Analysing the Meaning of Quality Management in Cross‐border Business Cooperations by using Benchmarking Methodology

Benchmarking is more than just a comparison of measures about different company’s performance in a wider sense. It is a methodology of learning‐comparing‐learning, at least within small and medium sized enterprises. This learning is not just limited to learn by copying successful concepts from other enterprises or competitors. It starts in learning more about the own company, about its structure and processes causing its own success or its failure. This kind of learning is necessary before the enterprise starts watching for a suitable Benchmarking partner. Learning from each other’s strengths and weaknesses is the main goal of the European research project Quality beyond Borders! By using the Benchmarking methodology, small and medium sized enterprises get the opportunity to take part in a Benchmarking study and can learn more about the different strengths and weaknesses of other enterprises on both sides of the border. The results of such a Benchmarking can help to identify potentials for future cooperations among German and Polish enterprises in the same market or business. These potentials can lie in different ways of realising the same success or top‐position. The Benchmarking study is not focused on an special business or region. That helps to find out trends for different kinds of top‐positions, which can be claimed in all markets within a country. Every trend is characterised by different success factors which are responsible for the success in this top‐position. In a first overview, the results of the Benchmarking study show 5 different groups of top‐positions within a market which all have different profiles regarding to the importance of their success factors. By the end of the Benchmarking study it will be possible, to give answer about the special reasons for different kind of successes of these groups. These answers can be related to a special region within a country, a special business or of course related to possible differences in the expression of the group success factors in comparison of both countries.