A practical approach to benchmarking in three service industries

The major means to improve quality has been the use of a systematic quality programme. Benchmarking, as a tool of total quality management (TQM), has received growing concern from quality aware managers. The importance of benchmarking was further highlighted with the formation of Benchmarking Centre Limited in 1991. Awareness of benchmarking in the UK was assisted to some extent by the use of BS7850, the TQM `standard’ (British Standards Institute, 1993). However, it was not until the launch of the European Quality Award in 1992 and the UK Quality Award in 1994 that benchmarking gained prominence in the UK. The primary aim of this work was to study the practical application and eVectiveness of benchmarking in UK service organizations (Kondouli, 1998).