This is a technique with which it comes to finding out what they do well the leaders (of your business or other individual), and then tries to adapt this knowledge to our company (for its detractors, this is basically copy!) However, it is much more than that. I remember when I was young (not many years ago!) Had the idea that the Japanese copied. However, what he did or Japan after World War II was to build a country in ruins and almost medieval in some aspects, making it the second largest economic power. To this end, besides implementing benchmarking, hired two American quality specialists, Deming and Juran, who taught them about aspects of total quality, all of which adapted it to their way of doing things. And the result is that today Japan is one of the leading countries in technology. The Japanese followed other Oriental dragons, as South Korea, which begins today and is being a pointer, or Taiwan.

The next will be China, which is still in the stage of “copy”, but in some industries is beginning to emerge. Apart from this brief look at the international level (which is not too bad we could take note in Spain, we are not referenced in almost nothing), Benchmarking can be applied in our companies in several ways: – Noting the “best practices” making the competition (or, again, companies in other sectors). – Obtaining the information through our existing employees about other companies they have been or known by other means. – From customers and suppliers (although it should be careful with this information, due to interest they may have may not be entirely true or accurate). – You can make a cooperative benchmarking, exchanging information on best practices with companies that are not our responsibility.

– Collect information from various sources, including newspapers and magazines, Internet, trade fairs and exhibitions, and so on. Benchmarking can also be an interesting technique in a personal capacity, that is, as professionals we have some role models in peers, acquaintances, famous people in certain areas … observing and analyzing those aspects that make them excel in their fields of activity can also be learned much, and improvement. For example, remember the case of a partner who was very good at reporting. And not just because it was fast, but was rarely wrong, even managing a huge amount of data. The secret of his success was that before handing over the report made a number of findings and a series of ratios calculated to check the reasonableness of the information. Something as simple-or as complicated, as it allowed him to detect anomalies, and as a result, be almost infallible. It is a technique that usually prepare all reports can be applied with relative ease, and with great benefit.

“There must be willingness and commitment within the organization. must be n sa linked to strategic objectives. The aim should go beyond simply improving, we must seek to be the best. It must be open to change. We need to understand and document the processes, products and services.

assemble a workforce adequate to analyze processes, as well as research capacity, communication and teamwork. However, a manager to combine both tools, it is necessary to make an assessment of the company where he works, to determine faults or areas that are susceptible of improvement, using for This knowledge of administrative management analysis, and in addition the use of a SWOT Matrix. This assessment may include the organization as a whole, or only one department or strategic business unit, everything will depend on the scope that has the manager of which is being discussed. As a result of review applied, will result in a report which will detail what is failing or could be improved, as are the reasons for this. Along with this report, the manager should review the status of the firm within its environment, ie to know how is the company within the market, what your competitors are doing, if they are meeting customer needs and how the relationship with suppliers and distributors.

Once information is gathered and analyzed as described above, in the event that there is something wrong or there is a process that has to be improved because it is not simply offering good results or are there other better, it is at this point that can resort to the use of tools that can help, such as outsourcing. The manager must carefully specify which of the activities of the company created or could create a value unique or important, and what can be outsourced Conclusions: Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products, services and practices against the toughest competitors or those companies recognized as leaders in the industry. (David T. Kearns, CEO of Xerox Corporation). Do not forget, as noted above, that u key challenge is the competitiveness, as they face not only local companies, but competition between firms from around the world. To be increasingly competitive companies use various tools to cut costs, increase product quality, etc. Among these tools or formulas is the Benchmarking. Which management should not ignore. Reference sources: Frances Antonio. “What is that benchmarking?” Magazine Debates IESA. Volume 2. No. 1