Applying benchmarking: An organizational learning perspective

We report the results of a field study that examined the application of benchmarking and the nature of its relationship to organizational learning practices. The study addresses two issues: the relationship between familiarity with the concept of benchmarking and the application of the elements of the benchmarking methodology (which are also, for the most part, organizational learning mechanisms), and the relationship between the prevalence of applying these elements and organizational characteristics. The main findings indicate that for the most part managers associate benchmarking with competition, and that most of its elements are applied intuitively, and not as part of a structured methodology.