Benchmarking

Analytic Quality Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004–8, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/

This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for amendments or additions.

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Benchmarking

core definition

Benchmarking is a process that enables comparison of inputs, processes or ouputs between institutions (or parts of institutions) or within a single institution over time.

explanatory context

Benchmarking, in practice, tends to be more about sharing good practice than undertaking formal comparative measurements.

analytical review

Campbell and Rozsnyai, (2002, p. 131) define it thus:

Benchmarking: Setting levels against which quality is measured or a process of identifying and learning from good practice in other organizations.

The UNESCO definition of benchmarking is:

A standardized method for collecting and reporting critical operational data in a way that enables relevant comparisons among the performances of different organizations or programmes, usually with a view to establishing good practice, diagnosing problems in performance, and identifying areas of strength. Benchmarking gives the organization (or the programme) the external references and the best practices on which to base its evaluation and to design its working processes.

Benchmarking is also defined as:

– a diagnostic instrument (an aid to judgments on quality);

– a self-improvement tool (a quality management/quality assurance tool) allowing organizations (programmes) to compare themselves with others regarding some aspects of performance, with a view to finding ways to improve current performance;

– an open and collaborative evaluation of services and processes with the aim of learning from good practices;

– a method of teaching an institution how to improve;

– an on-going, systematically oriented process of continuously comparing and measuring the work processes of one organization with those of others by bringing an external focus on internal activities. (Vlãsceanu et al., 2004, p. 25)

For AEC (2004) benchmarking is more restricted and quite specific:

A process by which standards are set in terms of levels of challenge and typical content for a given award (e.g. a Bachelor degree in music).

For HEQC (2004, p. 26) benchmarking is:

Benchmarking: A process by which an institution, programme, faculty, school, or any other relevant unit evaluates and compares itself in chosen areas against internal and external, national and international reference points, for the purposes of monitoring and improvement.

associated issues

Vlãsceanu et al., (2004, p. 26–28) also point out that benchmarking ‘implies specific steps and structured procedures’ and that there are different types of benchmarking depending on what data is compared. They specify the following:

strategic benchmarking (focusing on what is done, on the strategies organizations use to compete);

operational benchmarking (focusing on how things are done, on how well other organizations perform, and on how they achieve performance),

data-based benchmarking (statistical bench-marking that examines the comparison of data-based scores and conventional performance indicators)…

Internal Benchmarking: Benchmarking (comparisons of) performances of similar programmes in different components of a higher education institution. Internal benchmarking is usually conducted at large decentralized institutions in which there are several departments (or units) that conduct similar programmes.

(External) Competitive Benchmarking: Benchmarking (comparisons of) performance in key areas, on specific measurable terms, based upon information from institution(s) that are viewed as competitors.

Functional (External Collaborative) Benchmarking: Benchmarking that involves comparisons of processes, practices, and performances with similar institutions of a larger group of institutions in the same field that are not immediate competitors.

Trans-Institutional Benchmarking: Benchmarking that looks across multiple institutions in search of new and innovative practices, no matter what their sources.

Generic Benchmarking: Compares institutions in terms of a basic practice process or service (e.g., communication lines, participation rate, and drop-out rate). It compares the basic level of an activity with a process in other institutions that has similar activity.

Process–Based Benchmarking: Goes beyond the comparison of data-based scores and conventional performance indicators (statistical benchmarking) and looks at the processes by which results are achieved. It examines activities made up of tasks, steps which cross the boundaries between the conventional functions found in all institutions.

Implicit Benchmarking: A quasi-benchmarking that looks at the production and publication of data and of performance indicators that could be useful for meaningful cross-institutional comparative analysis. It is not based on the voluntary and proactive participation of institutions (as in the cases of other types), but as the result of the pressure of markets, central funding, and/or co-ordinating agencies. Many of the current benchmarking activities taking place in Europe are of this nature.

Within different types, benchmarking may be either vertical (aiming at quantifying the costs, workloads, and learning productivity of a predefined programme area) or horizontal (looking at the costs of outcomes of a single process that cuts across more than one programme area).

Vlãsceanu et al., (2004, p. 26–27) also identify early examples of benchmarking:

· National Association of Colleges and University Business Officers(NACUBO) Benchmarking Project started in 1991–92 and has had a statistical and financial approach to benchmarking.

· The History 2000 Project, led by Paul Hyland, School of Historical and Cultural Studies, Bath College of Higher Education is an example of benchmarking of academic practice,

· The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) Programme at Cranfield University is an example of benchmarking in libraries;

· The Higher Education Funding Council for Higher Education (HEFCHE) Value for Money Studies (VfM), launched in 1993;

· “The Commonwealth University International Benchmarking Club”, launched in 1996, by Commonwealth Higher Education Management Service (CHEMS), as an example of international benchmarking;

· The Copenhagen Business School (CBS) benchmarking analysis of twelve higher education institutions, 1995;

· The German Benchmarking Club of Technical Universities (BMC), 1996;

· The CRE “Institutional Quality Management Review” based on peer reviews and mutual visits to universities participating voluntarily in a cycle, each time focusing on a specific issue, is an example of implicit benchmarking (CHEMS, 1998).

related terms

See also