The industry-low, industry-average, and industry-high cost benchmarks that appear on p. 6 and p. 7 of each issue of the Footwear Industry Report

are of little value because the benchmarking data do not identify which companies have the lowest/highest costs for any of the reported cost benchmarks.

are important enough to always merit attention by your company's managers; this is because when the benchmarks for one or more measures reveal that your company's outcome(s) were too far out-of-line and almost certainly impaired/weakened your company's overall performance, then your management team is well-advised to consider taking corrective action in the next decision round.

are of considerable value to the managers of companies pursuing a low-cost strategy but are of very limited value to company managers employing other types of strategies.

are of considerable value to the managers of companies whose prior-year EPS was below the industry-average benchmark in one of more geographic regions.

are most valuable to the managers of companies whose cost benchmarks are above the industry-average benchmarks and/or who are looking for evidence to confirm a suspected need to secure more celebrity endorsements in the upcoming decision round and steal branded market share away from rivals in one or more regions.