An analysis of a benchmarking initiative to help government entities to learn from best practices - the 'Dubai We Learn' initiative

Purpose: Benchmarking has been recognised as one of the most widely adopted business improvement tools. Whilst there have been many independent benchmarking studies comparing the practices and performance of public sector organisations, there has been little research on initiatives that involve coordinating multiple benchmarking projects within public sector organisations or report on the practices implemented and results from benchmarking projects. This research will be of interest to centralised authorities wishing to encourage and assist multiple organisations in undertaking benchmarking projects. Design: The study adopts a case study methodology. Data was collected on the coordinating mechanisms and the experiences of the individual organisations over a one-year period. Findings: The findings show successful results (financial and non-financial) across all 13 benchmarking projects thus indicating the success of a coordinated approach to managing multiple projects. The study concluded by recommending a six-stage process for coordinating multiple benchmarking projects. Originality: This research gives new insights into the application and benefits from benchmarking due to the open access the research team had to the ‘Dubai We Learn’ initiative. To the authors’ knowledge the research was unique in being able to report accurately on the outcome of 13 benchmarking projects with all projects using the TRADE benchmarking methodology