The idea behind benchmarking and best practices is to

Multiple Choice

• identify which companies are the best performers of a strategically relevant activity and then copy their methods exactly.

• search the world for a company that performs a strategically relevant task or value chain activity at the lowest possible cost and then use business process reengineering techniques to try to meet or beat the costs of the world's low-cost performer of that activity.

• perform each activity in the industry value chain according to standard industry practice and then regularly benchmark the company's performance to see if it is actually achieving the industry standard.

• identify companies that are the best performers of an activity and then adapt their practices to fit the company's own specific circumstances and operating requirements.

• determine whether a company has a world-class value chain.