Aligning KPIs with strategy: insights from management practices within the Finnish pharmaceutical industry
Rajamäki, Hanna (2025)
2025
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025102326314
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025102326314
Tiivistelmä
The pharmaceutical industry plays a key role in Finland’s healthcare system. This thesis focuses on the commercial side of the industry, where performance management connects strategic direction, customer engagement and operational execution. In this context, key performance indicators (KPIs) serve as essential tools for steering activity, communicating priorities and aligning teams around shared objectives. Aligning KPIs with organizational strategies remains particularly relevant as commercial operations shift towards hybrid models and performance measurement becomes increasingly complex.
The aim of this Master’s thesis was to explore how Finnish pharmaceutical companies select and design their strategic KPIs, what challenges they encounter and how KPIs are integrated into daily work to support decision-making. Based on theory and findings, the thesis also developed recommendations for improving KPI alignment. Empirical data was collected through five semi-structured interviews in June 2025, with professionals working in commercial roles in Finnish pharmaceutical companies.
The theoretical framework examines key concepts in strategic and performance management, focusing on how KPIs reflect strategic intent, guide performance and contribute to effective knowledge management and decision-making. It also reviews frameworks for linking KPIs to strategy, particularly the balanced scorecard (BSC), and draws on goal-setting theory to explain how clear, challenging and aligned objectives enhance motivation and performance.
The findings show that Finnish pharmaceutical companies align KPIs to strategy through pragmatic combinations of industry benchmarking, corporate guidance and local participation rather than formal frameworks. Emphasis on short-term metrics challenges long-term strategic planning, while data overload, weak prioritisation and communication gaps risk reducing KPIs to reporting tools instead of strategic enablers. However, strong collaboration, transparent communication and functioning incentive systems enhance integration into daily work.
This thesis provides four development areas through which organizations can strengthen KPI alignment with strategy and daily work. The first recommendation focuses on reducing data overload by prioritising KPIs. The second highlights the importance of integrating KPIs into everyday work through active communication and dialogue. The third calls for balancing short- and long-term perspectives in KPI design, while the fourth recommends establishing a systematic and transparent KPI design process. In addition, the thesis suggests improving dashboard use to enhance visibility and knowledge sharing. Together, these recommendations offer the pharmaceutical industry practical guidance on how to move from reporting-driven KPI systems towards strategically aligned and operationally useful ones.
The aim of this Master’s thesis was to explore how Finnish pharmaceutical companies select and design their strategic KPIs, what challenges they encounter and how KPIs are integrated into daily work to support decision-making. Based on theory and findings, the thesis also developed recommendations for improving KPI alignment. Empirical data was collected through five semi-structured interviews in June 2025, with professionals working in commercial roles in Finnish pharmaceutical companies.
The theoretical framework examines key concepts in strategic and performance management, focusing on how KPIs reflect strategic intent, guide performance and contribute to effective knowledge management and decision-making. It also reviews frameworks for linking KPIs to strategy, particularly the balanced scorecard (BSC), and draws on goal-setting theory to explain how clear, challenging and aligned objectives enhance motivation and performance.
The findings show that Finnish pharmaceutical companies align KPIs to strategy through pragmatic combinations of industry benchmarking, corporate guidance and local participation rather than formal frameworks. Emphasis on short-term metrics challenges long-term strategic planning, while data overload, weak prioritisation and communication gaps risk reducing KPIs to reporting tools instead of strategic enablers. However, strong collaboration, transparent communication and functioning incentive systems enhance integration into daily work.
This thesis provides four development areas through which organizations can strengthen KPI alignment with strategy and daily work. The first recommendation focuses on reducing data overload by prioritising KPIs. The second highlights the importance of integrating KPIs into everyday work through active communication and dialogue. The third calls for balancing short- and long-term perspectives in KPI design, while the fourth recommends establishing a systematic and transparent KPI design process. In addition, the thesis suggests improving dashboard use to enhance visibility and knowledge sharing. Together, these recommendations offer the pharmaceutical industry practical guidance on how to move from reporting-driven KPI systems towards strategically aligned and operationally useful ones.