Benchmarking is the process of determining who is the very best, who sets the standard, and what that standard is.

Benchmarking is usually part of a larger effort, usually a Process Re-engineering or Quality Improvement initiative.

If we were to benchmark "best fighter jets", what objective measure would we use to compare F-16 to Harrier; MIG-29 to F-14 Tomcat? Which of them is the best, and why?

We do the same thing in business.
Who has the best sales organization? Which company has the most responsive customer service department? The leanest manufacturing operation? And how do we quantify that standard?

If you don't know what the standard is you cannot compare yourself against it.
If a customer asks, "What is your average service time?" you may say "6 hours". But it is not enough to know your own service time.
What about your competitors? If the company whom you are competing against for this order has a service time of 6.5 hours, you are probably okay. However, if your competitor's service time is between 2 to 4 hours, who do you think the customer will prefer?

Performance Benchmarking is the collection of (generally numerical) performance information and making comparisons with other compatible organizations. It answers the question: "What are the most important performance yardsticks and where do we rank, compared with others in our industry and other analogous industries?"

Ideally performance benchmarking is repeated over two or three years, so that progress can be effectively monitored

Process Benchmarking is the comparison of practices, procedures and performance, with specially selected benchmarking partners, studying one business process at a time. It answers the question: "What is best practice in this topic, where are the best practitioners and what can we learn from them?"

Benchmarking Studies In Turkey are unfortunately inadequate. Companies shy away from giving exact information and when analyzed, the data collected reflects only a hazy outline of the current situation .

At TANGRAM, we work together with specific NGOs, chambers of commerce and industry and clusters to help bring together industry specific data.
We use the benchmarking process as part of a larger project like a Restructuring,
Re-engineering or Quality Improvement projects.

For research on markets, sectors, competitors and global competitiveness, call us.
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