ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the TIC case study by considering external factors. It also discusses the ideas of supplier development, which is embraced very strongly by Japanese businesses, and benchmarking which is now widely used both internally and externally. TIC has progressed from the initial disordered state to one where it is becoming internally consistent and coherent, is developing sound processes and damping variability through well-designed jobs with clear performance criteria and accountability. Microsoft, through more effective interaction with the customers, has achieved and sustained a dominant market position, a position sustained even in 2021 with respect to personal computers, although Apple and Android operating systems have established dominant positions in the mobile device markets. Benchmarking, also now often called ‘best practice’ – and reinterpreted and broadened by many as ‘best value’ – is used by large and small organisations throughout the world to help them understand their own performance against the best that they can measure.
