In market economies, specifically within (the present global) competitive market conditions actual performance of businesses is measured by the (international) market itself: efficient operations remain in business, produce profit and have potential to develop. In case of productive sectors of the economy, namely the agriculture, the industry, the trade and services such assessment having a post-facto character carries the risk of being late, i.e. it may jeopardize the business itself if it does not have sufficient resources to take corrective actions. Specifically assessment of industrial entities such as (sub)sectors, companies and production units plays an important role for governments and managements as its – timely obtained – results enable decision makers to initiate necessary actions.
The above considerations triggered the preparation of this study. In order to demonstrate practical applicability and usefulness of benchmarking, revealing good manufacturing practices and how thy can serve performance assessment in the industry, the paper is focusing – as an example – on footwear manufacturing and trade.

This paper was presented during the 15th UNIDO Leather Panel and later successfuly used in UNIDO TA to benchmark footwear sector and companies.

The Footwear Industry Certificate/Diploma Course was developed by the UNIDO Leather Unit's staff, its experts and consultants in 1985. The material was made available as training aid nad given, fully or partly, as hand-out for students and trainees.

The survey is intended to cover the environmental impacts and health issues of the footwear and leather goods industries with particular reference to solid waste, air pollution and chemicals. The review covers quantification of solid wastes, technology available for reducing environmental impact and health risks and legislation. It was presented during th 13th UNIDO Leather Panel, Bologna November 1997.