BestPrax Benchmark – A License to Barter Best Practices

Benchmarking is the search for industry Best Practices that lead to Superior Performance

– Dr Robert Camp

A traditional approach to benchmarking involves catching up with our competitors; and acquiring information about our competitors through unreliable sources and means. With such an approach, our organization is doomed to remain a follower. Never a leader. Never the benchmark.

I call this approach Benchmarking Myopia.

Internal Benchmarking

On the other hand, one can learn much through internal benchmarking.

In the mid-1990s, Kumar Mangalam Birla adopted this approach for his cement businesses in the Aditya Birla Group. The six cement plants had unique identities; and customers had varied experiences from plant to plant. This was a major area of concern for Birla.

Consequently, Birla defined his objectives as:

• to create a singular identity for the cement businesses, as well as
• to ensure a common delightful experience for customers.

The approach adopted for the new born Aditya Birla Cement involved structured internal benchmarking. Each cement plant used the BestPrax Barometer to harvest their respective Best Practices. Eureka. Thereafter, the Best-of-the-Best Practices were embraced by the sister plants. The results were outstanding.

Encouraged by the cement business experience, the same approach was followed by the multi-location carbon black business and the acrylic fibre business of the Aditya Birla Group. In India, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Cross-industry Benchmarking

Having gained experience with internal benchmarking, BestPrax Club (a Qimpro initiative) spread its wings to the rainbow of cross-industry benchmarking. However, the focus now embraced only generic managerial practices. After all, 80 per cent managerial practices that drive an organization are generic in nature. Proof: The criteria for Performance Excellence – Baldridge; EFQM; IMC RBNQA; CII Exim.

But how does one get an organizations to share its Best Practices? For Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer Focus, Knowledge Management, Human Resource Focus, and Operations Management. The answer: Trading Best Practices through barter.

So, BestPrax Club developed a structured methodology:

• to harvest Best Practices (seldom known to the management of an organization), using the BestPrax Barometer
• to recognize the Best-of-the-Best Practices, through the BestPrax Benchmark competition
• to host a BestPrax Conclave for learning, sharing and growing Best Practices
• to facilitate a barter of Best Practices amongst BestPrax Benchmark organizations , using a Code of Ethics articulated by the Global Benchmarking Network (GBN).

 BestPrax Benchmarks

The formal structure of the BestPrax Benchmark competition was the key reason BestPrax Club was invited to membership of the GBN, a decade back.

I wish to share that the past BestPrax Benchmarks have been: Aditya Birla Chemicals, Aditya Birla Ultratech, Bajaj Electricals, Balco, Birla White, Cannon, Castrol, Eureka Forbes, HDFC, HDFC Life, Hinduja Hospital, Hindustan Zinc, Kirloskar Oil Engines, NMIMS, Quantum, Shoppers Stop, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Housing, Tata Power, Thirumalai Chemicals, and Yes Bank.

These Benchmark organizations can compete for the GBN Global Benchmarking Award 2019.

GBN will also invite the BestPrax Benchmarks 2019 for the above global recognition.

You can register for the BestPrax Benchmark Competition 2019 from http://www.bestprax.com/benchmark.aspx