Leader 2030 - The 5 Traps of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the Balanced Scorecard (II)

 The Executive Study Group (ESG) webinar named “Leader 2030 - The 5 Traps of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) (II)” was held by Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Limited (APIFS) on 1^st Sep 2026. The part 2 webinar aims to discuss traps of KPIs and strategy maps. In the beginning, Dr. Mark Lee reviewed previous two KPI traps and they are “Not Linking to Strategy” and “Not Validating the Links”.

Then he introduced the trap three named “Not Setting the Right Performance Targets”. Sometimes, the individual performance targets were contradiction and not benefited to the overall financial performance.

For example, short-term focus results may be damage but it improved long-term financial target.

The fourth trap named “Validity and Reliability”. Measuring indicators should be correct and representative.

The fifth trap entitled “Sticking to Your Numbers Too Long”. Based on company status and development, KPIs should be changed. The challenge is performance assessment systems evolved behind the business development.

Finally, Dr. Mark Lee introduced the strategy maps and briefed the “Fundamentals of a Strategy”.

Four levels to link KPIs to Strategy based on BSC are Financial, Customer, Internal Process and Learning & Growth Perspectives. It demonstrated the link of cause-and effect chain, as well as, visual framework provided.

Reference:

Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Limited (亞太策略研究所有限公司) – www.apifs.org

ESG facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/esg08

Leader 2030 - Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders - https://www.apifs.org/Leader2030-en

Leader 2030 series:

20250307: Leader 2030 Webinar – Lean Startup: Quick Innovation Strategy - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/03/leader-2030-webinar-lean-startup-quick.html

20250319: Leader 2030 Webinar – How Are AI Projects Different from Traditional IT Projects - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/03/leader-2030-webinar-how-are-ai-projects.html

20250422: Leader 2030 Webinar – The Secret for Successful Strategy Execution - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/04/leader-2030-webinar-secret-for.html

20250502: Leader 2030 Webinar – The Secret for Successful Strategy Execution (II) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/05/leader-2030-webinar-secret-for.html

20250515: Leader 2030 -Negotiation Strategy to Lead Changes - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/05/leader-2030-negotiation-strategy-to.html

20250806: Leader 2030-Innovation Strategy-How to Increase Customer Satisfaction and Reduce Costs Simultaneously - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/08/leader-2030-innovation-strategy-how-to.html

20250915: Leader 2030 -How to Turn Customer Loyalty to High Profits - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/09/leader-2030-how-to-turn-customer.html

20251023: Leader 2030 Webinar – Motivational Strategy - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/10/leader-2030-motivational-strategy.html

20251107: Leader 2030 Webinar – Motivational Strategy (II) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/11/leader-2030-webinar-motivational.html

20251125: Leader 2030 – The Success Secrets of Japan Richest Man from UNIQLO - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/11/leader-2030-success-secrets-of-japan.html

20260430: Leader 2030 - Entering the AI Era: How to Effectively Change the Old Mindsets of Your People - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2026/04/leader-2030-entering-ai-era-how-to.html

20260519: Leader 2030 - Managing Profit-Shifting Forces - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2026/05/leader-2030-managing-profit-shifting.html

20260819: Leader 2030 - The 5 Traps of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the Balanced Scorecard (I) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2026/08/leader-2030-5-traps-of-key-performance.html

Previous talks summary:

https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/search/label/Executive%20Study%20Group

HKSQ AGM 2026 & Seminar on ISO/FDIS 9001:2026 & ISO14001:2026

HKSQ AGM Seminar/Webinar named “ISO/FDIS 9001:2026 & ISO14001:2026 – Changes? Prepare!” was held on 28^th Aug 2026 in TQM Consultants Co., Ltd. I arrived and setting zoom meeting for online participants. 

The first speaker was Mr. Anthony KH Ng (Product Manager, SGS) and his topic entitled “Understanding the Changes and Why They Matter for ISO/FDIS 9001:2026 (QMS) and ISO 14001:2026 (EMS)”.

He briefed each ISO clause major and minor changes and summarized the key changes.

The key changes reference was mentioned such as adaptation of HLS, available as documented information, policy, process, risk and opportunity, etc.

And then Mr. Anthony Ng briefed the ISO9001 evolution history since 1980s.

After that he briefed the key changes included Climate change, Quality Culture & Ethical Behavior, etc.

Finally, he introduced key steps for both standards transition preparedness in four steps and they were “Conduct gap analysis”, “Update documentation & training”, “Further enhancement” and “Monitor the progress”.

Dr. Jane Wong (Chairman, HKSQ) presented a souvenir to Mr. Ng.

Dr. Aaron Tong (Managing Director, TQM) was the second speaker and he focused on what is changed and how to prepare in practical way.

Firstly, he reviewed some background information of ISO/FDIS 9001:2026 and expected the final version to be issued in Sep 2026.

Dr. Tong compared the translation of Top Management between English and Chinese version.

In mainland China, the participation of top management in audits is a necessary condition.

Dr. Tong then mentioned ISO14001:2026 and showed some of the projects they had consulted on.

For instance, the climate change policies and actions adopted by airports.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health practice of his client was mentioned.

The key updates summary of ISO14001 were discussed.

He then proposed that ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 be combined with the sustainability report, rather than being treated separately.

Finally, Dr. Aaron Tong proposed the new term named “Top Management Representative” that represented top management to execute the QMS and EMS responsibilities. 

Dr. Jane Wong (Chairman, HKSQ) presented a souvenir to Dr. Aaron Tong in front of the camera for online participants to watch.

Then she took a photo with two guest speakers.

Lastly, all HKSQ members took a group photo. We had ~140 online participants for this seminar/webinar.

Our advisor Mr. SW Lam come back HK from USA and took a photo with the banner of the 11^th World Summit for Chinese Quality.

HKSQ Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2025/2026 was held on 28th Aug 2026 both online and onsite in TQM office after the Seminar/Webinar. In the beginning, Dr. Jane Wong (Chairman, HKSQ) briefed the chairman report and reviewed different activities of HKSQ in the past year.

Then our Hon. Treasurer Dr. Mandict Wong presented the financial report.

Dr. Jack Wu and Mr. Keith Kwok also joined the webinar and AGM online.

After AGM, we took a photo with online HKSQ members.

Lastly, we took exco members group photo before left.

After AGM & Seminar, we had dinner together.

Reference:

HKSQ - http://www.hksq.org/

Past HKSQ AGM Seminar:

20250801: HKSQ AGM 2025 & Seminar on Cyber Crisis Management – Insights from Digital Firefighters - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/08/hksq-agm-2025-seminar-on-cyber-crisis.html

20240913: HKSQ AGM Seminar on Reform the Past and Innovate - “New Quality Productive Force” (革故鼎新 -「新質生產力」) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2024/09/hksq-agm-seminar-on-reform-past-and.html

20230818: HKSQ AGM 2023 & Seminar on “Minus Quality Assurance (-QA) (減法品質保證)” - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2023/08/hksq-agm-2023-seminar-on-minus-quality.html

20220826: HKSQ AGM 2022 & Seminar on “Quality and Sustainability: A Case Study of A S Watson” - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2022/08/hksq-agm-2022-seminar-on-quality-and.html

20210924: HKSQ AGM 2021 & Technical Seminar on Intelligence of Everything - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2021/09/hksq-agm-2021-technical-seminar-on.html

20201017: HKSQ AGM 2020 & Seminar on Local Production of Facial Mask in Hong Kong - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2020/10/hksq-agm-2020-seminar-on-local.html

20190927: HKSQ AGM Seminar on Industry 4.0 in Quality Management - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2019/09/hksq-agm-seminar-on-industry-40-in.html

20180804: HKSQ AGM Quality Innovation Seminar on “Extenics and AI Application” - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2018/08/hksq-agm-quality-innovation-seminar-on.html

20170728: HKSQ AGM 2017 and Extenics Seminar - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2017/07/hksq-agm-2017-and-extenics-seminar.html

20160812: HKSQ AGM 2016 and QFD Seminar - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2016/08/hksq-agm-2016-and-qfd-seminar.html

20150717: HKSQ AGM 2015 and Zero Defect Strategy Seminar - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2015/07/hksq-agm-2015-and-zero-defect-strategy.html

20140726: HKSQ AGM 2014 and IP Audit Seminar - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2014/07/hksq-agm-2014-and-ip-audit-seminar.html

20130719: ASQ Master Black Belt Seminar after HKSQ AGM - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2013/07/asq-master-black-belt-seminar-after.html

20120819: The 23rd HKSQ Annual General Meeting - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-23rd-hksq-annual-general-meeting.html

20110729: The 22nd HKSQ Annual General Meeting and Quality Seminar - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2011/07/22nd-hksq-annual-general-meeting-and.html

20100724: The seminar on “The Best Renewable Energy for Hong Kong” - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2010/07/seminar-on-best-renewable-energy-for.html

20100724: The 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2010/07/21st-annual-general-meeting-agm-hong.html

Leader 2030 - The 5 Traps of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the Balanced Scorecard (I)

The Executive Study Group (ESG) webinar named “Leader 2030 - The 5 Traps of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) (I)” was held by Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Limited (APIFS) on 19^th Aug 2026. The part 1 webinar aims to discuss objectives and traps of KPIs.

In the beginning, Dr. Mark Lee mentioned three objectives of KPIs apart from financial measures and they are to capture intangible values not recognized by standard accounting rules, provide early insights into business progress before final financial results are determined, and offer actionable information to achieve strategic goals.

Then he raised a case about non-financial measure of startup and discussed its’ pitfalls.

And then Dr. Lee explained the disappointing reality that there was a lack of causal relationship between key performance indicators and financial returns.

In the part I of this webinar, 2 out of 5 traps were discussed. The first trap named “Not Linking to Strategy”. Trap One occurs when non-financial measures are not properly aligned with an organization's unique strategic objectives, leading to difficulties in selecting the right metrics, ineffective resource allocation, and the risk of blindly benchmarking against competitors.

The second trap named “Not Validating the Links”. Trap Two involves failing to empirically validate the presumed links between non-financial measures and financial outcomes, resulting in tracking too many metrics, an inability to distinguish signal from noise, and suboptimal resource allocation.

Let’s look forward to the second part of the Leader 2030 webinar.

Reference:

Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy Limited (亞太策略研究所有限公司) – www.apifs.org

ESG facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/esg08

Leader 2030 - Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders - https://www.apifs.org/Leader2030-en

Leader 2030 series:

20250307: Leader 2030 Webinar – Lean Startup: Quick Innovation Strategy - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/03/leader-2030-webinar-lean-startup-quick.html

20250319: Leader 2030 Webinar – How Are AI Projects Different from Traditional IT Projects - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/03/leader-2030-webinar-how-are-ai-projects.html

20250422: Leader 2030 Webinar – The Secret for Successful Strategy Execution - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/04/leader-2030-webinar-secret-for.html

20250502: Leader 2030 Webinar – The Secret for Successful Strategy Execution (II) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/05/leader-2030-webinar-secret-for.html

20250515: Leader 2030 -Negotiation Strategy to Lead Changes - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/05/leader-2030-negotiation-strategy-to.html

20250806: Leader 2030-Innovation Strategy-How to Increase Customer Satisfaction and Reduce Costs Simultaneously - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/08/leader-2030-innovation-strategy-how-to.html

20250915: Leader 2030 -How to Turn Customer Loyalty to High Profits - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/09/leader-2030-how-to-turn-customer.html

20251023: Leader 2030 Webinar – Motivational Strategy - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/10/leader-2030-motivational-strategy.html

20251107: Leader 2030 Webinar – Motivational Strategy (II) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/11/leader-2030-webinar-motivational.html

20251125: Leader 2030 – The Success Secrets of Japan Richest Man from UNIQLO - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/11/leader-2030-success-secrets-of-japan.html

20260430: Leader 2030 - Entering the AI Era: How to Effectively Change the Old Mindsets of Your People - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2026/04/leader-2030-entering-ai-era-how-to.html

20260519: Leader 2030 - Managing Profit-Shifting Forces - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2026/05/leader-2030-managing-profit-shifting.html

Previous talks summary:

https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/search/label/Executive%20Study%20Group

PolyU FITE Seminar Series - “HKQF-TIC and the Education & Career Pathway of the TIC Profession”

I was honor to be invited by Prof. Gary Tang as a speaker of FITE Seminar and the topic entitled “The Hong Kong Qualification Framework for Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) and the Education & Career Pathway of the TIC Profession” on 4^th Mar 2026. This Seminar is supported by UGC's Fund for Innovative Technology-in-Education (FITE) under Faculty of Science, PolyU.

Before the seminar began, I took a photo with Prof. Gary Tang and Dr. Joe Lam in class.

In the beginning, I introduced the Hong Kong Qualification Framework (HKQF) for testing, inspection and certification (TIC) and there has seven QF levels.

And then I briefed the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification which established in Sep 2009. It aims to formulate overall development strategy of Hong Kong’s testing and certification industry.

After that I shared my career experience entitled “Connect the dots” which was based on Steve Jobs statement in Stanford Commencement Address in 2005. He said “You can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” I demonstrated all my dots in past 30+ years experience.

I asked the students to vote for their three areas of greatest interest, and the results showed that they were medical testing, food testing, and traditional Chinese medicine testing.

Finally, I surveyed the students about their desired careers and found that chemist, inspector, and auditor were the top three career choices.

The last topics I shared were my company-based capstone projects in COMP department. I invited TIC industry to support my students project including precious metals test, construction test, ecotoxicity test and drug packaging industry.

Then Prof. Gary Tang led the Q&A session.

Lastly, Dr. Joe Lam and Prof. Gary Tang presented souvenir to me.

Reference:

ABCT - https://www.polyu.edu.hk/abct/

COMP - https://www.polyu.edu.hk/comp/

BSc (Hon) in ASTC - https://www.polyu.edu.hk/abct/study/undergraduate-programmes/senior-year/bachelor-of-science-honours-in-analytical-sciences-for-testing-and-certification/recognition-and-prospects/

HKSQ CLabQS Registration - https://hksq.org/certification/hksq-certified-professionals/certified-laboratory-quality-specialist-clabqs-hksq-registration/

20250318: PolyU ABCT Guest Talk for “HKQF-TIC & Experience Sharing” - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2025/03/polyu-abct-guest-talk-for-hkqf-tic.html

20240327: ABCT Guest Talk for “Introduction of HKQF & Experience Sharing” - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2024/03/abct-guest-talk-for-introduction-of.html