Benchmarking On-line

It seems that everyone has the word "internet" on their lips these days. Bank on-line, shop on-line, get your news on-line, even order pizza on-line. In response to a professorial challenge, the eight of us in the UHA AMSPA class of 1996 (regular folks all) set out to determine just how helpful on-line methods would be for gathering information that might prove beneficial to a small or medium sized firm looking to streamline its business practices. Our goal was to determine just how useful the 'net (and specifically the World Wide Web) are for gathering information on benchmarking and best business practices. What we found was a mixed bag of sites, some of which proved to be quite useful, and others which were less than worthwhile. Presented below are some highlights:

Accounting and General Consulting Firms -- These sites represent the front ends of the major players in the American process consulting industry. All of these sites are very slick, and several are even useful. Currently, Arthur Andersen provides the best set of benchmarking resources (see descriptions below), but all of these sites are rapidly expanding and improving, so check them again in a few weeks if they don't have what you're looking for now.

Arthur Andersen LLP: - right now the most useful set-up of the large general firms, AA provides a super Global Best Practices section in their site, which includes a number of super links .
Coopers and Lybrand LLP: - at the moment primarily an advertisement, but look for coming attractions under the Solutions Thru Technology banner.
Ernst and Young LLP: - another advertisement, but a nice search window is provided. We recommend using the text only format due to glitches with the graphical interface.
Deloitte, Touche, Tohmatsu: - D & T provides a revolving list of "Hot Topics," some of which occasionally pertain to benchmarking or re-engineering.
Price Waterhouse LLP: -another site waiting to come into its own, however, the "KnowledgeView," initiative shows promise.
KPMG Peat Marwick USA: - mostly an employment guide for would-be accountants. Hopefully the future will bring upgrades.
American Management Systems, Inc.: - again, a large site which provides a variety of selling points for AMS, a good look, however, can turn up some useful info on projects in process -- we recommend using AMS' search window.

Benchmarking Specialty Consultants/Clubs

Benchmarking Partners, Inc.: - a useful resource for those seeking professional assistance in their benchmarking efforts.
Benchmark Capital: - another for-profit venture seeking customers.
Relational Dynamics, Inc.: - specialists in employee feedback and evaluation using the 360 Degree Feedback model.
Siegel Associates: - another 360 Degree Feedback resource.
Best Practices Club: - a group which provides info on other Benchmarking publications. Also arranges activities including case study visits, seminars, etc.

Research Sites -- These sites offer direct searches with a benchmarking twist. While some require membership or sign-on for certain services (which we therefore haven't tried), we've found that all offer the freeloader something worthwhile.

MCB University Press: - an excellent resource for article abstracts and research groups looking at benchmarking and other business issues.
The Hackett Group: - This is a great resource for the requesting and retrieving of specific data. Members of the group are encouraged to exchange ideas directly, but a fee is charged for this service.
Harvard Business School Publishing: - provides another excellent "search and rescue" site.
The Benchmarking Exchange: - a for profit clearinghouse with some useful free teasers.
International Management Centres: - provides a European perspective, as well as links to some useful resources. Focus is on a concept called "Action Learning."
American Society for Quality Control: - a technical forum.
Asia Pacific Management Forum: - provides an Asian perspective on benchmarking and quality control.

Government Sites -- Various Federal sites have been established to aid firms searching for best practices. While not the slickest, these sites do provide access to large archives (when they work).

The Navy's Best Manufacturing Practices: - the Navy provides access to a government developed best practices resource for manufacturers.
U.S. Department of Labor: - not surprisingly, most of the items available here are of a human resources nature.
U.S. Department of Energy: - a "powerhouse" of technical info. Be sure to check out the DOE's Best Practices Clearinghouse.

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