^The APQC Blog

In our blog series lately, you’ve heard many of us talking about the intersection of process and knowledge management, particularly in regard to MosaiQ^™. However, the real disparity between knowledge management and process management became apparent to me at a conference last year; during a presentation I gave on effective ways to use process frameworks.

Virtually every mature KM program has or wants a social collaboration aspect, via SharePoint, Yammer, a wiki, or any one of the myriad open source or inexpensive proprietary and public social networking sites. Employees want to connect as easily at the office as they do in their personal life for a quick exchange, to follow people they like, and to create a personal brand.

In any organization, during the early stages of building analytical muscle, there will be competing views on what the maturity ladder looks like. To sort out what’s what, start with a common language for describing how analytics will serve strategic aims of the enterprise as a whole. Avoid being fenced in by groups of skunk works going after radical but narrow innovations. Beware as well that some people speak only in the dialects favored by the IT profession.

The excitement around the APQC offices is reaching a fever pitch. It's the kind of excitement you feel the night before a day you just know is going to be a great one. Maybe you're going to show off your sweet new coffee mug with a clever one-liner written on it. Maybe you have an awesome birthday party planned (e.g., a trip to the movies with all your friends to see Space Jam). At APQC, it's the impending debut of MosaiQ.

Ever heard of predictive succession planning? How about predictive career pathing or pervasive workforce analytics? Find out what predictive workforce analytics advancements are on the horizon, in this third blog post based on my interview with Greta Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Talent Analytics, Corp.

Lean this, improve that, cut operating cost by x%... whatever the approach might be, the drive to improve performance within our departments and work groups is always there. Even in times where we are just looking to sustain what we do, maintain market share, or stabilize a product; human nature compels us to look for ways to make things simpler, easier, and less challenging. And when department and personal scorecards and compensation are at stake, the impulse is even stronger.

In January of this year, APQC’s supply chain management research team conducted an annual survey to understand the state of supply chain and its future. The majority of participants in that research have some degree of positivity about the future strategy and direction of their organizations’ supply chain management efforts, which has a lot to do with the priorities organizations are focused on, budgets, and new initiatives for 2016 and beyond.

At APQC, we get a lot of questions about whether or not there is a shortage of data scientist talent. Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Greta Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Talent Analytics, Corp. for her perspective on this issue. Read her answer in this second blog post based on our interview. Greta’s answer surprised me and opened my eyes to a less talked about, but no less important, analytics talent shortage.

I read everything I can get my hands on when it comes to financial management process change and improvement. I consume both the magnificent and, out of necessity, the mundane. A recent article falls into the magnificent category: Microsoft Finance and the Journey to Digital Transformation.

As supply chain organizations prepare for impending retirements, there is a growing interest in looking at new ways to attract talent to the supply chain profession. As part of APQC’s Attracting Talent to the Supply Chain research, APQC has been speaking to supply chain professionals about their experiences in the supply chain field as well as what they are looking for in employers.