KPI Check

Overview

Students will review 10 key performance indicators (KPIs) used to analyse business performance and explain how KPI evidence can create the need for change. They will use one contemporary-style case study to interpret at least 3 KPIs and propose what management might do next.

Learning intentions

• WALT interpret key performance indicators as measurable data for analysing business performance.
• WALT explain how KPI results can show a need for change.
• WALT discuss proactive versus reactive approaches to change using KPI evidence.
• WALT apply KPI analysis to a short contemporary case study.

Success criteria

• I can define each KPI and describe what it measures.
• I can use data from a case study to identify performance issues.
• I can link KPI trends to a specific need for change (e.g., safety, quality, staffing).
• I can suggest whether a response is likely proactive or reactive, and justify it.

Curriculum links

• Reviewing performance – the need for change: use KPI data to analyse business performance.
• Proactive and reactive approaches to change: justify management responses using evidence.
• Analyse case studies and contemporary examples of business management.
• Use a range of KPI types from efficiency and effectiveness measures (e.g., profits, sales, productivity, wastage, staffing, customers, online, workplace safety).

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–10 min · Checking prior knowledge (KPI quick recall). Teacher displays 4 mixed KPI prompts on the board (e.g., “wastage”, “net profit”, “staff turnover”, “website hits”) and asks: “What might cause this KPI to rise or fall?” Students do a quick think–pair–share, then a rapid whole-class check. Teacher corrects misconceptions and records key terms.

Success criteria check: Students can correctly match at least 3 KPI terms to what they measure.

2. 10–30 min · Main content (explicit teaching with video-style prompts + discussion). Teacher introduces KPIs as “data signals” managers review to decide whether change is needed, then models interpretation using one short, teacher-read case scenario (no hyperlinks). Teacher “walks” students through three KPIs step-by-step, showing how the same business can be strong in one area and weak in another.

Case study (used in the next task too): “AussieBite Foods is an online-to-store snack business. Over the last quarter: net profit fell, staff absenteeism rose, and workplace accidents increased. Website hits rose, but customer complaints also increased about late deliveries and damaged items.”

Mini-teach (use the case to model 3+ KPI reads):

• Net Profit Figures: Teacher asks, “What does falling net profit suggest?” Students discuss costs (wastage, labour, rework, claims) versus revenue.
• Rate of Staff Absenteeism: Teacher asks, “How could absenteeism affect other KPIs?” Students connect to productivity, service delays, and workplace strain/safety.
• Number of Workplace Accidents: Teacher asks, “What might drive accidents?” Students link to training, workload pressure, rushed processes, or equipment maintenance.
• Quick scan of the remaining KPIs (1–2 sentences each, rapid): market share, productivity growth, number of sales, staff turnover, wastage, customer complaints, website hits.

Discussion prompts (students answer on mini whiteboards or verbally):

• “Which KPI is an early warning sign?”
• “What change is likely needed: reactive (fix after harm) or proactive (prevent before harm)?”
• “What evidence from the KPIs supports your choice?”

Success criteria check: Students can identify at least 2 links between KPIs and a need for change in the case.

3. (Included within 10–30 min) Activity setup and completion cues. To ensure adequate time within 30 minutes, the case study worksheet is completed immediately after the video-style modelling (see next step), but the main explicit teaching stays within this block.

4. 30 min · Activity + exit ticket (combined timing). Teacher needs a strict finish, so Steps 3 and 4 are combined into a short, structured round.

3) Activity (10 minutes, teacher-guided). Students complete a “3-KPI analysis” sheet:

• Choose at least 3 KPIs from the 10 list that best explain performance problems in the case.
• For each chosen KPI, write:
• What the KPI measures (1 sentence)
• What the case evidence suggests (1 sentence)
• One management action (link to change)
• Label the approach: proactive or reactive

Video-style classroom prompts (no links): Teacher reads short “scene updates” matching the case to keep students engaged:

• “New staff were hired quickly.”
• “Packaging processes changed.”
• “A safety refresher training was delayed.”

Students adjust answers based on these updates.

Success criteria check: Students use at least 3 KPIs correctly and justify at least one proactive/reactive decision.

4) Exit ticket (5 minutes). On paper or cards, students answer:

• “Name 3 KPIs and one sentence each about what they measure.”
• “Which KPI would you monitor most closely to decide on change next quarter, and why?”

Resources

• Printed KPI word bank (10 KPIs with definitions in dot points).
• Case study handout (AussieBite Foods) with brief “quarterly changes” statements.
• Mini whiteboards or scrap paper for rapid checks.
• “3-KPI analysis” worksheet (one page).
• Exit ticket slips.
• Teacher device for playing a short teacher-made video or audio scenario (if available) OR teacher-read script cards.

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observes think–pair–share accuracy using KPI matching.
• Formative: mini whiteboard answers to “What does it suggest?” prompts.
• Exit ticket: check correct KPI definitions and evidence-based justification for change monitoring.

Differentiation

• Support: sentence starters on worksheets (e.g., “This KPI measures…”, “In this case, it suggests…”, “A proactive response would…”).
• Support for dyslexia: allow audio recording of the case study, provide enlarged font handouts, and reduce reading load by using icon cues for KPI categories (people, profit, customers, safety).
• Extension: advanced students select 4–5 KPIs and propose a specific improvement plan with one measurable target for each (e.g., reduce accidents by X%, lower complaints by X).
• EAL: provide KPI definitions in simplified language and allow verbal responses recorded by a partner before writing.
• SEN: offer a partially completed analysis table where students fill the final “management action” column only.

Extension activities

• Advanced challenge: Students identify one KPI that could be “improving while others worsen” and explain why that matters for change decisions.