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Consultants to Regain Negotiating Leverage in 2013
APQC’s analysis of consulting procurement practices finds that pricing pressure should be less intense in 2013. In 2012, 94 percent of organizations surveyed by APQC said they expected larger fee discounts (below book rates) than the year before; that percentage plummets to 14 percent in 2013.…
Process Strategy 2.0: A New Direction?
As we move into 2013, many organizations are planning for change. The Harvard Business Review Blog Network ran a piece about the emerging trends in process and process improvement: Three Examples of New Process Strategy. In this discussion, Brad Power talks about Process Strategy 2.0 and how…
HR Plans for a Higher Level of Performance
Today’s HR functions are performing moderately well. What will it take to reach a higher level of HR performance in the future? Read our latest human capital management white paper Making the Journey from Moderate to High-Performance HR to find out. The white paper contains APQC’s analysis of…
Measure and Improve Product Development Performance
How does your organization’s product development function compare with that of other organizations? In this post I want to talk about data for a few key performance indicators in product development. The data presented here is taken from APQC’s Open Standards Benchmarking in product development…
Stop Overpaying for Fixed Assets
In the wake of the recession, the topic of fixed asset management has become increasingly important. When an organization has a good handle on its fixed assets, meaning it is able to do a good job of tracking, managing, and accounting for depreciation, it not only avoids errors on its financial…
The Hardest Part of Knowledge Flow
Last week, Cindy Hubert and I presented a Webinar on making knowledge flow through organizations. We talked about APQC’s seven-step Knowledge Flow Process and how to deal with glitches and bottlenecks as you move through the cycle. As part of the call, we asked you which part of the knowledge flow…
The Current State of Project Management Offices
Creating an effective, productive project management office (PMO) is a key concern for many organizations. The Project Management Institute (PMI) released a 2012 pulse of project management report that examines the current trends of more than 1,000 project management professionals. Some of the…
Human Capital Management Articles—Favorite Reads from APQC
It’s December and workers across the globe are engaging in a similar yearly tradition—reflecting on the lessons of the past and aspiring for an improved future. For the many workers considering issues related to people management, we have compiled a list of some of our favorite APQC articles on…
Reshoring in the News Again
Over the weekend NPR ran a story on reshoring: not necessarily a new topic, but one that has gained new publicity by the recent announcement from Apple that it will move production of a line of its Macs from China to the United States. NPR’s story highlights the case of GE, which has been making…
Financial Reporting Increasingly Complex
As 2012 begins to come to a close and finance departments are consumed with the year-end close-to-disclose process, it seems fitting to reflect back on how this “last mile” of finance has transformed over the past few years. The close-to-disclose process involves all activities needed to close an…