ABSTRACT
Every business is seeking to improve a number of key performance indicators (KPIs). These might include improving sales, increasing profit, reducing the time to market, improving productivity, increasing shareholder value, increasing market share and managing resources more effectively. At the same time senior managers are tasked with ensuring sound financial reporting, that there is a sound decision-making process and that there is a high level of visibility for all the performance measures throughout the company. Of course this assumes that they have such a set of key performance indicators linked to the business issues and that all concerned know how to interpret them. One of the key elements of most of the companies we have worked with is that people at all levels manage the business issues without reference to any other aspect than the way they are measured. This leads to the common situation where the KPIs become a source of aggravation and friction.
