BENCHMARKING AS ATTRIBUTE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Анотація

Entrepreneurship is the ability to imply measures aimed at a company profit. The concept of entrepreneurship is generally believed to refer to the development of new ideas and opportunities, directly leading to the improvement of organizational profitability and an enhancement of competitive position or the strategic renewal of business. The main entrepreneurship aspects include the ability to use resources effectively, to make custom logic solutions, to predict the market development, to practice new technical and economic achievements.

Entrepreneurship encompasses acts of organizational creation, renewal, or innovation that occurs within or outside an existing organization [1]. One of the most modern and advanced development tools, which use the most successful companies is benchmarking. Commonly, entrepreneurship and benchmarking are adduced as very associated concepts.

Benchmarking is a method of using experience and cutting-edge research from the best companies to improve the company. It is associated with the production goals and is a component of the planning process.

Benchmarking is the process of comparing and measuring organization against others, anywhere in the world, to gain information or practices, and measures that will help organization to improve its performance [2].

Benchmarking is particular value for companies as it enables the company to put the complex and at the same time realistic goals, provides the scientific basis for predicting development trends; enables companies to adopt best practices and to become more competitive; allows to search for weaknesses in the operation and determine potential.

The authors empirically examine the potential business performance benefits available from benchmarking the capabilities of top-performing firms. The results suggest that benchmarking has the potential to become a key learning mechanism for identifying, building, and enhancing capabilities to deliver sustainable competitive advantage. Benchmarking can be a very effective tool trying to improve business and create innovations. It helps to avoid the waste of time creating the improvements, which have already been made–up by other enterprises.However, the advantages of the benchmarking can be achieved not by all enterprises, because the special features are necessary in this process. The organization, which endeavours to apply benchmarking, has to be very perceptive, flexible, venturesome and creative. This tool does not come up with expectations, if benchmarking is employed by organization, which is stick to conservatism, formalism and avoidance of risk. А special culture, stimulating changes, proactiveness is necessary for the successful results of the benchmarking use. In other words in an organization using benchmarking, entrepreneurial contemplation is necessary [3, p.69]. However, not only benchmarking requires entrepreneurial culture in the company, so the entrepreneur activity requires benchmarking activity.

The Japanese are believed to be the founders of benchmarking, because they have learned to perfectly copy achievements: relatively quickly and cost-effectively improve business processes, and in a broader sense, just to improve activities.In fact, any business activity involves benchmarking. The Japanese are not the pioneers in copying best practices.

Perhaps not every company creates a special base of benchmarks that can be used as a reference object in-depth study. But the long-term existence of the company provides to collect information one way or another on the business leaders in the competitive environment and the factors of their success, which should be compiled and used in own model of effective business.

As noticed, the connection between the entrepreneurship and benchmarking is tight enough. Benchmarking allows to use the achievements of others saving time and work in obtaining enterprise profits. At the same time the substantial discernible and latent differences, existing among enterprises, demand culture of entrepreneurshipto use attainments of others for own organization’s improvement and innovations.

References:

1. Sharma, P., Chrisman, S.J.J. // Toward reconciliation of the definition issues in the field of corporate entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship-concepts, theory and perspective. - 2007. -p. 83-105.

2.Coers, M., Gardner, C., Higgins, L., Raybourn. C. // Benchmarking – A Guide for Your Journey to Best Practice Processes. - 2002. - p. 86.

3. Petuskiene E., Glinskiene R. // Entrepreneurship as the Basic Element for the Successful Employment of Benchmarking and Business Innovations. - 2011. - №22 (1). - p. 69-77.