Re: How to benchmark (seek advice)? Is Benchmarking of any value?
Your third link is broken--it has an extra "HTTP" at the beginning. Nonetheless, of the other two, one leads to an abstract of a paper recounting stuff that happened nearly thirty years ago, and the other is just a "Yay! Benchmarking!" article. The thing I was questioning was the blanket statement that most organizations find that benchmarking pays for itself. There's no reliable evidence that I know of to indicate that the statement is true. I've personally seen (at a large OEM) large amounts of money squandered on it. While there might be some benefit to be derived from benchmarking for some companies on a relatively small scale, I still say the best benchmarking strategy is to recognize that the companies you want to emulate have smarter people and smarter management. Get the best people you can get and let them do their jobs.
well, it's moderately expensive process, but most organizations find that it more than pays for itself.
You mean something like these:
Xerox: The Benchmarking Story
Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning Through Innovative Adaptation
Best Practices for Benchmarking
...etc. .... etc. ... etc. ...
I am sure you will find nicely filtered stories of the benefits - or costs - of benchmarking if one sifts through the internet, research and marketing media.
Will it benefit every case? Not always. As you peruse the citations, one of the biggest downsides is inadequate preparation for benchmarking. I think and other is interpretation. What you might interpret as a good idea on the surface simply might not be one. Benchmarking holds many of the same issues as surveys.
Your third link is broken--it has an extra "HTTP" at the beginning. Nonetheless, of the other two, one leads to an abstract of a paper recounting stuff that happened nearly thirty years ago, and the other is just a "Yay! Benchmarking!" article. The thing I was questioning was the blanket statement that most organizations find that benchmarking pays for itself. There's no reliable evidence that I know of to indicate that the statement is true. I've personally seen (at a large OEM) large amounts of money squandered on it. While there might be some benefit to be derived from benchmarking for some companies on a relatively small scale, I still say the best benchmarking strategy is to recognize that the companies you want to emulate have smarter people and smarter management. Get the best people you can get and let them do their jobs.
Last edited by a moderator: