Benchmarking: what is it in business

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Benchmarking - what is this term that entered the lexicon of domestic entrepreneurs much later than management and marketing? At its core, this concept means the search for and practical use of someone else's positive experience. On the one hand, everything is clear and simple, but in fact, it is quite difficult to implement this technique. Nevertheless, recently this method of business management is one of the three most popular. So, benchmarking, what is it? Just a new term or an opportunity to become a successful businessman?

Benchmarking: pros and cons

The experience of companies that apply benchmarking in practice does not always encourage the use of this technique. There are doubts that business giants and representatives of small companies are far from each other. Process benchmarking is something big and far from our realities. For this reason, managers of medium-sized enterprises do not particularly favor consultants,who offer to use someone else's experience to solve pressing problems. And experienced marketers who know the benchmarking technique, what it is and how to put it into practice, prefer to work for large companies, rather than small enterprises. In addition, this method involves a two-way exchange of information and experience. That is, in order to receive, you must give. But, despite this, it is possible and even necessary to adopt the experience of competitors or foreign partners.

Benchmarking: what it is in practice

If you ignore the routine that takes a working day, you can notice hundreds of companies that, one way or another, are in contact with yours. They have experience and knowledge, and your task is to make sure that they share what they have acquired. But you should not expect that European suppliers or large manufacturers will suddenly want to share their experience with a company from Russia. But here are your partners, dealers, suppliers with whom you have a good relationship, may be suitable candidates for the exchange of experience. In addition, the prosperity and growth of your business and in their interests.

Benchmarking examples

The largest mobile operators in America and Europe create entire divisions whose main task is to search, process and sell information. Any of your calls or sent messages are marked on the cell tower. This information is recorded, and the operator, based on it, can track the movement of people around the city or region. In the modern world, the issue of geolocation is very important. Therefore, this information is very valuable. Knowthe demographic composition of the population is one thing, but understanding how many people go and on what business is quite another. Therefore, benchmarking takes market research to the next level, making it more accurate and targeted.

Reasons for the popularity of benchmarking

Benchmarking - what is it? This is the use of someone else's experience, which is very important in the era of globalization of business. Companies understand how important it is to study and then use the best achievements of competitors for their own survival. This means that global competition can be called one of the reasons for the emergence and development of benchmarking. To keep up with their competitors, all companies, regardless of size or industry, must continually learn and apply expertise in manufacturing and business technology.