Benchmarking

Published February 2000

The continuous process of measuring a company's performance, products, services or practices against world-class companies and adapting that information to produce superior performance within your own organization.

Benchmarking concentrates more on process than product, allowing generic comparisons between dissimilar industries. Before the 1980s, a rudimentary form of benchmarking existed, sometimes referred to as "competitive analysis" or "marketing intelligence." Much narrower in scope than the current definition, this form of benchmarking focused almost entirely on a competitor's finished product. Many experts cite Xerox Corp., a leading manufacturer of photocopiers, as the company most responsible for promoting benchmarking's current definition. During the 1980s, Xerox led the way in generic benchmarking when it compared its distribution process to that of L.L. Bean, a mail-order distributor and recognized leader in order fulfillment and warehousing.

For more information, contact the International Benchmarking Clearinghouse in Houston: Telephone (713) 685-4666 or fax (713) 681-5321.