You work as Financial Controller for E5E. E5E is a charity concerned with heart disease. Its mission statement is as follows:

'To fund world class research into the biology and the causes of heart disease; To develop effective treatments and improve the quality of life for patients; To reduce the number of people suffering from heart disease; To provide authoritative information on heart disease.' E5E obtains funding from voluntary donations from both private individuals and companies, together with government grants. Much of the work it does, in all departments, could not be achieved without the large number of voluntary workers who give their time to the organisation and who make up approximately $80 \%$ of the workforce. E5E does not employ any scientific researchers directly, but funds research by making grants to individual medical experts employed within universities and hospitals. In addition to providing policy advice to government departments, the charity's advisors give health educational talks to employers and other groups.

You have just received the following email from the Board's spokesperson:

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From: Pablo Perez, Managing Director To: Date: A.N. Accountant 02.07.2014 Subject: Benchmarking The Board recognises the need to become more professional in the management of the organisation. It feels that this can be best achieved by conducting a benchmarking exercise. However, it recognises that the introduction of this process may make some members of the organisation, particularly the volunteers, unhappy. Could you prepare a report for us, that discusses the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking for E5E? We would also welcome advice on the stages in conducting a benchmarking exercise in the context of E5E, and on how those implementing the exercise should deal with the concerns of the staff, particularly the volunteers. Thank you