critical (adjective, crit-i-cal, \ ˈkrɪtɪkl \) success (noun, suc-cess, \ səkˈses \) factors (noun, fac-tors, \ ˈfæktərz \)
Definition: is a limited amount (typically between three to eight) of variables, aspects, characteristics, or conditions that have the capacity to directly and critically affect the effectiveness, productivity, viability, and efficiency of a company, project, or program. Business activities that are directly or indirectly tied to CSF have to be executed at the maximum level of excellence to meet the organization’s presented strategic goals. Alternatively, these factors can be called key result areas or key success factors.
In a Sentence:
- As a manager, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you account for all critical success factors that affect your core capabilities.
- One of the key critical success factors that allowed our company to flourish in the current business climate was our decision to switch to alternative energy sources. While our competitors struggled with power outages, we had our solar batteries to rely on.
- The cheaper cost of the materials we use during the production of our watches proved to be one of our critical success factors.
Synonyms and related words: critical activities, critical business point, key performance indicators, key success indicators
