Benchmarking is defined as identifying and implementing best practices from other companies to improve performance. It involves a continuous, multi-step process of planning, analysis, integration and action. The main purposes are to improve competitiveness, understand strengths/weaknesses, and learn from high performers. Benchmarking can analyze processes, finances, products/services, strategies, functions or internal practices. Comparing to direct competitors or best-in-class organizations from any industry allows identifying performance gaps and setting new goals. However, some barriers include unwilling partners, transferability of practices between organizations, and costs of benchmarking.

1. BENCH MARKING
MR. AFSAL AHAMMED KUNJU
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
SEVA NURSING INSTITUTE , DHULE

2. DEFINITION
• It is a continuous process to identify and implement the best
practices, which leads to superior or excellent performance.
• It is a practice of identifying , understanding and adapting
successful business practices and processes used by other
companies , which help to improve chances of success in
one’s own company.

3. PURPOSES
• To improve the competitive position of the company.
• To recognize the strength & weakness of the company’s business.
• To create a positive driving force in the company.
• To learn from those who are excelling in performance.
• To gain a better understanding of efficiency and effectiveness of business
processes.
• To check the process of management in terms of quality , speed & services.
• To incorporate the best practices made possible through bench marking.

4. PROCESS
Phase.1 : Planning
- Involves deciding what is to be benchmarked.
- Who are the members & partners .
- What data collection methods are going to be employed.
Phase.2 : Analysis of benchmarking
- Analysing the performance of partners
- Comparing their work to figure out how & why they are better

5. PROCESS
Phase.3 : Integration of benchmarking
- Involves developing goals and combining them to perform standard benchmarking to improve the
performance.
- Main focus is to identify needs of goal modification and whether all goals are clearly explained to all
the partners involved or not.
Phase.2 : Action in benchmarking
- Creation of actions based on modified goals
- Re- caliberation of benchmarking (new plans to achieve the goals & plans to evaluate the progress)

6. STAGES
1. Identifying the subject or problem
area
2. Defining the process
3. Identifying the potential partners
4. Identifying the data sources
5. Collecting the data and selecting the
partners
6. Determining the gap
7. Establishing difference in bench making
process
8. Targeting the future performance
9. Communicating efficiently
10. Modifying the goals framed
11. Implement the newly framed goals of
bench marking
12. Reviewing & recalibrating

7. TYPES
• Process benchmarking –It’s where we go beyond performance measures and compare how business processes are
performed. 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.
• Financial benchmarking - performing a financial analysis and comparing the results in an effort to assess your
overall competitiveness.
• 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 - comparison of strategic decisions and dispositions at a higher level. It involves observing
how others compete. This type is usually not industry specific meaning it is best to look at other industries.

8. TYPES
• Functional benchmarking - comparison against organizations that are not necessarily competitors, but that performs
related tasks within the same technological area. A company will focus its benchmarking on a single function in order
to improve the operation of that function.
• Internal benchmarking, comparison against the best within the same organization or corporation, often called
benchmarking within your own class.
• Competitive benchmarking, comparison against the best direct competitors, which then can be termed benchmarking
against someone in the parallel class.
• External benchmarking, it involves seeking outside organizations that are known to be best in class. It provides
opportunities of learning from those who are at the leading edge, although it must be remembered that not very best
practice solution can be transferred to others.
• International benchmarking. Is used where partners are sought from other countries because best practitioners are
located elsewhere in the world and/or there are too few benchmarking partners within the same country to produce
valid results.

11. BARRIERS
• Competitors may refuse to share their information
• Difficulties in deciding what activities to benchmark
• Successful practices in one organization may not be successful in another
organization
• It can be expensive to a firm
• The benchmark may be yesterday’s solution to tomorrow’s problem.
• It encourages the mentality of catching up rather than being innovative