The Continuing Search for Standard KPIs and Metrics

Last month I started identifying sources for KPIs and Metrics. In my initial entry I included a short description and links to:

The KPI Library
The Palladium Group
APICS
APQC

I have also had previous entries on BPIR.COM (affiliated with Massey) which provides members access to a library of metrics.

Cranfield University's School of Management offers a catalogue of performance measurements organized around a framework called the Performance Prism. The Performance Prism is a measurement and management framework that attempts to address all of an organisation’s stakeholders - investors, customers & intermediaries, employees, suppliers, regulators and communities. While the Catalogue costs £95.00, Cranfield lets you sample it (including a glossary list of the metrics).

The advertisement for the publication indicates that it includes:

• The title of the measure.
• Why it should be measured.
• The role of the measure in different contexts.
• How to measure it. Definition / formula of the measure – providing possible options
  What do we need to consider when defining the measure ? Definitions of key terms, possible sources of data, ways in which the data should be analysed, questions to be asked when using the measure

Another resource that I would recommend is Better Management.com. A website run and maintained by SAS, it is not a typical commercial website. SAS does a respectable job in keeping advertising to a minimum and providing readers with access to a wide-range of articles, white papers, and research (much of it that does not originate with SAS). I have not found a KPI library on the site but exploring the resources should provide ideas and references for trying to identify the right metrics or KPIs to use.