Why benchmark?

In a global world for companies to succeed in business they need to have the necessary infrastructure and people to be able to scale and sustain. Having this seems to be the key drivers for growth. But this is not good enough, as one need to qualify the kind of infrastructure and people the company has. Hence, the companies need to benchmark. They need to benchmark with regard to growth and performance with the rest of the world and keep in pace with it, so as to be not left behind.
A word of caution benchmarking helps to know where you are in relation with others, however to lead there is always something more and different one needs to do.