Performance indicator

KPI information boards

A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement.[1] KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it engages.[2] KPIs provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, create an analytical basis for decision making and help focus attention on what matters most.[3]

Often success is simply the repeated, periodic achievement of some levels of operational goal (e.g. zero defects, 10/10 customer satisfaction), and sometimes success is defined in terms of making progress toward strategic goals.[4] Accordingly, choosing the right KPIs relies upon a good understanding of what is important to the organization.[5] What is deemed important often depends on the department measuring the performance – e.g. the KPIs useful to finance will differ from the KPIs assigned to sales.

Since there is a need to understand well what is important, various techniques to assess the present state of the business, and its key activities, are associated with the selection of performance indicators. These assessments often lead to the identification of potential improvements, so performance indicators are routinely associated with 'performance improvement' initiatives. A very common way to choose KPIs is to apply a management framework such as the balanced scorecard.

The importance of such performance indicators is evident in the typical decision-making process (e.g. in management of organisations). When a decision-maker considers several options, they must be equipped to properly analyse the status quo to predict the consequences of future actions. Should they make their analysis on the basis of faulty or incomplete information, the predictions will not be reliable and consequently the decision made might yield an unexpected result. Therefore, the proper usage of performance indicators is vital to avoid such mistakes and minimise the risk.[6][7]

KPIs are used not only for business organizations but also for technical aspects such as machine performance. For example, a machine used for production in a factory would output various signals indicating how the current machine status is (e.g., machine sensor signals). Some signals or signals as a result of processing the existing signals may represent the high-level machine performance. These representative signals can be KPI for the machine.

  1. ^ Carol Fitz-Gibbon (1990), "Performance indicators", BERA Dialogues (2), ISBN 978-1-85359-092-4
  2. ^ Weilkiens, Tim; Weiss, Christian; Grass, Andrea; Duggen, Kim Nena (2016). "Frameworks". OCEB 2 Certification Guide. Elsevier. pp. 149–169. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805352-2.00007-8. ISBN 9780128053522. KPI is a business metric that measures the degree of fulfillment of a goal or a Critical Success Factor (CSF). The CSF is an organization-internal or organization-external property that is necessary to achieve a specific goal. A CSF can involve multiple KPIs.
  3. ^ "What is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)". KPI.org. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Key Performance Indicators – What Are Key Performance Indicators or KPI". Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  5. ^ Key Performance Indicators: Establishing the Metrics that Guide Success (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-01, retrieved 2016-04-23
  6. ^ "KPIs and the Logic of Decision Making". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  7. ^ Dolence, Michael G. (1994). "Using Key Performance Indicators to Drive Strategic Decision Making". New Directions for Institutional Research. 1994 (82): 63–80. doi:10.1002/ir.37019948207 – via academia.edu.