Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a set of enterprise efforts undertaken in order to identify best practices and exploit their implementation within the benchmarking enterprise.
Definitions
According to Financial Management Theory and Practice by Eugene F. Brigham and Michael C. Ehrhardt (13th edition),
- Benchmarking. When a firm compares its ratios to other leading companies in the same industry.
According to Fundamentals of Financial Management by Eugene F. Brigham and Joel F. Houston (15th edition),
- Benchmarking. The process of comparing a particular company with a subset of top competitors in its industry.
According to Management by Robbins and Coulter (14th edition),
- Benchmarking. The search for the best practices among competitors or noncompetitors that lead to their superior performance.
According to Managing Quality by Foster (6th edition),
- Benchmarking. The process of finding a company that is superior in a particular area, studying what it does, and gathering ideas for improving one's own operation in that area.
According to Juran's Quality Handbook by Defeo (7th edition),
- Benchmarking. A recent label for the concept of setting goals based on knowing what has been achieved by others. It identifies the best in class and the methods behind it that make it best.
According to the BABOK Guide (3rd edition),
- Benchmarking. A comparison of a decision, process, service, or system's cost, time, quality, or other metrics to those of leading peers to identify opportunities for improvement.
According to Cost Accounting by Horngren, Datar, Rajan (14th edition),
- Benchmarking. The continuous process of comparing the levels of performance in producing products and services and executing activities against the best levels of performance in competing companies or in companies having similar processes.
According to the Corporate Strategy by Lynch (4th edition),
- Benchmarking. The comparison of practice in other organizations in order to identify areas for improvement. Note that the comparison does not have to be with another organization within the same industry, simply one whose practices are better at a particular aspect of the task or function.
According to Managerial Accounting by Braun, Tietz (5th edition),
- Benchmarking. The practice of comparing a company with other companies or industry averages.
According to Product Manager's Handbook by Gorchels (2nd edition),
- Benchmarking. Comparing a product, a product feature, or a process against best-in-class to improve the level of quality.
According to the Strategic Management by David and David (15th edition),
- Benchmarking. An analytical tool used to determine how a firm's value chain activities compare to rival firms in order to better gain and sustain competitive advantages.
According to the ASME EMBOK,
- Benchmarking. The process of improving performance by continuously identifying, understanding, and adapting the best practices and processes found inside and outside the organization.
Related concepts
- Financial management. A combination of enterprise efforts undertaken in order to procure and utilize monetary resources of the enterprise.
