In recent years, the business world has become noisy.
Everyone wants attention.
Everyone wants to sound different.
Everyone wants to sell a new framework, a new model, or a new system.
As a result, many vendors have started spreading misleading statements such as:
❌ “KPI is outdated.”
❌ “We have a new method that replaces KPI.”
❌ “OKR has already replaced KPI.”
❌ “Now the trend is KFI, Super Indicator, XYZ Metrics…”
❌ “Our new concept is better because it’s new.”
These claims sound innovative, but they are often created for marketing purposes, not based on management science.
The real danger?
👉 When CEOs adopt unproven methods, their business performance suffers.
This article clarifies the truth — with global facts — and explains why KPI and Balanced Scorecard remain the world’s most trusted performance management tools, and why sandmerit continues to lead the industry.
1. KPI Is Not a Trend — It Is a Fundamental of Management
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is NOT a software product or a consultant’s invention.
It is a basic management principle:
“What gets measured, gets managed.”
Peter Drucker said it decades ago, and the statement remains true today.
Businesses need KPIs because:
- They provide clarity
- They measure progress
- They link goals to actual work
- They align departments
- They ensure accountability
- They support fair rewards
- They drive continuous improvement
As long as companies want results, KPI will never become outdated.
KPI doesn’t expire —
only poor KPI design expires.
2. Balanced Scorecard: Proven for 30+ Years, Still Top-Ranked Worldwide
Many people do not know this:
✔ Balanced Scorecard (BSC), developed by Harvard professors Robert Kaplan & David Norton, is STILL one of the most widely used management frameworks in the world.
✔ Bain & Company’s global management survey consistently ranks BSC among the top management tools globally, used across industries for more than 30 years.
✔ Fortune 500 companies continue to rely on BSC to link strategy → department → KPI → execution.
✔ Universities, MBA programs, and international consulting firms still teach BSC today.
✔ Governments, hospitals, banks, manufacturers, and MNCs implement KPI using BSC frameworks.
Why?
Because BSC solves the biggest issue in business:
How do we translate strategy into measurable actions?
Nothing else in the world does this better.
So when someone says “KPI is outdated,” ask them:
Why are the world’s largest, smartest companies still using it?
3. OKR Did NOT Replace KPI — This Is the Biggest Misunderstanding
Many vendors use OKR as a marketing weapon.
They say:
❌ “OKR is the new KPI.”
❌ “Google uses OKR, so OKR is better.”
❌ “Use OKR only — no need KPI.”
This is completely false.
Here are the real facts:
OKR = Goal-setting tool
- Encourages ambition
- Creates alignment
- Drives innovation
- Increases engagement
- Not designed for rewards and evaluation
KPI = Performance measurement tool
- Tracks actual results
- Ensures accountability
- Connects efforts to outcomes
- Enables fair rewards
- Essential for performance management
What does Google actually do?
Google uses OKR for inspiration + direction,
but Google still uses a separate performance management system including:
- Performance ratings
- 360 feedback
- Calibration
- Bonus and reward structure
- Promotion evaluation
Google never uses OKR as KPI.
Google never uses OKR for salary or bonuses.
Google never replaced KPI with OKR.
When vendors tell CEOs
“OKR replaces KPI,”
they are misleading them.
The correct truth is:
OKR and KPI are complementary, not competing.
4. The Real Problem: Vendors Creating New Buzzwords to Appear “Advanced”
Because of competition, some vendors have started:
- Inventing new acronyms
- Rebranding KPI with fancy wording
- Attacking KPI to make their own method look better
- Using terms like KFI, Super Indicator, Growth North Star, Performance Quantum, etc.
- Selling concepts that are not proven or tested
But this is dangerous.
These “new terms” create confusion.
Confusion leads to wrong decisions.
Wrong decisions damage business performance.
A company’s performance should never depend on marketing gimmicks.
It must depend on global standards, proven frameworks, and real-world experience.
5. Why KPI Fails in Some Companies — And It Has Nothing to Do With KPI Being “Old”
When KPI fails, the cause is rarely KPI itself.
The real causes usually are:
- KPI not linked to strategy
- Wrong KPI design
- Overcomplicated templates
- No buy-in from employees
- No proper workshops
- No alignment between departments
- No reward system
- Wrong systems
- Wrong consultant
- Wrong methodology
- No accountability
- No review rhythm
- Wrong tools
The solution is NOT to abandon KPI.
The solution is to implement KPI correctly using the Balanced Scorecard + proven coaching + proper system alignment.
This is why sandmerit is successful —
not because of software alone, but because of the methodology behind it.
6. Why sandmerit Leads the Market — Powered by KPI Expert Wilson Ten (KPI 达人)
sandmerit is not just another KPI software company.
It is powered by KPI 达人 Wilson Ten, who has:
- 23 years of pure KPI experience
- Coached public-listed company CEOs and MNC leaders
- Helped companies move from loss to profitability
- Fixed many failed KPI implementations
- Trained thousands of leaders on KPI
- Over 600 real video testimonials
- Chairman of the Professional Committee of International KPI Standards
- International recognition (Australia–ASEAN Business Summit speaker)
- Trusted by consulting firms like Baker Tilly Thailand
When sandmerit teaches KPI, it is not theory.
It is proven, practical, globally aligned, and built on real business experience.
This is the opposite of vendors using new buzzwords just to sell.
**7. KPI Is Not Old — It Is Essential.
What’s dangerous is misinformation.**
Businesses do not fail because KPI is outdated.
They fail because:
- they follow the wrong teacher,
- adopt the wrong methodology,
- abandon the fundamentals,
- or chase unproven trends.
The world’s top companies are not stupid.
They continue using:
✔ KPI
✔ Balanced Scorecard
✔ Data-driven performance systems
✔ Evidence-based management
Because these tools work.
They are the backbone of real business performance.
**8. Final Message to CEOs:
Don’t let noise mislead you.**
Your company’s performance is serious.
Your employees’ future is serious.
Your growth is serious.
Do not let someone’s new buzzword, new acronym, or new “revolutionary idea” confuse your direction.
Stick to what has been proven for decades:
Balanced Scorecard + KPI + data + real methodology = long-term success
And most importantly: