Interfirm Comparison Helps Management Stay Competitive

Abstract

How often does the financial director pore over his latest set of management accounts, nodding with satisfaction at the improvements during the period, frowning at those disappointing variances from budget that tend to creep in, but wondering all the time whether the figures really come up to scratch, wondering whether his standards are the right ones, whether the company is doing as well as the competition, whether there aren't a number of weaknesses buried half way down the second page which are hard to spot without some external yardstick. He is wondering in fact whether there isn't some method of comparing his company's performance with that of other firms in his industry to see where he is going wrong, if at all, and how he can become more profitable.

Citation

Palmer, H.W. (1975), "Interfirm Comparison Helps Management Stay Competitive", Managerial Finance, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 155-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013355