Which of the following activities occurs when developing alternatives?

When developing alternatives, benchmarking plays a critical role as it involves comparing your organization's processes, performance metrics, or products against those of leading competitors or industry best practices. This process helps identify gaps in performance and areas for improvement, which can inform the development of new strategic alternatives. By understanding what successful organizations are doing, a company can craft viable alternatives that are competitive and aligned with best practices in the industry.

Statistical analysis, conducting surveys, and cost analysis are all valuable tools in the decision-making and evaluation processes, but they do not specifically focus on the comparison aspect that benchmarking provides. Statistical analysis might be used to derive insights from data, conducting surveys can gather input from stakeholders, and cost analysis examines financial implications; however, these activities do not inherently provide the comparative framework necessary for developing and refining alternatives as benchmarking does. Thus, benchmarking is pivotal in generating alternatives based on proven success in the industry.