Benchmarking as a Quality Management Tool in Public Administration

Abstract

This article discusses benchmarking theory, its private sector roots and its implementation in the public sector thus far. The overall purpose of this article is the proper porting of the benchmarking process into the public administration sector. Essentially, what all differences between private and public sector imply is that the public sector does not seek value-for-money. Also, literature on benchmarking in the public sector appears to be less organized and orderly than literature on benchmarking in the private sector. This article bridges this gap in order to answer the question can benchmarking function as efficiently and effectively in the public administration sector as in any private sector organization by showing how governments have been able to utilize benchmarking in order to improve their performances. The use of series of benchmarks can help in making a solid base for factual approach to decision making with regard to setting specific targets for performances of the public administration system, its reform and modernization, and monitoring progress over time. The Public Sector Benchmark of the Republic of Ireland and the Public Sector Comparator of South Africa will be used to show how experimental implementation of benchmarking has been able to produce effective results.