1. Benchmarking is comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry
bests and best practicesfrom other companies. Dimensions typically measured are quality,
time and cost. In the process of best practice benchmarking, management identifies the best
firms in their industry, or in another industry where similar processes exist, and compares the
results and processes of those studied (the "targets") to one's own results and processes. In
this way, they learn how well the targets perform and, more importantly, the business
processes that explain why these firms are successful.
Benchmarking is used to measure performance using a specific indicator (cost per unit of
measure, productivity per unit of measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per
unit of measure) resulting in a metric of performance that is then compared to others.[1]
Also referred to as "best practice benchmarking" or "process benchmarking", this process is
used in management which particularly shows VEMR strategic management, in which
organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practice
companies' processes, usually within a peer group defined for the purposes of comparison.
This then allows organizations to develop plans on how to make improvements or adapt
specific best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance.
Benchmarking may be a one-off event, but is often treated as a continuous process in which
organizations continually seek to improve their practices.
Contents
[hide]
• 1History
• 2Procedure
• 3Costs
• 4Technical/product benchmarking
• 5Types
• 6Tools
• 7Metric benchmarking
• 8See also
• 9References
History[edit]
The term bench mark, or benchmark, originates from the chiseled horizontal marks
that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a
"bench" for a leveling rod, thus ensuring that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned
in the same place in the future. These marks were usually indicated with a
chiseled arrowbelow the horizontal line. Benchmarking is most used to measure
performance using a specific indicator (cost per unit of measure, productivity per unit of

2. measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a
metric of performance that is then compared to others. In 1994, one of the first technical
journal named "Benchmarking: An International Journal" was published.
In 2008, a comprehensive survey[2]
on benchmarking was commissioned by The Global
Benchmarking Network, a network of benchmarking centres representing 22 countries.
1. Mission and Vision Statements and Customer (Client) Surveys are the most used (by
77% of organizations) of 20 improvement tools, followed by SWOT
analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) (72%), and Informal
Benchmarking (68%). Performance Benchmarking was used by 49% and Best
Practice Benchmarking by 39%.
2. The tools that are likely to increase in popularity the most over the next three years
are Performance Benchmarking, Informal Benchmarking, SWOT, and Best Practice
Benchmarking. Over 60% of organizations that are not currently using these tools
indicated they are likely to use them in the next three years.
Procedure[edit]
There is no single benchmarking process that has been universally adopted. The wide
appeal and acceptance of benchmarking has led to the emergence of benchmarking
methodologies. One seminal book is Boxwell's Benchmarking for Competitive
Advantage (1994).[3]
The first book on benchmarking, written and published by Kaiser
Associates,[4]
is a practical guide and offers a seven-step approach. Robert Camp (who wrote
one of the earliest books on benchmarking in 1989)[5]
developed a 12-stage approach to
benchmarking.
The 12 stage methodology consists of:
1. Select subject
2. Define the process
3. Identify potential partners
4. Identify data sources
5. Collect data and select partners
6. Determine the gap
7. Establish process differences
8. Target future performance
9. Communicate
10.Adjust goal
11.Implement

3. 12.Review and recalibrate
The following is an example of a typical benchmarking methodology:
• Identify problem areas: Because benchmarking can be applied to any business
process or function, a range of research techniques may be required. They include
informal conversations with customers, employees, or suppliers;exploratory
research techniques such as focus groups; or in-depth marketing research, quantitative
research, surveys,questionnaires, re-engineering analysis, process mapping, quality
control variance reports, financial ratio analysis, or simply reviewing cycle times or other
performance indicators. Before embarking on comparison with other organizations it is
essential to know the organization's function and processes; base lining performance
provides a point against which improvement effort can be measured.
• Identify other industries that have similar processes: For instance, if one were
interested in improving hand-offs in addiction treatment one would identify other fields
that also have hand-off challenges. These could include air traffic control, cell phone
switching between towers, transfer of patients from surgery to recovery rooms.
• Identify organizations that are leaders in these areas: Look for the very best in any
industry and in any country. Consult customers, suppliers, financial analysts, trade
associations, and magazines to determine which companies are worthy of study.
• Survey companies for measures and practices: Companies target specific business
processes using detailed surveys of measures and practices used to identify business
process alternatives and leading companies. Surveys are typically masked to protect
confidential data by neutral associations and consultants.
• Visit the "best practice" companies to identify leading edge practices: Companies
typically agree to mutually exchange information beneficial to all parties in a
benchmarking group and share the results within the group.
• Implement new and improved business practices: Take the leading edge practices
and develop implementation plans which include identification of specific opportunities,
funding the project and selling the ideas to the organization for the purpose of gaining
demonstrated value from the process.
Costs[edit]
The three main types of costs in benchmarking are:
• Visit Costs - This includes hotel rooms, travel costs, meals, a token gift, and lost
labor time.

4. • Time Costs - Members of the benchmarking team will be investing time in
researching problems, finding exceptional companies to study, visits, and
implementation. This will take them away from their regular tasks for part of each day so
additional staff might be required.
• Benchmarking Database Costs - Organizations that institutionalize benchmarking
into their daily procedures find it is useful to create and maintain a database of best
practices and the companies associated with each best practice now.
The cost of benchmarking can substantially be reduced through utilizing the many internet
resources that have sprung up over the last few years. These aim to capture benchmarks
and best practices from organizations, business sectors and countries to make the
benchmarking process much quicker and cheaper.[6]
Technical/product benchmarking[edit]
The technique initially used to compare existing corporate strategies with a view to achieving
the best possible performance in new situations (see above), has recently been extended to
the comparison of technical products. This process is usually referred to as "technical
benchmarking" or "product benchmarking". Its use is well-developed within the automotive
industry ("automotive benchmarking"), where it is vital to design products that match precise
user expectations, at minimal cost, by applying the best technologies available worldwide.
Data is obtained by fully disassembling existing cars and their systems. Such analyses were
initially carried out in-house by car makers and their suppliers. However, as these analyses
are expensive, they are increasingly being outsourced to companies who specialize in this
area. Outsourcing has enabled a drastic decrease in costs for each company (by cost
sharing) and the development of efficient tools (standards, software).-
Types[edit]
Benchmarking can be internal (comparing performance between different groups or teams
within an organization) or external (comparing performance with companies in a specific
industry or across industries). Within these broader categories, there are three specific types
of benchmarking: 1) Process benchmarking, 2) Performance benchmarking and 3) Strategic
benchmarking. These can be further detailed as follows:
• Process benchmarking - the initiating firm focuses its observation and investigation of
business processes with a goal of identifying and observing the best practices from one
or more benchmark firms. Activity analysis will be required where the objective is to
benchmark cost and efficiency; increasingly applied to back-office processes where
outsourcing may be a consideration. Benchmarking is appropriate in nearly every case

5. where process redesign or improvement is to be undertaking so long as the cost of the
study does not exceed the expected benefit.
• Financial benchmarking - performing a financial analysis and comparing the results
in an effort to assess your overall competitiveness and productivity.
• Benchmarking from an investor perspective- extending the benchmarking universe to
also compare to peer companies that can be considered alternative investment
opportunities from the perspective of an investor.
• Benchmarking in the public sector - functions as a tool for improvement and
innovation in public administration, where state organizations invest efforts and
resources to achieve quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the services they provide.[7]
• Performance benchmarking - allows the initiator firm to assess their competitive
position by comparing products and services with those of target firms.
• Product benchmarking - the process of designing new products or upgrades to
current ones. This process can sometimes involve reverse engineering which is taking
apart competitors products to find strengths and weaknesses.
• Strategic benchmarking - involves observing how others compete. This type is
usually not industry specific, meaning it is best to look at other industries.
• Functional benchmarking - a company will focus its benchmarking on a single
function to improve the operation of that particular function. Complex functions such as
Human Resources, Finance and Accounting and Information and Communication
Technology are unlikely to be directly comparable in cost and efficiency terms and may
need to be disaggregated into processes to make valid comparison.
• Best-in-class benchmarking - involves studying the leading competitor or the
company that best carries out a specific function.
• Operational benchmarking embraces everything from staffing and productivity to
office flow and analysis of procedures performed.[8]
• Energy benchmarking - process of collecting, analysing and relating energy
performance data of comparable activities with the purpose of evaluating and comparing
performance between or within entities.[9]
Entities can include processes, buildings or
companies. Benchmarking may be internal between entities within a single organization,
or - subject to confidentiality restrictions - external between competing entities.
Tools[edit]
Further information: List of benchmarking methods and software tools
Benchmarking software can be used to organize large and complex amounts of information.
Software packages can extend the concept of benchmarking and competitive analysis by
allowing individuals to handle such large and complex amounts or strategies. Such tools

6. support different types of benchmarking (see above) and can reduce the above costs
significantly.
Metric benchmarking[edit]
Another approach to making comparisons involves using more aggregative cost or
production information to identify strong and weak performing units. The two most common
forms of quantitative analysis used in metric benchmarking are data envelope analysis
(DEA) and regression analysis. DEA estimates the cost level an efficient firm should be able
to achieve in a particular market. In infrastructure regulation, DEA can be used to reward
companies/operators whose costs are near the efficient frontier with additional profits.
Regression analysis estimates what the average firm should be able to achieve. With
regression analysis, firms that performed better than average can be rewarded while firms
that performed worse than average can be penalized. Such benchmarking studies are used
to create yardstick comparisons, allowing outsiders to evaluate the performance of operators
in an industry. Advanced statistical techniques, including stochastic frontier analysis, have
been used to identify high and weak performers in industries, including applications to
schools, hospitals, water utilities, and electric utilities.[10]
One of the biggest challenges for metric benchmarking is the variety of metric definitions
used among companies or divisions. Definitions may change over time within the same
organization due to changes in leadership and priorities. The most useful comparisons can
be made when metrics definitions are common between compared units and do not change
so improvements can be verified.
Free encyciopedia
Benchmark may refer to:
Look up benchmark in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.
Contents
[hide]
• 1Measurements and other evaluations
• 2Proper names
• 3See also

7. Measurements and other evaluations[edit]
• Reference points for geographic measurements:
• Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevation marked for the purpose of
surveying
• Benchmarking (geolocating), an activity involving finding benchmarks
• Commodity-market reference-price practices:
• Benchmark price
• Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices
• Benchmark (investment performance evaluation)
• Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations
• Benchmark (computing), the result of running a computer program to assess
performance
• Benchmark, a best-performing, or "gold standard", test
Proper names[edit]
• Organizations:
• Benchmarking (Journal)
• Benchmark Electronics, an electronics manufacturer
• Benchmark (venture capital firm), a venture capital firm
• Benchmark Recordings, a music label with CDs by the Fabulous
Thunderbirds and Mike Bloomfield.
• Other brands:
• Benchmark, McAfee's Benchmark bourbon
• Benchmark (game show), on UK Channel 4
1. Process Benchmarking – Focuses on the observation and investigation of
business processes with a goal of identifying and observing the best practices from
one or more benchmark firms. Usually involves the creation of process maps to
facilitate comparison and analysis. Often applied to back-office processes where
outsourcing may be a consideration.
2. Financial Benchmarking – Involves performing a financial analysis and
comparing the results in an effort to assess your overall competitiveness and
productivity. May also be done from an investor perspective by extending the
benchmarking universe to also compare peer companies that can be considered
alternative investment opportunities.

8. 3. Performance Benchmarking – Is usually focused on assessing a firm’s
competitive position by comparing products and services with those of target firms
(usually their direct competitors). This may be undertaken through a trade
association or 3rd-party in order to protect confidentiality of the process.
4. Product Benchmarking – This is the process of assessing a firm’s current or
designed products to current ones from competitors. This process can sometimes
involve reverse engineering which is taking apart competitors products to find
strengths and weaknesses.
5. Strategic Benchmarking – Is usually undertaken as part of an effort to improve
overall business performance by examining the long-term strategies and general
approaches that have made other firms successful. This type of benchmarking is
usually not industry-specific, meaning it is best to look at other industries.
6. Functional Benchmarking – This is a benchmarking assessment of a single
function or process in order to improve the firm’s capabilities in that particular area.
Complex functions such as Human Resources, Finance and Accounting and
Information and Communication Technology are unlikely to be directly comparable in
cost and efficiency terms and may need to be disaggregated into processes to make
valid comparison. These studies frequently involve firms that are not direct
competitors, but who are stand-outs in the particular function being analyzed.
7. Internal Benchmarking – This involves benchmarking businesses or operations
from within the same organization (e.g. business units in different countries). The
main advantages of internal benchmarking are that access to sensitive data and
information is easier; standardized data is often readily available; and, usually less
time and resources are needed.
8. Energy Benchmarking — This is the process of collecting, analyzing and relating
energy performance data of comparable activities with the purpose of evaluating and
comparing performance between or within entities.[6] Entities can include processes,
buildings or companies. Benchmarking may be internal between entities within a
single organization, or – subject to confidentiality restrictions – external between
competing entities.

9. Step 2
Second, decide on the benchmarking process you will use. Overall, the benchmarking
process is a cycle that looks like this:
However, there are two common benchmarking methods that I have come across. They are
referenced below:
Camp Process
Robert Camp of Xerox recommended the following 12-step process in his 1989 book. [3] The
Camp methodology consists of:
1. Select subject
2. Define the process

10. 3. Identify potential partners
4. Identify data sources
5. Collect data and select partners
6. Determine the gap
7. Establish process differences
8. Target future performance
9. Communicate
10. Adjust goal
11. Implement
12. Review and recalibrate
Chang and Kelly Process
Or there is the 7-step process recommended by Chang and Kelly in their 1994 book: [5]
1. Identify what to benchmark
2. Determine what to measure
3. Identify who to benchmark
4. Collect the data
5. Analyze the data
6. Set goals and develop an action plan
7. Monitor the process
Step 3
Third, plan your benchmarking study. This involves: [6]
• Deciding which processes, activities, or strategies will be benchmarked
• Deciding which performance measures or metrics will be used
• Identifying the type of information that will be needed or is available to conduct the
study
• Document the firm’s existing process for comparison to the benchmarks
• Identify the targets to be benchmarked

11. Step 4
Fourth, gather data. This involves collecting the information that was identified in the
planning step.
Step 5
Fifth, analyze the data: This involves: [6]
• Compare the current process to the benchmarking data that was gathered
• Agree on areas of competitive advantage, areas that need improvement, and
processes or activities of the targets that should be considered for adoption or further
evaluation
• Agree on recommendations for specific actions or changes that should be made to
improve weaknesses
Step 6
Sixth, take action on the benchmarking results. This involves: [6]
• Communicate the results of the benchmarking study to stakeholders and agree on
which (if any) of the recommendations will be moved forward
• Develop a specific plan of action to implement the recommended changes
• Implement the changes, while monitoring internal processes and benchmarks for
progress and potential issues
Step 7
Seventh, review the results. This involves: [6]
• Once the changes have been implemented, review the results and identify remaining
bottlenecks
• Communicate the results of the implemented changes to stakeholders

12. Step 8
Eighth, recalibrate metrics and plan further benchmarking studies. This involves:
• As results are made, determine if metrics need to be changed or refined
• Schedule further benchmarking studies to refine knowledge of best practices and
identify areas of further improvement
•
Advantages
Benchmarking has several advantages:
• It identifies new and innovative ideas that may not otherwise arise within a firm due to
cultural and other factors
• It can expand the focus of stakeholders from the narrow operational focus that many
stakeholders may have by forcing them to look at the overall process, or “bigger
picture”, and how their individual functions integrate into the larger process that was
the subject of the benchmarking study
• Benchmarking studies can frequently be low-cost exercises that enable a firm to
identify and evaluate possible paths to improvement without having to first undertake
those changes within the firm
Risks
• Benchmarking can be a very time consuming process
• Organizations may not have the expertise to conduct the analysis and acquire or
interpret useful competitive information
• Because it involves assessing solutions that have been shown to work elsewhere,
with the goal of reproducing them, benchmarking cannot produce innovative
solutions or solutions that will produce a sustainable competitive advantage
• Deciding on appropriate targets for benchmarking studies can be difficult as what
appear to be process strengths from outside the target may be due to other factors
that are difficult to determine or measure
• Acquiring valid and correct data can sometimes be very challenging

13. What are some advantages and
disadvantages of
benchmarking?
A:
QUICK ANSWER
Benchmarking enhances creativity and promotes competition by improving on
methods for becoming more profitable. It establishes a need for continuous
improvement of goods and services. On the downside, benchmarking creates a
narrowed focus by being subjective to only what can be improved compared to
existing business strategies, thus limiting growth and new ideas.
Benchmarking raises a company's awareness about the areas of business which
should be given special attention. It forces the business to be receptive to and
adopt change. This process gives a broader perspective by exposing new ideas
and different ways of working. Benchmarking sets standards for a business to
evaluate its performance and create strategies aimed at enhancing
competitiveness. This process identifies best practices in business processes
and bridges the gap between the expected performance and the present state.
This provides the organization with both the motivation to be better than others
and a clear path to achieve the results.
By comparing a company with competitors, business decision makers get a true
measure of their successes and failures. Benchmarking reduces research costs
and expensive trials.
Benchmarking has limitations. A narrowed concentration on competitors leads a
business away from developing based on its vision. By assuming that
circumstances under which the competitors attained their successes are the
same, benchmarking leads a business away from focusing on other issues in the
market. Benchmarking exposes a business to stagnation once competitors'
standards are surpassed.
benefits
if you're an executive that hasn’t bought into benchmarking manufacturing performance, below are
7 reasons why you might want to reconsider that strategy.
1. Understand your performance relative to close competitors
Having a thorough understanding of your own performance can only get you so far. For instance, if
you’re working to improve year-over-year new product introduction defect rates, it might benefit

14. you to understand the current industry average. Where one or two percentage points can have a
dramatic impact, that intelligence may warrant an investment or reallocation of resources.
2. Compare performance between product lines/business units in your
own company
Benchmarking doesn’t necessarily have to be an exercise that requires competitive intelligence. Many
companies—especially large and distributed ones—benchmark performance of facilities and products
having similar processes as well as metrics and KPIs. Again, this analysis can lead to deeper
investigations as to why a particular facility, product, or business unit is underperforming.
3. Hold people more responsible for their performance
Without an internal or external benchmark for comparing performance, it can be a challenge to set
precedents every year. Benchmarking projects and reports give you perspective on what’s
considered “good” performance, and can be an instrumental tool for measuring the effectiveness of
facilities, product lines, business units, and even particular personnel.
4. Drill down into performance gaps to identify areas for improvement
Even benchmarking a high-level metric such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) can result
in some serious discussions amongst leadership. Many companies carry out such benchmarking
projects, and then drill down into the variables to identify where the real culprits of underperformance
reside. OEE, for example, can be broken down into components of quality, availability, and efficiency.
A disparity between industry averages could surface as a disparity in quality management process
and/or software capabilities.

15. 5. Develop a standardized set of processes and metrics
The process of undertaking a benchmarking project can encourage organizations to invest resources
in standardizing the calculation of metrics and KPIs. The challenge is that metrics such as OEE
and the cost of quality can be calculated in numerous ways. Whether it’s adopting industry standards
or just making sure calculations are standardized across your facilities, having a solid baseline for
comparison is one of the keys to successful metrics program as well as benchmarking projects.
6. Enable a mindset and culture of continuous improvement
Providing metrics performance visibility to shop floor workers all the way up to the top floor allows
personnel to understand how their actions impact certain areas of business. Adding an additional layer
to those key performance indicators, showing them how their current performance compares to
industry targets or even internal targets, can be incentive to drive productivity and innovation needed
to exceed those averages.

16. 7. Better understand what makes a company successful
Market leaders are the ones that exceed industry benchmarks. If you’re comparing on-time deliveries
or first pass yield, benchmarking can provide a better outlook as to where you are versus where you
want to be. The challenge is that successful companies are no doubt working to widen the gap.
Benefits of Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a common practice and sensible exercise to establish baselines, define best
practices, identify improvement opportunities and create a competitive environment within the
organization. Benchmarking helps companies:
• Gain an independent perspective about how well they perform compared to other
companies
• Clearly identify specific areas of opportunity
• Validate assumptions
• Prioritize improvement opportunities
• Set performance expectations
• Monitor company performance and manage change
Integrating benchmarking into the organization will result in valuable data that encourages
discussion and sparks new ideas and practices. However, the approach to benchmarking can be
just as important as the data. The most successful companies incorporate benchmarking into the
culture by engaging key decision makers and personnel throughout the process. A benchmarking
process with team focus:
• Improves understanding of the real opportunities and their priority at all levels
• Minimizes resistance to change and garners support for action
• Fosters a spirit of enthusiasm to do better than the external benchmark
• Promotes discussion based on data rather than assumptions or emotion
Benchmarking at its best is used as a tool to help companies evaluate and prioritize improvement
opportunities.

17. LIMITATIONS OF
BENCHMARKING UNCOVER
ED
Typically, an organization might also face some hurdles in their benchmarking activity. if one gives
this process a close look, he/she might end up concluding that benchmarking process focuses more on
the data and not much on the processes used to make that data.
The first limitation in the benchmarking is the focus on the numbers. it means that the organizations in
the industry that tend to set a benchmark, focus more on the figures rather than on the understanding
of the whole processes that produces the data and then making ways for the company to adapt to those
practices. if a manager loses his focus, then benchmarking wouldn’t bring any good for the company.
The second limitation in benchmarking is the lack of clarity from where data is originated. one of the
biggest mistakes that managers do is that they do not understand the source from where they acquire
the data and this can cause major errors in setting up the bench mark. this can be explained as when an
organization wants to compare their processes to the benchmarked organizations’, the benchmarked
organization might be focusing on some other factors in setting up their standards while the company
who benchmark those standards might mix up their factors. this may occur because different
organizations define their process in many different ways. therefore before collecting the data, the
organizations must put in their efforts to see what their sources mean and from where they are
acquiring their required data. if an organization does not pay attention to this, they might end up with
totally unproductive data and a waste of time and efforts.
The third factor in the benchmarking limitation is losing focus of the customers and employees of the
organization. the process of benchmarking can at times make an organization lose a part of its focus
on the customers and employees. all those companies who want to produce better revenue for the
organization quickly can cause their employees to burnout, cause errors and get distressed. this may
also divert the company’s attention to get as much receivables they can and ignore the amount they
have to pay, all because to meet a certain numeric target. this all can have a huge affect on the
customers and suppliers of the organization, which would in the end, create a huge problem for the
organization. (zairi and leonard, 1994)

18. The fourth factor is the resistance from the employees towards the change. it is said that if an
organization keep itself aware of the potential hurdles in the process of implementing benchmarking,
it can help deal with the employees. as a company’s biggest challenge is to face the resistance of its
employees. it is a possibility that the employees would not like to see a change in the organization due
to many reason, including their fear of losing their current status or relationship with some colleague,
the fear of dealing with new policies and practices and doing a mistake. to avoid all the hassle, the
organization who wants to benchmark can simply go to that top leading company of the industry and
learn their processes and ways to deal with the employees.
One very important factor about benchmarking is that the companies are required to establish and use
metrics, which can measure the performance. the performance can be measured in dollars, in the form
of customer satisfaction, the time of response and so on. an organization must know how the
performance would be measured in the whole procedure. mostly companies do not measure the
performance as they do not decide upon the tools to be used this can cause problem
Another reason which causes limitation in benchmarking is the lack of proper implementation of the
processes. this is one of the important factors, since many companies after acquiring the required data
fail to implement the benchmarking process properly. if an organization fails to do so, then it means
that all the efforts and time which was put in to find and collect the data goes in vain. this failure can
also be because of employees’, not being involved in the whole process. if the employees’ are not
being involved, then they might show resistance as they might feel ignored or another thing that could
happen is that the employees’ do not have any idea about the process and therefore they have no
information or idea to improve the processes of the company to make it a success.
lastly, benchmarking is considered to be an ongoing process. it does not mean that once a company
has set a benchmark, it would never have to set the benchmark again in future. the market trends keep
on changing due to the changes in the economic, political, social and technological conditions. they
bring change in the business practices and activities because of which the companies are forced to
change their set of standards and attitudes towards their products and services. therefore, it is
important to keep benchmarking updated and according to the market situation. many companies
consider it as a onetime project. also, many companies think that if they would benchmark, they would
show their organization’s weaknesses and other companies might use it against them. the most
common problem with the benchmarking is that companies fail to study the large scope of industry; it
should benchmark the best companies in all industries, including those too who are outside the users
industry.