What is Competitive Benchmarking?
by David Hutchins, Chairman, David Hutchins International Ltd The term “benchmarking” is relatively new but the concept is as old as competition itself. Whether in industry, sport or in other aspects of our daily lives, we continually need to reference our own performance against others. Attendance at a business convention is a graphic example. In its basic form, benchmarking is nothing other than a formalised way of learning from each other; and learning from each other is one of the primary objectives of this event. Those who will be presenting their achievements know that the audience will constantly be comparing their work with that of the presenters themselves. In this case, the comparisons will be related to: • The quality and type of visual aids used, whether overhead, 35mm or even video • The techniques they used in the project • How the project was selected • How many members there were in the team • etc., etc. Notice that these comparisons can be made irrespective of the type