Additional Details ------------------------------ Product description: Benchmarking is the surest way for a company to achieve a state of continuous improvement and top-flight competitiveness. Benchmarking - judging every aspect of your product against the top competitor's in order to beat "the best of the best" - was initially employed by Xerox to meet the Japanese corporate challenge of the 1970s. The strategy was perfected by the Japanese, with well-known results. The authors present the first book to show how benchmarking can be applied not only to competitive products, but throughout every aspect of business, including internal "back office" functions such as customer support, purchasing, accounts payable, MIS, and other areas. They also present their special blueprint - based on Coopers Lybrand's incomparable consulting experience - for implementing, managing and evaluating a benchmarking program.