Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

Good Practices and InnovATIONS in Public Governance
Asia and the Pacific
Malaysia
2004 Category 3 Winner
National Productivity Corporation Interactive
e-Benchmarking Database for Benchmarking Communities
National Productivity Council Corporation, Malaysia
Description
Developing an IT-based system of benchmarks to speed up data collection to
improve public and private sector performance.
The Problem
Prior to the introduction of the e-benchmarking system, data collection was mainly
accomplished using the postal system, via questionnaires that were delivered by
mail. Data verification and validation was conducted through telephone interviews
and site visits. Data entry, computation, ranking and benchmarking were done manually
by research assistants using spread sheets. These processes were time consuming,
costly and subject to human error. As a result, benchmarking reports could not
be delivered effectively to the participating industries for immediate use in decision
making processes.
The Solution
The government of Malaysia realized that in the age of ICT applications and internet,
innovation, creativity and more efficient ways of data collection are instrumental to
ensuring that only accurate data are used in decision making processes. Therefore,
the government decided to allocate development funds to promote benchmarking in
the private and public sectors through the National Productivity Corporation (NPC).
The objective of this initiative was to develop world class companies in Malaysia, to
promote a culture of excellence, and enhance productivity.
Since 1998, the NPC has been promoting benchmarking and working closely with
various industry associations and government agencies. To assist the industries
achieve higher productivity and strengthen their international comparative advantage,
the NPC created a web-based database tool to improve data collection, facilitate
effective communication among the benchmarking communities, and benchmark
productivity in manufacturing and agriculture, as well as extend such services to
other sectors of the economy. This new system allows industries to conveniently type
in data, compute indicators, rank performance and benchmark comparisons online.
Confidentiality of industry data is secured by a password.
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