Abstract
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)
Most new generation organisations have management models and organisational
performance measurement systems in place. All these new kinds of models and systems
will not be enough in the race for survival. Organisations needs a clear point of view of
where they are going -a vision about tomorrow and what they should do to overcome the
gap, from their current situation in order to get there successfully.
It is also important for organisations to have a solid foundation to base such a visioning
process on. Reengineering, continuous renewal, total quality management, lean
production, downsizing - these all have proven vital to survival. But getting better at
what we do is just about keeping ourselves in the race - it's not about winning the race.
To win, we will have to know what the strategic intent and business priorities of the
competition are (where are they going), in order to make sure we get there first. Charles
Handy said about the winners of the race, "... it will be those who invent the world, not
those who respond to it."
Benchmarking is a means to ensure the above, where one basically have to say, "Let's
look honestly at ourselves and determine what we do well and what we do badly. And
where we do things badly, let's figure out what the world standards are, and then find
some way to commit ourselves to reaching those standards."
The purpose of this study was therefore to ensure a means for an organisation to get
ahead in the race. It is important to note that performance measurement plays an integral
role in management and benchmarking, because no process or action can be managed if it
can be measured. Organisations are also not solely based on actual detail processes.
There are other more strategic as well as "softer" issues of an organisation that will
become much more important in the future, than concrete processes. These factors are
the visioning processes within an organisation and their impact on change, as well as the
creation and mobilisation of certain knowledge for certain purposes.
The end-result of the study was therefore a scientific analysis of an engineering business
environment, in order to create a means/methodology to do benchmarking, whilst
ensuring a balance between the strategic, operational and knowledge aspects.