Benchmarking is a way of discovering what is the best performance being achieved – whether in a company, by a competitor, or by entirely different industries. This information can then be used to identify gaps in an organization’s processes to achieve a competitive advantage. Thus, it is important for practitioners to:

• Understand fully the purpose and use of benchmarking.
• Understand the difference benchmarking techniques.
• Gain insight to ensure that benchmarking is in alignment with the company’s management objectives.

Three ways to use Benchmarking, whether internal or external, is used in three key ways. They are:

• Process benchmarking- This is all about better understanding your processes, comparing performance against internal and external benchmarks, and finding ways to optimize and improve your processes. The idea is that, by understanding how top performers complete a process, you can find ways to make your processes more efficient, faster, and more effective.
• Strategic benchmarking-This compares strategies, business approaches, and business models to strengthen your strategic planning and determine your strategic priorities. The idea is to understand what strategies underpin successful companies (or teams or business units) and then compare these strategies with your own to identify ways you can be more competitive.
• Performance benchmarking- This involves collecting information on how well you’re doing in terms of outcomes (which could mean anything from revenue growth to customer satisfaction) and comparing these outcomes internally or externally. This can also refer to functional performance benchmarking, such as benchmarking the performance of the HR team (using metrics like employee net promoter score or staff engagement surveys) or the marketing team (measuring net promoter score or brand awareness, for instance).

Now if we fully understand the concept of benchmarking, let me put the use of benchmarking with an example.

Example question -Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii is a married man who lives in Bangalore which is a highly crowded city. His Family comprises five members including his wife, five-year-old boy, his father, and his mother. He visits his native place Madurai which is 500kms away from Bangalore once in a month. Also, he will be using his car to commute to his office. His budget falls between 8 to 10 lakhs on road. Please suggest to him with options so that he will buy a good car for his family.

Note: Pughazhyendhii is fond of big cars

So now if we understand the needs of Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii for the perfect car which is

1. A five-seater car with a baby compartment.
2. A good mileage car to visit his native place which is 500 Km away.
3. City compatible car for local commute.
4. A car price ranges from 8 to 10 lakhs.
5. Cars such as SUV or Sedan because he is fond of big cars.

According to his needs and interests here are my suggestions-

Based on SUV

1. Tata Nexon (petrol)
2. Mahindra XUV300 (diesel)
3. Maruti Vitara Brezza (petrol)

Based on SEDAN

1. Maruti Ciaz (petrol)
2. Maruti Swift Dzire (petrol)

Let us benchmark all these cars so that we can select the best for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii. And also I want to suggest to him that to go for Indian origin Cars to give pride to our country.

Best SUVs on the market

Tata Nexon XM

On Road Price (Rs):10,45,726	5 seater, Child safety locks
Fuel type: Diesel	Lane change Indicator
Mileage (ARAI): 21.5 Kmpl	City mileage: 16.8 Kmpl
Engine displacement: 1497 cc	Emission norm: BS-VI
Transmission type: Manual, 6 speed	Ground clearance: 209
Isofix Child Mounts	Lane change indicator

MAHINDRA XUV300 (W6)

On Road Price (Rs): 10,82,064	micro-hybrid technology
Fuel type: Diesel	Lane change Indicator
Mileage (ARAI): 20.0 Kmpl	City mileage: 15 Kmpl
Engine displacement: 1497 cc	Emission norm: BS-VI
Transmission type: Manual, 6 speed	Ground clearance: 180
5 Seater	Isofix Child seat mounts with safety locks

Maruti Vitara Brezza VXI

On Road Price (Rs): 9,35,673#	Isofix Child seat mounts with safety locks
Fuel type: Petrol	Lane change Indicator
Mileage (ARAI): 17.03 Kmpl	City mileage: ---
Engine displacement: 1462 cc	Emission norm: BS-VI
Transmission type: Manual, 5 speed	Ground clearance: 200
5 Seater

Best Sedan on the market

Maruti Ciaz Sigma

On Road Price (Rs): 9,32,433*	Isofix Child seat mounts with safety locks
Fuel type: Petrol	Lane change Indicator, electronic Stability control
Mileage (ARAI): 20.65 Kmpl	City mileage: ---
Engine displacement: 1462 cc	Emission norm: BS-VI
Transmission type: Manual, 5 speed	Ground clearance: 170
5 Seater	Brake energy regeneration

MARUTI SWIFT Dzire ZXI plus AT

On Road Price (Rs): 9,84,686#	Isofix Child seat mounts with safety locks
Fuel type: Petrol	Lane change Indicator
Mileage (ARAI): 24.12 Kmpl	City mileage: ---
Engine displacement: 1197 cc	Emission norm: BS-VI
Transmission type: Automatic, 5 speed	Ground clearance: 163
5 Seater	Cruise control, Crash sensor

Here we have many cars where each one of these is best in their series.

With all the available options I would recommend Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii based on his lifestyle by two possible options that are,

If he has an interest in SUVs: Tata Nexon XM Diesel

If he has an interest in Sedan: Maruti swift Dzire ZXI Plus AT