According to Bdeir (2003), corporations have adopted benchmarking in search for best practices, in response to fast-paced changing economic conditions. Spendolini (1992) provides a sound working definition of benchmarking as a continuous, systematicprocess for evaluating the products, services or work processes of organisations that arerecognised as representing best practices for the purpose of organisational improvement. It is a comparative measurement process that provides a methodology to help organizations improve their performance within a wide range of activities.While a benchmark is a reference point in determining one’s current position, it is also used as a starting point from which other measurements can be made, or against which others could be measured. In the 1980s, the notion of benchmarking grew in scope, and was defined by various practitioners as follows:
i. Camp (1989) defined benchmarking as a search for the industry best practices that lead to superior performance. ii. Kaiser (1992) defined benchmarking as a process for rigorously measuring your performance versus the best-in-class companies and for using the analysis to meet or surpass the best-in-class. iii. Benchmarking is a fundamental business or investment skill that supports quality excellence (Bogan, Christopher and English, 1994)
By their nature, best practices are dynamic and progressive. Best practice champions, thus regard benchmarking as an on-going business process that is fully integrated with continuous improvement in their organization.
Bogan and English (1994) identified a rapid advancing revolution in performance measurements, known as benchmarking. Today, this revolution is creating a new paradigm for how organizations manage and measure ...
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...benchmarking process is a set of steps used to discover and incorporate best practices into day to day operations. vi. A benchmarking system is the infrastructure and organization linkage necessary to deploy, reinforce and institutionalize a benchmarking process. vii. A benchmarking consortium is made up of organizations/institutions that have joined together to help each other perform some part of the benchmarking process. Often supported by electronic networks, the members share contacts for benchmarking studies, assist in data collection, arrange for site visits and share information regarding best benchmarking practices. viii. A performance driver is a casual factor. It can be inherent to the environment, structural (imbedded in the current design of the organization), or performance-related (the result of the performance and process carried out by the company).
Melnyk, S., Stewart, D., & Swink, M. (2004). Metrics and performance measurement in operations management; Dealing with the metrics maze. Journal of Operations Mangement, Retrieved 2 May 2011. http://mldc.whs.mil/download/documents/Readings/metrics%20maze.pdf
Often, the steps to completing a dissertation is outlined as benchmarks of a doctoral program.
It is responsive to the knowledge and models of experts and practitioners in the field. Ex, The 2012 Performance Improvement/HPT
The Benchmarks is not meant to be used as a guide to child development and should not be used as a checklist for teachers or families. This is also not supposed to be used as a basis for a curriculum in the classroom for teachers. The Benchmarks are not meant to be used as an assessment instrument to determine any eligibility for any services or programs and it is not to be used to gauge children’s functioning or skills for an Individual Education Plan or an Individual Family Service Plan or to collect statewide information on the status of the children.
In the mid 1980s, and into the 1990s, business leaders realized that a renewed focus on quality was required to continue to compete in an expanding global market. (NIST, 2010) Consequently, several strategic frameworks were developed for managing, and measuring organizational performance. Among them were the Malcomb Baldrige National Quality Award, which was created by and act of congress and signed into law by the President in 1987, and The Balanced Scorecard, which is a performance management tool that was born out of research conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Robert S. Kaplan, and David P. Norton published in 1996 (Kaplan, 1996). Initially the renewed emphasis on quality management systems was a reaction to the LEAN approach
Nevertheless, there remains a debate over the differences between productivity and performance, and how they are measured. Performance is comprised of seven dimensions, of which one is productivity, as well as effectiveness, efficiency, quality, profitability, quality of work, and innovation (Haynes, 2007). Productivity is defined as “the relationship between outputs and the inputs provided to create those ou...
Tapinos, E., Dyson, R.G. & Meadows, M. (2005). The impact of performance measurement in strategic planning. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 54(5/6), 370-384.
The Bench Mark assessment test was developed to help teachers to measure students’ strengths and weaknesses at the end of each academic year. The Bench Mark Assessment provides teachers with feedback on the students progressing toward state standards. Also it provides schools with information about strengths and weaknesses on each grade level on the standards for math, reading, and science.
The Balanced Scorecard has emerged in recent years as a performance measurement system in various organizations. This paper will discuss the origin and concept of the balanced scorecard and how it was first implemented. We will then review the criticisms on the balanced scorecard methodology as well as analyse the strengths and weaknesses of this performance measurement tool.
Chicago. USA. Performance Management - Meaning, System and Process. (n.d.).
Methods Benchmarks – these are the targets set up which enable different organisations to compare themselves. They are able to make comparisons with other similar organisations or against the standards which are set nationally in order to compare performance and delivery. An example is that a quality system or scheme will encourage the process of assessment, this enables provides to aim to continuously improve their services. Quest – this is a national quality system that can be used for assessing the management of sports development schemes. It is an industry standard that has been developed by Sport England and it measures the specific elements of sports development work, this includes research, management, customer service and partnership
One of the most important resources of any organization is its employees, the human resource. This makes it very important that these resources are properly managed; so that they thrive and grow along with the organization. People stream defines performance management as “A process for establishing a shared workforce understanding about what is to be achieved at an organizational level. It is about aligning the organizational objectives with the employees’ agreed skills, competency requirements, development plans and the delivery of results. The emphasis is on improvement, learning and development in order to achieve the overall business strategy and to create a high performance work force”. The performance management process involves various stages such as goal setting, skills development, performance measuring against the set goals, mentoring/coaching to enable employees to focus and achieve their goals followed by assessment of performance and any further development plans as required. Let us look at these steps one by one.
Performance management is a useful and powerful tool that can be used by managers to identify what areas of their organisation they need to improve to increase the organisation’s overall performance. The idea of a balanced scorecard enforces a sensible distribution of resources and effort across all aspect of performance an organisation is, or should be, concerned with.
There are several reasons organizations initiate performance evaluations, however the standard purpose for performance evaluations is to discuss performance expectations; not only from the employers perspective but to engage in a formal collaboration where the employee and the manager are both able to provide feedback in a formal discourse. There are many different processes an organization should follow when developing its performance evaluation tool; in addition essential characteristics that must accompany an effective performance appraisal process. I will discuss in detail the intent of a performance evaluation, the process an organization should follow in using its performance evaluation tool, along with the characteristics of an effective
... Hicks pointed out that a process should be in place “to evaluate implementation and performance” (Hicks, 2000). Performance should be reevaluated on a periodic basis to evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions executed. If performance is within the acceptable area of the defined benchmarks then the solutions executed should continue. If performance is below the acceptable benchmarks the solutions plan should be reevaluated and adapted as needed.