The Benchmarking Process

Program/Project Management Resource List #13

Revised July 2012

When an organization begins the process of benchmarking, it compares its practices with those of similar organizations, hoping to find better ways to attain its goals. If inappropriate benchmarks or partners are chosen, the organization will end up measuring the wrong things. Benchmarking runs in parallel with knowledge management, bringing in standards and best practices from elsewhere, while knowledge management preserves knowledge generated within the organization. You may also find useful items in the library's webpages on Measuring Organizational Effectiveness in Research and Development Organizations, Quality Management, and Corporate Culture.

The following is a select bibliography of pertinent materials accessible to the patrons of the NASA HQ Library. All items are available at the Headquarters Library, except as noted. NASA Headquarters employees and contractors: Call x0168 or email Library@hq.nasa.gov for information on borrowing or in-library use of any of these items. Members of the public: Contact your local library for the availability of these items. NASA Headquarters employees can request additional materials or research on this topic. The Library welcomes your comments or suggestions about this webpage.

Contents: Books E-books Articles and Reports Internet Resources

Books

Boyle, Richard. Performance Reporting: Insights from International Practice. Washington, D.C.: IBM Center for the Business of Government, 2009.
HF5549.5 .P35 B695 2009 PPM-STACKS
 
NASA/Navy Benchmarking Team. NASA/Navy Benchmarking Exchange (NNBE). Washington, DC: NASA, 2002.
V858 .N38 2002 vol. I BOOKSTACKS
Note: The HQ library also has vol. II (published in 2003) and vol. III (published in 2004). The volumes are also available through NTRS.
 
Niven, Paul R. Balanced Scorecard Step-by-step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003. ISBN: 0471423289
JF1525 .T67 N58 2003 BOOKSTACKS
This book is also available through the Books 24×7 service of SATERN.
 
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. Review and Assessment Division. Observations & Opportunities - Safety Culture & Safety Management Leadership Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics Company; A Benchmarking Report. Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2004.
T55 .B384 N373 2004 BOOKSTACKS

E-books

The e-books listed below are available to NASA civil servants and contractors through the Books 24×7 service of SATERN.
 
Brown, Mark Graham. Baldrige Award Winning Quality: How to Interpret the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, 15th Edition. Productivity Press, 2006. ISBN: 9781563273346
 
__________. Beyond the Balanced Scorecard: Improving Business Intelligence with Analytics. Productivity Press, 2007. ISBN: 9781563273469
 
Reider, Rob. Benchmarking Strategies: A Tool for Profit Improvement. John Wiley & Sons, 2000. ISBN: 9780471344643
 
Watson, Gregory H. Strategic Benchmarking Reloaded with Six Sigma: Improving Your Company's Performance Using Global Best Practice. John Wiley & Sons, 2007. ISBN:9780470069080
 
The e-book listed below is available to the general public through the National Academies Press.
 
Committee for Oversight and Assessment of U.S Department of Energy Project Management. Measuring Performance and Benchmarking Project Management at the Department of Energy. 2005. ISBN: 9780309097086

Articles and Reports

Bilardo, Vincent J., et al. "Seven Key Principles of Program and Project Success: A Best Practices Survey", in: NASA APPEL Project Management Challenge Conference, Galveston, TX, 6-7 Feb. 2007.
(20080021182: (June 2008) NTRS)
 
Boring, Ronald L., et al. "Lessons Learned on Benchmarking from the International Human Reliability Analysis Empirical Study", in: 10th International Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM10), Seattle, WA, June 7-11, 2010.
(978370: (June 2010) Dept. of Energy Information Bridge)
 
Cobleigh, Brent. "A Collaboration on Collaboration", ASK Magazine, no. 20 (Nov. 2004): 34-38.
Also available through NTRS as CASI no. 20050019322.
 
Godfrey, Sally, and Heather Rarick. "NASA Software Engineering Benchmarking Effort" , in: PM Challenge, Orlando, FL, Feb. 21-23, 2012.
(20120008329: (Feb. 2012) NTRS)
 
Kasunic, Mark. A Data Specification for Software Project Performance Measures: Results of a Collaboration on Performance Measurement. Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, July 2008.
(ADA485964: (Sept. 2008) DTIC)
 
Lois, Erasmia, et al. Issues in Benchmarking Human Reliability Analysis Methods: A Literature Review. SAND2008-2619. Sandia National Laboratories, April 2008.
(974398: (June 2010) Dept. of Energy Information Bridge)

Internet Resources

American Productivity and Quality Center. 2012 [July 18, 2012].
http://www.apqc.org/
 
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Baldridge National Quality Program. July 9, 2012 [July 18, 2012].
http://www.baldrige.nist.gov/
 
U.S. Government Acountability Office. Selected GAO Best Practices Work. March 19, 2007 [July 23, 2012].
http://www.gao.gov/bestpractices/index.html
 
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Art of Benchmarking. Nov. 16, 2003 [July 23, 2012].
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/oqm-old/benchmarking.htm
  July 2012