BEST PRACTICES

- HIMANI BHANDARI

- SOUMYA CHANDRA

INTRODUCTION TO BENCHMARKING:

The term "bench" in benchmarking refers to a mark made upon some object in a landscape indicating its elevation, to be used as a reference point by surveyors. Benchmarking in the business context involves taking measurements of a corporate landscape whose dimensions will probably not be immediately apparent.

Best practices are those practices that have been shown to produce superior results selected by a systematic process and judged as exemplary, good, or successfully demonstrated, these practices are then adapted to fit a particular organisation. Benchmarking is a systematic process used for identifying and implementing best or better practices.

1. Determine processes to be benchmarked.2. Determine organizations to be benchmarked.3. Gather data.4. Locate deficiencies.5. Determine future trends.6. Reveal results and sell the process.7. Achieve consensus on revised goals.8. Establish procedures.9. Implement procedures and monitor results.10. Recalibrate benchmarks.

The ten steps of benchmarking:

Best practices at PIZZA HUT :(Pizza Hut Preference Driven Communications and Pizzas):

Pizza Hut , the world's largest pizza chain with over 12,500 restaurants across 91 countries , swept both the 2013 Marketing Excellence Awards and Loyalty & Engagement Awards back-to-back with several recognitions of the brand's strategy to adopt innovative , effective and contemporary marketing practices that increase customer engagement and conversation. Many companies capture large quantities of customer data. But few use the data to deliver a competitively differentiating customer experience . Pizza Hut is asking customers to provide their preferences and using that information to deliver preference driven communications and pizzas. Recently, Pizza Hut shifted to more personalized customer interactions by segmenting its customer base into 6,000+ groups based on characteristics, purchase tendencies, and behavioral indicators. Juliana Lim, Senior Marketing Director for Pizza Hut, says, "We now run targeted campaigns built with intelligence around customers' preferred product categories, typical purchase times and channels of choice”.  Pizza Hut provided customers with a registration process to define their personal communication and pizza preferences and delivery instructions. Customers can order online, via traditional call-in, via a mobile site, and even via an ordering app on an Xbox 360® system. Online registration allows customers to get exclusive deals, save “fast favs” for quick reorders, and even set pre-orders for up to 7 days ahead.

1. Provide frequent and prompt feedback to students.2. Provide opportunities for frequent interactions between yourself and students.3. Observe copyright and fair use policies and guidelines.4. Use formative assessment to promote deeper learning; consider alternative forms of

assessment such as portfolios.5. Have students conduct peer-assessments.6. Conduct a mid-semester and/or end-of-semester course evaluation to collect

feedback on the workings of the course.7. Establish clear goals for classroom or virtual communication and share these with

your students.8. Incorporate electronic discussion forums into course design.9. Encourage peer-to-peer interaction between students.10.Devise a plan for using conscious questioning to encourage, initiate and guide

student discussion.11. Use corporate learning techniques for small group learning activities.12.Place students into small groups of 2-4 members for problem-solving and discussion-

oriented activities.13.Provide students with strategies for working in groups.14.Use collaborative learning to support asynchronous discussion.

BEST PRACTICES FOR OUR COLLEGE :

1. Marketing : College should focus on providing facilities :- Campus open house events, Campus visit days for high school students, Encouraging prospective students to apply on the admissions Web site, Encouraging prospective students to schedule campus visits on the admission Web site, Using enrolled students in recruitment/marketing and Academic programs within high schools for students to earn college credits to institution.

2. Loyalty : Like Loyalty program for customer feedback , Universities should find out from their students just what it is they’re looking to gain and make these inquiries worth their time , too allow them to benefit form promotions or be entered into contests for answering your questions and bettering your understanding of how to best engage.

3. Customer Engagement : Like customer engagement , in college there should be an Office for Student Engagement. The Office of Student Engagement should be dedicated to providing quality on- and off- campus activities , leadership development opportunities , new student programs and late-night and weekend events that enhance the experience for students and their families.

FIVE RECOMMENDED PRACTICES FOR OUR COLLEGE :-

4. Conversation : There should be a Campus Conversation Program. This program should pairs non-native English-Speaking students, scholars and staff with native or near-native-English-Speaking members of the University faculty and staff for one-on-one , informal conversation in English. The program promotes and encourages cultural awareness and understanding , helps international students understand and adapt to U.S. culture and provides both participants the opportunity to see the world from another perspective and create a rewarding new friendship.

5. Online facility : Universities should enhance technologies for online materials:- Effective use of Multimedia, Interactive Videoconferencing, Using Compressed Video, Adding Graphics to online courses and Tutorial for creating linked images.

CONCLUSION :

I am really thankful for the person who had decided this topic for the challenge. We learned so many things while making this presentation . We learned what is the importance ,need and what actually is benchmarking . We learned what are best practices. Best Practices are defined as strategies, activities or approaches that have been shown through research and evaluation to be effective and/or efficient. This information may be utilized to learn about new techniques , improve processes , create new programs , enhance outreach and make current programs more effective. I think if all best practices suggested is seriously applied then we can enhance the program relevant to academic affairs , student affairs , workforce education , business , economic development ,technology , innovation and administration.