global Services, it has been described as a "sense-making device". Cynefin is a Welsh word for habitat.

Deroutination refers to removal of set routines for employees to perform tasks, in order to boost productivity.

Design Thinking refers to solution-focused thinking aimed at achieving an Enterprise Goal rather than solving an individual problem. Design thinking refers to creative strategies designers use during the process of designing. It has also been developed as an approach to resolve issues outside of professional design practice, such as in business and social contexts. Design thinking is a process for creative problem solving. Design thinking utilizes elements from the designer's toolkit like empathy and experimentation to arrive at innovative solutions.

Digital connectivism describes how people and things exist and interact in the global ecosystem of digital connections, and how this shapes a digital society.

Digital dexterity is a core employee cognitive ability and social practice that will define digital business success. Digital workplace leaders should assess their organization's digital dexterity against projected requirements, and implement a strategy to attract the optimum mix of talent.

Disintermediation is the removal of intermediaries in economics from a supply chain, or cutting out the middlemen in connection with a transaction or a series of transactions. It is basically the removal of brokering time entities between producers and consumers. Disintermediation occurs, for instance, every time someone clicks on a website order form or makes a booking using the mobile phone, instead of talking to a person.

Disjunctive culture refers to disjunction of social values, use and forms and expected interchangeable combination of them create constant change and indeterminism or rather dynamism in the contemporary cities. So, architecture has become dynamic like the city in the era of super modern. In other words, the disjunctive culture transforms architecture into dynamic conception in opposition to static and determinate description of it.

Distributed cognition is an approach to cognitive science research that deploys models of the extended mind (see, for example, the paper The Extended Mind) by taking as the fundamental unit of analysis 'a collection of individuals and artefacts and their relations to each other in a particular work practice'.

A divestiture or divestment is the reduction of an asset or business through sale, liquidation, exchange, closure, or any other means for financial or ethical reasons. It is the opposite of investment.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the United States of America is a federal agency that administers and enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination.

Employee fatigue is defined as a state of feeling very tired, weary or sleepy resulting from insufficient sleep, prolonged mental or physical work, or extended periods of stress or anxiety.

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a concept that builds off the NPS system, allowing employers to measure and get a snapshot of employee loyalty and engagement within their company.

Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions between Employees and Enterprise elements (including Enterprise systems). It is aimed at producing designs that will optimize human well-being and overall system performance.

Experience is knowledge gained through exposure to and involvement with workplace activities which helps Employees master areas of work.

Fallacy of misplaced concreteness is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete real event or physical entity.

Freeloading (or being a 'freeloader') in everyday speech refers to the use by an individual or entity, for their or its own personal gain or benefit, of resources that do not belong to them in private and personal spheres, e.g. an uninvited guest's abuse of friends' and family's hospitality.

Gamification is a new form of Business System which can drive the digital workplace processes towards higher adoption and digital workforce towards higher motivation eventually boosting the enterprise productivity by a large extent.

Gesture-based computing refers to interfaces where the human body interacts with digital resources without using common input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, game controller, or voice-entry mechanism.

Groupthink refers to Employees giving up individual judgement or creativity in favor of Group judgement in order to avoid conflicts, resulting in faulty decision making.

Hot-desking refers to multiple Employees sharing workspace assets during different time periods. Hoteling is dynamic reservation -based use of workplace assets including workstations and cubicles whereby Employees may reserve an asset before arriving at work and hold it for the entire workday.

Individualist Culture values an Individual's achievement over Organizational or team interests and goals whereas Collectivist culture values Team/Organization goals and interests over individual Employee goals and interests.

Industrial and organizational psychology is the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace and applies psychological theories and principles to organizations and individuals in their workplace.

Informative Influence is a psychological phenomenon where Employees assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation whereas Normative Influence leads to conformity in order to gain acceptance within an Enterprise group.

Intrinsic motivation is the self-desire to seek out new things and new challenges, to analyze one's capacity, to observe and to gain knowledge whereas Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain a desired outcome and it is the opposite of intrinsic motivation.

The movement in type of work away from routine work, requiring very little “discernment”, to the type of work where routine work is automated, data is analysed, leaving the “judgement” around appropriate decision-making to the employees.

KE4 is a HCL-defined approach for an enterprise to transform its own ecosystem towards improved productivity. This model consists of 5 stages namely Know - Enable - Engage - Excite - Empower. 'Know' is about functions to gather information about Employee from disparate source and processes, 'Enable' is about functions enabling Employee to carry out regular jobs in systematic way helping Enterprise to run the show, 'Engage' refers to functions helping Employee to get engaged in non-mandatory Organization acts helping Enterprise to excel, 'Excite' includes functions helping Employee to be motivated to use systems to contribute proactively for Enterprise and finally 'Empower' points to functions empowering Employee by rising the importance of Employee in critical Enterprise acts.

Machine Learning seeks to identify patterns of Employee activity using Artificial Intelligence (without being explicitly programmed) leading to valuable insights which can boost organizational productivity.

Management by objectives (MBO) is a management model that aims to improve performance of an organization by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and employees.

A method that maps relations that are simultaneously material (between things) and semiotic (between concepts). It assumes that many relations are both material and semiotic. ANT is a disparate family of material-semiotic tools, sensibilities and methods of analysis that treat everything in the social and natural worlds as a continuously generated effect of the webs of relations within which they are located.

Mixed reality (MR), sometimes referred to as hybrid reality, is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. Mixed reality takes place not only in the physical world or the virtual world, but is a mix of reality and virtual reality, encompassing both augmented reality and augmented virtuality via immersive technology. The first immersive mixed reality system, providing enveloping sight, sound, and touch was the Virtual Fixtures platform developed at the U.S. Air Force's Armstrong Laboratories in the early 1990s. In a study published in 1992, the Virtual Fixtures project at the U.S. Air Force demonstrated for the first time that human performance could be significantly amplified by the introduction of spatially registered virtual objects overlaid on top of a person's direct view of a real physical environment.

Motivation, Ability and Trigger collectively influence an Employees behavior w.r.t an Organizational task or an activity.

Open kimono means to reveal what is being planned or to share important information freely. Similar to ''open the books'' or an "open door policy," opening the kimono means revealing the inner workings of a project or company to an outside party. Also referred to as 'open (up) one's kimono.'

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a concept that describes an Employee's voluntary commitment within an organization or company that is not part of his or her contractual tasks.

Organizational memory (OM) (sometimes called institutional or corporate memory) is the accumulated body of data, information, and knowledge created in the course of an individual organization's existence.

Power distance refers to the way in which authority is distributed in an organization and the extent to which the less powerful accept that authority is distributed unequally within the enterprise.

Process refers to Business Processes in an enterprise. Transformation of processes indicated less workflow and more networking leading towards next generation process in the industries.

Productivity is an average measure of the efficiency of an Employee.

Punctualization is a process by which a complex actor-network is 'black-boxed; that is, made to appear as a single actant, while still being dynamically connected to many other actants.

A quality circle is a participatory management technique that enlists the help of employees in solving problems related to their own jobs. Circles are formed of employees working together in an operation who meet at intervals to discuss problems of quality and to devise solutions for improvements.

The red queen effect is a metaphor used in the business world to describe the unsuccessful efforts of a company to get ahead of its competition. Companies typically research or study the competition and then implement strategies to help boost their company sales and profits. This is an effective and practical method of outmanoeuvring the competition. While this technique works in theory, companies might not achieve their goals because the competition engages in the same business practice. Despite a company's efforts to surpass the competition, the company does not move forward or grow.

Revery Obsession is a mental state resulting from the mind-numbing, repetitive and difficult work that characterized U.S. factories in the early 20th century, causing factory workers to be unhappy, prone to resist management attempts to increase productivity, and sympathetic to labor unions.

Scaffolding is a process in which teachers model or demonstrate how to solve a problem, and then step back, offering support as needed. The theory is that when employees are given the support they need while learning something new, they stand a better chance of using that knowledge independently.

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a macro theory of human motivation and personality that concerns Employees' inherent growth tendencies and innate psychological needs. It is concerned with the motivation behind choices Employees make without external influence and interference.

Shrinkage is the loss of inventory that can be attributed to factors such as employee theft, shoplifting, administrative error, vendor fraud, damage in transit or in store, and cashier errors that benefit the customer.

Social Intelligence (SI) is one's ability to get along well with others in an Organization, and to get them to cooperate.

Speech analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition.

Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the Enterprise.

SAM (Successive Approximation Model), an iterative, agile development process, to create meaningful, memorable, fun, learner-centric experiences and how it drives focus first and foremost on the client’s needed outcomes - not the form of delivery or technology.

Swarming refers to the whole team working together on the same problem

A form or matrix for assessing Employee skill levels in different areas.

Telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work.

A management approach where IT, HR and Facility Management work together for better workplace and workforce management.

Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using any device, in any location, and in any format. A user interacts with the computer, which can exist in many different forms, including laptop computers, tablets and terminals in everyday objects such as a refrigerator or a pair of glasses. The underlying technologies to support ubiquitous computing include Internet, advanced middleware, operating system, mobile code, sensors, microprocessors, new I/O and user interfaces, networks, mobile protocols, location and positioning, and new materials.

Uncertainty avoidance is an Enterprise's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It reflects the degree to which members of an Enterprise attempt to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty.

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated scenario that simulates a realistic experience. The immersive environment can be similar to the real world in order to create a lifelike experience grounded in reality or sci-fi.

The distribution of workforce based on certain parameters, e.g. location, age, roles, type of worker etc.

Workforce Liquidity refers to Employees keeping themselves relevant by continuous re-training.

Workforce On the Go refers to a mobile workforce.

Workforce optimization is a program suite that combines recording, quality management (QM) and other call center technologies into one console to oversee call center performance.

Workforce Planning is a continual process used to align the needs and priorities of an Enterprise with those of its workforce to ensure it can meet its legislative, regulatory, service and production requirements and organizational objectives.

Workforce primarily refers to the employees of an organization. However, with the changes happening globally in the way business are being run, the term often alludes to vendors and partners and even customers as part of bigger workforce. That is the way, transformational workforce would concentrate on B2E, B2B and B2C transactions simultaneously.

Work–life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between 'work' (career and ambition) and 'lifestyle' (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation).

Workplace maturity is the state of transformation of an enterprise at any given instance which helps showcasing the transformation progress / state in a quantified manner. As an enterprise, following the KE4 path, will be achieving continuously growing maturity as it go along the path Know - Enable - Engage - Excite - Empower.

Any enterprise across industries or its particular departments are referred as Workplace.