THE ROLE OF BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS
IN PACIFIC ISLAND ECONOMIC GROWTH
November 9-12, 1999
Wailea, Maui, Hawaii

Moderator:  Rick Purcell
Rapporteur:  Harlan Lee

DEFINING BEST PRACTICES

Rick Purcell presented a detailed description of the best practices process, including the reasons for using best practices, defining best practices and benchmarking, and finding sources for best practices. He used as a prime example the Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Center located at College Park, Maryland, which was established by the US Government in 1985 through partnership of the Navy, the Department of Commerce and the University of Maryland. He described the Center's process for validating best practices in companies and organizations through surveys by technical experts, and disseminating the information to the community through the Center's website and publications.

The key is the companies' willingness to share information. This does not mean disclosure of proprietary information, such as patented processes, but by sharing information about ways in which the company has implemented successful practices in management, logistics, training, human resources, and the like. The surveys are not limited to industrial companies but can include organizations and associations. The survey findings are made available on the BMP website at no cost to those who access the site, and through printed copies of the report. The BMP website has over 500,000 hits per month.

The cost savings by companies that adopt best practices validated by the BMP program are significant — over $6 billion since the start of the program. The return on investment is also impressive, measured at about 1000 to 1. Of particular value are low cost, low tech good ideas that work, that can be implemented cheaply and easily.

Rick then presented a proposal for establishment of a Business Center of Excellence in Hawaii, modeled after the Best Practices Center on the Mainland. The proposed Hawaii Center would go beyond the BMP Center concept by focusing on cross-cultural best practices of businesses and organizations located in Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region. Other functions would include conducting workshops and training, providing on-site business consulting, performing benchmarking of regional enterprises, networking and facilitating business partnerships with businesses in Hawaii and the Mainland, and providing modeling and simulation of business process improvement.

Discussion

The group participants were quite enthusiastic about the development of such a Center that would serve Pacific island needs. Their questions and comments included the following:

What is benchmarking?
Benchmarking is an assessment of a company's performance level.

How do you overcome reluctance to share information?
Companies have learned that the surveys give them useful information to make improvements, and that they gain favorable publicity, and can attract more business.

What are the mechanics of handling surveys?
Surveys are voluntary, and companies reveal only as much information as they choose to.

Who pays for the surveys?
The government funds the BMP Center program, and companies make experts available to serve on survey teams on an in-kind basis. Companies do this because they find they gain from supporting the program.

Are models available for small business enterprises and for diversity programs?
Models are available in the BMP database.

How can survey information be found that is relevant to Pacific island businesses?
A Business Center of Excellence in Hawaii would conduct surveys on Pacific Rim companies and obtain information on successful practices that would be useful for the Pacific islands.