The Cumberland City Council: Benchmarking Analysis

Introduction

Benchmarking is the method through which a company or institution evaluates its performance by comparing it to that of its competitors. An institution must attempt to compare itself to others in the complicated and competitive world of today in order to improve or value itself. Benchmarking is a performance metric that reveals if you are operating ethically within the sector or market to which your organization belongs. Therefore, it is essential to carefully select your peers so that you may learn from them and gauge your progress. The company can assess its critical success factors against its actual performance when the appropriate peers or benchmarking institutions are selected.

Any deviations will be corrected by strengthening the areas where they are weak or by self-congratulating for a job well done. In order for an institution to perform better, benchmarking may also be referred to as the process of comprehending, incorporating, and finding great methods from institutions all around the world. Benchmarking takes into account the organization’s major areas or processes (Hussain, 2017). Most institutions focus on the tactical and strategic areas where reform would have the most impact. The Cumberland City Council has taken the lead in making sure that the city and its citizens receive the services they require.

Goals of city councils, income levels, growth rates, innovation levels, governance systems and effectiveness, targets of city councils, employment rates in city councils, transportation development in these local governments, and finally population of these local governments are important comparative factors or benchmarking factors (Hussain, 2017). The Cumberland City Council will compare its personnel performance to that of these other local governments based on these factors and consider how to do so.

Methodology

It was crucial to conduct an in-depth, thorough investigation to gather precise facts. The most current census, which included all information and statistics up to this year, took place in 2016. The website ” (academicjournals.org, n.d.)” had a substantial quantity of material. The website gave information on each Council that was concise, factual, and clear. Each of the matrices addressed a wide range of topics to provide an exciting and enlightening report on some aspects of council life. These are GRP, the number of nearby enterprises, the number of inhabitants employed, the population, and more. As previously said, the selected headings offer various perspectives on what occurs in each designated area.

The benchmark selections included in the matrices were all made expressly with Cumberland in mind. The alternative councils provide background information about Cumberland’s position as a council and community. Each benchmark city council was picked out of Australia, the ten selected council boards were in new south west Australia and not from any other place (Hussain, 2017). Categorical data was crucial to include throughout the research process because it gave a clearer picture of the current statistics. Additionally, quantitative data was used to compare the data from each Council.

Discussion

Each Council has its standard that it upholds based on the data included in each of the matrices. Cumberland maintains a high quality, especially regarding its objectives, initiatives, and aspirations. According to matrix 1 (Appendix 1), Cumberland has a population of 236,996 people and is expected to continue growing over the following years (Hussain, 2017). There are also 11,622 small companies in Cumberland. This information also reveals that Cumberland Council plans to increase Cumberland Park’s commercial area to 1,250,00 m2 by 2019, according to matrix 2 (Appendix 2). As a result, Cumberland must have measures in place that will help them become flexible to changes in the city and its objectives.

Along with community welfare objectives in areas like safer roads and a connected community, Cumberland’s sustainability intents constitute a significant emphasis for the Council. Cumberland can reach goals and experience a need for growth and development by adopting plans and strategies for forward expansion. Cumberland wants to raise living standards, promote sustainability, and factor it into the council’s decision-making process.

The councils major initiative is to distribute native beehives to promote biodiversity, pollination, and green spaces; establishing nest boxes to provide habitat for birds; hosting. Return and Earn facilities on certain Council properties; and other measures. One of the top councils for sustainability, Cumberland Council won the award for the most sustainable Council in 2019 (Valdes-Perez, 2015). They have one of the highest rates of unemployment and little plans and objectives to reduce this number.

Even though Cumberland Council and Blacktown Council are two of the most advanced councils in Australia, each has unique features that the other may acquire and enhance. For example, the Blacktown Council aspires to become “Sustainable Blacktown 2030.” The Council has put procedures into place to ensure this operation takes place throughout the city. These approaches align with their objectives, initiatives, and aims (Malaga and Vinodh, 2021). Blacktown is on course to achieve this objective by 2030 because of the development of many initiatives tackling financial, workforce, and community participation issues.

Cumberland declares its desire to become more sustainable, just like Blacktown city council does. According to an extensive study, Cumberland’s main issue is that they only have plans for the next four years. The Council must plan further in advance than it now does if the Council is to meet its goals and develop into a sustainable city with more excellent market prospects. According to Cumberland Council’s education assessment, the city has attendance at educational institutions was at 32.6%. 18.7% were in secondary school, 25.7% were at a higher or technical institution, and 25.7% were in elementary school (Malaga and Vinodh, 2021).

Despite having a far higher population density than Blacktown, Cumberland’s education levels are much lower than they could otherwise be. Despite having a population density of 83.90 persons per hectare, Blacktown council is able to pose and over seven times the amount of cash under education. Cumberland must invest in the community’s development, given the larger population and fewer local jobs.

Recommendations

Any council’s ability to perform at its highest level depends on community engagement. Even though Cumberland City Council already has a new “online engagement portal” where the public can learn about new initiatives and voice their opinions, there is always the potential for improvement. Cumberland Council should hire experts and improve its marketing tactics to engage the community best to communicate the Council’s activities to the neighborhood. The first phase of this initiative would be a letter with a map of Cumberland outlining ongoing and upcoming projects within the area and inviting community comments. They can now have firsthand knowledge about Cumberland’s Future as a result.

The public would have a say after collecting the feedback letters. Another proposal is to hold an open forum day when people could ask the experts and council members more questions and make comments. The primary goal is to fully inform the public and provide them with a city map showing the locations and schedules of these proposed activities. The unifying initiative going place in each council is the concept of sustainability.

Blacktown City Council endeavors in this field since it has a future. Cumberland Council has initiatives, but they are more concerned with the community’s welfare and overall image. Although the labor costs for these experts would be a concern, using internal staff members would be the solution. Cumberland City Council has set a high bar in order to meet its objectives. This city wishes to expand its community, notably in the business district of Cumberland Park. This procedure, which may last up to two months, would be advantageous for Cumberland’s future prosperity.

Focusing on minority groups would be beneficial, as evidenced by the statistics on Cumberland’s low education and the number of local jobs in the area. As a council, they may improve city council’s education by putting in place managers to oversee particular institutions. This team’s structure would be efficient; it would explicitly target the business sector and aim for improvements (Hussain, 2017). The council team looked into the sustainability initiatives taken by nearby businesses to reduce the greenhouse effect as evidence for this. If Cumberland’s Mayor, Lisa Lake, supports these efforts, then there shouldn’t be a problem with the local government’s resistance to them.

Conclusion

When Cumberland is benchmarked against other councils, it performs better, but there is still room for improvement. The objectives should be centered on the current and future of the council service. The population is small, as shown in appendix 1, hence services should be properly delivered. The council can increase innovation, transportation, income distribution, and employment rates because benchmarking aims to improve performance. The council can benchmark and determine how to improve the strategies, goals, initiatives, and even targets that have not yet been completely attained.

Reference List

Academicjournals.org. (n.d.). African journal of business management. Web.

Hussain, S.S. (2017) ‘Teaching Writing to Second Language Learners: Bench-marking Strategies for Classroom’ Arab World English Journal, 8(2), pp.208–227. Web.

Malaga, A. and Vinodh, S. (2021) ‘Benchmarking smart manufacturing drivers using Grey TOPSIS and COPRAS-G approaches,’ Benchmarking: An International Journal, 28(10), pp.2916–2951. Web.

Valdes-Perez, R. (2015) ‘Smart benchmarking starts with knowing whom to compare yourself to,’ Harvard business review. Web.

Appendix 1: Matrix 1 – Council Sustainability

Matrix 1	Goals	Income	Growth	Innovation	Governance	Targets	Employment	Transport	Population	Registered Business	Summary
Cumberland	Not achieved.	67%	Achieved.	55%	75%	Good	Achieved.	Good.	Better.	36,307	Good.
Black town council	Not achieved	67%	Achieved.	60%	62%	Good	Achieved.	50%	Good	35,852	Better
Penrith council	Achieved	50%	Achieved.	90%	66%	Good	Achieved	25%	Good	18,068	good
Hawkesbury council	Not achieved	55%	Achieved	67%	68%	Good	Achieved	34%	Good	8,093	Good
Parramatta council	Not achieved.	63%	Achieved	48%	56%	Good	Achieved	58%	Better	35,992	Better
Liverpool council	Achieved	70%	achieved.	60%	65%	Good	Achieved	60%	Better	23,308	Good
City of Canterbury Bankstown Council	Achieved	58%	Not achieved	42%	52%	better	Achieved	37%	Good	51,186	Good
Blue Mountains Council	Achieved	70%	Achieved	60%	54%	Good	Achieved	54%	Good	5,509	Good
Fairfield Council	Achieved	56%	Achieved.	69%	49%	Good	Achieved	40%	Better	21,564	Good
The Hills Shire Council	Not achieved	34%	Achieved	65%	61%	Good	Achieved	45%	Good	25,378	Better
Summary	Some of the Council have achieved	Income is a good base	The growth rate is still low	Councils are highly innovative.	Good governance in all councils.	Good target achievement	Councils rate is low compared to others.	Transportation system not a good base	Good base of reference	The City of Canterbury Bankstown has the highest number of registered businesses

Appendix 2: Matrix 2

Matrix 2	Target	Initiative	Goal	Summary
Cumberland City Council	Collaboration with the community for maximum success	Good governance, transparency, and accountability.	A wonderful place to live, with strong local government and transparent, accountable leadership.	These objectives have nearly been met by the council. Leadership starts at the top.
Blacktown Council	Creating a future vision and working to achieve it.	A good governance strategic plan for 2032.	A place where people can excel and project positive outcomes in the future.	The city council is concerned with the future, which is a good thing.
Hawkesbury Council	Growing and working together in order to achieve development.	Respecting the culture, the code of conduct, and the law	Through exemplary leadership, a place for growth and community togetherness.	Because it is the fastest growing town, growth policies should be prioritized.
Summary	Benchmarking should be performed on the plans for the future and development plans.	Excellent governance and observing the distinctions between others.	The best objective is that of Cumberland because it emphasizes openness and a welcoming environment for people.