The article defines benchmarking as the process of identifying the highest standards of excellence for products, services, or processes, and then making the improvements necessary to reach those standards commonly called the "best practices." In 1995, more than 70% of Fortune 500 companies used this concept on a regular basis. A survey was used to assess the effectiveness of benchmarking techniques among several types of industries across a variety of settings. A questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 organizations throughout …showed first 75 words of 652 total…

…showed last 75 words of 652 total…the study of Strategic Leadership. I would recommend this article for future MSSL students. In my opinion, benchmarking can be beneficial to many organizations. However, the cost of a benchmarking study can be very expensive. According to the text, the average cost of a study is around $100,000 including 30 weeks of effort. Many small to medium size companies may find this to high of a price to pay for a study. <Tab/>