Question

CASE STUDY : 1
Read the following case study and answer all the questions given below the case study.
MI Toys is an electronic toys manufacturing company. The company sells its products all over Middle East
and North Africa. The company builds its brand image by assuring quality of its products, the company also
aims to be socially responsible by managing their environmental impact through ISO certification. The
company enrolled for ISO certification and all its processes are well governed and follow ISO guidelines. It
delivers excellent products to customers. Company B is the competitor of MI Toys and it does not have ISO
registration, but it still manufactures products as good as MI Toys.
Also, the company MI Toys was facing problems in inventory management. So the company plan to
benchmark its inventory management process with a car manufacturing company which had an efficient
inventory management process. The proposed benchmarking process displays four phases of benchmarking -
planning, data collection, analysis and adaptation. For the effective implementation of benchmarking the
following factors are required: The support of top management is a is an essential factor with respect to the
accomplishment of benchmarking process. The lack of support and involvement from the top management or
even fellow colleagues is often caused due to a lack of benchmarking-understanding. Subsequently, the
promotion of benchmarking-knowledge is needed to launch a smooth benchmarking process. High level of
employee involvement and teamwork in a benchmarking process is necessary. Benchmarking might be
unsuccessful due to lack of managerial planning. Hence, the preparation before the start of a benchmarking
project and the evaluation at the end of a benchmarking project is significant.

QUESTION NO:2
Analyse the benchmarking level followed by MI toys, identify the challenges (3 points) & requisites (3
points) for successful implementation of benchmarking, and what way will it help to get the edge over
the competitors?

Answer 1

Mi Toys follows benchmarking guidelines as provided under the ISO Certification.

The challenges for benchmarking are as follows :

1. Lack of Managerial Planning

2. Resistance by employees due to lack to knowledge

3. Lack od proper control measures

The pre-requisites for successful implementation of Benchmarking are :

1. Support of top Level Management

2. Support of Managers and involvement of shop floor personnel.

3. Increased understanding and knowledge among employees.

4. Employee involvement and teamwork in benchmarking process.

By adopting proper benchmarking techniques, the company can improve its inventory management process thereby reducing the inventory cost and thus the overall costs of the business. This helps in improving profitability of the company.