Just a suggestion, for what it's worth, in your study and understanding of KRAs.
Many older texts that covered the study of MBO and Peter Drucker also integrated the issue of KRAs—or Key Result Areas—within the study of the MBO process.
As the term Key Results Area—KRA—has evolved, the term has moved away from the seemingly well-defined areas of Business Management into more esoteric and narrowly focused objectives. KRAs originally focused on areas within the enterprise that could be consistently measured in objective terms and were measured regularly to demonstrate performance.
In my mind, there are always distinct separations between Objectives and Key Result Areas, but more and more in client companies, I'm seeing the two terms blended; creating a mishmash of terms.
When I sit through an investment presentation and hear Investment Bankers discussing the Key Result Areas of an Enterprise, I guarantee you that KRAs of which they speak differ significantly from the KRAs of the Middle Management ranks.
In today's parlance, we must assume that the terms Key Result Areas embrace the Overriding Objectives of yesterday; KRAs will generally be moving targets, subject to results vs. plan; and—to prove out Murphy's Law—will most likely be used to illustrate that which someone has not achieved!
Alan Guinn, Managing Director
The Guinn Consultancy Group, Inc.