(a)

Benchmarking is referred to as comparing the performance of one entity /division or function against
another similar entity /division or functions and fulfilling the gap if any exists.
In the context of GU, the management has opted for competitor benchmarking as the administration
of GU is being compared with its direct competitors in the industry AU and BU.

The stages of benchmarking are:

1) Set an objective and to decide on what to compare

In the context of GU, it has set its objective which is to improve its efficiency as stated by the
executive board and GU has also decided on what area to benchmark as it has stated that the
administration department with AU and GU administration department.Therefore, this step has been
undertaken by the GU
2) Establish key performance measure or performance drivers
The drivers of costs have been ascertained as they are the student and staff numbers and
Research contract value, therefore GU could measure this when benchmarking and average cost can
also be ascertained to measure the efficiency.
3) Select organisations to benchmark with
GU has selected the organisation to benchmark its administration department with AU and
BU, and was also able to gain access to the required information to benchmark therefore this step has
been achieved.
4) Measure the performance
When taking into account the total administration cost of AU, BU and GU it could be clearly
stated that GU was able to manage the cost better but still when comparing line by line items of
expenses there are some overheads where GU has incurred higher expense than others like IT
management, HR and General services.
5) Compare performance and identify any gaps
6) Design and establish strategies and implement it to bridge the gap identified
7) Monitor the strategies and practices implemented to bridge the gap and ensure that they are
being followed and are valid and reliable in bridging the gap and improve the efficiency and
achieving the objective of benchmarking, if the controls are not in place or not serving the set
purpose it then requires further changes to be made in order to bridge the gap and improve
the efficiency.