"The Benchmarking Book: A how-to guide to best practice for managers and practitioners" by Tim Stapenhurst

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.

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. Focused on best practice across different industries, it offers: • Real-life case studies from a range of businesses to illustrate benchmarking in practice • All the necessary background, definitions, planning considerations and project management tactics • Crucial guidance on how to analyze data, avoid pitfalls and structure reports to achieve the best results

Contents
List of Figures
List of Case Studies and Examples
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Aim of the book
Structure of the book
How to use this book
Part I: A background to BM
1 What is Benchmarking
2 Methods of Benchmarking
Part II: The Benchmarking Process
Introduction and Process Overview
Introduction
Process Overview
Basis of the model
Phase 1: Internal Preparation
Phase 2: Benchmarking Performance
Phase 3: Improving the Organization
Phase 1: The Benchmarking Process: Internal Preparation
3 Selecting a Project and Commissioning the Team
4 The Team Begins Work: Honing the Project Charter
5 Identifying and Selecting Benchmarking Participants
6 Metrics and Data
7 Normalization: How to Compare Apples with Pears
8 How to Identify Benchmarking Metrics
9 Reviewing and Finalizing Metrics
10 The Importance of Operational Defi nitions and How to Create Them
11 Finalizing the Project Plan and Gaining Management Support
12 Inviting and Working with Participants
Phase 2: The Benchmarking Process – Benchmarking
13 Effective Acquisition of Complete Accurate Data
14 Turning Data into Recommendations: Data Analysis Activities
15 Finalizing the Report and Other Deliverables
Phase 3: The Benchmarking Process–Improving Performance
16 From Report to Improvement: Preparing for Improvement
17 Beyond the Numbers: Gathering Information from Participants
18 Implementation Considerations
19 Copying without Understanding: A Risk Too Far
Part III: Managerial and Organizational Aspects of Benchmarking
20 Management Roles and Responsibilities
21 An Introduction to Legal Issues and Working with Consultants
Part IV: Case Studies
22 Benchmarking IT at Citigroup
23 The Drilling Performance Review – The Evolution of a Benchmarking Club
24 Benchmarking Local Government Services
25 The Best Practice Club
Bibliography
Appendix A1: Data Analysis and Presentation Tools
Appendix A2: Querying the Quartile
Summary
Glossary
Index