Whether carried out as a national exercise for the whole sector, or at the institutional level (within or between several higher education institutions), benchmarking always includes the identification of strengths and weaknesses and a better understanding of one’s institution, with a view to setting targets and benchmarks for improvement.

Benchmarking requires a key focus on continuous improvement through a comparative approach and the search for best practices, to be more than a mere comparison of statistical data. Benchmarking is not a quick fix to tackle organisational underperformance. Although it can be used to produce a snap shot (as a tool to obtain one-off information on a specific issue), it is most valuable as a continuous, long-term approach embedded in institutional strategic development.

A benchmarking exercise must always be conceived as a dynamic exercise during which relevant indicators and benchmarks are defined against which institutional performance can be measured in comparison with other organisations. It aims to identify good practices in order to implement changes in one’s own higher education institution.

Within higher education institutions, successful benchmarking exercises are grounded on a strong institutional willingness to increase organisational performance, to become a ‘learning organisation’, to review processes on an on-going basis, to search for new practices and to implement new models of operation.

Whether carried out at a unit level (benchmarking a department or a faculty) or at the level of the whole institution, a benchmarking exercise will only produce valuable results if placed in the context of transformation and progress. It is crucial to define where efforts should be placed to maximize results and to set ever by new targets for institutional improvement.

Benchmarking requires commitment to change, investment in financial and human resources andinvolvement of senior leadership and staff at the appropriate levels in the institution (i.e. depending on the processes benchmarked) in order to produce efficient results in terms of data collection and implementation of findings. Financial resource needs will be more limited for benchmarking exercises conducted purely by the institution’s staff than when using an external consultant or a moderator, but will always be necessary at some level.

Benchmarking requires a rigorous and professional approach from designing the exercise to the clear identification of processes, data collection and the implementation of results. It requires planning, senior management commitment and ownership. The choice of benchmarking partners is key to the effectiveness of the benchmarking exercise.