benchmark

(noun)

A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.

Related Terms

Examples of benchmark in the following topics:

  • Comparisons Within an Industry

    • Most financial ratios have no universal benchmarks, so meaningful analysis involves comparisons with competitors and industry averages.
    • Ratios of risk such as the current ratio, the interest coverage, and the equity percentage have no theoretical benchmarks.

  • Demanding a Premium

    • Firms can engage in premium pricing by keeping the price of their good artificially higher than the benchmark price.

  • The industry environment

    • Many different agencies and businesses use these categories for statistical studies, business comparisons, and benchmarks.
    • For example, the average number of employees and sales of firms in the industry can be found and from this information critical benchmarks like sales per employee may be calculated.

  • Trends in Franchises: Growth

    • And if that is the case, then the growth rate that was experienced in the years leading up to the Great Recession cannot be the benchmark for growth in the next decade.

  • Activities in the Human Resources Department

    • Setting compensation levels to match the market, using benchmarks such as industry standards for a given job function

  • Managing Up and Employee Feedback

    • Objectives – Evaluation requires an understanding of what that individual should be trying to accomplish, and some form of benchmark to measure if these objectives are being met.

  • Debt Utilization Ratios

    • It is a popular benchmark used in the measurement of an entity's ability to produce enough cash to cover its debt (including lease) payments.

  • Selecting the right People

    • This provides a benchmark for future performance as well as a means of evaluating the success of a particular method.

  • The State of the Economy

    • Consensus forecasts predict that unemployment will remain high for many more years, suggesting that typical Americans are in for another lost decade of living standards growth as measured by key benchmarks such as median wages and incomes.

  • Short-Term Loans

    • These instruments are often benchmarked to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for the appropriate term and currency.