This document discusses benchmarking, which is a process of comparing performance between organizations to enable improvement. It defines key benchmarking terms and outlines the general principles and benefits, which include understanding strengths/weaknesses, satisfying customers, and motivating employees. There are four main types of benchmarking: competitive, internal, process, and generic. The benchmarking process involves planning, forming teams, collecting/analyzing data, integrating findings, and taking action. Potential pitfalls include lack of sponsorship, choosing the wrong team members, taking on too much, and not relating benchmarking to strategy.

1. By / MahmoudShaqria‫محمود‬
‫شقريه‬ ‫محمد‬

2. Objectives:
 Introduction
 Define benchmark key terms
 Mention Benefits of Benchmarking
 Enumerate General Principles for benchmarking
Involvement
 Explain types of benchmarking
 Discuss benchmarking process
 List Pitfalls of successful benchmarking

3. Introduction
 Benchmarking is a process of comparison between the performance
characteristics of separate, often competing organizations intended to
enable each participant to improve its own performance in the
marketplace.
 Its objectives are to obtain a clearer understanding of competitors and of
customers‘ requirements.
 Benchmarking will also enable innovations (either of process or product)
to spread more rapidly through an industry and across industries where
appropriate (Beckford, 1998).

4.  Overall, benchmarking first requires senior management
commitment, particularly to supporting actions arising from
the exploration.
 Second, it requires staff to be trained and guided in the
process to ensure that maximum benefit is obtained.
 Finally, it requires allocation of part of the relevant
employees time to enable it to be carried out (Beckford,
1998).

5. Definition of benchmark
• Benchmarking is a process of finding what best practices are
and then proposing what performance should be in the
future.
• The three principles of benchmarking are maintaining
quality, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

6. Definition of source organization:
 A benchmark organization is one that is widely
recognized for achieving standards of performance
on key indicators that others agree to and measure
themselves against.

7. Definition of recipitient organization ‫المستفيدة‬ ‫:المنظمة‬
 organizations have embraced ‫تبنت‬ benchmarking
as an important, systematic methodology for
achieving the organization's strategic objectives.

8. Benefits of Benchmarking :
-Helps organizations understand strengths and weaknesses
-Helps better satisfy the customer’s needs by establishing new
standards and goals
-Motivates employees to reach new standards and to be keen
on new developments
-Allows organization to realize what level(s) of performance is
really possible by looking at others

9. -Documents reasons as to why these differences exist
-Helps organizations to improve their competitive advantage
-Is a cost-effective and time-efficient way of establishing a
pool of innovative ideas

10. General Principles for Involvement:
 The more people involved, the more different view and
perspectives ‫توقعا‬-‫نظر‬ ‫وجها‬ brought to bear
 The more ideas generated, the better the chance of making
significant changes
 The more people in the benchmarking process, the less
difficult it is to sell the concept and any results to the
workforce.

11. There are, in general, four types of
benchmarking:
1-Competitive Benchmarking:
 Benchmarking is performed versus competitors and
data analysis is done as to what causes the superior
performance of the competitor
 It can be, in some respects, easier than other types of
benchmarking and in some respects more difficult.

12.  It is easier in the sense that many exogamic variables
affecting health organizations performance may be the
same between the source and the recipient organization,
since we are talking about organizations of the same sector.

13. On the other hand it is more difficult because, due to the
competitive nature, data recuperation will not be straight
forward
Advantages:
–Directly relevant
–Comparable practices ‫مماثلة‬ ‫ممارسا‬ & technologies
–History of information
Disadvantages:
–Data collection difficulties
–Ethical issues
– Antagonism ‫عداوة‬

14. 2-Internal Benchmarking
This process could be applied in organizations having multiple
units (for e.g. multinationals, health organizations with sale
offices around the country, with multiple factory locations
within the same country)
Advantages:
–Sharing - Communication
–Data easy to get
–Good results, immediate benefit
–Good practice
Disadvantages
–Limited focus
–Internal bias

15. 3-Process Benchmarking
 Here we look at processes, which may be similar, but in
different organizations , producing different products, for
e.g. airline industry & hospital industry looking at the
process of catering their ‘clients’.

16. 4-Generic Benchmarking
 We would look here at the technological aspects, the
implementation and deployment of technology.
How else other organizations do it? Hence the
source organizations may be of same industry or
from another industry
Advantages
–Breakthrough ideas ‫الخارقة‬ ‫األفكار‬
–Network development
–High potential for innovation

17. Disadvantages:
–Hard to do!
–Transferring practices (learning(!
–Some information not transferable
– Time consuming

18. Before you Start benchmarking process
 Clear about key issues
 Clear strategic plan
 Know your key customers
 Key suppliers
 Management commitment to improvement
 Commitment to participation
 Prepared to restructure

19.  Analytical skills
 Will to implement
 Ability to lead & develop teams
 Employees able to work in teams
 Commitment of resources
 Project management

20. Model for Benchmarking: Requirements:
 Simplicity, logic
 Clarity - explainable
 Emphasis on organization & planning
 Customer focus
 Consistent approach throughout the organization

21. Style of Benchmarking
 Data-driven ‫البيانا‬ ‫على‬ ‫تعتمد‬ - eg from an industry
database
 Process-driven - follow the steps of the model
 People-driven - designed by the participants
 Strategy-driven - each step deployed from the strategic
plan
 Strategy/people driven - a hybrid ‫هجين‬

22. Phases for implementation of
benchmarking
1. Planning
-Determines which process to benchmark and against
what type of organization
-Identify the strategic intent
-Identify customers’ profiles and expectations

23. 2. Forming the Benchmarking Teams
Select the Team Members
–Consult with stakeholders
–Balance the roles and skills
–Health organizations background
Train the Teams
–The model
–Knowledge of tools, techniques
–Leadership & communication skills
– Project management

24. 3.Collect the Data:
How you perform the process
–Flow charts
–Customer feedback
–Balanced Scorecard or Wheel
How they perform the process
Getting the Data
–Interview guide
– Post-site visit debrief ‫استجواب‬

25. 4. Analysis
 Following data acquisition, an analysis is performed for
the performance gap between the source organization
and the recipient organization. An indication of best
practice is then evident
5. Integration
 It involves the preparation of the recipient for
implementation of actions.

26. 6. Action
This is the phase where the actions are implemented within the
recipient organization:
Set Goals
–Close the performance gaps -meet, exceed
Decide Change Processes
–Adapt to match health organizations culture
Prepare Budget
–Commit the resources ‫الموارد‬ ‫تنسيق‬
Implement
–Train, gain acceptance, support

27. Pitfalls of successful benchmarking;
 Lack of Sponsorship
 Wrong people for the Team
 Team doesn’t fully
 misunderstand their own work
 Taking on too much
 Managers don’t understand
 Decrease level of commitment ‫االلتزام‬
 Not relating benchmarking to strategy
 Misunderstanding mission
 Failure to review
 Customer’s requirement is not clear
 Fear of sharing information with other organizations