One way to judge the performance ofa company is to compare it with other companies. This technique,
commonly called "benchmarking," permits the manager ofa company to discover better industrial practices
and can provide a justification for the adoption of good practices.
Any of the following, if true, is a valid reason for benchmarking the performance of a company against
companies with which it is not in competition rather than against competitors EXCEPT:
(A) Comparisons with competitors are most likely to focus on practices that the manager making the
comparisons already employs.
(B) Getting "inside" information about the unique practices of competitors is particularly difficult.
(C) Since companies that compete with each other are likely to have comparable levels of efficiency, only
benchmarking against noncompetitors is likely to reveal practices that would aid in beating competitors.
(D) Managers are generally more receptive to newideas that they find outside their own industry.
(E) Much of the success of good companies is due to their adoption of practices that take advantage of the
special circumstances of their products or markets.
