ABSTRACT
The greater the number of targets one selects as corporate performance indicators (CPIs) the more confused and arbitrary does the target-setting exercise become and the more strategic decisions does one pre-empt – the less 'strategy-neutral' do the objectives become. The corporate objective of a national health service might be 'improve the nation's health' and the unequivocal CPI might be quite simple, perhaps 'annual improvement in life expectancy compared with similar nations' or 'lost working time due to illness' is all that is needed. The CPI statement that most companies chose is: 'The aim of this company is to achieve a satisfactory long-term growth in profits or a satisfactory return on capital or both.' For subsidiary companies there is one competitor whose performance can certainly be obtained in detail, and which is possibly the most important competitor of all - their parent company!.
