ABOUT

Comparison International's Mission & History As
A Best Practice Benchmarking Consultancy

PROmoting Business Excellence

Comparison International is a benchmarking consultancy based in the UK. With offices in the United States and Australia, Comparison's benchmarking tools are used globally in industries across the board. Its PROBE methodology for benchmarking supports business development and growth by improving performance through the transfer of "Best Practices." PROBE tools are utilised by governments, industry specific organisations, research collaborations, individual firms and global institutions. Over the last 5 years the company has grown to become one of the leading suppliers of "Best Practice" benchmarking in the world.

Our Vision

To be the preferred provider of benchmarking global best practices and performance of world class.
To provide knowledge and tools to governments, institutions, industries and enterprises of any size that supports total development and growth.
To act as a global citizen that supports economic and environmental sustainability.
To be a company that fosters creativity, challenge, accomplishment and an environment where its members all thrive

Our Mission

Support development and growth by improving business performance through the transfer of 'Best Practice'. We achieve this through the distribution, licensing and delivery of best practice diagnostic benchmarking across the globe.

Our Pedigree

Comparison International Limited (CIL) was formed in August 2000 as a private, commercial organisation to deliver diagnostic and analytical work that had been previously carried out within the public and academic sectors. The company has grown into a truly international benchmarking organisation with offices in Manchester (UK), Portland (USA), and Sydney (AUS), and its activity and reach continue to develop.

To get corporate 'buy-in' and to develop an appetite for change it is really important to get the team dynamics right. An organisation needs to involve all of its people at all levels and the PROBE process is ideal in ensuring that a wide range of views from within the organisation are heard when developing the improvement plan.

Peter Faill
Strategic Procurement Manager
District of Easington Council

CIL is the hub of a global network of partners and licensees who deliver and support PROBE Best Practice Benchmarking services, making the benefits available to the memberships and communities that they serve.

A key partnership is with the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), the premier business lobbying organisation in the UK. The CBI works with the UK government, international legislators and policy-makers to help UK businesses compete effectively, owing its strength to the size and diversity of its membership. It represents 200,000 businesses based in the UK, with membership including all sectors of business — retail, financial services, construction, utilities, professional firms, manufacturers, agriculture, IT and e-business, creative and communications, management, consultancy, transport operators and tourism. Its network of offices around the UK and in Beijing, Brussels and Washington provides on-the-ground support for its members. The CBI is a long-term contributor to the development and deployment of PROBE. The CBI now owns a significant stake in CIL, acting as a vital source of ongoing support, guidance, expertise and influence.

CIL's strategic development is guided by the PROBE Advisory Board, a group of 'best practice' experts and key stakeholders specifically chosen to ensure the continuing integrity and objectivity of the work. Board members include Cedric Kennedy, Director of Finance & Operations of the CBI, Professor Chris Voss, Director of the Centre for Research in Operations and Technology Management at the London Business School, and Senior Fellow of the Advanced Institute of Management Research; Professor Aleda Roth, the Burlington Industries Professor of Supply Chain Management at Clemson University in South Carolina; and Phil Hanson, Senior Industrial Fellow at the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge. The academic expertise available is also used, by CIL, to provide inputs to product development, and verification and validation of international/regional/local/sectoral data analyses.

CIL's product portfolio includes a suite of diagnostic tools, collectively known as PROBE (PROmoting Business Excellence), which have their roots in the groundbreaking research on world-class manufacturing undertaken by IBM (UK) and London Business School in the early 1990s. Its impact has been profound and far-reaching, and has led to a series of developments, which have adapted and deployed the PROBE methodology into a wide range of settings. In aggregate, the datasets contain approximately 7,000 individual site benchmarks from 32 countries, and their reach, size and richness continues to grow steadily, thanks to CIL's ongoing drive and the efforts of the sizeable and growing network of academic, national and sectoral partners and licensees around the world.

Variants of PROBE have been developed for large, medium/small and micro-sized businesses and organisations, and for those whose focus is on Service Provision, on Manufacturing and Logistics, and on the delivery of Public Services. The suite has evolved to include variants for the Agriculture, Healthcare and Learning and Skills sectors, and increasingly the 'service' tools are recognised for their applicability to businesses which make products and/or handle physical goods as well as those which 'only' deliver services. Tools which 'drill down' into People Management and Environment, Health & Safety are also available.

Major projects have involved benchmarking 'Red Meat' industries across the UK, Europe, Brazil and the USA on behalf of the Red Meat Industry Forum, and CIL is currently delivering benchmarking projects on behalf of the Cereal Industry Forum and Dairy UK.

CIL is highly experienced at ensuring client confidentiality and adapting to local and sectoral sensitivities. The highest standards of confidentiality and protection of an organisation's reputation is a paramount consideration at all levels within CIL, its bank of facilitators and the network of partners and licensees. CIL adheres to a set of core principles that maintain the integrity and impact of its work. These include:

Strict confidentiality of the results for each individual site, and anonymity in analyses of aggregate data
Balancing progress in defining 'best practice' with consistency, constancy of purpose and a focus on sound business principles rather than jargon and fads
A belief that, while businesses can clearly learn from others who do similar work, the opportunity to benchmark across sector/geographical boundaries is invaluable
Excellence in product and process development, and robust protection of the data and confidential intellectual property at the heart of the diagnostic tools
A commitment to the integrity of the benchmarking process achieved through a focus on the skills and experience of partners, licensees and facilitators as well as the tools themselves.