Criteria and Scores

Assumption

F

Finances

F1

Financial sustainability

Score  Description

1          The chamber mostly depends on external subsidies from government and/or donors

3          Maximum of 30% of the income are subsidies, the other 70% come from membership dues, sponsorships, other income generating activities and service fees

5          The total income is self-generated by membership fees, service charges and other income generating activities. There are no subsidies to finance operating costs including rent
 

The less a business chamber depends on external means the more it is independent in its provision of services and lobbying.

Q

Honorary and professional staff 

Q1

Number of professional staff

Score  Description

1          1

2          2 - 3

3          4 to 6

4          7 to 12

5          13 and above
 

The more (qualified) staff a business chamber has the more specialists provide specific services. Moreover chances increase that staff do not only execute tasks delegated by the board of directors but are also decision takers and have defined tasks.

Q2

Quality of professional staff

Score  Description

1          Very low qualification level: pure assistants to the president and board of directors, no management functions

3          Medium level: small number of qualified staff members with management capacities

5          Very high level: more than one third of the staff members with qualified management capacities, sector related knowledge, experience and entrepreneurial spirit. The chamber is managed like an enterprise
 

The performance of a chamber concerning sophisticated services and lobbying depends highly on the qualification of the professional staff. Honorary staff usually lacks time and know-how.

Q3

Quality of honorary staff: president, board of directors and other organizational units

Score  Description

1          Very low: no leadership qualities, lack knowledge on functions of an chamber, low level of understanding economic coherences

3          Medium: some leadership capacity, some knowledge on functions of an chamber, limited knowledge about economy and politics

5          Very high: strong personalities, top leadership qualities, broad understanding of systemic competiveness, successful and respected businessmen / women

Commitment and vision of the leadership is a very important if not the most important criterion to assess a business association/ chamber. Leadership depends on the cultural context of the respective society. Therefore there is no sub criterion “leadership” included in the benchmark. The leadership capacity is implicitly included in other sub criteria of this business association/ chamber benchmark.

O

Office and equipment

O1

Quality and quantity of adequate office space and equipment

Score  Description

1          Very poor: neither the office space nor the equipment is adequate

3          Medium: some office space, no adequate space for events, medium type of equipment

5          Very good: running of a “Business Centre” together with other entrepreneurial institutions, facilities for events, very well equipped
 

If there is no office space and no equipment the organisation cannot perform.

A business centre fills the business chamber with life.

A

Advocacy

A1

Internal discussions about improvements of the business environment

Score  Description

1          Very low: no internal discussions

3          Medium: some internal discussions which tend to be dominated by the president

5          Very high: permanent internal discussions based on proposals and complains of members
 

The more members express their problems and proposals in a well organized and qualified way the more the chamber enters into lobbying with topics reflecting members’ demand. This increases the credibility of the proposals.

A2

Cooperation with government and public administration

Score  Description

1          Very low: no or almost no communication / cooperation, low or no contacts established

3          Medium: ad hoc communication, no regular cooperation

5          Very high: permanent communication on regular basis e g participate in public private dialogue for policy formulation and in committees on regular basis, privilege to participate in sector strategy development, high number of contacts established, communication strategy: promotion of win-win situations for both the government and the business community
 

A business chamber without permanent contacts with public authorities has no chance to improve the business environment. The closer, better and more regular the contacts are, the higher are the chances to be heard and accepted by the public sector representatives.

A3

Networking with other business associations / chambers, federations etc. in order to bundle lobbying power

Score  Description

1          Very low: no cooperation with other business associations / chambers and a federation, the chamber works isolated

3          Medium: limited cooperation with other business associations / chambers and federation based on personal relationships between presidents, other honoraries and chief executive officers

5          Very high: institutionalized cooperation among business associations / chambers
 

A single business chamber can only gain impact on its administrative (local) level. But many relevant issues are decided upon on state or national level.

The more business chambers cooperate, the more chances they have to lobby successfully on all administrative levels.

S

Services

S1

Training and consultancy

Score  Description

1          Very low: hardly any training and consultancy services

3          Medium: sporadic training and consultancy services mostly initiated by individual board members

5          Very high: training and consultancy products including a wide range of services
 

The more qualified services a chamber / business association offers to its members the more attractive it becomes. It will then contribute to the development of the member enterprises and the local economy. This refers not only to training and counselling but also to other services which meet the members’ demand such as registration, certificates and discounts.

S2

Other services with a direct return for the members

Score  Description

1          Very low: hardly any other services

3          Medium: sporadic other services mostly initiated by individual board members

5          Very high: institutionalized regular service products