Companies are generally operating in a competitive environment. Companies are often operating on a rather limited budget and have staff constraints, in terms of staff numbers, skills, qualifications, etc.

 

Often companies are not in a position where new strategies can just be developed, implemented and tested. A trial like that could severely set back a company, not only in terms of time and production but also financially, should it fails. But companies can learn important strategies, working processes and methodologies from each other, by observing how other companies operate, thus learning valuable lessons.

Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring subjects against competitors or market leaders. These subjects could be products, services, strategies, processes or operations.

 

Please see the graph below for a breakdown of the different types of benchmarking.

 

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