KPI

A measured data point a business uses to judge its own performance, both against short-term and long-term goals and against the strategy it is running.

Which indicators matter depends on the business and its industry, because each set is chosen to track the mission a company has stated, the profit it needs, and its ability to stay competitive over the long term. The three families are financial, marketing and sales, and operations.

A number is a KPI when it has a goal attached and a decision waiting on it.

Often confused with

Benchmark
The KPI is the number the business produced; the benchmark is the standard that number is compared against.
Metric
Every KPI is a metric, but a metric becomes a KPI only when it is tied to a goal a manager will act on.

Taught in

See also

4.2.A.1 · 4.2.A.2