Assignment 8.1

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Assignment 8.1 – Case Study – Benchmarking at Xerox (Value: 25 points) Develop an essay with at least 100-words per question in APA, 6th or 7th edition format. An essay format includes title page, introduction, your document information, conclusion, and reference page. Please access your Course Information link with an example. Remember to use at least three (3) references and therefore, three (3) citations in the text; could be direct or indirect. For references on how to present your citations and Reference page, please access https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples. The answers will be evaluated according to the included rubric. Submit the assignment in the corresponding forum, during this week. Situation: By the late 1970s, Xerox was losing significant market share to its Japanese competitors. Not only were the Japanese products excellent but also, to Xerox’s dismay, they were sold for less than Xerox could manufacture them. Xerox found that it had nine times as many suppliers as the Japanese companies and made seven times as many manufacturing defects. Lead times for new products were twice as long, and production setup times were five times as long as the competitors. Xerox introduced benchmarking in 1980. Its processes and practices were benchmarked against the best in and out of its industry. As a result of these efforts, Xerox saved itself. Today, Xerox is a world-class competitor, capable of holding its own in terms of technology, price, service, and customer satisfaction against any competition. Benchmarking at Xerox has reached into every facet of the company and remains a primary feature of the corporation.   Questions: 1. Does the pattern of spending more than the average in some areas and under the average in others suggest anything to you (relative to previous chapters)? How will this influence any benchmarking strategy? Write out your answer as a benchmarking consultant. 2. Using public domain information, such as that available on the Internet and journal articles (available on your PUPR library databases), determine where Xerox stands relative to its competitors today. You can make a table to compare Xerox against Epson, Brother, Ricoh, some of the top.