Performance indicators and benchmarking evaluation of company efficiency: the system employed by WML in The Netherlands

In our opinion, the way in which WML, the water company of the Dutch province of Limburg, uses performance indicators and benchmarking is a good example of how these instruments can be beneficial in evaluating company efficiency. in the first place, all aspects of the water company's management at all levels of the organisation are controlled internally by means of a comprehensive set of indices/performance indicators on the basis of a model that covers not only all financial issues, but indeed all aspects that nowadays make an organisation successful. In addition, the water company's performance is compared with that of almost all its colleagues via a benchmarking system supervised by the national sector organisation. This enables the water company to identify aspects of management that could be further improved, and to take the necessary action to implement the desired improvements.