A global leader in hardware, software, business consulting, and IT services, IBM is a household name worldwide. IBM employees in all of the company’s global locations can access IBM’s APQC membership for research, process expertise, tools, and best practices to support their work – and that of their clients.
We asked IBM’s Gillian Orrell, Benchmarking Lead, and Terry Price, Global Upstream Oil and Gas Subject Matter Expert and Industry Thought Leader, what they find most valuable about APQC membership.
What tools, expertise, services, or information do you use the most?
Price: The APQC Process Classification Framework(PCF)®. I’ve seen other frameworks that are too specific to use as a starting point and can’t be adjusted.
The PCF is very easy to manipulate and adjust to the clients’ needs. We’ve built our own models in our PCF to tailor for specific nuances easily.
From there, we can elaborate into process execution, so the PCF feeds the way that we need to work. It’s simple to deconstruct the PCF and take pieces of it, rather than the whole framework. We have actually used the PCF as a business language to communicate between two companies. Another of the main advantages of the PCF is the ability to build an integrated company during mergers and acquisitions.
You can instantly align those organizations into one framework, and then limit your customization. That’s the beauty of it.
Orrell: There are four areas of APQC I point people to: the APQC Knowledge Base, the PCF, the Open Standards Benchmarking® process list, and the membership list. I use APQC’s Knowledge Base for direct research to answer a query from a colleague. I usually see if there is a case study or paper that answers the question at hand. I like the Knowledge Base because it’s so easy to use, and I know the structure of the concept so well that it’s really quick to find what I need.
How does APQC membership help you work smarter, faster, and with more confidence?
Orrell: APQC is a non-profit organization with almost 40 years of experience in benchmarking and is one of IBM’s main partners for benchmarking. APQC has a global membership base and a global benchmarking database, which matters hugely for us in using and gaining value from the data. Additionally, all my interactions with APQC staff have been extremely positive. Whoever I reach out to, I get a quick, relevant, helpful response.