摘要：The adoption and diffusion of benchmarking is relatively addressed in Western countries.However,there is scant evidence on how benchmarking is received by organizations in developing countries.Additionally,while the diffusion of innovation theory suggests the significance influence of characteristics of an innovation on its adoption and diffusion,no study has been reported to examine this theory in relation to benchmarking.Furthermore,almost all surveys on the adoption of benchmarking have considered benchmarking as a practice rather than a process.Contributing to these gaps in the literature,this study provides evidence on the adoption of and diffusion of benchmarking in Sultanate of Oman (as a developing country) and examines the significance of impact of characteristics of innovation on the adoption and diffusion of benchmarking (both as a practice and a process).Making a distinction between the adoption of benchmarking as a practice and a process,this study explains some of the variations in reported adoption rates for benchmarking in the literature.
关键词：The adoption and diffusion of benchmarking is relatively addressed in Western countries.However,there is scant evidence on how benchmarking is received by organizations in developing countries.Additionally,while the diffusion of innovation theory suggests the significance influence of characteristics of an innovation on its adoption and diffusion,no study has been reported to examine this theory in relation to benchmarking.Furthermore,almost all surveys on the adoption of benchmarking have considered benchmarking as a practice rather than a process.Contributing to these gaps in the literature,this study provides evidence on the adoption of and diffusion of benchmarking in Sultanate of Oman (as a developing country) and examines the significance of impact of characteristics of innovation on the adoption and diffusion of benchmarking (both as a practice and a process).Making a distinction between the adoption of benchmarking as a practice and a process,this study explains some of the variations in reported adoption rates for benchmarking in the literature.
