SMART Criteria for Quality Assessment of Key Performance Indicators Used in the Oil and Gas Industry

摘要

SMART criteria, referring to the acronym for the terms 'specificity', 'measurability', 'achievability', 'relevancy', and 'time-based', are commonly used as a basis for the assessment of the quality of key performance indicators (KPIs). In this article, we discuss whether it is appropriate to use these criteria for this purpose. We conclude that all the SMART criteria should be satisfied if the KPI is to be regarded as of high quality and useful for business improvement, but, in addition, there is a particular need to include the criterion 'manageability' in the assessment. Without the inclusion of this criterion, the assessment of KPI quality could be misleading. An example is used for illustrative purposes. Although our starting point is KPIs for reliability and maintenance in the oil and gas industry, the discussions are also applicable to other industries.