Другие статьи

Цель нашей работы - изучение аминокислотного и минерального состава травы чертополоха поникшего
2010

Слово «этика» произошло от греческого «ethos», что в переводе означает обычай, нрав. Нравы и обычаи наших предков и составляли их нравственность, общепринятые нормы поведения.
2010

Артериальная гипертензия (АГ) является важнейшей медико-социальной проблемой. У 30% взрослого населения развитых стран мира определяется повышенный уровень артериального давления (АД) и у 12-15 % - наблюдается стойкая артериальная гипертензия
2010

Целью нашего исследования явилось определение эффективности применения препарата «Гинолакт» для лечения ВД у беременных.
2010

Целью нашего исследования явилось изучение эффективности и безопасности препарата лазолван 30мг у амбулаторных больных с ХОБЛ.
2010

Деформирующий остеоартроз (ДОА) в настоящее время является наиболее распространенным дегенеративно-дистрофическим заболеванием суставов, которым страдают не менее 20% населения земного шара.
2010

Целью работы явилась оценка анальгетической эффективности препарата Кетанов (кеторолак трометамин), у хирургических больных в послеоперационном периоде и возможности уменьшения использования наркотических анальгетиков.
2010

Для более объективного подтверждения мембранно-стабилизирующего влияния карбамезапина и ламиктала нами оценивались перекисная и механическая стойкости эритроцитов у больных эпилепсией
2010

Нами было проведено клинико-нейропсихологическое обследование 250 больных с ХИСФ (работающих в фосфорном производстве Каратау-Жамбылской биогеохимической провинции)
2010


C использованием разработанных алгоритмов и моделей был произведен анализ ситуации в системе здравоохранения биогеохимической провинции. Рассчитаны интегрированные показатели здоровья
2010

Специфические особенности Каратау-Жамбылской биогеохимической провинции связаны с производством фосфорных минеральных удобрений.
2010

Improvеment of the efficiency and competitiveness through the implementation of benchmarking in the legal entities

Abstract. A lot of businesses are looking for innovative ways to improve efficiency and maintain competitive advantage. This requires the development of various techniques for improving their business activities. In this sense, the benchmarking appears as a tool to improve productivity and competitiveness of the organizations. It is seen as a process through which the companies evaluate their products, services and practices against those of their direct competitors or organizations recognized as leaders in their industry. The benchmarking is one of the best management tools for determining whether the organization performseffectivelyspecific functions and activities. Through it, the managersare enabled to determine which are the best practices, to prioritize opportunitiesfor improvement, to increase labor productivity. This is the reason why the benchmarking can be applied in a number of organizations as a tool to increase efficiency and gain a competitive advantage. The purpose of this article is to present the possibilities of the benchmarking to increase efficiency and achieve competitive advantage in different in type, size and structure companies. 

The rapid development of technology, the liberalization of the global markets and the ever­growing competition, shape the need to adapt the organization to new circumstances. This requires adaptation of the internal structures, processes and outputs, so that the organization can respond to the constantly altering environmental conditions. A key component to the success of the business today is the strive for continuous sophistication, the search for ways to improve efficiency and gain a competitive advantage. The tool which helps a company to determine in what it dominates or lags behind other organizations, how to be more successful and how to achieve it, is the benchmarking. The main function of the benchmarking is to continuously search and discover “thebest practices” in order to implement changes and achieve optimal efficiency and competitiveness.

Alot of businesses are looking for innovative ways to improve efficiency and maintain competitive advantage. This requires the development of various techniques for improving their business activities. In this sense, the benchmarking appears as a tool to improve productivity and competitiveness of the organizations. It is seen as a process through which the companies evaluate their products, services and practices against those of their direct competitors or organizations recognized as leaders in their industry.

The benchmarking is one of the best management tools for determining whether the organization performseffectivelyspecific functions and activities. Through it, the managersare enabled to determine which are the best practices, to prioritize opportunitiesfor improvement, to increase labor productivity. This is the reason why the benchmarking can be applied in a number of organizations as a tool to increase efficiency and gain a competitive advantage.

The purpose of this article is to present the possibilities of the benchmarking to increase efficiency and achieve competitive advantage in different in type, size and structure companies.

In any systematic attempt to increase efficiency and competitiveness, the organization must meet certain conditions in order to reap more benefits. The prerequisites for this are as follows [4]:

  • Support of the program by the senior management to become known by and to be understood by the employees and customers of the organization;
  • The active participation and appropriate training of the team members and staff involved in the implementation of the benchmarking project;
  • The focus of the program is to be aimed at the complete customer satisfaction;
  • The benchmarking techniques should be used to acquire competitive advantage and increase efficiency through improvements;
  • To adapt the enchmarking­projects to specific strategies;
  • Setting realistic goals;
  • Choice of the right partner for benchmarking;
  • Availability of adequate resources, in particular concerningtime, money and materials needed;
  • Adherence to the hierarchy of the process (design, analysis, execution and examination);
  • Consistency in creating an organizational culture of the staff, facilitating the continuous improvement and customer satisfaction;
  • Viewing of the organizational culture as a factor for the necessary changes in the most appropriate way;
  • Implementation of appropriate methods for measuring the The participants in the benchmarking process can be regarded as shareholders, as each of them, individually or as a team, contributes to the improvement of the business organization. The effective management of the benchmarking in acompany requires from the project managers to balance the conflicting interests of the participants. As such thefollowinggare listed:
  • The senior management of the organization–they should provide support for the benchmarking­team, as well as to reward the efforts in achieving positive results of the actions.
  • The functional manager and those involved in the benchmarking­ process. They contribute to the achievement of the improvements and include: the functional manager, the heads of departments,thepersonn elinvolved in the procedure and the operators directly involved in the implementation process.
  • Team Leader(coordinator)–They are the main driver in the process of This role can be fulfilled with different management style, depending on the team.
  • Mediator or e. facilitator ­ It is necessary to have somebody who is familiar with the methods and techniques of the benchmarking, who to play an active role in the process of various activities for improvement, or i.e.,tobe a catalyst for success. Virtually, it is the role of a coach.
  • Members of the team ­ they participate with knowledge and experience in the various functions.
  • Outer associate ­ plays an important role, providing basic sources for internal measurements.

The results and benefits, expected by the organizations from implementing the benchmarking, relate to the different aspects of the organizational functioning. According to the opinion of Zairi [11],we can significantly increase the efficiency of a companythrough the implementation of the benchmarking. This is made possible with the introduction of relatively rapid modifications leading to perfection. Yasin & Zimmerer [10] also came to a similar conclusion. They combine the potential benefits of the successful implementation and integration of the benchmarking in the overall organizational activity and culture, through gaining competitive advantage, increase of the profitability and survival of the organization.

Other written sources also state, that the benchmarking can be applied successfully:

  • to increase productivity;
  • to establish a strategy for dealing with the competition;
  • to establishing realistic goals;
  • to promote “learning” between the employees and their motivation;
  • to develop new ideas from sources outside the company;
  • to make realistic assessment and improvement of the efficiency;
  • for continuous improvement in various areas of the

According to Brah et al [5], the main benefits that can be derived from the implementation of the benchmarking can be summarized as: customer satisfaction, cutting down on delivery time and improvementofthe reliability of the operations. Analyzing the factors influencing the achievement of the expected benefits, Jarrar and Zairi [6] reach the conclusion that it is essential to comprehend the concept of the benchmarking within the company and the implementation of appropriate methodology. The opinionof Andersen is similar, who, in addition concludes that the expected benefits from the implementation of the benchmarking in the organization are difficult to predict due to the specifics of each

Codling [3] divides the expected benefits to:

  1. material–they present the main reasons for the implementation of the benchmarking and refer to directly visible effects, such as:improving profitability, saving resources, improving the efficiency of operations,
  2. intangible –they areusually felt before settling the improvements in the economic scale and are factors related to the culture and working environment, as well as the improvement in communication, knowledge transfer, training, innovation, acceptance of others’ opinions,

Summarizing the most frequently reported benefits from the application of the benchmarking in the scientific literature, we can reduce them to:

One of the greatest benefits of the implementation of the benchmarking is the sophistication or increase in the efficiency of the company. The positive relationship between the efficiency and the implementation of the benchmarking is recorded in the study of Voss et al. [8]. They describe the presence of both,direct and indirect links between benchmarking and efficiency. Identification of the best practices and setup of high goals improve the efficiency of the organization directly.

Meanwhile, the benchmarking helps the companies understand their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their competitors and to focus their efforts to meet their real needs. This is the indirect link between the benchmarking and the growth of efficiency of the organization. Voss et al. confirm the empirically positive relationship between the benchmarking and the improved organizational efficiency in a business. Similar conclusion was also reached by St­Pierre and Delisle [7] in their study on the impact of the benchmarking on the operational and financial performance of small and medium organizations. This study confirms the extreme usefulness of the benchmarking as a tool to increase efficiency.

The benchmarking expands the prospects of the organizations and increases their competitiveness by improving their position against the competitors. At the same time it increases the level of competition by creating restrictions for the companies which do not reach a competitive level. For the organizations which strive to reach world­class production, benchmarking reveals what is necessary and how they can achieve this. Codling [3] notes that benchmarking can be used as a technique for obtaining and maintaining a competitive advantage, since the aim is to improve and increase the performance indicators against those of the competitors. He emphasizes that the benchmarking is not a «passive exercise» but a «positive activation».

The benchmarking is not limited solely to measuring the effectiveness and competitiveness. Garvin [8] argues that the real «perfect» organizations apply the benchmarking as a technique and a catalyst for change, i.e. as a learning process, not only as a map showing results. It is the tools which helps organizations to switch from «continuous improvement» to «continuous learning».

In the long term, the greatest benefit from the application of the benchmarkingisthepositiveeffectontheorganizationalculture.Thecompany which decides to apply benchmarkingis going through a serious change of mindset by releasing itself from the thought of personality syndrome and «we are different.» Camp [2] even stated that the most difficult part in the implementation of benchmarking is to realize that it is highly probable that some other companies perform the same job better than them. Focusing on demand for the best practices for process improvement, the benchmarking manages to limit the traditional approach of search for guilt.This results in improved organizational culture of employees and communication between them. In turn Codling [3] argues that through the application of benchmarking and improving the interaction between processes, strategy and culture, the companies acquire new perspective through which they can significantly sophisticate their competitive advantages.

From their practical experience Tucker et al. [9] found that the benefits for the benchmarking is not only for the organizations which seek to improve, but also for the benchmark ones. As an example, they indicate the result of the application of the benchmarking by Xerox with the benchmarkcompany L.L.Bean. As a consequence from the achieved results, L.L.Bean introduced benchmarking as a practice in their work pattern. This creates a mutual exchange of information while supporting the idea that knowledge and innovation can be shared within and outside the organization. Thus, through the practical recognition of the benchmarking as a basis for juxtaposition of the best practices, the benchmarkorganization acquires additional competitive advantage and strengthens its market position.

The technological progress has transformed communications and opened up a new world of information based on innovative technologies. Every company has access to cheap Internet, which ensures the benchmarkingteam easy access to database services and greater opportunities. For example: online surveys, virtual common interest groups, informational resources for best practices and social networking sites to connect with potential benchmarking partners.

A great variety of resources, for support of the benchmarkingare revealed, such as:

  • Benchmark Index ­ provided by Winning Moves ­ UK and Fraunhofer IPK ­ Germany, which compares productivity in a wide range of indicators in many countries;
  • BOND ­ provided by MPC – Malaysia, which compares the productivity and best practices for Malaysian companies;
  • Asia Benchmarking Network ­ provided by IPC ­ Iran, which provides for comparison the financial result from their activities and the high level of performance for Iranian organizations;
  • Best Company to Work For ­ provided by Team One Consulting
  • Saudi Arabia, to assess the management of the human resources in Saudi Arabia;
  • Tools for online evaluation ­ provided by Best Prax Club – India, to assess the best practices for companies in India.

These resources are well suited for organizations which require and need access to best practices and expert advice and opinions, but do not have the necessary conditions for the benchmarking projects in full scale.

Business Improvement Performance Resource (BIPR) developed by Centre for Organisational Excellence Research (COER), is a major repository containing a database with thousands of parameters of performance, self­ assessment tools and best practices that cover almost every aspect of the business. This resource allows users to search for “best practices” in terms of the various business models of excellence such as: EFQM Excellence Model, Baldrige Excellence Framework, Singapore Quality Award and Canadian Framework for Business Excellence.

The continuing popularity of the benchmarking leads us to conclude that this methodology in the future will help with the evolution of a great part of the organizations and economies worldwide. Improvements in technology will facilitate the sharing of best practices globally. With the advance in communication technology, the possibilities of the companies to expand their database and information greatly increases. The speed at which the businesses can seek solutions and best practices is accelerating.

The potential of benchmarking for accumulation and acquiring knowledge enables the organizations to better comprehend the existing processes and organize their activities in the most effective and efficient manner. As a management tool, the benchmarking allows us to set clear targets for action and to seek the best ways of accomplishing the tasks. In response to the needs of increasingly well­informed customers, the companies must constantly develop and improve by learning from best benchmarkingpractices. This gives grounds for them to be regarded as a key component of business excellence.

 

REFERENCES

  1. Andersen B. Industrial benchmarking for competitive advantage // Human Systems Management. ­ 1999. ­ No 18. – Р.287­296.
  2. Camp R.C. Benchmarking. The Search for Industry Best Practices That Lead to Superior Performance. ­ Milwaukee, Wisconsin: ASQC Quality Press,
  3. Codling S. ­ Gower Publishing Limited, 1998.
  4. Davies J., Kochhar A.K. Why British companies don’t do effective benchmarking // Integrated Manufacturing Systems. – 1999. ­ Vol. 10, No 1. – Р. 26­32.
  5. Elmuti D., Kathawala An overview of benchmarking process: a tool for continuous improvement and competitive advantage // Benchmarking for Quality Management and Technolog. – 1997. ­ Vol. 4, No 4ю. – Р. 229­243.
  6. Jarrar F., Zair, M. Future trends in benchmarking for competitive advantage: Aglobal survey // Total Quality Management. – 2001. ­ Vol. 12, No 7­8. – Р. 906­912.
  7. St­Pierre , Delisle S. An expert diagnosis system for the benchmarking of SMEs’ performance // Benchmarking: An International Journal. – 2006. ­ Vol. 13, No ½. – Р. 106­119.
  8. Voss A., Chiesa V., Coughlan P. Developing and Testing Benchmarking and Self­assessment Frameworks in Manufacturing // International Journal of Operations &Production Management. – 1994. ­ Vol. 14, No 3. – Р. 83­100.
  9. Whymark J. Benchmarking and credit risk management in financial services // Benchmarking for Quality Management and – 1998. ­ Vol. 5, No 2. – Р. 126­ 137.
  10. Yasin M., Zimmerer T.W. The role of benchmarking inachieving continuous service quality // International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. – 1995.
  11. ­ Vol. 7, No 4. ­ Р.27­32.
  • Zairi M. Benchmarking: The Best Tool for Measuring Competitiveness // Benchmarking for Quality Management & – 1994. ­ Vol. 1, No 1. – Р. 11­24.

Разделы знаний

International relations

International relations

Law

Philology

Philology is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection between textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics.[

Technical science

Technical science