“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…

When we talk about quality, the conversation often focuses on production and manufacturing. We discuss commonalities in what it means and how to assess it. Things like rework, scrap, and defects are common quality measures, but they are limited. The focus is only on reducing expenditures caused by…

 The STEM shortage (the deficit of science, technology, engineering, and mathematical talent) has been a reoccurring topic in my blog posts. Recently, I had the opportunity to guest blog about STEM talent on the website of Kelly Outsourcing & Consulting Group (KellyOCG), writing about 3…

Making sure your benchmarking has real return on investment is not easy. Most of our projects start with someone saying, "My boss told me we had to do benchmarking. Leadership wants to know how we compare to similar organizations."  This request is based on a fear that the organization is…

APQC’s latest supply chain content allows you to compare your organization’s procurement performance with that of other companies in your industry. Our Key Procurement Benchmarks collection highlights the performance of organizations in the consumer products/packaged goods, electronics, industrial…