Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Collaborative Bench Mark Based Determination of Best Practices
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cross Reference to Related Applications
This application claims priority under.35 USC 119(e) to United States
provisional
application attorney docket number 10529-0011-22 PROV filed March 07, 2000,
entitled
"Collaborative Bench Marking," and naming Bernard Farkas as inventor, and
claims priority
under 35 USC 120 to United States application serial number 09/556,787, filed
April 25,
2000, entitled "Collaborative Bench Marking," and naming Bernie Farkas as
inventor.
Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to the field of business management. More particularly,
this
invention relates to intelligent business decisions.
Discussion of the Background
An affinity group is a group of entities that have a common type of activity
or a
common type of interest. Members of an affinity group may include real people
and artificial
legal entities. Artificial legal entities include for example, corporations,
schools, societies,
and associations. Artificial legal entities are referred to herein as either
organizations or
companies. Members of a personal affinity groups include only real people.
Members of
industry affinity groups include artificial legal entities. Members of a
specific industry
affinity group include organizations in that specific industry. In addition,
members of a
specific affinity group may include individuals. For example, both health care
companies and
doctors may be members of a health care industry affinity group.
The organizations in an industry affinity group may compete against each other
in
economic, business, legal, regulatory, political, social, and health related
activities and
interests. However, by definition, organizations in an industry affinity group
have common
types of activities and interests. The common activities and interests in an
industry affinity
group include economic and business activity, such as labor competition, labor
compensation,
inventory management, licensing requirements, overhead, capital improvements,
cash flow
management, sales, distribution, marketing, product pricing, overhead costs,
legal evidentiary
issues, legal procedural issues, regulatory compliance, regulatory approval
processing, and
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may also include the political, social, and health activities. Currently there
is a lack of
generally available information regarding (1) an organization's relative
performance relative
to the other members of its industry affinity group and (2) relative utility
of product and
service solutions to problems faced by members of an industry affinity group.
The invention provides a means for companies that compete with one another to
disclose valuable operational, financial, purchasing and other business
information which
companies are currently reluctant to otherwise disclose. This invention
addresses the lack of
availability to an organization of information about the organization's
relative performance in
its industry affinity group, the lack of availability to an organization of
information
showing what processes and practices tend to result in better relative
performance in
the organization's affinity group, and the lack of availability of information
comparing the
usefulness of specific products and services directed to improving the
organization's
processes, procedures, and relative performance. The practices used by
organizations
having relatively high values for a specified bench mark are termed "best
practices" in
the financial management art. One of the purposes of this invention is to
overcome the
disinclination of members of affinity groups to disclose information, to one
another. Another
one of the purposes of this invention is to overcome the disinclination of
members of
affinity groups to disclose to one another what processes and practices they
use. Yet
another one of the purposes of this invention is to overcome the
disinclination of members of
affinity groups to disclose to one another what products and services they
find useful.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide to an organization
information
about the organization's relative performance in its industry affinity group.
It is another object of the invention to provide to the organization
information
comparing the usefulness of specific products and services directed to
improving the
organization's relative performance.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method of building a
database of
company and company employee information.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method of building a
database of
company and company employee information including hierarchical authority of
the
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employees.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a database of company
and
company employee information.
It is another object of the invention to provide to the subject organization
information showing the best practices used in its affinity group that relate
to a
specified bench mark.
It is another object of the invention to automatically correlate the
organization's
practices to its affinity group's best practices.
It is a further object of the invention to automatically identify and display
to a
user products and services that are intended to improve the correlation of the
organization's practices to the affinity group's best practices.
The objects of this invention are achieved by providing a novel computer
system and
computer implemented method for bench marking an organization against other
comparable
organizations, by efficiently gathering information characterizing each
organization,
calculating indicators for each organization based upon the data
characterizing each
organization, by comparing the values for the indicators for one organization
to values for
indicators for similar organizations, and by providing to a user the results
of the comparison.
In addition, the system provides means for identifying and offering
organizational and
business improvement products and services to the user, the offerings
preferably being
automatically selected from a product database based upon the bench mark value
comparisons and rules relating the user's selection of bench marks and the
values for the
bench mark comparisons to products intended to address the organization's
needs for
improvement.
The information gathered includes specific business practices that each
organization uses to implement specified business process. The computer system
implements a predetermined correlation of business processes to bench marks.
The
computer system implements a method of determining best practices for an
affinity
group by (1) identifying affinity companies, preferably based upon user input
of what
factors constitute affinity group companies (e.g., number of employees,
industry
classification, demographic classification by regional cost of living range,
cost of floor
space range) and (2) identifying a subset of those companies having a bench
mark value
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above a specified value, preferably the user providing the specification, and
determining
the fraction of that subset of companies using each business practice relating
to the
business process associated with that bench mark. The practices used by this
subset of
companies are best practices for the identified affinity companies for the
corresponding
bench mark.
The computer system may also implement a method of determining correlation
between the foregoing best practices data and the business practices used by
an
organization, automatically identify low correlations of certain practices, or
low
averages of all correlations for a given process, and automatically identify
products and
services intended to increase the low correlations.
Thus, the novel system and method of the invention provide a user thereof a
novel
tool for comparative analysis of the user's organization relative to other
organizations in the
same industry or cross-comparisons between industries. The system and method
advise the
user with prescriptions, including available products and services, for
improving the user's
organization's operating effectiveness based upon the results of the analysis
of the values of
the organization's bench marks, processes, and procedures, in a regulatory and
non
regulatory context.
In addition, the use of the system of the invention naturally leads to a novel
method of
collecting valuable user and company data in a novel database, the database
including
information defining each company's hierarchical chain of authority, and
information for each
company identifying each user's job functions, position, and authority in the
company's chain
of authority. The database also contains company bench mark input data, and
company
processes and procedures data.
Furthermore, the database may contain company processes and procedures cost
data, the cost data including data identifying direct labor and direct labor
overhead
costs, materials and materials overhead costs, and demographic data providing
correlation of labor, material, and overhead costs to geographic location
(e.g., floor
space costs and labor costs correlated to zip or region code).
Furthermore, the system may provide to a user automated communications (e.g.,
emails and Web pages not in response to a specific request for information)
the contents of
which depend upon the user's prior bench marking requests, actions, reactions,
related
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activity, behavior, and habits, including the user's prior responses to such
automated
communications. The contents and the existence of the automated communications
may also
depend upon other user's of the same company's prior bench marking requests,
actions,
reactions, related activity, behavior, and habits, including those users'
prior responses to such
automated communications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant
advantages
thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by
reference to the
following detailed description when considered in connection with the
accompanying
drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic showing a network of digital computers including
computers
hosting a novel bench marking computer system of the invention;
Figure 2 is a high level flow chart of a novel bench mark and business
practice
processing of the invention;
Figure 3 is a flow chart of the Welcome Center processes of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a flow chart of the Bench Marking processes of Figure 2;
Figure 5 is a flow chart of the Store processes of Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a flow chart of Qualified Lead processes discussed for Figures 4
and 5;
Figure 7 is a flow chart of Purchase processes of Figures 4 and 5;
Figure 8 is flow chart of Admin processes of Figure 2;
Figure 9 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's paid
leave
benefits;
Figure 10 is a is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's
paid
health and disability benefits;
Figure 1 I is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's
inventory;
Figure 12 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's
professional licensing requirements for individuals;
Figure 13 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's paid
salaries;
Figure 14 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's sales
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personnel;
Figure 15 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's
standard
products;
Figure 16 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's
working
capital assets;
Figure 17 is a table containing data showing bench marks for a company's
working
capital liabilities;
Figure 18 is an alternative to the benchmark processing center of Figure 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding
parts
throughout the several views.
OVERVIEW OF THE BENCH MARHING SYSTEM
Figure 1 shows a digital client computer l, such as a personal computer,
containing an
electrical power supply; a central processing unit; means for storing and
retrieving data from
data storage media; data storage media such as random access memory, read only
memory,
magnetic disk media, optical disk media; user inputloutput devices, such as a
mouse, a
keyboard, and a monitor. The client computer 1 is capable of running an
operating system,
such as a version of Windows or Unix coordinating the activity of the various
components of
the personal computer. The operating system preferably enables the computer to
execute web
browser software, such as a version of Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer
so that the
client computer 1 functions as a network client. However, the personal
computer 1 may
alternatively be capable of operating dumb or smart terminal software or any
form of
continuous session inter computer connection software.
Figure 1 also shows a network 2, such and the Internet through which the
client
computer 1 can interact, for example using TCP/IP protocol, with a bench
marking computer
system 3 and a vendor computer system 7.
The bench marking computer system 3 includes at least one computer running
bench
marking software. Preferably, the bench marking computer system 3 runs Web
server
software so it can interact using graphically formatted files with a user of
client computer 1.
Figure 1 also shows the user database 4, the company database 5, and the store
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database 6 in communication with the bench marking computer system 3. It is to
be
understood that, although the information about the company, the store, and
the user is
described herein as being stored in separate databases, the information could
all be stored in
one or more computer database files, broken down into one or more logical
relational
database tables with no or appropriate logically linked fields between the
tables as is well
known in database programming.
The user database 4 stores an identification of each user of the bench marking
server
system 3 in association with the user's identification: user name, contact
information,
company identification, company user e-mail addresses, company user contact
information,
company, hierarchical position within the company, and rights or
authorizations to view, use,
and change the company data stored in the company database 5.
User log data is also stored, either in the user database or in separate
files, and
contains a log of user activity in association with a user identification. The
log including
storage of the user's web pages served by the bench marking computer system,
bench marks
requested, bench mark results, purchase transactions, links to vendors, and
prior automated
communications sent to the user.
The company database 5 stores identifications of each company associated with
a user
of the bench marking server system 3 in association with each company's:
company industry
group, (for example using company or user association membership, Standard
Industrial
Code (SIC), or NAISC as industry group identifications), or a user's voluntary
classification
of his company with an industry as the company's industry group
identification), bench
marking input data (provided by users of the company), dates relevant to the
bench marking
input data (such as week, month, quarter, or yeax applicable to the data),
calculated bench
mark output values based upon the company's input data, rankings of the
company based
upon its bench mark output values compared to similar companies bench mark
outputs. Input
data and output bench marks are described in connection with exemplary company
bench
marks shown in Figures 9-17 and discussed hereinafter. Data for each one of
the input and
output data types described for Figures 9-17 may be stored in association with
an
identification of a company in company database 5.
In addition, database 5 may store company process/practice data. A process
herein
means a business function that affects an organization's ranking using a bench
mark. Thus, a
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measure of such a process would be an input to a bench mark. A practice herein
means an
action or activity that occurs in performing a business process. Thus, a
business process must
have at least one practice used to accomplish the process. For business
processes include the
salary administration (of both preexisting employees and potential new
employees), sales
administration, paid leave benefits administration, inventory administration,
current assets
administration, and current liabilities administration, and health benefits
administration.
many practices may be required for each process. For example, salary
administration may or
may not include any of the following practices: (1) determination of employee
salary changes
by line supervisor, top level of management, CEO, and/or HR department, (2)
the use in the
determination of an industry wide salary database, a company wide salary
database, and labor
classifications, (3) the use in new hire determination of the foregoing
factors and also
candidate formal education, (4) employee acquisition practices including use
of referrals,
advertising, placement agencies, Internet resume agencies, academic
institution placement
offices, (5) the existence and type of tuition reimbursements practices, the
existence and type
of bonus plan, stock purchase plan, health insurance, supplemental insurance,
and (6) the
frequency of off premises work.
In database 5, stored in association with each company's identification are
its
practices. Each practice maybe also be associated with one or more than one
business
process. For example, the same advertising may target both candidates for
employment and
customers. Accordingly, advertising may be a practice associated with both
salary
administration and sales administration. Figures 19 et seq. are tables which
each contain a
business practices named in the left hand column. Each row in Figures 19 et
seq. has a
business practice name in the left hand column and the entries in the same row
contain
possible alternative values for that business practice. There are business
process sub
headings in bold, such as "Salaries" at the top of Figure 19, which each
indicate that the
subsequent columns contain business practices associated with that business
process.
The store database 6 stores identifications and descriptions of products and
services,
each product or service is preferably stored in association with
identifications of or flags for
related bench marks, at least one ranking relative to other products in the
same product class
for each bench mark, price, and purchase information. The purchase information
includes at
least one of an address for a link to the store's own purchase system, contact
information,
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such as a URL for a main Web page of a vendor of the product or service or a
URL for a
Web page of a vendor's Web site offering for sale the product or service, or
physical address
and telephone contact information for the vendor of the product or service.
OVERVIEW OF THE METHOD OF USE OF THE BENCH MARKING SYSTEM
Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a process of use of the bench mark
computer
system 3 communicating via the network 2 with a user's client computer 1. The
user either
points the browser of the client computer 1 or clicks a link in a Web site
that points the
browser to the main page of the welcome center 3. While a specific process
flow of the user's
client computer to Web pages of the bench marking Web site provided by the
system 3 will
be described, it is understood that Web pages served to the user's client
computer 1 often
contain a plurality of links to various Web pages provided by the computer
system 3 in
addition to the Web pages of the specific process flow to be described, and
the Web pages
(including templates) that can be provided by the system 3 are referred to
herein as the bench
marking Web site.
Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a process of using the bench marking Web
site in
which the user links from one of links in step 11 from some other Web site to
the main page
for the welcome center I3. (The links 11 are the computer analog of salesmen
in a brick and
mortar store.) In step 13, from the welcome center, the user preferably (by
clicking
appropriate links on pages served to the client computer 1) navigates to the
bench marking
center. In step I50, the user chooses (by clicking appropriate links on pages
served to the
client computer 1) to obtain bench mark analysis or business practice
analysis. In step 15, at
the bench marking center in step 15 where the user enters bench mark input
data on the user's
company, obtains bench mark output data on the user's company (i.e., values
for bench
marks), obtains prescriptions for the user's company based upon the bench mark
output data.
In step 160, at the business practice processing center 160, the user enters
business practice
data for the user's company, obtains best practices information for the user's
company's
affinity group, and obtains correlations between the best practices and the
user's company's
practices. In step 16, at the store, the user purchases prescribed products or
services that
were prescribed to the user based upon the results of the bench mark analysis
or the best
practices analysis.
In addition, in response to predetermined conditions, the bench marking
computer
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system 3 directs the client computer to the admin 12 for the user to input and
update user
information, input and update company data, and obtain and provide
authorization for data
input and data access to the bench marking Web site and user and company
databases of
system 3. Moreover, certain Web pages served to the user throughout the bench
marking
Web site contain links to the forum 14 where the user may engage in electronic
multimedia,
image, and voice exchange and discussions with his peers by uploading and
downloading
data.
WELCOME CENTER PROCESSING
Figure 3 shows details of the process of use of the welcome center 3. In step
20, the
system 3 displays the main page of welcome center 3. The main page of the
welcome center
3 contains descriptive material about the bench marking Web site, preferably
containing a
link to a Web page providing a tutorial on use of the bench marking Web site,
a link to the
user log in page (see step 21), and a link to a new user registration page.
The descriptive matter in the welcome center main page may include the
following
items: description of the functions of the bench marking Web site provides,
how the bench
marking Web site works, a solicitation to type in e-mail addresses of other
members of the
user's organization so that the Web site can send e-mail to those e-mail
addresses soliciting
queries, explanations of why it is important for the user to register, forms
requesting
suggestions or criticisms, forms allowing completion of the input of corporate
information,
forms allowing completion of the input of individual registration information,
if not yet
complete.
New user registration
The new user registration page provides a form enabling the user to enter
certain
information, including for example, user name, password, company e-mail
address, member
number (representing a user's company member number), company fax number,
company
name, company telephone number, company mailing address, and the user's
company title.
The information that the user enters about the user is stored in the user
database 4.
The bench marking computer system 3 determines from the information provided
by
the user if the user's company is not a member. If the user's company is not a
member, the
system 3 sends the client computer 1 a Web page containing a form soliciting
the user's
company to become a member, and subsequent Web pages containing forms
requesting
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company registration information, such as company industry, names of
authorized personal
and their levels of authorizations and hierarchical positions (e.g. member of
Board of
Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Officer, Vice President,
Director, Department
Supervisor, team Supervisor).
If the user declines to register the user's company as a member, the system 3
may
provide a Web page to the client computer 1 offering the user, for example, a
data
subscription (e.g., a one time fee to see the results from ONE DATA set),
or a subscription for some specified period of time, a request to identify a
sponsoring
organization and that organization's authorization number for providing either
limited or full
access to the Web site, and an option to join an association (industry
network) providing fox
the user free access to the bench marking Web site.
Once the user has navigated through the welcome center 13 the user is
presented a
Web page containing links to the bench marking center 1 S, the forum 14, the
store I 6, and in
some situations (e.g., if the user has rights to modify data for the user's
company) to the
admin 12.
User log in
In step 21, the system transmits a user log in page to the client computer. A
preregistered user can log on (e.g., by entering a user name and password) and
then proceed
to the bench marking center 15, the forum 14, or the admin 12. If the user is
not preregistered,
the user may only be allowed to receive the new user registration page.
Step 22 is an optional step which may be required if the user has registered
but is not
authorized to access certain portions of the bench marking Web site. After the
user has
completed inputting his information in the user information step 21, in step
22 the system 3
queries the user database 4 to determine (1) whether the user is authorized to
access the Web
site and (2) if so authorized, what information the user is authorized to
access. For example,
a President, Chief Executive Officer, or member of a Board of Directors of a
company may
be authorized to access all information regarding that company. However, a
Department
Head of a company may only be allowed to access information regarding that
department.
For example, a user identified as a head of accounting department may not be
authorized to
access information regarding a company's sales. Per contra, a user identified
as a head of a
company's sales department may not be authorized to access a company's
accounting
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department. Accordingly, the user database contains an association for each
user of data for
the user's company to which the user is entitled to obtain access.
If querying of the user database 4 indicates that the user is not authorized
to access the
Web site, the system 3 may provide a page to the user soliciting the user to
obtain
authorizations, which is part of the function of the admin 12.
BENCH MARKING PROCESSING
Figure 4 shows details of the process of use of the bench mark processing 15.
In step
30, the system 3 transmits the main Web page of the bench mark processing to
the client
computer 1. The main pages of the bench mark processing displays a menu of
links fox
bench mark indicators, and user clicks a selected bench mark link.
In step 31, the selection of a bench mark link from the menu may, depending
upon the
selection, initiate an authorization step, in which the computer system 3
determines whether
the user has sufficient authority to obtain the selected bench mark. The
determination may be
made based upon data for the user stored in the user database 4. If the user
is not authorized,
the client computer 1 is linked to the admin 12 where the user is provided
with selections for
obtaining authority.
In step 31, the selection of a bench mark link from the menu may, depending
upon the
selection, also initiate an authorization step in which the system 3
determines whether the
user has sufficient authority to amend input data for the selected bench maxk
in stored in the
company database 5 for the user's company. If the user does not have
sufficient authority to
amend input data for the selected bench mark stored in the company database
fox the user's
company, the computer system 3 may send the client computer 1 a Web page
containing a
link to the admin 12 in order to allow the user to attempt to obtain
authorizations to amend
the data and an alternative link to continue with the bench mark processing,
without
authorization for storing the user's input data for the user's company in the
company database
5. If the user does not have sufficient authority to amend company data for
the selected
bench mark, the output of the bench mark analysis will contain an indication
that the data is
invalid and/or unreliable and that the data will not be stored in the company
database.
Alternatively, the user may indicate, via an appropriate entry, that the data
the user inputs is
not to be used to amend the company database data, which is useful because it
enables the
user to obtain bench mark results on hypothetical scenarios. Moreover, the
system may
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provide a means to limit the number of hypothetical scenarios, for example, to
ten per user, or
to ten per user per user session, in order to prevent a user from effectively
copying the data in
the company database, product data in the product database, or rules used to
provide product
suggestions based upon bench marking inputs. If the user links to continue
with the bench
mark processing, processing continues but the data input by the user and
output by the system
3 as part of that processing is not permanently stored in the company database
5.
In admin 12, if the system 3 determined that the user did not have sufficient
authorization for the specified bench mark process flow, the system serves the
client
computer 1 a Web page instructing the user on obtaining authorization. The
instructions may
include a request for the system 3 to send an email instruction to an another
member of the
user's company who has the right to provide authorization and requesting
authorization fox
the user, or to that other member to input the data required by the non-
authorized user.
For example, the sales manager of a company may not be authorized to input
accounting data
for that company. The sales manager for a company may not be authorized to
input sales
data for the company. The sales manager for a company may not be authorized to
change
data indicating commissions for sales for a company. The authorizations
provided to a user
depend upon the authorizations that user has been assigned according to the
chain of
authorizations provided by the supervisory chain of the company. The
supervisory
authorization chain for each company may be stored in the company database 5,
and/or as
authorization data stored in the user database in association with each user
identification.
The system may periodically, or aperiodically and depending upon user log
files for
user's of one company, email to a user having a supervisory authorization a
query on
changing authorizations for users of that company. In addition, the system may
periodically,
or aperiodically and depending upon user log files for a user email to the
user information
including identifications of products and services for a particular bench mark
that are
currently available in the store but that were not available in the store, or
were not presented
to the user, when the user performed the particular bench mark analysis.
In step 3 l, if the system 3 determines that the user has sufficient
authorizations for the
process flow for the selected bench mark, the user is prompted in step 32 for
input data for
the selected bench mark or business process. The user inputs data in response
to this
prompt. For example, the input data may be bench mark input data for bench
marks for one
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of paid leave benefits, paid health and disability benefits, inventory,
professional licensing
requirements, salaries, sales personnel, standard products, working capital
asset items, and
other indicators of company performance. The benchmark input data for these
bench marks
is shown in Figures 9-17 and described in the descriptions of those figures.
For example,
bench mark data inputs for the salary benchmark are, for example, the number
of employees
of the company, the average number of years of experience per employee of the
company,
and the average gross salary of an employee of the company.
Authorization decisions may be automatically based at least in part upon a
user's log
file history data.
In step 33, the system 3 calculates at least one bench mark output based upon
the data
entered by the user. If the user has sufficient authorization to change the
inputted company
data in company databases, the system 3 may update the company's record in the
company
database 5 with the input data input by the user.
In step 34, the system 3 compares the bench mark output values for the user's
company against bench mark output values other companies, and more
particularly against
other companies in the same industry grouping. The system 3 determines whether
the user's
bench mark output values are outside a norm for that industry group. This
determination may
include calculating statistical means, and deviations, for (1) the same
benchmark data for
companies in the same industry group and (2) for the entire universe of
companies stored in
the user database. Moreover, the system 3 may compare the benchmark data for
the company
to the statistical values for the same benchmark for other industry groups.
In step 35, the computer system 3 exercises rules depending upon the selected
bench
mark, and preferably depending upon the results of the comparison of the
company's selected
bench mark values to bench mark values for other companies, to (1) display
recommendations and (2) display selected products and services stored in the
store database
6. The computer system 3 transmits a Web page to the client computer 1
preferably
displaying the bench marks output values, the industry group comparisons, and
prescriptions
for corporate improvement, and the selected products and services. The
products and
services displayed are intended to be products and services specifically
useful to the user or
the user's company with respect to the selected bench mark. The displays
include industry
group averages, rankings of the subject company within its industry group,
whether the
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company meets a predetermined standard (e.g., ranking above 60%), the
population of
companies upon which the industry ranking is based. Moreover, the display of
products and
services may itself be ranked based upon price, a combination of price and an
objective
measure of utility for each product or service, for example provided by user
feedback.
Recommendations and ranking may depend upon the user's log file data,
including purchase
history data, bench mark results, and user's input of budget and time
constraints. The user
may able to specify budget and time constraints wither prior to or after bench
marking. The
In addition, the recommendations may be divided by product category. Product
improvement
categories are, for example, software solutions, books and videos,
newsletters, education and
testing services, etc.
Alternatively, instead of ranking, the bench marking web site may simply
display the
bench mark results and list products and services in the store from a
category, the category
being based upon the selected bench mark.
Examples of product improvements offered to a user in response to marginal or
deficient benchmark data determination are provided below. However, there axe
many other
rules defining high rankings for product and service improvement offers based
upon bench
mark data.
Working capital asset items
A benchmark ranking which indicates a relatively high level of "current
assets", that
is, Accounts Receivable generates a high ranking for a business improvement
of: getting a
"revolver loan facility" to free up cash, from a vendor in the business of
extending credit on
accounts receivables. Preferably, the vendor is a vendor affiliate of the
bench marking web
site. This business improvement would be displayed to the user.
Working capital liability items
A benchmark ranking which indicates a very low "working capital ratio" (much
less
than 1:1) generates a high ranking for a business improvement of: getting an
"equity cash
infusion", from a vendor in business of making investments. Preferably, the
vendor is a
vendor affiliate of the bench marking web site. This business improvement
would be
displayed to the user.
Sales personnel
A benchmark ranking which indicates a very low level of "bookings per sales
person"
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generates a high ranking for a business improvement of buying a series of
"sales training
video tapes"; from a vendor who is in business of providing seminars and
training for sales
and customer service personnel. Preferably, the vendor is a vendor affiliate
of the bench
marking web site. This business improvement would be displayed to the user.
Paid leave benefits
A benchmark ranking which indicates a very high level of "vacation costs per
employee" generates a high ranking for a business improvement of getting a
more effective
"fringe benefit package " from a vendor who is in business of providing
consulting services
for setting up effective human resource programs. Preferably, the vendor is a
vendor affiliate
of the bench marking web site. This business improvement would be displayed to
the user.
Health and disability benefits
A benchmark ranking which indicates a very high level of "group health costs
per
employee" generates a high ranking for a business improvement of: getting a
more effective
"group health plan" from a vendor who is in business of setting up and
providing health
insurance. Preferably, the vendor is a vendor affiliate of the bench marking
web site. This
business improvement would be displayed to the user.
Salaries
A benchmark ranking which indicates a very high level of "salary costs per
employee" generates a high ranking for a business improvement of: acquiring
"temporary or
day workers" from a vendor partner who is in the business of finding competent
temporary
workers which reduces a company's "down time", which reduces the overall
salary costs of a
company. Preferably, the vendor is a vendor affiliate of the bench marking web
site. This
business improvement would be displayed to the user.
Inventory
A benchmark ranking which indicates a very low " inventory turnover rate"
generates
a high ranking for a business improvement of: selling or buying inventory from
a "excess
inventory exchange" operated by a vendor who is in business of operating a
network of
related industry companies for the purpose of reducing inventory levels of its
members.
Preferably, the vendor is a vendor affiliate of the bench marking web site.
This business
improvement would be displayed to the user.
The products and services displayed in step 35 may be based upon a set of
rules that
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relate (1) products and services identified in a database associated with the
store 6,
associations of those products or services in the database with the subject
benchmark, and an
association of products and services with different rankings of benchmarks in
an industry.
For example, if the company's salary benchmark indicated that the company was
in the 95 th
percentile in salary (i.e., paying very high salaries), and if a rule existed
indicating that
software was the most useful type of product addressing salary ranking above
the 90th
percentile, the system 3 would invoke the rule identifying software solutions
for display, and
then invoke a rule identifying software products and services identified in
store database 6
directed to limiting salary growth. Each display of a product or a service is
associated with a
link to a purchase offer or a qualified link for the product or service, as
discussed below with
respect to Figures 5-7.
Figure 5 shows a sequence of steps relating to the use of the store 6. From
anywhere
in the bench marking Web site, the user may click a link connecting to a store
front main
page.
In step 40, the system 3 provides to the client computer 1 the store front
main page.
The store front main page displays product and service category links, such as
links for
newsletters, software, hardware, and books and videos. The user selects one of
the identified
links, such as the Iinks for newsletters.
In step 4I, the system 3 provides a display to the user of specific newsletter
products.
In step 41, for example, the user can select to purchase (or to obtain
additional material
regarding) newsletter X by clicking on a link identifying newsletter X. The
links provided by
the system 3 in steps 41-44 are either (1) qualified lead links which are
described in Figure 6
or (2) sales offer links which are described in conjunction with Figure 7. In
each one of steps
41-44, the system 3 transmits to the client computer 1 a Web page displaying
links for one of
the newsletters, software, hardware, and books and videos. However, other
product and
service categories can be displayed.
Figure 6 shows a sequence of steps that occur when a user clicks a qualified
link at
any of steps 41-44.
In step S0, the user selects a link for a product or service, or clicks a
qualified lead
link from the links displayed in step 35 as a result of a bench marking
function. For example
the user may click the link displayed in step 41 as a request to purchase
newsletter X.
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In step 51, the computer system of the Web site generates a tracking number
for that
transaction, provides the tracking number to the user, and/or redirects the
user's browser to a
URL for a distributor of newsletter X, such as a URL for vendor computer
system 7 of
Figure 1.
In step 52, the user's browser interacts with a Web site of the distributor of
newsletter
X, resulting in a purchase transaction in which the user purchases a
subscription to the
newsletter X. Subsequently, the distributor may pay the owner of the system 3
a referral fee
based upon the qualified lead provided by the system 3.
Figure 7 shows a sequence of steps that occur when a user purchases a pxoduct
or
service from the store 6. That may happen in response to the user drilling
down from the
main page of the store 6 (steps 40-44) or from the user clicking a link to a
product or service
displayed in response to a bench marking analysis in step 35.
In step 60, for example, the user clicks the link for the accounting Y
software package
displayed in step 42. That action initiates an order transaction process step
61. The order
transaction process involves debiting the user's account and crediting the
bench marking Web
site's account for the cost of the accounting software. In step 62, the user
is provided with a
tracking number for his purchase.
In step 63, the system 3 generates a shipping authorization order and
transmits that
order to the distributor or vendor, and credits the distributor or vendor's
account.
The ability of the user to browse through descriptions of products offered
from a
plurality of vendor organizations, but targeted to the user's needs as
determined based upon
the bench mark results, and to do so by viewing Web pages transmitted from the
bench
marking web site, before linking to the vendor's Web site (or purchasing the
product directly
from the bench marking Web site), enables the users to efficiently compare
competing
products when attempting to decide what to purchase.
ADMIN - DATABASE MAINTENANCE
The admin 12 facilitates maintaining the user database 4 and the company
database 5,
by soliciting information from the users, storing that information, and
generates email
transmissions as part of that process to other members of the user's
organization.
Figure 8 shows a sequence of steps that occur in the admin 12 in Figure 2. The
admin
12 provides means for facilitating administration of the user database 4 in
the company
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database 5 by the users of the bench marking computer system 3. At several
steps throughout
the use of the bench marking computer system 3, the system displays to the
user links to the
admin 12. Those steps are represented schematically by decision step 73 in
which the system
3 determines whether the user has appropriate authorizations.
Figure 8 shows flow in the admin 12, in which the system 3 serves the user's
client
computer a series of Web page enabling the user, depending upon the user's
rights and
authorizations, to update the user's information, other user's information,
and the user's
company data in the user and company databases 4 and 5.
In step 70, the system 3 transmits to the user requests for information
required for
authorization. In addition, in step 70, the system 3 may transmit (e.g. via
email) requests to
representatives of the users company other than the user to provide to the
user the
authorizations necessary for the user to proceed with the user's selected
action in the bench
marlcing Web site. Fox example, the system 3 may transmit an email to an
authorized
member of the users company with a request to authorize the user for the
user's selected
activity, and that request may include a request for additional information on
additional
members of the users company who should be granted authorization. Thus, in
step 70, the
system gathers both information necessary to authorize the user in the users
selected activity,
and may receive additional data.
In step 71, the system 3 stores the data gathered in step 70 in the user and
company
databases 4 and 5, as appropriate.
In step 72, the system 3 determines whether the user has been granted
authorization to
proceed. If the user has been granted authorization to proceed with the users
selected
processing, the system 3 may return the user to the process step that occurred
prior to when
the user linked to the admin 12. Alternatively, the admin 12 may transmit to
the user a page
containing links, including for example a link to step 30 in which the bench
mark selection
menu is displayed to the user.
In step 72, if the system determines that the user has not been granted
authorization,
the system may transmit to the client computer 1 a page containing links for
the main page
for the welcome center 13 and the forum 14.
The forum 14 contains a main page providing links to sub-pages that may
contain
discussions of products provided by the store 6, requests for information of
the users
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segmented by defined categories, and other information deemed useful to the
user in deciding
whether and what type of products to obtain for the user's company.
The forum 14 is important because it provides a venue for users to communicate
with
one another, particularly for users in the same affinity group to share
information and
experiences and insights, thereby self promoting certain products perceived by
users to be
effective. Moreover, the forum may be seeded with a directory of peer who may
be available
to the users for advise and counsel.
EXAMPLES OF BENCH MARKS
Figures 9-17 illustrate data for exemplary industry affinity group bench
marks. The
bench marks discussed for Figures 9-I7 are non regulatory bench marks based
upon non
regulatory activities of the company.
Figure 9 shows bench marks for paid leave benefits for employees, for example,
as a
function of the number of years of experience of the employee, (e.g., paid
leave benefits for
employees at the company with less than 5 years, paid leave benefits for
employees at the
company with between 5 and 10 years' experience, and paid leave benefits for
employees
with over 10 years' experience). Each year of experience range constitutes a
different bench
mark input parameter.
The paid leave benefits for employees input data for these bench marks
includes:
number of equivalent full-time employees at the company, average number of
paid vacation
days per employee as a function of years of experience, average number of paid
holidays as a
function of years of experience, average number of other paid leave days as a
function of
years of experience, average annual gross salary as a function of years of
experience, average
amount of paid leave days as a function of years of experience.
The paid leave output data, which are the bench marks for that company,
include:
average dollar amount paid for each employee for leave days as a function of
years of
experience, average percent of salaxy paid for each employee for leave days as
a function of
years of experience, average dollar amount paid for vacations per employ ~e as
a function of
years of experience, average percent of salary paid for vacations per employee
as a function
of years of experience, average dollar amount paid for holidays per employee
as a function of
years of experience, average percent of salary paid for holidays per employee
as a function of
years of experience. It is to be understood here that the meaning of a
function of years of
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experience implies averages over ranges of years of experience as shown in the
row headings
in the left hand column in Figure 9.
Figure 10 shows bench marks for paid health & disability benefits for
employees as a
functions of the number of years of experience of the employee, (e.g. paid
health & disability
benefits for employees at the company with less than 5 years, paid health &
disability
benefits at the company with 5 to 10 years' experience, and paid health &
disability benefits
for employees with over 10 years' experience). Each year of experience range
constitutes a
different bench mark input parameter.
The paid health & disability benefits input data for these bench marks
includes: the
number of equivalent full time employees at the company, average annual gross
salary per
employee as a function of years of experience, monthly health benefit amount
paid by
company per employee as a function of years of experience, monthly dental
benefit amount
paid by company per employee as a function of years of experience, monthly
vision benefit
amount paid by company per employee as a function of years of experience,
monthly
disability amount paid by company per employee as a function of years of
experience.
The paid health and disability benef is output data, which are the bench marks
for that
company, include: average dollar amount paid for health benefits per employee
as a function
of years of experience, average percent of salary paid for health benefits per
employee as a
function of years of experience, average dollar amount paid for dental
benefits per employee
as a function of years of experience, average percent of salary paid fox
dental benefits per
employee as a function of years of experience, average dollar amount paid for
vision benefits
per employee as a function of years of experience, average percent of salary
paid for vision
benefits per employee as a function of years of experience, average dollar
amount paid for
disability benefits per employee as a function of years of experience, and
average percent of
salary paid for disability benefits per employee as a function of years of
experience.
Figure 11 shows bench marks for different types of inventory, including raw
parts,
work in process, finished goods, and total inventory.
The inventory input data for these bench marks include: the average monthly
dollar
amount for each inventory type, the average monthly dollax sales for the total
inventory, the
average cost of goods percentage for total inventory,
The inventory output data bench marks include: times per year of inventory
turnover
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for each inventory type, days in inventory-period for each inventory type, and
inventory
percentage of annual dollar sales for each inventory type.
Figure 12 shows bench marks for professional licensing requirements for
individuals,
in labor categories including for sales/customer service, technicians,
administrative, and
warehouse personnel, for various industries, such as the opticians, dental
labs, travel
agencies, and supply chain industries.
The professional licensing input data for these bench marks include: state in
which
work is performed.
The licensing output data include: existence of a state license requirement,
years of
experience, and annual salary.
The professional licensing outputs data bench marks include: the existence of
a state
licensing requirement, the availability of professional credits, a.nd average
salary for
comparable years of experience.
Figure 13 shows bench marks for salaries categorized by labor categories
including
but not limited to sales/customer service, technicians, administrative, and
warehousing/inventory.
The input data for salary bench marks includes: number of equivalent full time
employees, average years of experience, average gross annual salary per
employee.
The salary bench mark output data include: average years of experience per
employee,
average salary per labor category, average salary for years of experience
entered.
Figure 14 shows bench marks for salaries categorized by sales personnel and
their
level of experience, for example sales trainees with less than 6 months
experience, sales
persons with between 6 months and 2 years experience, senior sales persons
with more than 2
years experience.
The input data fox sales personnel bench marks includes: number of full time
sales
persons, annual base salary of average sales person, average percent of sales
paid out as
commissions, average annual sales made by each sales person, and average size
of every
booking.
The bench mark output data for sales personnel include: the ratio of average
annual
sales of salesperson to annual base salary, the average annual sales of
salespersons to percent
of total sales, the average commission rate paid to each sales person, and the
average size of
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every booking.
Figure 15 shows bench marks for multiple standaxd products each categorized by
list
unit sale price and list order volume.
The standard product input data include: product definition, direct material
costs for
one production unit, direct number of labor hours to make one production unit,
suggested unit
sales price for low order volume, suggested unit sales price for high order
volume, selected
number of units to be measured.
The bench maxk outputs for standard product inputs include: ratio of direct
materials
to unit sales percentage, ratio of direct labor hours to unit sales ratio,
average unit sales price.
Figure 16 shows bench maxks for working capital asset items.
The bench mark input data for working capital assets include: cash or cash
equivalents, current portion of notes receivable, accounts receivable that are
less than 90 days
old, current inventory including work in process, and annual sales.
The bench mark outputs for working capital asset items include: ratio of cash
or cash
equivalents to annual sales percentage, ratio of current portion of notes
receivables to annual
sales percentage, ratio of current portion of accounts receivables to annual
sales percentage,
ratio of current inventory to annual sales percentage.
Figure 17 shows bench marks for working capital liability items.
The bench mark input data for working capital liability items include: current
portion
of notes payable, accounts payable, current portion of capitalized lease
payments, accrued
payroll expenses, and annual sales.
The bench mark outputs for working capital liability items include: ratio of
current
portion of notes payable to sales percentage, ratio of accounts payable to
sales percentage,
ratio of current portion of capitalized lease payments to sales percentage,
and ratio of accrued
payroll expenses to sales percentage.
Additional Bench Marks
Industry affinity bench marks also include bench marks for industries like
dental labs,
optician shops, accounting firms, automobile parts manufacturers, etc. In
these types of
affinity groups the employees of the business will enter performance
indicators regarding
their area of expertise (accounting, inventory, regulatory compliance,
engineering, etc.) and
the bench mark system will provide the bench mark comparisons.
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Measures of the activities of regulatory review agencies on regulatory
approvals and
rights for a company, such as regulatory approvals from the Food and Drug
Administration
(FDA), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and Securities
and
Exchange Commission (SEC), the Employment and Equal Opportunities Commission
(EEOC), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Environmental
protection
Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA), and
Federal
Communication Commission (FCC), and corresponding governmental agencies around
the
world exist. These measures are referred to herein as regulatory bench marks.
Examples of
regulatory bench marks are the duration of pendency of regulatory applications
for
governmental approvals for new drugs, patents, trademarks, and certifications,
and the
duration from filing to first regulatory agency communication or the duration
between
regulatory communications during pendency of a regulatory application. The
duration of
pendency and duration between agency communications for a company's specific
regulatory
application, compared to the overall average duration of pendency for
regulatory applications
from members of the company's industry affinity group provides an industry
affinity group
bench mark, indicating how effective that company was in influencing
regulatory action.
Comparison of company wide averages for its regulatory applications to
industry affinity
group wide averages provides another industry affinity group bench mark
related to
regulatory review processes. The regulatory bench marks can be based upon
geographic
location of the applicant, costs to the applicant, consultant representative
for the applicant,
age of the representative, type of submission (e.g., electronic or paper).
Figure 18 is a flow chart showing use of the business process processing
center 160 of
Figure 2. In step 130, the user is provided a menu containing business process
choices. If the
user selects a business process, the bench mark processing system 3 send the
user's computer
an authorization page 131, similar to step 31. In step 132, the user is
prompted to input the
business practices of the user's company that correspond to the user's
selected business
process. Step 132 is optional, in the sense the system can perform the
functions identified in
step 133 without that data, and the output of the function provided in step
133 is significant
and useful. In step 133, the user enters the parameters that define affinity
companies to the
user's company. In step 133, the user also enters a bench mark and a range of
values for that
bench mark that must be met by a company for that company's practices relating
to the bench
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mark to be defined as best practices. Once the user had input the parameters
identifying
defining what companies are in the affinity group and what bench mark values
are required
for companies in that group to be deemed best practices, the computer system 3
identifies
companies meeting the user specified ranges and identifies the fraction of
companies using
each business practice associated with the user selected business process. The
system 3 may
simply display that data to the user (so the user can compare that data to its
company's
practices). However, if the user has input the user's company's practice data,
the system can
correlate the best practices results to the user's company's data, identify
for the user the
relative correlations of each practice, the average of the correlations for
practices associated
with the selected process, and identify low correlations. In addition, the
system 3 can also
automatically determine prescriptions for improvement of low correlations, for
example
suggesting products and services stored in the store 16 which have been
predetermined to
address low correlations of specified business practices with determined best
practices.
Figures 19-28 each contain in the left hand column names of business
practices, and
possible values for those practices in the same row in the columns to the
right of the business
practice name column.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are
possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood
that within the scope
of the appended claims, the invention rnay be practiced otherwise than as
specifically
described herein.
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