Benchmark to escape from Lake Wobegon Alan Betts Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Simon Croom Supply Chain Management Institute, University of San Diego, San Diego, California, USA, and Dawei Lu Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether an employee reports an accurate view of the relative performance level of the organisation for which they work. Design/methodology/approach – Utilizes a survey of 2,517 senior managers, managers and team leaders from 120 different organisations in nine different countries. Findings – There is significant and consistent overestimation of performance with 75 percent of the management team reporting that their organisation is above average, and only 5 percent rating their organisation as below average compared to its competitors. A very significant finding is that where there is likely to be a greater degree of knowledge of competitor’s performance estimation improves. Practical implications – The implication of this misrepresentation of the true position is to make it less likely that an improvement initiative will succeed as managers will not be sufficiently motivated to improve an apparently satisfactory status quo. The paper calls for greater focus both on the activity of benchmarking and in the process of spreading knowledge of the benchmarking activity. Originality/value – This paper extends issues such as the Lake Wobegon effect and socially desirable reporting which have been investigated in depth in the area of personal self-assessment and applies them into a different arena, that of the employee’s view of the performance of the organisation. Keywords Benchmarking, Perception, Lake Wobegon, SDR Paper type Research paper Introduction Completing any perception survey holds two distinct but intertwined problems. First is the possibility that people will perceive that their performance is better than it is in reality (the Lake Wobegon effect). Second, that the respondents will answer in a way to present themselves in the best light (socially desirable reporting (SDR)). This paper seeks to see if these well-known phenomena are also present when employees are asked for their views about the performance of the organisation that employs them. If present, the paper will strive to resolve which is the more prevalent. These issues are explored through the analysis of a large-scale management survey (the world-class survey) which has been completed by 2,517 senior managers, managers and team leaders in nine countries. The importance of the issue is that an unwarranted level of perceived performance may make change programs less likely to succeed. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1463-5771.htm Benchmark to escape from Lake Wobegon 733 Benchmarking: An International Journal Vol. 18 No. 5, 2011 pp. 733-744 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1463-5771 DOI 10.1108/14635771111166848