An "executive dashboard" is . a. a small number (usually less than five) of KPIs. b. used by senior management to track profits. c. metrics used by an organization's suppliers d. a trend that has only recently developed.

The correct answer is (a) a small number (usually less than five) of KPIs.

Explanation:  An executive dashboard is usually used to track key performance indicators (KPIs) but NOT necessarily less than five. There is no limit to the number of KPIs to be tracked but usually the idea is to give a snapshot or a summarized view of how the orgnizational KPIs are being met. It is a way of compressing complex data in a summarized form.

The executive dashboard is now a modern reporting tool that provides visual display of organizational KPIs usually via flat screen. It is designed for different organizational departments on a case-by-case basis. For example, in Accounts Payable Unit within Finance department, the KPIs may be that payment transactions must not be processed outside of service level agreement (SLA) except there are issues beyond control. The dashboard would be designed in such a way, that there would be a colour configuration to indicate that a particular payment transaction is tilting towards being outside of SLA. Then, flag it if it eventually falls outside of SLA. At the end of the month, the payment team can use the dashboard to collate those payments that went outside of SLA for performance reporting. To the top management or the Chief Executive Officer, he can have a further summarized view of all the organizational KPIs depending on the size of operations.

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