^The APQC Blog

In an earlier blog post, Ed Perkins, the developer of the Certified Enterprise Risk Manager® - Cyber Security™ certificate, described the current cybersecurity landscape for industry and provided an overview of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework.

In The Last Blog...

In today’s volatile and data-driven economy, employee knowledge is a hot commodity. Organizations need the best and brightest employees to maintain their competitive advantage. Though this trend affects all industries, this is even more significant in professional services, where they offer clients knowledge and consulting services. The professional services industry understands that in order to attract and keep the best talent, they must invest in their people.

Confronting stressors: It’s just part of the job description for any healthcare worker in 2015. Each day this year, healthcare workers will be:

Recently, Ralph Malbrough reminded me of a blast from the past due to the SNL40* special that aired with great fanfare. It occurred to Ralph that the ebb and flow of the show over the years included premature reports of its demise, not unlike that of knowledge management. Pondering about that comparison a bit caused me to think about it: is that true? Even though knowledge management has proven to be a survivor over the past two decades, is it in danger of being voted off the island any time soon?

APQC recently spoke with Ed Perkins, the developer of the Certified Enterprise Risk Manager® - Cyber Security™ certificate, about the current state of cybersecurity and the introduction of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. This post presents the first half of the interview, in which Perkins describes the cybersecurity landscape and introduces the NIST framework.

This interview is the last in a series on workforce predictive analytics. APQC interviewed Steve VanWieren, Principal Statistician and Data Scientist at Ultimate Software.  In this role, he focuses on building a predictive analytics function, working with executives across all lines of Ultimate Software’s business, developing multiple statistical models, and actively speaking at HR and analytical conferences.

APQC’s Financial Management research team is finishing up a study on advanced techniques in financial planning and analysis (FP&A). The following are some highlights and insights into what we’ve found so far. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, join me on Wednesday, March 25 at 11:00 a.m. CDT for March Financial Management Webinar: FP&A: Aspiring to Influence Performance to hear the results of extensive research on why FP&A teams struggle, and what best practices can be building blocks to improve performance and business strategy. 

If the 90’s can be called “retro,” so too can some KM approaches. There are companies where the Communities of Practice are older than some of their members! But those communities are still in place for a reason—they work. At the same time, it seems like there’s always new KM tools and techniques coming around the bend. Some fall by the wayside, but others are incredibly sticky—and they quickly become the new normal.

APQC conducted a survey to understand how organizations leverage the Process Classification Framework^SM (PCF) and overcome implementation challenges. What it found was that over three-quarters of professional service (PS) firm respondents use the PCF in their client engagements for process development work and to establish a standardized language across the organization. This infographic highlights the key findings on how PS firms use the PCF with their clients and  the challenges they face in those client engagements.