Benchmarking Practices and Service Delivery in the National Police Service in Mombasa County, Kenya

Abstract

Nowadays organizations are operating in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment which has forced organizations to consider adopting and implementing various innovative management programs and techniques. Benchmarking is one of the modern approaches to determining appropriate measures for management. Police currently are expected to resolve various conflicts in their communities, reduce or prevent social disorder, and construct and maintain community relations. It is important to understand that the measurement of police performance is a complicated task that has multiple. There is no single measure that would be even remotely close to measuring the performance of everything the police do. This study examined the influence of benchmarking practices on service delivery in the national police service in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study-specific objectives were to examine the influence of process benchmarking practice, functional benchmarking practice, internal benchmarking and external benchmarking on service delivery. The study was guided by contingency theory, resource dependence theory and theory of constraints. This research adopted a survey research design. The study’s target population was police officers working within Mombasa County. The study’s respondents were gazette officers and members of the inspectorate with a total of 65. The study took a census of 195 since the population has got less than 200 respondents. The main data collection instrument in this study was a questionnaire. This study used content validity because it measures the degree to which the sample of the items represents the content that the test was designed to measure. The reliability of the questionnaires was determined using Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient. The study used quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze data. The regression analysis model was employed since it’s a set of statistical analyses used to estimate the relationship among variables. The study established that process benchmarking, functional benchmarking, internal benchmarking and external benchmarking had a positive and significant influence on the service delivery in the national police service in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study concluded that process benchmarking demonstrates how top-performing businesses carry out the specific process in question. Functional benchmarking is a comparison of similar or identical practices within the same or similar functions outside the immediate industry. Internal benchmarking is extremely effective because it assists in setting and meeting standards across the board, establishing consistency, and ensuring that each department is as efficient as possible. The reference point in external benchmarking is established outside of the business environment. The study recommended that the organization's performance must be consistently evaluated. Set their own standards and compare their processes and performance to those of recognized organizational leaders or best practices from other industries that operate in a similar environment. The organization should validate and prioritize its strategies to address any gaps between its current performance and future performance. The organization must implement a process that encourages idea-sharing. The organization should collect benchmarking data from other companies by creating formal or informal alliances with other companies to gather data.