Concept Of Benchmarking Research Articles

Harmonising the bioassessment of large rivers in the absence of near‐natural reference conditions – a case study of the Danube River

Summary1. International river catchments pose challenges for effective water resource management. Catchment‐wide strategies are often complicated by differences in national bioassessment and quality classification. Intercalibration efforts aim to harmonise these differences, but rely on the consistent delineation of near‐natural reference sites that are almost unavailable in today’s landscape, especially for large rivers.2. We introduce the concept of alternative benchmarking that is based on the notion of aquatic communities at similar (low) levels of impairment associated with least‐disturbed conditions (LDC) as defined by abiotic criteria. Using data acquired during the second Joint Danube Survey, we defined LDC sites based on a multivariate gradient of anthropogenic pressures, mostly related to morphological deterioration, that spans the entire navigable Danube.3. The river was subdivided into four stretches, each featuring homogeneous biological assemblages. Indirect gradient analysis revealed relationships between the pressure gradient and selected features of the macroinvertebrate and macrophyte community but not for diatoms or phytoplankton.4. We identified biological metrics suitable for the quality classification of individual stretches or the entire river. Impoundment is the major hydromorphological alteration on the Danube but various metrics still responded significantly to differences in the morphological condition of sites not affected by impoundment.5. A comparison of macroinvertebrate sampling techniques (airlift versus kick‐and‐sweep) revealed differences in how the acquired data reflect the effects of anthropogenic pressure. Biological metrics based only on kick‐and‐sweep sample data were insensitive to habitat deterioration in the heavily modified Upper Danube.6. This study exemplifies the empirical approach of alternative benchmarking in intercalibration and offers practical solutions to some of the challenges of large river bioassessment.

BENCHMARKING AS A FUNCTION OF COMPETITIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY IN BUSINESS

Benchmarking is a method of comparison between its’ own and the best possible organization that would contribute to the implementation of best practice solutions, new technologies, improvement of business processes and the quality of products, cost savings, increase of productivity, creativity, innovation and competitiveness on the market, and would lead to satisfying the needs and desires of consumers, as well as achieving efficiency in its’ own business. However, the concept of benchmarking affects the creation of new ideas and lucrative solutions to improve the existing organization, process and competitive products of high quality. It is, without doubt, the easiest way of applying and achieving best practice leader for the maximization of profit in business. There are several types of benchmarking, such as: the internal, external competitive, external functional, external generic, combined internal and external benchmarking. For a successful implementation of benchmarking, it is inevitable to choose a small number or a single leadership organization suitable for comparing and increasing of competitiveness and profitability in business.

Model for improving safety in transporting dangerous goods for the Serbian Army

Design and improvement of the safety of transport of dangerous goods is a multidimensional and dynamic process which can be implemented using several different methods and techniques. In defining the model of improving the safety of transport of dangerous goods for the purposes of the Serbian Army, the Deming's approach to quality management system has been used. The analysis of the existing organization of transport of dangerous goods in the Army of Serbia has established the basic causes that affect the reduction in security as well as specific measures to be taken to improve the safety of transport of dangerous goods in the Serbian Army. The benchmark concept, widely used in the world, especially among organizations dealing with the same kind of logistic services, has been applied to indentify measures to improve the safety of transport of dangerous goods in the Serbian Army.

Modelling Concept Prototype Competencies using a Developmental Memory Model

AbstractThe use of concepts is fundamental to human-level cognition, but there remain a number of open questions as to the structures supporting this competence. Specifically, it has been shown that humans use concept prototypes, a flexible means of representing concepts such that it can be used both for categorisation and for similarity judgements. In the context of autonomous robotic agents, the processes by which such concept functionality could be acquired would be particularly useful, enabling flexible knowledge representation and application. This paper seeks to explore this issue of autonomous concept acquisition. By applying a set of structural and operational principles, that support a wide range of cognitive competencies, within a developmental framework, the intention is to explicitly embed the development of concepts into a wider framework of cognitive processing. Comparison with a benchmark concept modelling system shows that the proposed approach can account for a number of features, namely concept-based classification, and its extension to prototype-like functionality.

Performance Benchmarking: A Literature Review And Analysis For Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion Plants

Gaining and maintaining a competitive edge is the key to success in all walks of life, both on the athletic field and in the boardroom.This research paper will: (1) provide a background on the concept of benchmarking; and (2) present some examples of performance benchmarks for AFBC (atmospheric fluidized bed combustor) steam and power plants resulting from data collected during 1999.

Terminology and Methodology for Benchmarking Foresight Programmes

This report, prepared for the ForSociety ERANET project, addresses a need to develop a common language and approach in comparing national foresight programmes. An appropriate terminology and methodology is particularly important, as foresight activities in various countries are characterised by a high level of diversity of structures, as well as varying levels of maturity, intensity, and efforts. This is often based on a diversity of perception and understanding of the role of foresight, linked to differing country context and approach. A meaningful comparison of foresight depends on a deeper understanding of the background to the evolution of foresight in each country and the template developed in this report is aimed at providing this level of detail. The report is organised in three parts: (1) the underlying concepts and framework for benchmarking – presenting (a) an overview of evolutionary economics of innovation, as a theoretical background, (b) a taxonomy of foresight programmes, as well as (c) the concept of intelligent benchmarking –; (2) a template for individual programme descriptions, together with (3) a glossary of key terms. The report claims that mechanistic or naive benchmarking is likely to produce misleading policy conclusions. Intelligent benchmarking – learning by comparison, taking into account the broader context – is a more promising way forward. There is no ‘one best way’, and thus actual foresight programmes should not be benchmarked against an ‘ideal’, ‘optimal’ or ‘best practice’ design of foresight. They can be benchmarked against 3-4 ‘ideal types’ of future-oriented programmes, and this can lead to meaningful methodological and policy lessons.

A Study on Benchmarking Models and Frameworks in Industrial SMEs: Challenges and Issues

This paper is based on a literature review of recent publications in the field of benchmarking methodology implemented in small and medium enterprises with regards to measure and benchmark upstream, leading or developmental aspects of organizations. Benchmarking has been recognized as an essential tool for continuous improvement and competitiveness. It can also help SMEs to improve their operational and financial performances. However, only few entrepreneurs turn to benchmarking implementation, due to lack of time and resources. In this study current benchmarking models (2005 onwards), dedicated specifically to the SMEs, have been identified and their characteristics and objectives have been discussed. Key findings from this review confirm that this is an under-developed area of research and that most practitioner approaches are focused on benchmarking practices within SMEs. There is a need to extend theoretical and practical aspects of benchmarking in SMEs by studying the process of benchmarking with regards to the novel concept of lead benchmarking as a possible means of achieving increased radical and innovative transformation in organizational change. From the review it emerged that, lead, forward looking and predictive benchmarking have not been considered in SMEs, and future researches could include them.

Consortium benchmarking: Collaborative academic–practitioner case study research

Consortium benchmarking is a scholar–practitioner collaborative case study approach joining rigor and relevance in management research. In consortium benchmarking practitioners and academic researchers form a consortium and together benchmark best-practices. Consortium benchmarking includes practitioners as co-researchers, facilitating research relevant for both academics and practitioners. Rigorous research informs the entire process since consortium benchmarking collects evidence from multiple sources and uses various comparison techniques. This paper introduces the concept of consortium benchmarking and then illustrates its application with a case study that identifies the nature of innovative suppliers. The study shows how consortium benchmarking supports the production of relevant knowledge for both academics and practitioners in a rigorous way. In order to evaluate these contributions, the study develops criteria for assessing rigor as well as theoretical and practical relevance. Finally, the study compares consortium benchmarking with multi-case research and presents five aspects either not accounted for or neglected in “traditional” multi-case research.

A benchmark for OCL engine accuracy, determinateness, and efficiency

Since several years, the Object Constraint Language (OCL) is a central component in modeling and transformation languages like the Unified Modeling Language, the Meta Object Facility, and Query View Transformation. Consequently, approaches MDE (Model-Driven Engineering) depend on this language. OCL is present not only in areas influenced by the OMG but also in the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). Thus the quality of OCL and its realization in tools seems to be crucial for the success of model-driven development. Surprisingly, up to now a benchmark for OCL to measure quality properties has not been proposed. This paper puts forward in the first part the concepts of a comprehensive OCL benchmark. Our benchmark covers (1) OCL engine accuracy (e.g., for the handling of the undefined value, the use of variables and the implementation of OCL standard operations), (2) OCL engine determinateness properties (e.g., for the collection operations `any' and `flatten'), and (3) OCL engine efficiency (for data type and user-defined operations). In the second part, this paper empirically evaluates the proposed benchmark concepts by examining several OCL tools. The paper clarifies a number of differences in handling particular language features and under specifications in the OCL standard.

Diseño de un modelo de estimación de costos eficientes para explotaciones ganaderas de pequeños productores crianceros ubicados entre las regiones del Maule y de los Lagos

The sanitary and commercial advantages of Chile have given the only opportunity for the development of stockbreeding bovine, transforming it in a new opportunity is strongly presented for the small breeding producers of our country, since that they are who initiate the productive cycle of bovine meat.The challenge for them is based on increasing their stock breeder mass, in volume and quality, for this reason, they obligatory need to be more efficient in their costs. The objective of this investigation was the designing of an efficient evaluation cost model for the stock breeder exploitation of the small producersof our country. The real productive costs, associated to the system of breeding, were determined through a survey applied to the small stockbreeder producers from the VII to the X regions. Besides, the relevant variables that influence in cost of production of system of breeding and mathematics expressions used forquantify these variables, were determined. For determining the better productive practices it was applied the technique of data evolvement analysis, by means of which the efficient producers were identified. The model of evaluation costs was based on the concept of comparative efficiency or benchmarking, by meansof which, an efficient system of breeding that incorporated the best productive practices and technical characteristics of the most efficient producers, was designed.

Benchmarking, an imperative for special libraries in the Caribbean: the Jamaican case

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of benchmarking and its application as a total quality management tool. It provides librarians with insights into one strategy that may be used to prove that the library is contributing to the bottom line of the parent organization.Design/methodology/approachThe paper has two sections. The first half is a discussion on the need for strategic measurement and evaluation in special libraries in the Caribbean. Ranganathan's five laws of library science are reconsidered in the context of the changing library environment and are used to demonstrate how libraries can remain relevant. An overview of quality management and the application of benchmarking in libraries is also presented. The second half highlights a benchmarking pilot project that is being considered by a group of librarians in the special libraries section of the Library and Information Association of Jamaica and how one special library has adopted appropriate measurement and evaluation techniques to define its value in the organization and to keep its position in the Library Association of Jamaica as a focal point for the Socio‐Economic Information Network (SECIN).FindingsSpecial libraries in Jamaica must move away from being cost centres to being value‐added units. Proactive strategies that will create new value in the organization or allow the organization to remain on the cutting edge must be developed and implemented.Originality/valueThe paper enables special librarians to have a better understanding of how to implement a benchmarking project in their organizations.

Benchmarking Revisited: The Global Search for Performance Improvement

This article provides a brief overview of the development of benchmarking in the water industry, from early efforts published by Harvard University, to Xerox Corporation's input on benchmarking practices along with that of the Office of Water Services (OFWAT) in the United Kingdom. Confusion in the industry over terminology and inconsistencies in benchmarking concepts was heightened by a 1996 report on benchmarking by the Awwa Research Foundation (now known as the Water Research Foundation). The article stresses the need for clear terms and a common language and understanding of benchmarking in the water industry as the importance of benchmarking grows, and discusses the confusion over the terms “metric benchmarking” and “process benchmarking”. A new manual on best practices of benchmarking will be jointly published by the IWA and AWWA, with the objective of defining a new framework in which the traditional benchmarking concepts can be clearly distinguished, thus guaranteeing more fluent and efficient communication.

The General Concept of Benchmarking and its Application in Higher Education in Europe

The purposes of this paper are twofold: a presentation of the theoretical basis of benchmarking and a discussion on practical benchmarking applications. Benchmarking is also analyzed as a productivity accelerator. The authors study benchmarking usage in the private and public sectors with due consideration of the specificities of the two areas. Special attention is paid to the presentation of the current picture of higher education and conditions for the application of benchmarking. The chosen examples of benchmarking projects conducted in higher education illustrate the spectrum of benchmarking usage. The authors conclude the paper with a recommendation for the employment of benchmarking in the higher education environment, especially in the light of competition pressures and rapid economic development.

Regional Competitive Intelligence: Benchmarking and Policy-making

Huggins R. Regional competitive intelligence: benchmarking and policy-making, Regional Studies. Benchmarking exercises have become increasingly popular within the sphere of regional policy-making. This paper analyses the concept of regional benchmarking and its links with regional policy-making processes. It develops a typology of regional benchmarking exercises and benchmarkers, and critically reviews the literature. It is argued that critics of regional benchmarking fail to take account of the variety and development of regional benchmarking systems. It is suggested that while benchmarking exercises are informing policy adaptation and innovation, they have been constrained by political and financial factors. It is concluded that regional benchmarking is facilitating the heightened regional interaction necessitated by globalization. Huggins R. L'intelligence compétitive régionale: la fixation des points de référence et les décisions politiques, Regional Studies. Dans le domaine des décisions quant à la politique régionale, la fixation des points de référence est devenue de plus en plus populaire. Cet article cherche à analyser la notion de fixation des points de référence et ses liens avec les décisions quant à la politique régionale. On développe une typologie d'exercices pour ce qui est de la fixation des points de référence régionaux et de ceux qui les fixent, et fait la critique de la documentation. On affirme que les critiques de la fixation des points de référence ne tiennent compte ni de la diversité, ni du développement des systèmes de fixation des points de référence. On laisse supposer que les exercices de fixation des points de référence ont été limitées par des forces à la fois politiques et financières, tandis qu'elles contribuent à l'adaptation at à l'innovation des politiques. On conclut que la fixation des points de référence favorise une interaction régionale plus grande pour affronter la mondialisation. Fixation des points de référence Décisions politiques Apprentissage Compétitivité Innovation Huggins R. Regionale Wettbewerbsinformationen: Benchmarking und Politik, Regional Studies. Im Bereich der Regionalpolitik erfreuen sich Benchmarking-Untersuchungen wachsender Beliebtheit. In diesem Beitrag werden das Konzept des regionalen Benchmarking sowie seine Verbindungen mit den regionalpolitischen Gestaltungsprozessen analysiert. Ich entwickle eine Typologie der regionalen Benchmarking-Untersuchungen und Benchmarker und unterziehe die Literatur einer kritischen Überprüfung. Ich argumentiere, dass die Kritiker des regionalen Benchmarking nicht die Vielfalt und Entwicklung der regionalen Benchmarking-Systeme berücksichtigen. Ich behaupte, dass sich Benchmarking-Untersuchungen zwar auf die Anpassung und Innovation der Politik auswirken, doch zugleich durch politische und finanzielle Faktoren eingeschränkt werden. Mein Fazit lautet, dass regionales Benchmarking durch die verstärkten regionalen Wechselwirkungen begünstigt wird, die aufgrund der Globalisierung nötig geworden sind. Benchmarking Politik Lernen Konkurrenzfähigkeit Innovation Huggins R. Inteligencia competitiva regional: análisis comparativo y diseño de políticas, Regional Studies. Los análisis comparativos son cada vez más populares en el campo del diseño de políticas regionales. En este artículo analizo el concepto del análisis comparativo regional y sus vínculos con los procesos para diseñar políticas regionales. Desarrollo una tipología para los análisis comparativos regionales y comparadores, y desde un punto de visto crítico evalúo la literatura. Sostengo que los críticos del análisis comparativo regional no tienen en cuenta la variedad y el desarrollo de los sistemas comparativos regionales. Sugiero que si bien los análisis comparativos informan sobre la adaptación e innovación de políticas, están limitados por factores políticos y financieros. Para terminar sostengo que el análisis comparativo regional facilita una intensa interacción regional que es necesaria para la globalización. Análisis comparativo Diseño de políticas Aprendizaje Competitividad Innovación

Benchmarking: A Process for Learning or Simply Raising the Bar?

Benchmarking has been a credible approach to quality improvement and program evaluation for more than 30 years. However, the term has been used and abused so much since the 1970s that now an author might be describing anything from the establishment of performance indicators, to competitor ranking, or gap analysis, through to a continuous quality improvement process. Equally confusing is the plethora of different benchmarking models published. A literature review was conducted in which 65 publications from 1998-2008 were analysed and synthesised in order to untangle the confusion surrounding the contemporary theory and practice of benchmarking. This article clarifies the terminology and concepts of benchmarking, attempts a concise practical definition, examines various approaches in the current theory and application of benchmarking, and explicates the features most consistent with the goal of continuous quality improvement and organisational learning.

Lesson Drawing: The Congruence of Policy Transfer and Benchmarking

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This paper attempts to examine the concepts of policy transfer and benchmarking. It provides a critical review of the underpinnings of both concepts and tries to demonstrate similarities between them. Political scientists define policy transfer as a process of learning in which government policy makers (of various kinds) across the globe observe the responses of their counterparts to similar problems. Policy transfer encompasses various activities through which knowledge is used in the development of policy anywhere in time or space. In marketing, benchmarking is defined as searching for best practices that lead to better or even excellent performance. In other words, it is a structured procedure that analyzes a process to find improvement opportunities. Based on empirical studies of the privatization of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and marketing excellence in the Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the authors attempt to discuss similarities between policy transfer and benchmarking and identify basic criteria that underpin them.

Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia as a Quality Indicator for Patient Safety?

The economic and clinical burden of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is uncontested. In many hospitals, VAP surveillance is conducted to identify outbreaks and to monitor infection rates. Here, we discuss the concept of benchmarking in health care as modeled on industry, and we contribute personal arguments against considering the VAP rate as a potential candidate for benchmarking or for monitoring the quality of patient care. Accurate benchmarking of VAP rates currently seems to be unfeasible, because the patient case mix is often too diverse and complicated to be adjusted for, and diagnostic criteria and surveillance protocols vary. Thus, the risk of drawing inaccurate comparisons is high. In contrast, some risk factors for VAP are modifiable and can be monitored and used as quality indicators. Process-oriented surveillance permits bypass of case-mix and diagnostic constraints. A well-defined interhospital surveillance system is necessary to prove that interventions on procedures do really lead to a reduction of VAP rates.

Quality Ethics – Benchmarking Ethics as a Model: Theoretical Approximations

The current research aims at outlining the required principles and rules to succeed the application of the concept of benchmarking. It also explains the theoretical junctures among the hampers, ethics and rules of benchmarking. Achieving the targets, analytical description has been drawn to show the theoretical principles as well as seeing the probable phenomena of violating ethical standards. The study is expected to discuss five aspects; the first has reviewed a literature on the concepts of ethical standards of businesses. The second has referred to the concepts and ethics of quality management as well. The third has showed however the quality ethics of benchmarking. Fourth has finally debated the opportunities of violations in the rules of benchmarking and the methods of limitations. The research then concluded into a gist of ideas to accomplish the analytical aspects .

Reconceptualising benchmarking development in UK organisations: the effects of size and sector

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore both the development and reconceptualisation of benchmarking and performance measurement within UK organisations, using a brief literature review, theoretical reconception and an empirical study of UK organisations.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted involving UK organisations (n=156) across a wide range of organizational sizes and sectors. Analysis included the use of descriptives, chi‐square tests and one‐way ANOVA between and within groups.FindingsThe findings show how, firstly, organisations are progressing towards benchmarking and performance measurement maturity as traditionally defined. Secondly, the findings show how organisations that have reached this stage are reconceptualising benchmarking and performance measurement to meet fundamentally changing market and operational conditions.Practical implicationsThe paper gives a structured outline for organisations seeking to design and implement advanced performance measurement and benchmarking methodologies.Originality/valueThe concept of lead performance measure and benchmarking is an emergent area of study. This paper shows current developments and makes suggestions for further research.

How relative absolute can be: SUMI and the impact of the nature of the task in measuring perceived software usability

This paper addresses the possibility of measuring perceived usability in an absolute way. It studies the impact of the nature of the tasks performed in perceived software usability evaluation, using for this purpose the subjective evaluation of an application’s performance via the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI). The paper reports on the post-hoc analysis of data from a productivity study for testing the effect of changes in the graphical user interface (GUI) of a market leading drafting application. Even though one would expect similar evaluations of an application’s usability for same releases, the analysis reveals that the output of this subjective appreciation is context sensitive and therefore mediated by the research design. Our study unmasked a significant interaction between the nature of the tasks used for the usability evaluation and how users evaluate the performance of this application. This interaction challenges the concept of absolute benchmarking in subjective usability evaluation, as some software evaluation methods aspire to provide, since subjective measurement of software quality will be affected most likely by the nature of the testing materials used for the evaluation.