The Benchmarking Book

With growing demands for increased operational efficiency and process improvement in organizations of all sizes, more and more companies are turning to benchmarking as a means of setting goals and measuring performance against the products, services and practices of other organizations that are recognized as leaders. The Benchmarking Book is an indispensable guide to process improvement through benchmarking, providing managers, practitioners and consultants with all the information needed to carry out effective benchmarking studies. Covering everything from essential theory to important considerations such as project management and legal issues, The Benchmarking Book is the ideal step-by-step guide to assessing and improving your company?s processes and performance through benchmarking.

Part 1 A Background to BM; Chapter 1 What is Benchmarking?; Chapter 2 Methods of Benchmarking; Part 2 The Benchmarking Process; The Benchmarking Process: Internal Preparation; Chapter 3 Selecting a Project and Commissioning the Team; Chapter 4 The Team Begins Work: Honing the Project Charter; Chapter 5 Identifying and Selecting Benchmarking Participants; Chapter 6 Metrics and Data; Chapter 7 Normalization: How to Compare Apples with Pears; Chapter 8 How to Identify Benchmarking Metrics; Chapter 9 Reviewing and Finalizing Metrics; Chapter 10 The Importance of Operational Definitions and How to Create Them; Chapter 11 Finalizing the Project Plan and Gaining Management Support; Chapter 12 Inviting and Working with Participants; The Benchmarking Process — Benchmarking Performances; Chapter 13 Effective Acquisition of Complete Accurate Data; Chapter 14 Turning Data into Recommendations: Data Analysis; Chapter 15 Finalizing the Report and Other Deliverables; The Benchmarking Process-Improving performance; Chapter 16 From Report to Improvement: Preparing for Improvement; Chapter 17 Beyond the Numbers: Gathering Information From Participants; Chapter 18 Implementation Considerations; Chapter 19 Copying Without Understanding: a Risk Too Far, Hall Gordon; Part III Managerial and Organizational Aspects of Benchmarking; Chapter 20 Management Roles and Responsibilities; Chapter 21 An Introduction to Legal Issues and Working with Consultants; Part IV Case Studies; Chapter 22 Benchmarking IT at Citigroup, Caleb Masland; Chapter 23 The Drilling Performance Review — The Evolution of a Benchmarking Club, Stapenhurst Pat; Chapter 24 Benchmarking Local Government Services, Carroll Paul; Chapter 25 The Best Practice Club, Wilkinson Director Ray;

Professional Practice & Development

Tim Stapenhurst