Gap Analysis and Benchmarking for Anthony's Orchard

In the media piece for this unit, Anthony's Orchard Director of Operations Allison Sinclair expressed concern over the lack of successful efforts to measure organisational quality. Recall the following quote from her discussion of this issue:

As a family-owned business with a history of success, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that we do things properly almost by default-the ‘we've always done it this way' and ‘if it ain't broke don't fix it' arguments. The danger with that line of thinking is what if it is broken? What if the way we've always done things is good but ignores some best practises that could lead to even better performance?
We are now at a point where we are ready to commit to a strategy of continuous improvement and quality management. This is a big step forward for us. But taking the next step is not so easy. Developing and implementing a process is new to us and will require careful analysis. In short, we know where we would like to be but are unsure how best to get there.

In this Individual Assignment, you will suggest an approach to address these concerns. You will propose strategies the company could implement to move from its current status towards its goals for 2015 using the processes of gap analysis and benchmarking.

To prepare for this assignment:

Review the media in the unit resources.

To complete this assignment:

1. Conduct a gap analysis for Anthony's Orchard. This should include:

• A statement of where the organisation wishes to be by 2015 (use financial data for this, such as targeted revenues and/or profit)
• A comparison of the current financial state of the organisation and the desired state by the end of fiscal year 2015
• Your suggestion for ways the company can bridge the gap identified in your comparison above

2. Devise a benchmarking review for Anthony's Orchard. To do this, discuss recommended strategies and measures that will be useful to measure progress towards the objective in your gap analysis.

Part-2

Review the benchmarking efforts of your own organisation (or one with which you are familiar). In particular, examine how this organisation measures customer (user) satisfaction and how performance is benchmarked.

Create a blog post that contains the following:

Explain this organisation's benchmarking efforts (or lack thereof). If benchmarking is employed, identify how the currently used benchmarks align with or address international standards.

Explain the degree to which the existing benchmarks align with existing organisational goals. Propose improvements which would better align benchmarks as needed.

If benchmarking does not exist at any level within this organisation, identify some organisational goals that could benefit from benchmarking activities, and strategies you would recommend to employ benchmarking.

Visit the blog postings of your group members and comment on their analyses, suggesting any additional ways their organisations could improve the effectiveness of benchmarking activities, or how they could be implemented. END