Instructiona:
- You must use at least 1 peer-reviewed reference published within the past 4 years (and not used in the original posting) in your response.The reference must be from the library (see guidelines above).
- Do not simply revisit what was discussed in the thread, but add information from the unique article you researched on the concept and compare the findings.Did the findings of the article you found and the articles used in the original thread agree, disagree, address different aspects of the concept?
- Use APA format and write in 3rd person.
Text:
Definition
Benchmarking
is defined as “identifying the best-in-class performance by a company
in a given area and then comparing your process with theirs” (Bateman,
Snell, & Konopaske, 2020, p. 57).
Summary
Effective Use of Benchmarking: The Context of the Centre for Preparatory Studies in Oman
was written by Dr. Meenalochana Inguva. She has 33 years of experience
teaching at different levels. She has achieved a PhD in Teacher
Education, and she now serves as a Standing Member of the Central
Curriculum Committee (Inguva, 2018, p. 99). Dr. Inguva is writing about
the creation of benchmarks in Oman school systems. In the article she
discusses challenges, objectives, and standards of the benchmarks and
how they can be used for the betterment of the education system rather
than as a competition among students. The goal for the benchmarks is to
help students to prepare for secondary education and other means of
further development after initial schooling is complete. She notes that
the key phrase for benchmarking is ‘Adapt and then Adopt’ meaning that
benchmarking is to be used for progressing forward and growth rather
than competition and research (Inguva, 2018, p. 98).
Discussion
Benchmarking is a tool that businesses use to improve their
organizations. Through benchmarking, organizations can compare their
operations with other firms, and through comparing of data, can identify
performing gaps (Bateman, Snell, & Konopaske, 2020, p. 57).
According to the article written by Dr. Meenalochana Inguva, these same
principles can be applied to education as well. Benchmarking can be used
to “encourage continuous learning and to lift organizations to higher
competitive levels,” and benchmarks are used as “points of references”
to help a company or organization recognize where they stand compared to
other similar organizations (Inguva, 2018, p. 94). Dr. Inguva quotes
the phrase, “Learning from the best is the first step towards becoming
the best” (Inguva, 2018, p. 95).
Dr. Inguva lists examples of how different countries go about
benchmarking in their education system. For example, Canada sends
professionals to examine the practices of those institutes with superior
performance, and then those professionals return to lesser performing
institutes so that they can implement the best practices and diminish
inhibiting practices (Inguva, 2018, p. 95). In the United Kingdom,
benchmarking is practiced through the use of benchmarks, such as tests,
that schools can use to compare their student’s performance with those
of similar schools (Inguva, 2018, p. 96). In relation to Oman’s academic
system, all institutes were required to adopt the General Foundation
Programs which serves as the minimum requirements for which educational
institutes are required to maintain; therefore, the General Foundational
Program serves as the benchmark for Oman’s education system (Inguva,
2018, p. 97).
Benchmarking serves a great purpose in both business and education, but
it can also be used in other areas such as the energy industry. A study
in South Korea uses benchmarking to identify “cost-effective energy
performance” by assessing similar buildings in order to create
benchmarks for cost-effective energy (Kim, Kim, & Lee, 2019). The
reason behind this benchmarking is due to the fact that 70% of South
Korea’s building stock is over 15 years old, so there is opportunity for
these older buildings to become more energy saving (Kim, Kim, &
Lee, 2019). This exemplifies a key element of benchmarking. Benchmarking
requires a vision for improvement. There must be a recognition for
performance increases, and then data must be acquired so that
appropriate steps can be taken to improve an organization or business.
As mentioned in Dr. Inguva’s article, benchmarking is not a tool for
competition. Benchmarking is a tool for continuous improvement so that
organizations are implementing practices from some of the best similar
organizations in order to increase overall performance and become a
better organization, business, or institute as a whole.
Biblical Integration
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the
example of Christ” (NIV). It appears that a lot of modern teaching
suggests that comparison is wrong among believers. Comparison through
judgement of others is wrong; however, comparison within itself is not
wrong. This is why Paul writes to the believers in Corinth to imitate
him. In a way, he serves as a benchmark for the church of Corinth to
examine their own faith to see if they themselves are becoming more like
Jesus. In 1 Peter, peter writes, “For you have been called for this
purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for
you to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21, NIV). Through the use of
benchmarking, businesses imitate other, better performing businesses. In
the same way, Christians are to imitate Jesus – God who came in the
form of a man in order to lead a perfect life for believers to imitate,
not to practice legalism, but to become more like the Creator.
