APQC's Process Classification Framework (PCF) is a taxonomy of business processes that allows organizations to objectively track and compare their performance with the performance of other internal or external organizations, regardless of functional discipline or industry classification. During the first quarter of 2013, APQC conducted interviews with organizations that are leading users of the PCF. Our goal was to get an understanding of why these organizations use the PCF, how they use it, and what benefits they have realized as a result. Throughout our interview process, certain themes emerged. The themes were consistent across all industries represented. They reveal that leading organizations use the PCF in the following ways and for the following reasons:
- as a starting point for performance improvement;
- to prepare for benchmarking;
- to obtain an objective, third-party view of processes;
- to increase executive involvement in process improvement; and
- in conjunction with other frameworks.
In the coming weeks, APQC will be releasing a case study on a pharmaceutical company is using the PCF, as well as a document that expands on the PCF usage themes. We are always looking for more input, so leave a comment and tell us how you are using the PCF.