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.…

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…

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…

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…

When it comes to performance measurement systems, staff buy-in, support, and participation are key. Many times, organizations assume that because management and leadership support measurement, employees will be onboard as well. Yet, employees find measurement threatening—many worry that it will…

Selling consulting services to a former consultant requires a different mindset than when pitching a project to someone who has never sat on your side of the negotiating table. APQC’s analysis of 72 organizations’ consulting procurement practices found some key distinctions you should be aware of…

Business practitioners often use the term “best practices” when discussing improvement initiatives. That term represents practices that, when adopted, will have a positive impact on business performance. But there is more to best practices. To move past the label, business leaders must answer…

There are often several things that can be critical mistakes for an organization. This article, courtesy of the Process Excellence Network (PEX), suggests five different errors that are made, according to Peter Drucker. From 1975 to 1995, Peter F. Drucker wrote a column for The Wall Street Journal…

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…

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…