The article below is offered in cooperation with American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC).

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"If we only knew what we know at TI," lamented the late Jerry Junkins, former chairman, president, and CEO of Texas Instruments. Junkins was expressing what many managers are rapidly beginning to realize: that inside their own organizations lies, unknown and untapped, a vast treasure house of knowledge, know-how, and best practices. If tapped, this information could drop millions to the bottom line and yield huge gains in speed, customer satisfaction, and organizational competence.

While TI, like many corporations, has been vigorously pursuing knowledge and best practices by benchmarking with other organizations, it is now putting as much effort into "internal benchmarking"--the process of identifying, sharing, and using the knowledge and practices inside its own organization.