Key Performance Indicators (Parmenter, 2007)

Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs

Product Description
Breathtaking in its simplicity and profound in its impact, Key Performance Indicators (KPI) distills the balanced scorecard process into twelve logical steps, equipping users with an implementation resource kit that includes questionnaires, worksheets, workshop outlines, and a list of over 500 performance measures. Author David Parmenter provides you with everything you need to master and implement a KPI-driven strategy.

From the Inside Flap
KPIs, while used commonly around the world, have never been clearly defined until now. Management has often referred to certain measures as KPIs that have never been KPIs. The lack of understanding of performance measures has led to most monitoring and reporting of measures failing to deliver. The casualty has often been the balanced scorecard, a brilliant tool that can only work if the appropriate measures are in it.

By exploring measures that have transformed businesses, David Parmenter has developed a methodology that is breathtaking in its simplicity and yet profound in its impact. It has been said that Key Performance Indicators is the missing link between the balanced scorecard work of Robert Kaplan and David Norton and the reality of implementing performance measurement in an organization.

While adopting many of the approaches of the KPI manual first published in 1996, this proactive guide represents a significant shift in the way KPIs are developed and used, with an abundance of implementation tools, including:

The four foundation stones that lead the development and use of KPIs
A twelve-step model for developing and using KPIs with guidelines
A KPI resource kit including worksheets, workshop programs, and questionnaires
A new and pragmatic approach to finding critical success factors
Over 500 performance measures
Templates for reporting performance measures
A resource kit for a consultant who is acting as a coach/facilitator to the in-house project team

p.3,6 KPIs [Key Performance Indicators] represent a set of measures focusing on those aspects of organizational performance that are the most critical for the current and future success of the organization... A KPI should tell you what action needs to take place.

p.8 there are about... 10 KPIs in an organization... Very seldom are more measures needed, and in many cases even fewer.

p.22 An organization will be more successful if it has spent time defining and conveying its vision, mission, and values.

p.25-26 The mission is like a timeless "beacon" that may never be reached... The vision is where we want to go... Strategy is the way an organization intends to achieve its vision. In a competitive environment, your strategy will distinguish you from your competition.

p.29 The CSFs [Critical Success Factors] determine the organizational health and vitality and where the organization needs to perform well.

p.85 Remember, finding appropriate KPIs is very much like peeling the layers off an onion to get to the core. While it is relatively easy to produce a reasonable list of performance indicators, it is difficult to identify the key performance indicators, particularly when it is remembered that there will be fewer than ten in the entire organization.

p.190 Remember the Fundamentals

Coaches often talk about doing the fundamental or basic things well to ensure success. This is good advice for facilitators of KPI development

p.197 Your goal is to develop a set of performance measures that address the CSFs for the organization. You may well be able to use some existing measures. In other cases, new performance measures may be required.

p.197 What do you do when it is difficult to measure something?

In simple terms, the best you can. Sometimes it is necessary to develop a performance measure that is a proxy for what you are seeking to track. For example, a team may want to measure morale. This can be achieved by using a survey approach... The team may decide to focus on measures that are proxies for morale, such as attendance

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