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Competitive Information
and Benchmarking
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Template for: SHU Competitive Information & Benchmarking
The primary purpose of this section is to analyze how competitors perform
the same activities performed by this horizontal unit. In some cases, it is
also useful to present information on how other industries perform these and
related activities. This information is relevant when considering how to
re-engineer the horizontal unit in order to achieve the best results.
Monitoring traditional and non-traditional competitors is fundamental to
acquiring knowledge of the best practices of the best companies (and to avoid
the mistakes of the other companies).
Many books and articles have been written in the 1980's and early 1990's
about benchmarking. Benchmarking is a process which includes the following
steps:
- define key activities and analyze world class producers (and world
class service providers);
- understand different ways to perform activities;
- evaluate performance of each process;
- analyze different ways activities are linked;
- study how different industries perform similar activities;
- identify improvement opportunities and set forth actionable tasks.
In short, benchmarking is a systematic approach to learning from the
competition how to best perform key activities. Anything that helps to
accomplish this goal is worthwhile. It is important to understand the causes for
the differences and gaps in performance between competitors.
The information sources used for this section may include trade magazines,
ex-employees of competitors, funded studies by consulting firms or universities,
trade shows, annual reports, ads and stories in newspapers and magazines,
agencies and recruiters on retainer, industry survey groups, focus groups, sales
force contact with customers, industry analysts, professional conferences, and
more.
The type of data collected may include information on competitor strengths,
weaknesses, strategies, procedures, costs, organization charts, biographical
data on employees, incentive plans, financial data, suppliers, allocation of
resources, organizational culture, office facilities, information technology
infrastructure, and more.
For more information on benchmarking and a comprehensive list of sources of
competitive information, see Timothy W. Powell, Analyzing Your Competition,
FIND/SVP, 1993.
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