THE USE OF BENCHMARKING PRACTICES IN ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN OMAN MEDICAL COLLEGE- SURVEY BASED STUDY

*Dr. A. R. Mullaicharam, Dr. Yaseen Al Lawatia, Dr. Jayasekher, Dr. Nirmala Halligudi and Ahmed Basheer

ABSTRACT

In the global market of higher education there are clearly competitive advantages in establishing and maintaining a reputation for providing good quality education, high academic standards and World-class research output. Aim: Oman medical College (Bowsher Campus) carry out benchmarking with other departments, a practice which would help them identify and adopt good practices from 2016 onwards. A competitive university is beneficial to the social and economic development of the country towards realization of Oman’s vision 2030. Specific Objectives: 1. To identify reasons for initiating benchmarking in Oman medical college. 2. To assess the level of success in benchmarking at Oman medical College. 3 To assess the effect of benchmarking in achieving competitive advantage in Oman Medical College. Methodology: The research design adopted by the researcher for this study was descriptive. This design was adopted because it involves extensively observing and describing performance appraisal systems. Descriptive studies report summary data such as measures of central tendency. The target population was Pharmacy faculty and General foundation faculty of full time academic staff from General foundation department and Pharmacy department within the Oman Medical College. Conclusion: The conclusion is that both GFP & Pharmacy in Oman Medical College have applied benchmarking practices to achieve competitive advantage though the private universities to a greater extent.

Keywords: .