The DON Benchmarking Model for Conducting a Benchmarking Study:
The 10 Steps
Step 10.
Recalibrate.
"The
recalibration process [is] so necessary to stay current with changing
conditions and the process for reaching a mature benchmarking position that
yields superior performance." (Camp, 1992)
Input to Step 10: The
input to Step 10 is the output from Step 9.
A.
Monitor your best practices process.
Once
superiority is attained, the need for improvement still exists. Other
organizations will benchmark your success and overtake you. To maintain
superiority, the need remains for a continuous focus on improvement.
Recalibration
means to reset the graduation marks used to indicate and calculate values. The
new values become internal measurements for the next benchmarking effort.
Review the completed benchmarking study and establish a new process baseline.
Continue to monitor your current best practice against others. By recalibrating
existing benchmarks based on potential and known new technologies and
practices, the organization maintains its place at the forefront of quality,
efficiency, and profitability. This sustained level of leading industry practices
is the true aim of benchmarking.
B.
Repeat cycle.
Once the benchmarking project is complete, start over. Have ongoing visits with
your benchmarking partner(s). Environments evolve, technologies advance, new
regulations are introduced. Competitors arise from unsuspected areas.
Recalibration
doesn't just happen; it must be planned. There are no hard and fast rules on
the frequency. One approach would be to recalibrate annually. A shorter
timeframe would not be worthwhile since a best practice probably won't change
that fast and the benchmarking process itself will probably take months to
perform. If an organization reviews its strategic plan annually or
semiannually, this may produce an opportune time to recalibrate benchmarks.
Recalibration beyond three years will probably become a massive exercise.
The
recalibration process means reexamining all 10 steps of the DON Benchmarking
Model. No step should be skipped or assumed not necessary to repeat.
Many
business processes can benefit from benchmarking. Expose and encourage the
organization to learn more about the benchmarking process. For example, Xerox
Corporation has trained thousands of employees, including most managers, in
benchmarking practices. Managers and employees throughout the organization are
empowered to initiate and conduct their own benchmarking projects. .This
proliferation of trained and experienced employees results in a virtual
continuous state of benchmarking activity across all departments, locations,
and divisions. (Spendolini, 1992).
Output of Step 10: A
continuous benchmarking process.
Source: USN Benchmarking Handbook
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