Presentation on "Benchmarking Genesis" by Basma A. Bargal during the 6th International Benchmarking Conference organized by Dubai Quality Group from 6-7 March 2012 at Al Bustan Rotana Dubai

1. 6th International Benchmarking Conference
Benchmarking Genesis
March 2012
Basma Bargal
Gulf Lead Consultants

2. About GLC
• Gulf Lead Consultants (GLC) - Industrial, Management, & Training
was founded in 2005 by Dr. Tariq Aldowaisan who has over 20
years experience in quality and organization excellence.
• GLC team is dedicated to support client and go beyond the call of
duty to satisfy their value of having their “customers first and
foremost.”
• GLC services include:
 Planning & Strategy Deployment
 Customer Engagement Program
 Performance Measurement Systems
 Supplier Partnership Program
 Actionable Business Survey
 Standardized Management Systems
 Lean Six Sigma
 Professional Development
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3. Those who benchmark do not have to reinvent the wheel.
(Parker, 1996)
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4. Benchmark
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5. The term “Benchmark”
It has been said that the term benchmarking was first used by
cobblers to measure people’s feet for shoes. They would place
someone’s foot on the “bench” and mark it out to make the
pattern/trace for the shoes.
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6. Different Definitions … One Objective
• “Benchmarking is the search for those best practices that will lead
to superior performance of the company” Robert Camp
• “Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products,
services & practices against the toughest competitors or those
recognized as leaders in any field” David Kearns
• “Benchmarking is the practice of being humble enough to admit
that someone else is better at something, and being wise enough
to learn how to match and even surpass them at all” APQC
• “Stealing Shamelessly”
• “Innovative Adaption” Christopher Bogan and Michael English
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7. Quality Timeline
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8. Some organizations do, but don’t know
that they do!
To gain maximum benefit of a tool you need to follow a
structured methodology.
– TRADE
– APQC’s Methodology (Plan, Collect, Analyze and Adapt)
– Dr. Robert Camp’s/ Xerox Methodology
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9. Types of benchmarking?
Best-in-class Cooperative
Strategic
benchmarking Process benchmarking
benchmarking
Product benchmarking Internal
benchmarking benchmarking
Collaborate Best practice Operational
International benchmarking benchmarking benchmarking
benchmarking
Functional
Standards Performance
benchmarking
benchmarking benchmarking
Financial Industry Generic
Competitive benchmarking benchmarking
benchmarking
benchmarking
Formal
External Informal
benchmarking
benchmarking benchmarking
Energy
benchmarking Metric
benchmarking
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10. Types of benchmarking
What to benchmark? Who/what to benchmark with?
Product Self
Industry
People
Process Generic
Strategy International
Performance Best practices/ in class
Customer Focus Best of the Best
Standards
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11. Sources of Information
• Conferences
Informal
• Publications
• Consulting firms
• Surveys
• Social networking sites
• Professional associations
• Benchmarking database formal
• Industry expert’s reports
• Cooperative site visits
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12. Success Tips
In Japan, Benchmarking is part of their mangers
job description. Boxwell 1994
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13. Lessons Learned
• Admit there is a problem, and be willing to improve.
• Don’t only identify improvements but implement them.
• Understand benchmarking in the context of other quality improvement
tools.
• Seeking support of top management all the way.
• Obtaining reliable comparison data.
• Choosing carefully benchmarking partners.
• Understanding the processes and clearly identifying the key areas of interest
and staying focused on them.
• Planning thoroughly in advance; by preparing check-lists and questionnaires
to make sure nothing has been missed.
• Be prepared to give benchmarking partners more information than received.
• Improvements are continuous and benchmarks rapidly go out-of-date.
• Maintain the good relation with benchmarking partners
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14. Why History Matters?
Understand how Reduces
Value the tool it relates and tampering with
more compliments the original
other tools concept
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15. In conclusion, benchmarking…
… goes beyond comparison with competitors, to
understanding the practices that lie behind the
performance gaps.
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16. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not
fear the results of a hundred battles. ” Sun Tzu
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