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…

Talent development lessons for all can be found in best-in-class finance functions. This was my big take-away after co-presenting a webinar for Business Finance Magazine on developing finance professionals. In the webinar, The New Rules for Finance Talent Development, my colleague Mary Driscoll and…

Serious food recalls, such as the recall of salmonella-tainted cantaloupes in the United States last summer, often make the news and are alarming for consumers. Yet not every food recall receives news coverage, and this was the inspiration for the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that was…

Earlier this month, APQC released the latest financial management (FM) Best Practices Report Building a Best-in-Class Finance Function. This research describes 14 best practices common among best-practice organizations.   Topics include:    the strategic purpose of the…

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…

Job stress is the aspect of employment that U.S. workers are least satisfied with according to Gallup’s Work and Education poll (“U.S. Workers Least Happy with Their Work Stress and Pay,” Gallup.com, November 12, 2012). Recently, APQC launched a new stress-reduction initiative—a sabbatical…

You can download a recording and the slides from APQC's November 2012 Supply Chain Management Community Call. Join APQC for our November supply chain community call on Tuesday, November 13 at 10:30 a.m. (CDT) to hear Rich Sherman, director of strategic development for the Council of…

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…