Benchmarking in higher education: a framework for benchmarking for quality improvement

This paper is intended to develop a contextualised benchmarking framework for quality improvements purposes at a polytechnic in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It describes the benchmarking framework in terms of its definition, purpose and types. Further, the internal and external expectations of benchmarking have been identified through revising and analysing key strategic documents. In addition, the criteria for selecting benchmarking partners that are appropriate to the Polytechnic have been set out. To make the benchmarking activities more effective, they were integrated with existing processes. Moreover, roles and responsibilities for carrying out benchmarking activities were provided. Finally, the benchmarking methodology, communication of findings, and conclusion were provided