"Many organisations use benchmarking as a technique in which they measure their performance against that of best in class companies, determine how those companies achieved their performance levels and use the information to improve their own performance."

a) Define benchmarking with appropriate examples and discuss the reasons why would an organisation have recourse to benchmarking. [15 marks]

b) You have been assigned the responsibility to lead a team to carry out a benchmarking exercise. Elaborate on the process you will adopt to carry out this exercise. [15 marks]