What is the purpose of benchmarking in Six Sigma?

Benchmarking in Six Sigma is primarily focused on identifying areas for process improvement by analyzing and comparing best practices from other organizations or industries. This method allows companies to gain insights into how they can enhance their own processes by learning from the successes and efficiencies demonstrated by others who are recognized leaders in their fields.

Through benchmarking, an organization can look at various performance metrics and processes to understand where it stands in relation to others. This can lead to discovering innovative strategies or techniques that have proven effective elsewhere, thereby allowing the organization to adapt and implement those insights tailored to its unique context.

This contrasts with the other options, as setting unrealistic performance goals would not lead to effective or achievable improvements, comparing processes with unrelated organizations lacks relevance, and eliminating competition runs counter to the collaborative spirit of sharing best practices inherent in benchmarking. The goal is to foster improvement and excellence rather than to undermine competition.