Assessing the importance of benchmarking as a useful tool in performance management at the local administration level: A case study of Old Tafo municipal assembly

Abstract

Benchmarking is indicated of having the potential to assist a corporation in understanding performance. This study sought to assess the impact of benchmarking on the performance management of the local administrative level in Ghana using the Tafo Municipal Assembly as case. Both open-ended and closed-ended questions were included in the survey. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used in testing the hypothesis arising from the theoretical model. The study observed and accepted that there is a significant positive relationship between benchmarking intensity and local administrative performance and also observed and accepted that there is a significant positive relationship between benchmarking diversity and local administrative performance. The study recommends utilization of benchmarking as it supports a cycle of opportunity recognition and strategic mobilization of resources to act on opportunities to transform them into new or enhanced goods, processes, and services that result in performance improvements Future research should include a multidistrict, multi-metropolitan, multi municipal and multi-regional survey across Ghana. This would lead to a better knowledge and pattern in multi-group or regional analyses of how benchmarking intensity and benchmarking diversity interact to influence local administrative performance in Ghana.