Book Reviews

Benchmarking. Bengt Karlof and Svante Ostblan, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 197 pp. ISBN 0-471-94180-8, price &24.95/$39.95, hardback.

The authors describe this book as aimed directly at improving efficiency and it does contain many practical points. The introduction examines the concepts of efficiency, productivity and value and their contribution to both social and business success. Benchmarking is introduced as a process to achieve success through organic growth, and the connection is noted between benchmarking and culture change, leadership development, and the movement towards results orientation in performance assessment and improvement. A section on benchmarking in practice highlights some of the success factors and pitfalls the authors have observed in companies practising and attempting benchmarking. The introduction is a full one, and does a good job of placing benchmarking in context as a business management tool.

The book begins by defining different areas of benchmarking, particularly highlighting quality, organization development, productivity and time. Each is examined, and factors contributing to performance in each area are identified and briefly discussed. A n introduction is also given to the types of benchmarking - internal; external against similar or identical organizations; and ‘functional’ against best in class. A useful list of seven factors helps to characterize organizations which are likely to be outstanding, and which could be valuable benchmarking partners.

Implementation of benchmarking projects is discussed and explored in terms of structure and ‘membership’ profile, the role of the ‘commissioner’ and project management issues. The authors acknowledge a list of both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ factors both for those directly involved and others who are affected.

Five activity stages are identified and each is the subject of a chapter. The first is deciding what to benchmark - identifying priorities by using customer perceptions, a survey of operations, and appropriate measurements of performance. A number of examples illustrate the points and help to provide a practical guide.

The chapter on identifying benchmarking partners provides some ideas on sources of information and pointers on how to establish contact and deal with partners, but gives little help on how to look beyond fairly obvious comparators in this stage, which many organizations find so dficult. While the book in general is

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practical and down to earth I found this chapter rather disappointing and too genemlized.

The ‘ground rules’ and activities involved in the information gathering stage are described clearly, and the importance of starting internally to analyse current processes and performance is both emphasized and given several practical justifications. Different vehicles for information gathering from partners are also described with the ‘pros and cons’ and useful pointers to make the most of each.

The chapter on the analysis stage, stage 4 , examines numerical measures and provides advice on ‘quality control’ of data for confidence of comparing like with like; the several characteristics identified to check for comparability would also have been useful in the partner selection phase. Analysis of operative content and processes are also discussed, though not at great length, and the structure and illustration of a report is included in this stage. An interesting dimension also included is that once the analysis is complete, the benchmarker should consider not only how their own operation should be changed, but also whether that operation should or could be outsourced. A ‘make or buy’ analysis is recommended and different options discussed.

The final stage, implementation, is discussed in terms of its communication and effect on people involved; leadership; integration with the business plan; clarity of targets, and timetables.

The interactive nature of benchmarking in helping organizations to grow and develop is the last topic in the book, and the relationship between efficiency (under the benchmarking banner) and proficiency (under the heading of ‘benchlearning’), is explored.

The former focuses on the quantitative, the latter on the qualitative, attitudinal, behavioural and cultural. The issue of leadership development and training is linked closely by the authors with successful benchmarking and its integration into the organization. It is this combination which they entitle ‘benchlearning’. The combination of the two is viewed as the most cost-effective way of enhancing total performance, lowering resistance to change and providing rewards on improved performance.

Wendy Carter Harbridge House

Designing Interactive Strategy. R Normann and R Ramirez, Wiley, Chichester, 1994, 155 pp, price &24.95/$39.95. ISBN 0-471-950866

The book presents various propositions in relation to formulating business logic in a changing competitive climate. The salient messages conveyed by the authors are

CCC 1057-9265/95/020121-04 01995 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal of Strategic Change, A p i l 1995