Measurement and benchmarking foundations: Providing support to organizations in their development and growth using dashboards

Growth and stage models often lack a sound empirical and theoretical base and do not provide any help for organizations to improve. Measuring and benchmarking (M&B) is necessary for understanding an organization's position and identifying growth opportunities. Yet M&B methods are often not based on generalizations of practice and measure only what is directly visible. They are missing relevant elements that can help further development. In this paper, we propose a multi-level measurement framework utilizing a mix of measurement methods to look deep inside organizations. Whereas benchmarking is often based on a single number, deep insight is given by showing the performance in a broad range of areas and views using a dashboard. Guidance for improvement is created by identifying those elements that need improvements. The illustration of the framework in a case study shows that the process of measuring deep inside organizations might be more important than the actual outcomes and that per area different maturity levels might be possible. We provide seven principles that can serve as a foundation for developing M&B and stage models.

► Problems in existing stage and benchmarking models are identified.
► An overview of criticism on stages-of-growth and measurement and benchmarking models is provided.
► A multi-level measurement and benchmarking approach is developed to measure deep inside organizations.
► Seven principles for developing growth and stage models are identified.