Step 3: Identify benchmarking partner(s) from best-in-class.
"Best
management practices refer to the processes, practices, and systems identified
in public and private organizations that are performed exceptionally well and
are widely recognized as improving an organization's performance and efficiency
in specific areas." (General Accounting Office, 1995)
Input
to Step 3: The input to Step 3 is the output from Step 2.
- A chartered BMK Team.
- A flowchart of the
process to be benchmarked.
A. Research information
sources for best practices.
There
are numerous resources available to help identify who is the best at a
particular process. Many sources are free and within the public domain. The
problem is not so much finding the sources, as quantifying and qualifying them
to limit the scope to those most useful to your particular benchmarking effort.
Some sources of primary and secondary information are: The American
Productivity and
There
are many government and private World Wide Web sites available to assist any
search. Many provide resources, information, and even software to find best
practices, perform a benchmarking study, or tie your benchmarking effort to
your strategic plan and performance measures. Here are some that are frequently
used for benchmarking and best practices studies:
Industry
leaders can be identified a number of ways. In 1995, The Quality Network, Inc.
published a list of world-class organizations in specific process areas, which
included:
·
Coors, Southern California,
·
Honda Motor, Xerox, and NCR in purchasing.
·
Helene Curtis, The Limited, and Microsoft in marketing.
·
Ford, General Electric, and Polaroid in training.
·
3M, Ben & Jerry's, and Dow Chemical in environmental management.
Prepare
a list of companies/organizations to possibly benchmark. Ideally, your list of
potential partners will have between 5-15 entries. Those companies of special
interest to ESC, QMB, or BMK Team members can be used; however, ensure that
most potential partners come from your primary and secondary research.
B. Rank
potential partners.
After
the research is completed, the possible number of partners needs to be narrowed.
Investigate, and possibly contact, some potential partners to find out more
about their suitability and interest in your effort. In Step 4, each
benchmarking partner will be interviewed in more depth via mail, phone, other
media, or in person.
The
ranking process should be performed with blind company names. This means
instead of calling a company or organization by its name (Xerox, Hughes, Bell
Atlantic, etc.), use an anonymous heading (Company A, Company B, Company C,
etc.). In this way, the final selection will be based solely on the data
collected about each potential partner's best practices.
An
example of 16 companies ranked in a benchmarking study by the Hughes Aircraft
Company is included in the Supporting Materials section of this handbook, Part
E. The highest scores represent the most desirable partners and are underlined.
Recommendations are also noted at the bottom of each column to identify which
companies rate a site visit, a phone call, a thank you letter, etc.
A
less sophisticated matrix that could be used to evaluate the criteria for
ranking partners follows.
Sample
ranking matrix. Rank companies A through F with
points from 1 (for the best) to 6 (for the worst) in each criteria.
The lower the total number of points assigned, the better the company ranks.
C.
Select final benchmarking partner(s).
After
you have established your selection criteria and categorized the potential
partners into those that are of high, medium, and low interest, identify one
single benchmarking partner that is the best-in-class, or select a limited
number of partners (usually 1 to 5) that posses significant improvements.
Selecting the partner(s) to benchmark against is a critical decision. It
establishes the level of success you hope to achieve in this benchmarking
process. Here, you are setting the standard for comparison. The BMK Team should
get approval from at least the QMB level for the final partner(s).
D. Know
and use the Benchmarking Code of Conduct.
Because
benchmarking requires openness and trust, there are specific principles used to
guide the conduct and ethical behavior of all partners. Organizations such as
the International Benchmarking Clearinghouse, KPMG Peat Marwick, the Strategic
Planning Institute's Council, and Texas Instruments have identified their own
principles, many of which are similar or overlap the Benchmarking Code of
Conduct. Here is a summary of what the principles cover:
1.
Keep it legal.
2.
Identify what level of information you are willing to exchange.
3.
Respect the confidentiality of all benchmarking information.
4.
Acknowledge the appropriateness and limitations of the use of the
information.
5.
Know who is the appropriate point of contact.
6.
Obtain permission before providing contacts to others.
7.
Demonstrate your professionalism and respect by always being prepared.
8.
Commit to completing the study as mutually agreed.
9.
Know how to understand and treat your partners.
Of
course, the common sense rules of good business manners also apply. Be
realistic and considerate when scheduling an interview or a site visit. Don't
waste your partner's time. Limit the size of your team and the number of
contacts you make. Respect proprietary information and Don't
misrepresent any part of the study.
Refer
to the detailed principles of the Benchmarking Code of Conduct in the
Supporting Materials section of the handbook, Part B. Using this is the mark of
a true professional in benchmarking and will help establish credibility with
potential partners. As world-class organizations, they will be quite familiar
with the Code. We strongly encourage all DON organizations involved in a
benchmarking study to learn and abide by every principle in the Code.
Output from Step 3: The
output from Step 3 is the input for Step 4.
- A list of possible benchmarking
partners from research sources (approximately 15).
- A blind list of
potential best practices (approximately 5-15).
- A list of the final
partners selected (approximately 1-5).
- Team copies of the
Benchmarking Code of Conduct.
Quality Advisor's Checklist
Before
moving to the next step, the Quality Advisor should review the following
checklist:
·
Have you researched and investigated numerous sources to find the best
practices?
·
Did you select partners without names using a blind, objective scoring
system?
·
Do you now know who is the best-in-class?
·
Does everyone involved know and understand the Benchmarking Code of
Conduct?
·
Are there any issues that need to be reviewed by your organization's
legal department?
Disclaimer: This material is for training purposes only. Its purpose is to inform employers of best practices in occupational safety and health and general OSHA compliance requirements. This material is not, in any way, a substitute for any provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or any standards issued by OSHA.