11.2 Business Process Improvement - Other Process Improvement Tools

Question 1

The process improvement tool that compares company practices with those of best-in-class organizations is

A. Value chain analysis.
B. Enterprise performance management.
C. The balanced scorecard.
D. Benchmarking.

Answer 1

D. Benchmarking

According to the IMA, “benchmarking involves continuously evaluating the practices of best-in-class organizations and adapting company processes to incorporate the best of these practices.” It “analyzes and measures the key outputs of a business process or function against the best and also identifies underlying key actions and root causes that contribute to the performance difference.” Benchmarking is an ongoing process that entails quantitative and qualitative measurement of the difference between the company’s performance of an activity and the performance by the best in the world. The benchmark organization need not be a competitor.