The term benchmark originates from the history of guns and ammunition, regarding the same aim as for the business term, comparison, and improved performance of the business. Gregory H. Watson former Vice President of quality at Xerox Corporation recommended benchmarking for checking the standard of the product. It is the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to make the industry follow the best practices when compared with the other companies. It is typically measured as time, quality and cost of the business to improve the standard of the industry. The objective of benchmarking is to evaluate the enterprise performance and to ensure that the enterprise is operating efficiently.

Benchmarking process is used in business in which organization evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to the best practices of industry. This then allow the organization to develop a plan on how to make the improvements. It may be one-off event, but it is often treated as a continuous process in which organization seeks to improve their business practices. The management identifies the best firms in their industry or in another industry where similar processes exists and compares the results and process of those companies. So that they learn how they perform well and adapt those processes in their organization to make themself the most successful one.

Some of the articles related to benchmarking techniques are as follows,

• The adoption of benchmarking principles for project management performance improvement- https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/576c/27e6fe346089749f0296f5e5c323c87040c7.pdf
• Benchmarking as a measure of competitiveness -https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264820026_Benchmarking_as_a_measure_of_competitiveness
• Benchmarking best practices: An integrated approach - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235278116_Benchmarking_-_Best_Practices_An_Integrated_Approachhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/235278116_Benchmarking_-_Best_Practices_An_Integrated_Approach
• Benchmarking as a performance management method - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282926460_Benchmarking_as_a_performance_management_method
• Benchmarking in business - https://www.thebalancecareers.com/overview-and-examples-of-benchmarking-in-business-2275114
• A Review of Benchmarking Implementation Problems - http://www.jimsjournal.org/16%20Mohamed%20S.%20M.pdf
• Benchmarking: A method for continuous quality improvement in health - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3359088/
• New Benchmarks in Higher Education - http://www.anitacrawley.net/Resources/Articles/New%20Benchmarks%20in%20Higher%20Education.pdf
• Benchmarking and performance management in clinical pharmacy - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/emerald-publishing/benchmarking-and-performance-management-in-clinical-pharmacy-SzOHyjR3fR
• CES State and Area Benchmark Article - https://www.bls.gov/sae/publications/benchmark-article/annual-benchmark-article.htm
• New Product Introduction Process and Competitive Benchmarking - http://ijemr.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/A-Study-on-the-New-Product-Introduction-Process-and-Competitive-Benchmarking-with.pdf
• Role and Importance of Key Performance - http://www.sjm06.com/SJM%20ISSN1452-4864/6_1_2011_May_1-121/6_1_63-72.pdf
• Effective use of Workload and Productivity - https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.fshp.org/resource/resmgr/files/productivity_article_1.pdf
• The Impact of Total Quality Management - http://t.www.na-businesspress.com/AJM/NgambiMT_Web15_4_.pdf
• Improving Project System Performance through Benchmarking - https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/improving-project-system-performance-benchmarking-8160
• Cross-industry Benchmarking - https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cross-industry-benchmarking/articleshow/2251955.cms
• Types of Benchmarking - https://www.oshatrain.org/notes/2fnotes04.html
• Benchmarking: Theory and Practice - https://www.aqa.ac.nz/sites/all/files/ASQ5.pdf
• Role of Benchmarking in Total Quality Management - http://www.bmdynamics.com/issue_pdf/bmd110186__34_44.pdf
• Understanding the purpose and use of benchmarking - https://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/benchmarking/understanding-purpose-and-use-benchmarking/

In some cases, the benchmarking analysis is used for better understanding of how the company performed in the previous years. The benchmark criteria defines the organizations Area of Development.

Some of the tools used in the industry for benchmarking are,

• BenchmarkIndex
• Combo Benchmark
• GOBENCH
• co
• Workload Simulator (WSim)
• com

List of association related to benchmarking techniques are as follows,

• American Productivity and quality center (APQC) - apqc.org
• ISO Benchmarking Association - isobenchmarking.com
• Human Resource Benchmarking Association (HRBA) - hrba.org
• Electric Utility Benchmarking Association - people.well.com
• Forging Industry Benchmarking Association - forging.org
• Server Support Management Benchmarking Association (SSMBA) - ssmba.com
• Insurance Claims processing Benchmarking Association (ICPBA) - icpba.com
• Customer Relationship Management Benchmarking Association (CRMBA) - crmba.com
• Health care administrators Benchmarking Association (HCABA) - hcaba.com
• Broadcasting Benchmarking Association - broadcastbenchmarking.com
• Asset Management Benchmarking Association (AMBA) - amba.afbc.org
• Product Verification and validation Benchmarking Association - pvvbenchmarking.com
• Marketing Management Benchmarking Association - marketingbenchmarking.com
• Global Organization Structure Benchmarking Association - gobenchmarking.com
• International Pricing Management Benchmarking Association (IPMBA) - ipmba.com
• International Contract Management Benchmarking Association (ICMBA) - icmba.com
• Facilities and real Estates Benchmarking Association (FREBA) - freba.com
• Employee Development and Training Benchmarking Association (EDTBA) - edtba.com

Some of the books and magazines for benchmarking techniques,

• Benchmarking for best practices: Winning through innovative adaption | Christoper E.Bogan | https://www.amazon.com/Benchmarking-Best-Practices-Innovative-Adaptation-ebook/dp/B00HSQS67I/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+magazines&qid=1589357998&sr=8-1
• NET Benchmarking | Andrey Akinshin | https://www.amazon.com/Pro-NET-Benchmarking-Performance-Measurement-ebook/dp/B07TP275JT/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+magazines&qid=1589358181&sr=8-2
• Benchmarking the user experience | Jeff Sauro | https://www.amazon.com/Benchmarking-User-Experience-Jeff-Sauro/dp/0692149090/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+magazines&qid=1589358181&sr=8-3
• Strategic Benchmarking reloaded with six sigma | Gregory H.Watson | https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Benchmarking-Reloaded-Six-Sigma/dp/0470069082/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+magazines&qid=1589358181&sr=8-5
• Benchmarking for Businesses | Brigitte Feys | https://www.amazon.com/Benchmarking-Businesses-performance-Management-Marketing-ebook/dp/B015H5O5IA/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+magazines&qid=1589358181&sr=8-2-fkmr0
• The Benchmarking Book | Tim Stapenhurst | https://www.amazon.com/Benchmarking-Book-how-practice-practitioners/dp/0750689056/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+book&qid=1589358534&sr=8-1
• Benchmarking Intangibles | L. Michael Hall | https://www.amazon.com/Benchmarking-Intangibles-Meta-Coaching-Book-7-ebook/dp/B00BVAXGC2/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+book&qid=1589358584&sr=8-2
• Benchmarking Success | David Gans | https://www.amazon.com/Benchmarking-Success-Essential-Practice-Managers/dp/1568294832/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=benchmarking+book&qid=1589358584&sr=8-10