The use of benchmarking by an enterprise allows it. Benchmarking is a definition of what it is in simple words. Companies that have carried out benchmarking: examples from world practice

Benchmarking(English) Benchmarking) is the process of identifying, understanding and adapting existing examples of the effective functioning of the company in order to improve own work. It equally includes two processes: evaluation and comparison.

Typically, the “best” product and marketing process used by direct competitors and firms in other similar areas is taken as a model to identify the firm possible ways improving its own products and working methods.

The United States is considered the birthplace of benchmarking. In 1972, research and consulting organization PIMS has established that in order to find an effective solution, it is necessary to know the best experience of other enterprises that are successful in similar conditions. In 1979 American company Xerox has launched a Competitiveness Benchmarking project to analyze the cost and quality of its own products compared to Japanese products. The project was a great success. The purpose of benchmarking is to establish, based on research, the need for change and the likelihood of success as a result of these changes. Benchmarking is carried out as part of a competitive analysis and is not new to most businesses, although it is a more detailed and streamlined function than a competitive analysis method or approach.

Types of benchmarking

By source data	Competitive benchmarking	Functional benchmarking	Internal benchmarking	General benchmarking
By goals holding	Competitive benchmarking	Functional benchmarking	Internal benchmarking	General benchmarking
Strategic benchmarking	Mapping general principles conducting business of enterprises that compete directly with each other in one area or in a particular market	Benchmarking with an industry-recognized leader to select the best business improvement strategy	Comparison of the work of its individual divisions carried out by the enterprise in order to identify the possibility of their joint successful cooperation	Acquaintance of one enterprise with the experience of applying new technologies of an enterprise from another industry
Operational benchmarking	Comparison of production processes of enterprises directly competing with each other in order to identify the best experience	Studying a specific process in an industry-leading enterprise and looking for ways to achieve similar results	A study conducted by the enterprise of the work of its units and the identification of factors affecting the success of their activities	A study by one enterprise of a similar process in another enterprise operating in another industry, and the search for ways to improve this process

Benchmarking research involves identifying the standard of doing business with the help of generally accepted, standard assessments of the activities of enterprises. The methods of work of the best companies, which are recognized as deserving of distribution and implementation in other enterprises, become such a standard. According to the source of the initial data, four types of benchmarking are distinguished (see also the table).

Competitive benchmarking- comparison of data on the work of enterprises competing with each other in the same industry or market.
Functional benchmarking- comparison of similar processes and functions of enterprises operating in the same or different industries.
Internal benchmarking- comparison of similar activities of different departments of the same organization. This type of benchmarking can involve individual production lines, workshops, enterprises and departments of a given company or group of companies.
General benchmarking- comparison of data on the work of companies belonging to different industries. The goal is to conduct broad analogies and comparisons when evaluating similar processes.

Depending on the goals that are set when conducting a benchmark comparison, benchmarking can be strategic and operational.

Strategic benchmarking- a study aimed at changing the general principles of conducting an organization's business. The objects of study are the strategic direction of the business; organizational structure and enterprise management; decisions regarding investment in fixed assets or R&D; management decisions regarding the positioning of the enterprise as a whole or its individual productions; Approaches to change management strategy selection and implementation (for example, organization-wide application of certain programs or a certain enterprise improvement methodology such as total quality management or Six Sigma methodology).
Operational benchmarking- study of a certain production process in order to find ways to improve it. The objects of study can be, for example, the processes of marketing or distribution of products, the processes of manufacturing printed circuits, and so on.

Another classification of benchmarking

Conventionally, the main types of benchmarking can be classified into one of the following groups:

internal - comparison of the work of departments own company, identifying best practices and disseminating them;
competitive - tracking and analyzing differences in key indicators with competitors' enterprises, borrowing their experience;
cross-industry - comparison of the company with indirect competitors in terms of certain parameters, functions, processes.

“Competitive benchmarking and collaborative benchmarking are excellent methods for improving business processes and increasing efficiency.”

“Social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter influence business processes all over the world. They are especially useful for developing new ways of collaborative benchmarking.”

Short review

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your performance with the best companies in the market and industry, and then implementing changes to achieve and maintain competitiveness. Benchmarking can be collaborative or competitive. Various forms social media are beginning to influence many business processes. In this sense, benchmarking is no exception.

Our white paper explores the essence of benchmarking and explains its basic concepts and implementation process. Represented various methods benchmarking and explains the purpose and benefits of each. It is shown that social media is fundamentally changing the way benchmarking is done. They increase the effectiveness of benchmarking and facilitate its implementation. Social media is transforming the benchmarking process from project-based to continuous.

Using Nokia as an example, a practical introduction to the use of social media for benchmarking is given.

Introduction

As a business practice, benchmarking began to be used in the 1980s and has gradually been adopted by companies around the world. In a recent study, benchmarking was recognized for the first time as the most popular management tool (see Rigby & Bilodeau, 2009). In part, this practice is a response to the recent economic downturn, which has drawn the attention of companies to the issue of improving the efficiency of business processes and the competitiveness of products. Skillful application of benchmarking solves both of these problems.

Over the years, as companies developed their own benchmarking methods and published by business analysts theoretical foundations, the understanding of what constitutes a reference comparison and how best to conduct it has undergone certain changes. AT in general terms benchmarking is a systematic method of identifying the highest standards of products, services and processes by comparing such products, services and processes in various companies. Moreover, an essential part of benchmarking is the use of the information received as a guide to action or, in other words, to implement changes and improve the situation in order to achieve those highest standards, which are usually called best practices.

Today, social media is changing the way benchmarking is done. They provide companies with new communication tools. This reduces the need for field trips, as much of this work can now be done online. As a result, benchmarking becomes less expensive. And this, in turn, allows companies to lower the threshold for benchmarking against each other and turns benchmarking from a one-off event into an ongoing iterative process.

History of benchmarking

The systematic use of benchmarking in practice began in the 1980s. Xerox is often referred to as a pioneer in this area. Faced with a foreign competitor that performed better in many ways, Xerox executives set out to find the sources of that competitive advantage in order to copy or even surpass them. The task was divided into separate parts to find the answer to the following questions:

Which company is the best in terms of products, services and processes?
How did this company become so successful?

The challenge was simply to find the very best and learn from their experiences. Today, these two questions continue to be the basis of benchmarking.

In subsequent years, other companies began to use similar methods of work, expanded the scope of benchmarking and refined its methodology. The broadening of the range of subjects studied meant that they began to look for best practices not only among competitors, but also in other companies in their own or even in another industry. Recently, changes have mainly affected the search for answers to the second of the above basic benchmarking questions. However, observing and describing the activities and methods of work of the best competitors is not the whole story. A separate, in its own way complex problem is the implementation of changes in the organization.

Benchmarking did not stand aside from other trends of that time in the field of management. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) was developed in the 1980s and gained immense popularity over the next decade. The principles behind benchmarking fit perfectly with the concept of TQM, with some experts even considering benchmarking as a tool necessary to achieve TQM. In any case, it is the focus on high quality throughout the organization, its business processes, services and products that underlies both the concept of TQM and benchmarking. TQM and benchmarking are part of the corporate culture of continuous improvement, employee engagement and customer focus.

In general, the key ideas of benchmarking are as follows:

Identifying best-in-class organizations
Obtaining the necessary information using appropriate methods of collecting information for self-assessment
Work on self-improvement through the implementation of changes aimed at achieving and exceeding established standards

In this talk, we will present various benchmarking methods and explain the purpose and benefits of each. Finally, we will share our experience and knowledge gained over the years during the implementation of numerous projects in the field of benchmarking.

What is compared in the benchmarking process

The benchmarking method is not limited to business processes or products. In fact, over the years, companies have shown great ingenuity in choosing the elements of the business that are considered in benchmarking.

At the same time, it is important not to forget that successful benchmarking requires identifying the main reasons for high performance. If it is helpful to start by collecting general information about what other companies are doing, then final goal is to identify the methods of their work. The term “enablement tool” in benchmarking refers to the main factors that allow a company to achieve high performance, for example, in the field of product production, business processes or resource use.

Products and services

One common and natural starting point is to focus entirely on a company's products and benchmark a competitor's products, services, or entire offering. Product benchmarking improves the overall understanding of one's own competitive position in the market and can rely heavily on secondary research. It is more difficult for service providers to benchmark against competitors' offerings because service performance is not as easily measured as is the case with material products. Therefore, successful service benchmarking often requires a large number of interviews and field studies.

Financial indicators

Benchmarking net performance indicators does not always solve the fundamental questions of competitiveness. However, it helps to quantify possible achievements and set targets. In addition, benchmarking financial efficiency can often be done at relatively low cost using publicly available information.

Business processes

Benchmarking is often focused on business processes by virtue of its structure and effectiveness. this method. Business processes are of great importance because they reflect the capabilities of the company and thus are very close to the fundamental tools for realizing competitiveness. It often turns out that two companies had access to the same resources and customer base, but one of them organized its business processes more efficiently and delivered higher quality at a lower cost.

However, collecting information about competitors' processes is not an easy task and may require significant initial research. When conducting business process benchmarking, competitors are an obvious but not the only benchmarking option. Often good results can be obtained by using information sources throughout the competitor's value chain, including suppliers and distributors. In addition, benchmarking results on companies from other industries can provide valuable information.

Strategies

To make effective strategic decisions, knowledge of competitors' strategies is required. However, as with processes, it is not easy to analyze strategies. A significant amount of information about the company's strategy can be obtained from open sources, but many aspects of the strategy are never publicly disclosed. Despite this, there are still opportunities for successful benchmarking of strategies based on the results of primary research and analysis of the company's strategy using abductive reasoning.

Functions, groups and organizations

Benchmarking is designed to reveal not only what other companies are doing, but also how they manage to do it. Therefore, the study of the structure and organization of work in the company is one of the common topics in benchmarking. We can talk about any aspect of the organization of the company: approved functions or created groups, divisions and business units, the number of employees working in them, etc. Part of the benchmarking of the organization can even be the compilation of characteristics for individuals.

The use of social media, such as professional networking websites, has become a new reliable source of information for this type of benchmarking. This method allows you to reduce the cost of visiting specialists and expensive primary research, and with relatively little effort, allows you to discover a large amount of valuable information.

Basic concepts of benchmarking

Given the wide scope of benchmarking, it is useful to further reflect on the methods of its implementation and to identify the various types and subdisciplines that make up the benchmark comparison. It is generally accepted to define benchmarking as the process of comparing your organization with the best companies in the market or industry and then implementing changes in order to achieve and maintain competitiveness. This approach emphasizes the presence of two separate stages in benchmarking. If at the first stage the work is aimed mainly at obtaining information, then the second one is related to the implementation of changes and therefore is no less important.

Learning from other companies is only considered genuine if it results in improved performance. It should be noted that it is the second stage that usually underlies the decision to conduct benchmarking. Although in theory the process of collecting information and comparing precedes change management, in reality, the company that started benchmarking has already decided to change and develop corporate culture continuous improvement. Therefore, benchmarking is simply a manifestation of the initiative to accelerate business processes, improve their quality and efficiency.

Another significant aspect of benchmarking is its gradual transformation into continuous process. Although benchmarking is carried out in the form of individual projects, these projects follow each other, providing the company with a continuous process of learning and self-improvement. This phenomenon has only accelerated with the advent of social media, which has significantly reduced the cost and time of each benchmarking cycle.

Benchmarking Partners

Companies that an organization chooses to compare with itself are often referred to as benchmarking partners. Organizations can compare themselves to a wide range of companies. Although competitors are a typical group of such companies, it is often equally useful to consider organizations from another industry or other companies operating within the same value chain. In this case, the most important thing is that benchmarking partners are very efficient or the most efficient in their activities.

Because benchmarking with competitors involves many issues, such as sourcing information, as well as legal and ethical considerations, the general plan Benchmarking is usually divided into two different areas: competitive and collaborative benchmarking.

Competitive benchmarking

Competitive benchmarking involves comparing your organization with competitors and usually requires covert independent research or competitive intelligence and, accordingly, an analysis of relative competitive and strategic positioning. Benchmarking of competing products can also be considered as competitive benchmarking. As a rule, it turns out to be less difficult, and is largely carried out on the basis of publicly available information.

Joint benchmarking

An additional benchmarking classification takes into account areas of benchmarking and benchmarking partners. In the benchmarking literature, the following generally accepted classification is often given (for a more detailed analysis, see, for example, Anand-Kotali, 2008).

Internal benchmarking

It involves benchmarking your own business units and branches, which may be located in different locations. Allows easy access to information, including sensitive data, and takes less time and resources than other types of benchmarking. Is one of the most simple shapes benchmarking as most companies introduce similar features across their business units. The main task in this case is to determine the internal performance standards of the organization. This leads to the sharing of best practices throughout the company. As a disadvantage, if the results are not subsequently used as a baseline for external benchmarking, then companies using this type of benchmarking often remain too focused on their internal business processes.

Competitive benchmarking

Competitive benchmarking is used to compare your company with direct competitors and compare the respective positions in the market. The goal is to compare companies operating in the same markets and offering competing products, services or workflows. The ease of obtaining information here can only be counted on under certain conditions. Competitors may engage in competitive counterintelligence, thereby complicating the search for data on their activities. Competitive intelligence involves the use of a whole range of methods to obtain the necessary information.

Functional benchmarking (within the same industry)

General benchmarking (any industry)

General benchmarking is aimed at studying the most effective processes of any company. Although this type of benchmarking can be used to compare dissimilar organizations, it is necessary to identify comparable procedures and functions during its implementation. This method can sometimes be difficult to implement because general benchmarking requires a broad conceptual analysis of the entire benchmarking process and a thorough understanding of procedures in other sectors of the economy.

General benchmarking is a special case because it is one of the few forms of benchmarking that is understandable and useful to best-in-class companies. A typical problem in benchmarking is the asymmetry of the compared companies. If an underperforming organization has a lot to learn from better performing companies, where do the best in the industry learn from? General benchmarking provides a solution to this problem by allowing companies to learn from examples from other industries and from a wider range of benchmarking partners.

Table 1. Other useful concepts

Benchmarking Gap	The difference between the performance indicators of the two companies. Also denotes the measurable leadership advantage of a best-in-class organization.
Best Practice	Methods of work that provided the best results. Best practices are the result of benchmarking and are ultimately adopted for use by the organization.
Common Interest Group	A community of people who have a common interest in a particular area and agree to share experiences.
Client protection	The role assigned to one of the members of the benchmarking team. This person advocates for the client and draws the group's attention to issues that may be of concern to the client.
Implementation Tool	Business processes and practices that facilitate the implementation of best practices and help enable key success factors. Implementation tools allow you to explain the reasons for the performance indicators identified during benchmarking.
transformation	Radical reorganization of business processes, organizational structures, management systems and values of the organization in order to maximize the efficiency of the company.

Benchmarking process

Next, we provide an explanation of the traditional benchmarking process. As noted earlier, many companies today view benchmarking as an ongoing process. However, in practice, benchmarking is usually still carried out in the form of individual projects. Therefore, the following explanations reveal the workflow of the benchmarking process during the execution of one such project. In general terms this model A project can be viewed as a single iteration carried out within a series of iterations.

Identification of an area or theme (strategy based)
Selection of a benchmarking group (with simultaneous participation of proponents and skeptics, a mix of different subject matter experts and possibly external support)
Identification of already known information and gaps in available knowledge
Choosing the type of benchmarking (joint or competitive, etc.)
Search and selection of benchmarking partners (companies)
Preparation of action plans to fill in the missing information (research methods, joint site visits, secondary studies, competitive intelligence, etc.)
Search for knowledge and exchange of information with partners (focus on best practices)
Analysis of the results obtained and preparation of recommendations for changes
Managing the implementation of recommendations and changes
Progress monitoring

Figure 1. Benchmarking process

The first four steps of the process are considered the planning phase. They are related to identifying the area of study, the type of benchmarking and benchmarking partners. The analysis phase involves performing on-site work to find suitable companies and collect information about them. Since this process is general in nature, work at this stage can be carried out both within the framework of joint and competitive benchmarking. Before making decisions about changes or improvement, it is necessary to analyze the information received.

Although the process description presents these activities as a single step, it is clear that the implementation of changes in the organization involves a lot of work and involves many of its own processes. In the current context, it is assumed that the recommendations received during the benchmarking process are transferred for use in the implementation or change management process. This ensures that new information is used as a guide to action.

Social media and benchmarking

Social media is beginning to penetrate more and more into existing business processes. In this sense, benchmarking is no exception. Due to their inherent characteristics, it can even be argued that social media will have a significant impact on benchmarking. Here are some of the benefits associated with it.

Collaborative benchmarking is, in essence, social activities, and social media provides many new and effective ways for social interaction.
Social media opens the way to new additional sources of information and data collection channels.
Benchmarking is becoming more business process oriented, and social media supports this type of ongoing engagement that is distinct from working on individual projects.

When looking at the benchmarking process diagram presented in the previous chapter, it becomes clear that the new tools provided by social media make it possible to more effectively initiate and solve the tasks that arise during this process. The time required to iterate the benchmarking process is reduced, and benchmarking becomes more of an ongoing activity rather than a one-time event.

Social media primarily promotes collaborative benchmarking based on active communication between benchmarking partners. Social media allows partners to interact almost entirely via the Internet and eliminates the need for employees to go on business trips for personal meetings. Given that this has been one of the most costly and time-consuming parts of the benchmarking process, social media, in fact, has a significant positive impact on benchmarking performance.

There are many publicly available tools that can be used to facilitate group work as part of the benchmarking process.

The linkedIn network (www.linkedin.com) is a widely used professional networking service that also provides group and collaboration tools.
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Data from various foreign studies indicate that from 60 to 90% of companies are involved in the benchmarking process. In Russia, firms are already appearing that use benchmarking as an element of a strategy to increase competitiveness, but so far there are only a few such companies. For most managers, however, "benchmarking" is an unfamiliar word, and reference comparison is perceived not as a management method, but as a regular competitor analysis or marketing research. However, the potential of benchmarking is great, and in the near future, benchmarking will take its rightful place in the arsenal of managers.

"if you know your enemy and you know yourself,
fight at least a hundred times
there will be no danger"
Sun Tzu "The Art of War"

Introduction

The concept of "benchmarking" is present in a number of economic concepts relatively recently. Foreign dictionaries interpret the term "benchmark" as "an expert standard ... a predetermined sample used as a reference point" or "a standard by which something can be measured or evaluated." In essence, benchmarking is the process of reference comparison. There are many interpretations of benchmarking in the business environment. The classic definition of benchmarking is the words of the founder of this improvement method, Robert. Camp: "Benchmarking is the search for the best methods that lead to improved performance" . A more detailed definition is given by the former chairman of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) Gregory Watson: "Benchmarking is a process of systematic and continuous measurement: evaluating the processes of an enterprise and comparing them with the processes of enterprises of world leaders in order to obtain information useful for improving one's own activities ".

Thus, benchmarking is, firstly, comparing one's own indicators with those of other organizations: competitors and leading organizations, and, secondly, studying and applying the successful experience of others in one's own organization.

Goals and objectives of benchmarking

Many organizations around the world use benchmarking in various forms and see benchmarking as a tool to improve their business and achieve competitive advantage. Guru modern management Mohamed Zairi believes that companies that practice benchmarking are able to achieve success because they constantly focus on studying the market, and this allows them to improve their performance and increase competitiveness. Unlike simply identifying the differences between you and your competitors, which does not provide an explanation of how to overcome these differences and achieve business advantage, benchmarking helps to understand the causes of inconsistencies in certain areas of business and helps to catch up with competitors on the basis of new comparison and analysis of their activities with the activities the best organizations. Active involvement of other people's experience allows you to accelerate your progress, reduce costs, increase profits and optimize the dynamics of the structure and the choice of strategy for the enterprise. However, one should not forget that "cross-pollination" is not fruitful for every enterprise. Therefore, the need for a reference comparison must be proven, i.e. benchmarking goals should be consistent with strategic goals organizations. Thus, the goal of benchmarking - to improve business and increase competitiveness, is of a strategic nature for the organization and gives benchmarking the status of a full-fledged management tool.

Achieving the goal of the study occurs through the solution of certain tasks. For benchmarking, these tasks are defined by the essence of the benchmarking process itself, which is revealed by the above definitions of this management tool. We identify two main tasks that are solved in the process of benchmarking:

Measuring your performance and comparing performance with others.
Learning from and applying the best practices of others in your organization.

Based on the tasks set, two main types (types) of benchmarking can be distinguished: comparative and process . Such a systematization is offered by the head of the New Zealand Organizational Improvement Research Center (COER) Robin Mann.

Comparative benchmarking(performance / competitive benchmarking) is the involvement of organizations in the process of measuring results, evaluating and comparing performance indicators of an organization and its level of development. The information collected in the process of comparative benchmarking can be used to identify opportunities for improvement and/or set strategic goals. The levels of development of organizations are considered as control values (benchmarks), and the best indicators are set by companies - leaders in their field. Benchmarks are also used in the form of indices (for example, the American and European consumer satisfaction indexes). In our opinion, comparative benchmarking is close in its essence to competitive analysis.

Process benchmarking(process benchmarking) is a search for organizations with the best achievements in a particular field of activity, for their detailed study. The study of the best processes consists in understanding the mechanism of functioning of the process of interest, rather than in comparing its performance with the results of a similar process in your organization. The study is usually carried out on the basis of a mutual agreement of the parties, which is regulated by the benchmarking "Code of Conduct" (in Europe it is "The European Benchmarking Code of Conduct", developed by the European Foundation for Quality Management - EFQM). The knowledge gained from the benchmarking process is adapted and incorporated into the organization's own processes. Process benchmarking is a deep functional study of the activities of both your own organization and a partner organization.

In process benchmarking, two directions can be distinguished. First, the search for the best economic solutions ( best practices), this direction is characterized by a detailed study of the stages of interest in the activities of a partner organization that has a process structure. Secondly, the study of factors contributing to the improvement of the business process, i.e. implementation factors ( enablers) are methods, strategies, approaches, tools that increase the performance of the organization and its competitiveness.

The integrated use of comparative and process approaches to benchmarking most effectively realizes the potential of benchmarking as a tool to increase the competitiveness of an organization. Moreover, comparative benchmarking acts as the initial (introductory) stage of process benchmarking. Measuring the performance of the organization and the performance of competitors allows you to identify areas that require priority improvements, areas of the most serious lag behind competitors. The information obtained acts as an input for process benchmarking. Systematization of these data in accordance with the processes of the organization and bringing them to a common denominator with the reference company allows you to assess the possibility of introducing third-party processes into the activities of your organization, determine the limitations for the project, fine-tune the process being reformed and ensure its effective implementation.

Benchmarking methodology

The success of a benchmarking project lies in the strict observance and responsible implementation of each of its stages. The reference matching algorithm does not have strict regulation. We have summarized the available approaches to its implementation and offer our own benchmarking methodology, which includes seven stages:

Assessing the organization and identifying areas for improvement.
Determination of the subject of reference comparison.
Finding a reference company and choosing the form of reference comparison.
Collection of information.
Analysis of information, determination of restrictions on the implementation of the project and development of an implementation plan.
Implementation of the experience gained in the activities of the organization.
Repeated self-assessment and analysis of improvements.

Let's consider each stage in more detail.

1.Assessing the organization and identifying areas for improvement. This stage involves the diagnosis of the organization, the definition key indicators activities. The information obtained during the assessment is the basis for comparison with competitors or a benchmark and allows you to identify strong and weak sides organization's activities. Areas where indicators lag behind competitors or benchmarks are a possible target for benchmarking.

There are many approaches to diagnosing the state of the organization. Different kinds financial analysis give a fairly complete picture of the company's business activities. However, the dry numbers of financial statements do not reveal the reasons for the success or failure of the organization. For effective implementation process benchmarking, it is necessary to evaluate how the management system functions, determine the capabilities of the organization and how these capabilities are implemented. Among such tools are: SWOT analysis, Balanced Scorecard, Tito Conti's organizational self-assessment model, Jens Dalgaard's quality maps and others.

In our opinion, an effective tool for assessing the state of an organization are models of quality awards that are widespread and recognized in the world: the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (USA), the EFQM model of the European Quality Award. The criteria for these awards are developed taking into account global trends in building management systems, and the philosophy of the models reflects the key success factors in ensuring the competitiveness of the organization. Model Description Russian Prize(Prizes of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of quality), based on the European model EFQM, and the possibilities of its use for organizational self-assessment are set out in the "Guidelines for organizations participating in the competition" on the website http://www.vniis.ru and in " Recommendations on self-assessment of the activities of organizations for compliance with the criteria for government awards Russian Federation in the field of quality" Gosstandart of Russia.

2. Definition of the subject of reference comparison. Robert Camp, the founder of the benchmarking method, noted that while initially 100 percent of benchmarking projects were focused on products, since 1992 only 10-20 percent of projects have focused on products, while 80 to 90 percent have focused on processes and practices. . This is explained by the fact that differences in the characteristics of the product, in the cost of its manufacture, the structure of consumers are determined by the features of the business process and the methods of its organization. When conducting a process-based benchmarking comparison, there can be challenges because many organizations do not know their business process. In these organizations, neither the key processes nor the processes that are part of the key ones have been identified.

There is no standard list of processes, and each organization must determine the structure of its business itself. The description of processes, even at the macrolevel, often leads to remarkable results, allowing one to penetrate deeper into phenomena. Connections and relationships that have been ignored or not realized suddenly turn out to be key to the effective functioning of the entire organization, not to mention the processes to which they relate. Determining the structure of your processes in the area of proposed improvement will greatly simplify the task for benchmarking and increase its effectiveness.

In any organization, a business process consists of both main and auxiliary processes, and it is necessary to understand the difference between them. The main processes are the processes of the current activity of the company, the results of which are aimed at meeting the needs of external customers: design of products and services, marketing and sales, production of products and provision of services, settlements with the client and after-sales service, etc. Auxiliary processes ensure the existence of the main processes: training and personnel management, information management, financial management, etc. Each of the above processes can be divided into several sub-processes, which can also be detailed into more small processes. There are no hard and fast rules about how deep processes should be identified and how broadly or narrowly they should be described. The detailing of processes can be continued to the level of work operations. Benchmarking can be applied to a process of any level, both main and auxiliary.

When describing the processes of an organization and drawing up their detailed diagram, it is useful to study and use the IDEF / 0 modeling methodology - Integration definition for function modeling (integration definition for function modeling), where a business process is a set of operations performed at its individual stages.

3. Finding a Reference Company and Selecting a Reference Comparison Form. Choosing a reference company is a difficult but important step that determines the success of the entire project. Usually companies don't know how to approach the search for benchmark companies - the list of candidates is limited to one or two companies that executives have ever heard of. The well-established practice of benchmarking in the West makes it possible to apply to companies with a request to conduct a benchmark comparison of their processes. Such proposals are perceived adequately, tk. one of the basic principles modern business- openness. In Russia, however, most companies, for many reasons, suffer from a "secrecy complex" and are not ready to share information and technologies even with those who work in another industry. A common way to find partners for comparison is to study publications in newspapers and magazines. Personal connections, acquaintances at exhibitions, seminars, etc. are actively used. Benchmarking companies can be partners, distributors and suppliers of the company, as they are really interested in the success of the entire business. An effective tool for initiating the benchmarking process is the "Presidential Retraining Program" widely known in Russia. management personnel". Communication between managers in the process of training and internships provided for by the program allows you to establish useful contacts and gain practical experience that can be attributed to benchmarking.

Benchmarking resources of the Internet are a modern tool for finding partners for reference comparison. Russian managers useful to explore the possibilities that European Foundation quality management (www.efqm.org). EFQM projects facilitate the exchange of best business practices and networking among potential benchmarking partners.

4. Collection of information. One of the simple tools for collecting information for benchmarking is a checklist (Fig. 1), where, for example, the criteria of the RF Government Prize model in the field of quality, detailed stages of the business process, applied management methods, etc., can act as an evaluation element. d.

Rice. 1. Checklist for benchmarking

The column "Analysis of the reference enterprise" describes the evaluation element, which is accepted as a reference. The “Comparison with your company” column contains information about the performance of your and the reference organization for each of the evaluation elements. The "Objects for reference comparison" column is intended to specify the processes and methods that can be transferred to the activities of your organization. The last column "Restriction on the implementation of the idea in your company" defines the restrictions on borrowing processes. These may be, for example, specific conditions for introducing the experience of a reference organization that cannot be created at your enterprise.

5.Analysis of information, identification of restrictions on the implementation of the project and development of an implementation plan. Having received quantitative and qualitative information about the activities of the reference company, its key indicators, processes, methods used, it is necessary to analyze the data obtained, determine which block of information can help improve performance, and prepare a project for implementing the experience of the reference company. Benchmarking managers should be aware that not every study results in change. The collected information may show that the previously planned improvement project cannot be implemented due to the identified limitations. Analysis of information also involves an analysis of the causes of the emergence of certain barriers. Restriction minimization is one of the essential tasks in the benchmarking process. The "gaps" in the business practices of yours and the reference enterprise may be too large, and the barriers to implementing an improvement project may be insurmountable. If the minimization of constraints still does not allow the introduction of benchmarking experience, then the reference company was not chosen very well, and you should look for other improvement options and experience that suits your organization.

6. Implementation of the experience gained in the activities of the organization. Gregory Watson, speaking about the possibility of applying someone else's experience, notes the following: "There are no enterprises with absolutely the same business environment and culture. Without a thorough study of the conditions that should be changed to fit the environment and culture of the organization, it is impossible transfer the practices of another organization. Therefore, "brazen appropriation" will cause problems if the business practices of one company are not "translated" into the language of another ". Managers making change through benchmarking should remember one of Edward Deming's "Apply but don't accept" advice. In other words, blind copying is not acceptable, since in this case the desired results will certainly not be achieved, and interest in further reference research in the organization will be lost for a long time.

7. Re-assessment and analysis of improvements. Monitoring progress and evaluating the end results form a package of information for re-evaluation and analysis of improvements. Correction of the results of the reference comparison and increase in the efficiency of the new process or method is carried out through "feedback" guided by the PDCA cycle: Plan - improvement planning; Do - improvement execution; Check - checking the results of improvement; Act - an action aimed at standardization or re-planning. The PDCA cycle (or Shewhart/Deming cycle) is a key approach to building a total quality management system - TQM. The cycle symbolizes the principle of repetition in problem solving - achieving improvement step by step and repeating the improvement cycle many times.

The implementation of a continual improvement plan helps to increase the effectiveness of the implemented process or method, and if the project is successful and the planned results are achieved, it allows you to move on to finding new opportunities for benchmarking.

Conclusion

The art of reference comparison allows us to discover what others do better than us and, by studying, improving and applying borrowed ideas. As Thomas Edison said, "Keep looking for new and interesting ideas that others have successfully used. Your idea should only be original in adapting to the problem you are currently working on."

Analyzing and comparing your performance with those of competitors and the best organizations, studying and applying the successful experience of others in your company contributes to the dissemination of advanced approaches to doing business and continuous development.

For Russian companies, the practice of benchmarking today is not widespread, although the potential of this management tool must and can be realized by gradually introducing benchmarking into the arsenal of managers, teaching them how to conduct a benchmark comparison, creating an infrastructure for benchmarking (for example, on the basis of the Prize of the Government RF in the field of quality).

Benchmarking, as a management tool in the hands of managers, allows global business to develop in the direction that Dr. Edward Deming conceptually defined as follows: "Competition: someone wins - someone loses. Collaboration: everyone wins."

The development of benchmarking contributes to the openness of business, increasing its efficiency, which is so necessary for Russian economy today. Mastering this method of managing and improving business will allow Russian companies, not only large, but also small and medium ones, to keep up with the times and take their rightful place in the world market in the near future.

Literature

Camp R.C. Benchmarking. The Search for Industry Best Practices That Lead to Superior Performance. - ASQC Industry Press, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1989.
Watson G.H. Strategic Benchmarking: How to Rate your Company's Performance Against the World's Best. - New York: John Wiley, 1993.
Zairi M. Benchmarking for Best Practice. - Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1992.
Coer News // the free Newsletter, Issue No.2, July. - Massey University, New Zealand, 2002.
Total Quality Management: A Gross Functional Perspective. - John Wiley & Sons, Inc. - 1996.
GOST R 50.1.028-200 IDEF/0 Functional Modeling Methodology. - 2000.
Shiba S., Graham A., Walden D. A New American TQM: Four Practical Revolutions in Management / Textbook Hardcover, January. - 1993.
Niv G.R. The space of Dr. Deming / transl. from English. - T .: City public fund "Development through quality", 1998.

Keywords: benchmarking, competitiveness, improvement, quality

D.V. Maslov
Ivanovo State Energy University, Faculty of Economics and Management, Ivanovo,
Commercial Director"IVA Consulting Group" Ivanovo, e-mail: [email protected]

E.A. Belokorovin
Commission on Labor and Employment and Youth Entrepreneurship of the Youth Chamber of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Morservis Company, Arkhangelsk: [email protected]

posted in the section: Planning and control

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Benchmarketing (benchmarking, benchmarking) is the process of studying and evaluating goods, services, management and experience of those companies that are recognized leaders in the segment, area. This is the way to study any market object(goods, services, companies, models, management) and, above all, their competitors, in order to use their positive experience and their achievements in their own work.

Benchmarketing derived from the word "benchmark" (bench - level, height, mark - mark) - "reference point", means a mark on a fixed object, something that has a certain quantity, quality and the ability to be used as a standard or standard when compared with other objects.

Benchmarketing is a systematic activity aimed at finding, evaluating and learning from best examples, regardless of their size, business area and geographic location. Benchmarketing is the art of discovering what others are doing better than us and learning, improving and applying their methods of work and development.

The purpose of benchmarking- increasing the competitiveness of the product, developing an effective program for the implementation of benchmarking and using the results obtained.

The main task of benchmark marketing- continuous improvement of marketing, financial structure income of the enterprise, technical security of the product, development of enterprise management. It is associated with the search and study of the best methods and ways of development in order to own business found new ways to improve.

Benchmarketing focuses on questions such as:

understanding which firm is at the top of the competition?
why our firm, our marketing is not the best?
what should be changed or kept in the enterprise to become the best?
how to implement the appropriate strategy to become the best of the best?

In this way, benefits of benchmarking is that production and marketing functions become most manageable when they are researched and implemented in their enterprise best practices and technologies of other, not their own enterprises or industries. This can lead to profitable business with high economics, creating beneficial competition, and satisfying customer needs.

There are the following types of benchmark marketing:

Commodity benchmarking - comparative analysis products, business processes associated with a competitive product, with analogues of direct competitors. It should be used if the company decides to compare marketing indicators goods with similar indicators of direct competitors. Russian companies This is the most commonly used type of benchmarking.

Functional benchmarking- comparing the effectiveness of individual functions (for example, logistics, personnel management) of companies in the same industry, not necessarily direct competitors.

General competitive benchmarking- analysis and perception of the best practices of companies operating in other industries.

Internal benchmarking- comparison of the performance of parallel divisions of one organization, analysis and implementation of the best management practices, business processes.

Benchmarking management- a special kind of activity to search for and obtain information about the best business solutions, technologies and practical developments used by other companies, their improvement and application.

The founders of benchmark marketing management consider Japanese companies that have laid the foundation for their business technology of copying other people's achievements, business technologies and successful and promising goods in the 50s of the XX century.

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Faced with the fact that the cost is rising, and sales are falling? Have customers gone to competitors despite the fact that their prices are not lower, and sometimes even higher, than yours? So something needs to change! Learn the secrets of those who are now leading the market, and take their place with effective tool analysis - benchmarking! What is this method, and how to apply it correctly - read in our article!

Benchmarking (English bench - level, height and mark - mark) is a technique and a set of activities aimed at collecting and analyzing information about effective ways doing business to implement successful strategies on the own enterprise. This technology is used in the field of management, marketing, business processes in various areas of commercial activity.

In simple words, benchmarking is the study of the successful experience of competitors or enterprises from other industries in order to apply it in your company. Using other people's achievements allows you to learn from the mistakes of others, adopting successful experience to optimize your own business processes.

Benchmarking needs to be distinguished from marketing intelligence. in the first case, open reporting is used for analysis, and in the second, any useful information, including confidential information, is obtained.

The goals and objectives of benchmarking are the improvement of certain performance indicators. These can be: optimization of material consumption or application new technology to reduce costs. You can increase profitability not only by reducing production and other costs, but also by increasing sales by attracting new customers, by improving product quality or adding new services.

The main parameters that are used when comparing the performance of different companies.

The cost of manufacturing products or providing services, labor productivity indicators, cost structure. It analyzes direct and indirect labor costs, the cost of paying production personnel, the speed and efficiency of certain business processes.
quality parameters of products. Design, functionality, usability and other important characteristics are compared.
Marketing expenses. Such an indicator is considered not only in monetary terms, but also in the effectiveness of using a particular promotion tool.
Expenses for research and implementation of innovations.
Expenses for the sale of goods, works or services.
Satisfaction level target audience. It is determined by conducting a survey of the target audience.

In the process of analysis, the most significant deviations are identified and recorded, and differences are found that affect the level of efficiency of certain business processes. Next, the best experience that can be transferred to your company is determined.

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