The use of benchmarking as a management tool for organisational effectiveness in South Africa: A focus on small to medium enterprises

Abstract

This study aimed at establishing the impact of the use of benchmarking by Small to Medium Enterprises to enhance Organisational effectiveness. Competitive benchmarking, performance, best practices, and strategic are types of benchmarking under review; their importance in the small to medium enterprises and the benefits derived from their use. The study was required by the need to investigate benchmarking with regards to South Africa since there’s little data archived on the topic. An exploratory quantitative approach using questionnaires was conveyed and the 125 responses were examined utilizing statistical methods with Microsoft Excel and Google Forms. Cramer’s V was also used to calculate the correlation coefficient as well as the Cronbach alpha for the reliability test. The results showed that there is a far-reaching utilization of benchmarking in South Africa and there are different applications currently being done by organizations which include the following areas: Customer services, strategic planning, IT, maintenance, process improvement, research, and development, sales and marketing, and public relations. The results also confirmed that the use of benchmarking is positively associated with the improvement of business effectiveness