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Finance Fundamentals

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Harvard Business Review January 1987 / February 1987

How to Measure Yourself Against the Best
Frances Gaither Tucker; Seymour M Zivan; Robert C Camp

ABSTRACT:
The Logistics and Distribution unit of Xerox's Business Systems Group was gaining 3% to 5% a year in productivity not good enough in light of industrywide price cuts in business machines. One solution, benchmarking, measures L&D's warehouse and distribution performance against comparable activities in other industries. Comparing oneself with competitors (as well as with internal units) is useful, but doesn't necessarily get the benefit of the best practice, not to mention the benefit of cooperation. Benchmarking against non-competitors is the answer. After a search, L&D found the best warehousing and materials handling organization was at L.L. Bean, the outdoor-clothing retailer and mail-order house. With Bean's cooperation, L&D benchmarked its operation against the best and learned a lot. By looking closely at the operation of Bean and other noncompetitors, L&D has raised its productivity 10% each year and gained a better position against its real competition.

BODY:

One way to judge the performance of an organization is, of course, to compare it with other units within the company. But these measurements often merely reinforce complacency or generate "not invented here" excuses. Comparisons with outsiders, however, can highlight the best industry practices and promote their adoption. This technique is commonly called "benchmarking," a term taken from the landsurveying practice of comparing elevations.

When Xerox started using benchmarking in 1979, management's aim was to analyze unit production costs in manufacturing operations.

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