The role of competitive benchmarking in small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises

Examines the penetration of the small‐ to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) sector by the rapidly growing practice of benchmarking, hitherto more usually employed by large companies. The specific needs of this business type have to date been sadly neglected by both academic and governmental attempts at disseminating “best practice”. Following a survey of over 200 SMEs, which clearly identified a “performance information gap”, the author has undertaken extensive quantitative and qualitative interviews with 25 senior managers, and built a picture of both current usage and the perceived or actual barriers to greater use of the technique. Concludes that the practice of benchmarking in SMEs is embryonic, that little progress can be made by even enlightened managers until the barriers are understood, and that a range of tools and techniques which are capable of accommodating the idiosyncrasies of small businesses need to be developed and made accessible.