So my read of the second and third groups was that the companies are being competitive against the top of that range (vs the first group that is just benchmarki

So my read of the second and third groups was that the companies are being competitive against the top of that range (vs the first group that is just benchmarking against local peers). If I'm competing to win a competition, it doesn't matter how low the lowest performer is. It does matter who the highest performers are. So I feel like you may have just read the definition incorrectly (granted article could also have been more clear).