As you prepare to respond to this post, refer to the “Benchmarking” Learning Activity. According to the text, what is not a requirement to conduct a benchmark? Now, think of a company that you support and describe the company. What company would you use to benchmark that company and why? What would be your goal?

BENCHMARKING AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS

Benchmarking

Introduction

In order to gauge how successful your company is, you can compare it to other companies that are the best at a certain activity. Read this section to learn how to successfully benchmark your company.

Benchmarking is a process by which a company compares its performance to the performance of other companies. Those other companies need not be competitors, nor be within the same industry. Instead, the purpose of benchmarking is to set a standard based upon the company that is recognized as the best at a certain activity. As an example, many companies use L.L. Bean as a benchmark for online ordering and order fulfillment. To be effective at benchmarking, firms must understand that a benchmark does not define the best possible outcome; it only identifies what a company has achieved. Choosing the wrong companies to benchmark can lead to setting standards that are too low. As a result, a benchmark is only one piece of information that companies should use to set performance goals for quality or any other important outcome.

Note. Adapted from “Quality Management,” by M. Vonderembse & G. White, 2013, Operations Management, Chapter 4. Copyright 2013 by Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

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