Hurricane Sandy should be a warning call for businesses to take a thorough look at their crisis plans and procedures. According to The New York Times, economic losses from Hurricane Sandy could exceed $30 billion. Sandy’s impact will be felt to varying degrees in businesses around the world. Being…

Big Data refers to a collection of data sets so large and complex that capturing, storing, searching, sharing, analyzing, and understanding them is beyond the capabilities of commonly used databases and tools. Organizations are being inundated with a plethora of data that has the potential to…

In the run-up to today’s U.S. presidential election, I’ve been struck by the way data and analytics have taken center stage. More and more people seem to be obsessing over polling data, “polls of polls” that synthesize data from disparate sources, and statistical models spitting out different…

Recently at the APQC 2012 Process conference, several people asked about how to adopt and adapt APQC's Process Classification Framework (PCF). A previous post, Case Studies for Implementing a Process Classification Framework, identified several organizations that implemented the PCF in their unique…

 “HR ‘has wasted the past 20 years,’ says survey.” This headline, from a recent Personnel Today article, sure got my attention. The article presents the results of a KPMG Management Consulting/Economist Intelligence Unit survey. Whether you agree with the conclusions or not, the article and…

Of course the headline’s promise is a vast overstatement. And as a result, the credible advice I share with you below will be a letdown, which is ironically the point of this blog. While there are certainly notable exceptions, the IT consulting marketplace has had more than its share of…

Here at APQC, we are very excited to announce that we’re among 10 winners of the 2012 North American Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) award. This is our eighth time being recognized for our organizational learning practices and outstanding customer value. Even cooler, we were also admitted…

In my last blog post I highlighted APQC’s recently released collection of key procurement benchmarks. This time I wanted to highlight our content featuring logistics benchmarks. First up is a series called Logistics Benchmarks. These articles, based on the report Blueprint for Success: Logistics (…

A common theme among senior finance executives and subject matter experts regarding the close-to-disclose process has emerged. Many large organizations, particularly those that have significantly grown globally over the past decade, could stand to improve in one or all of the following four areas…

If you’re in charge of designing knowledge management tools and approaches for your organization, you know you need to pick ones that employees will actually use. Otherwise, your shiny new process or software package may end up gathering dust, not providing any value. But how do you figure out…