About Us

Christopher Bogan

Best Practices, LLC was founded in 1992 by a group of service professionals with roots at the Harvard Business School. Our founder and CEO, Christopher Bogan, is the author of the influential book Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning through Innovative Adaptation, published by McGraw-Hill.

We offer extensive project experience in the application of continuous-improvement and best-practice benchmarking strategies. Best Practices' expertise in the Best Practices Benchmarking^® field is enhanced by our own ongoing research, by our best practice database and by our active work and affiliations with subject-area experts in industry and academia.

Our Values and Mission

Our corporate credo is "People, Service, Learning, Profit." 

It truly defines how we approach our work and our relationships with each other. It is sometimes easy to make corporate credos and value statements sound trite or forced. We aren't trying to fool you or ourselves. After all, profit is clearly an end to our efforts -- we wouldn't be in business if it wasn't. However, there are many paths this organization could have chosen to make money, just as you will have many options to achieve the same goal.

Our company's labors are focused on helping organizations achieve world-class status in what they do. We work with a wide variety of organizations: large and small, private and public, for-profit and not-for-profit. The work is engaging and rewarding, because it leverages the resources of those that are "the best" in a given area, as well as our own abilities and ingenuity, to bring about change and improvement.

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Our Corporate Culture

At Best Practices, LLC, you'll have a chance to interact with some real "movers and shakers"!

Our office environment is open. There aren't many walls or doors. If you have a great idea, you don't need to schedule a meeting two weeks in advance to discuss it. Red tape is not a factor. Of course, with this autonomy comes some responsibility. Finger-pointing is not an art we practice. You learn quickly that as soon as you think of something that needs changing or improving, it's your responsibility to move it forward. That doesn't mean you have to do everything by yourself, but it does mean that the "THEY" that haunt corporate America (as in, "Why don't "THEY" fix the payroll system?") thankfully have no office space at Best Practices, LLC.

We will not impose limits on your creativity -- or your ability to have fun. You don't have to wear a suit to the office, there's always soda and popcorn available, and people have been known to walk around in their socks or blast '80's tunes if the situation calls for it. You will have the chance to help companies fundamentally improve the way they do business, and we are confident that you will also improve our own operations along the way. Although we can't tell you what to expect every day you're here, we can assure you that the work you do will always be challenging and rewarding. And that's what a truly great job can offer.

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A Day in the Life at Our Company

It's really amazing how many jobs can sound wonderful on paper. After all, you went to a good school, you like people, and you enjoy challenge. So every consulting position that emphasizes teamwork, analysis, writing, and communication skills sounds like it's right up your alley. But the question remains -- What will I actually be doing?

Here's an idea. We hate to call this a typical "day in the life...," because you'll quickly discover that at Best Practices, LLC, typical days simply don't exist. In fact, that's one of the reasons you'll want to give us some serious thought. After all, you could spend the next two years of your life doing research to support someone else's projects. But we don't think that would be the best use of your skills and talents.

9:00 AM	You arrive. Priorities: coffee, voicemail, coffee, today's calendar, coffee, email. Did I mention coffee?
9:15 AM	Time to schmooze. You're on the phone, updating a client on the progress of her research project while she updates you on the progress of her golf game.
10:00 AM	In addition to the two client projects you're currently working on, you are heading up an internal marketing team charged with designing a new brochure. You scramble to get to a joint meeting with the design firm to review initial proofs.
12:00 PM	Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Interviews with Human Resources vice presidents at 15 world-class companies. You begin the delicate art of winding your way through the phone systems of several Fortune 500 companies.
1:30 PM	Talking on the phone always makes you hungry. You head to Franklin Street in Chapel Hill with a group of co-workers to try out one of its eclectic restaurants and pubs.
3:00 PM	The final deliverable for the research project you're managing is due on Monday. You embark on the first edit of a co-worker's chapter.
5:00 PM	The fruits of your earlier labors are coming to bear, as your first telephone interview is scheduled for ... right now.
6:00 PM	Oh yeah, there's a client presentation to go along with that final report you were editing earlier. You're off to Boston in a few days -- which means that you had better transform the abstract art on your notepad into dazzling PowerPoint slides.
7:00 PM	The gym is calling. Unfortunately, it's being drowned out by the voices of a few co-workers, attempting (quite successfully) to convince you to try a new wine bar with them instead. You have some web searching you want to do tonight, so you undock your laptop and pack up to go home.  Regardless of what you do this evening, you're already looking forward to tomorrow, confident that it will be exciting and nothing like today.

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Best Practices, LLC in the News

Major publications around the world look to Best Practices, LLC for insight into current business trends, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Inc. Magazine.

Download E-catalog: "Insights & Intelligence: Best Practices, LLC's Research Partnership with Business Media"

Cingular's Sigman Faces Huge Task Jesse Drucker, Joann S. Lublin and Almar Latour Feb. 18 2004	Cingular's expected aggressive personnel strategy could impair productivity and slow consolidation efforts, management experts warn. "Retention bonuses are absolutely critical if you want to keep the right people" until a takeover's completion, says Keith Symmers, a vice president of consultants Best Practices LLC in Chapel Hill, N.C., which studies postmerger integration. To ensure a smooth transfer of customers and technology, he adds, "you have to maintain continuity."
Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Present New Company, Sales Plans, Leaders Pui-Wing Tam and Scott Thurm. May 8, 2002	Such uncertainty can hurt: Productivity can fall by as much as 50% while employees are in limbo awaiting new assignments, said Keith Symmers, vice president at consultant Best Practices LLC in Chapel Hill, N.C., which studies post merger integration. The companies have promised more than $600 million in retention bonuses to employees who stay for a year, but that might not be enough. Best Practices says that 47% of top managers at acquired companies leave within three years.
Cisco Defies the System with Mergers that Work  Scott Thurm. March, 1, 2000	Cisco ranked No. 1 last fall when consultant Best Practices, Chapel Hill, N.C., surveyed 12 clients about successful merger-and-acquisition policies.That's not unusual; the Best Practices survey found that more than a third of managers and key technical employees typically leave after a company is acquired.

Company Carefully Cultivates Leaders within the Ranks  Sarah Schafer. Nov. 28, 2000	GE's search for its new chairman-elect was early on dubbed a "horse race," in which the winner would have met clear objectives. "The test has been whether these individuals move into diverse sets of assignments and handle them well," said Chris Bogan, chief executive for Best Practices LLC, a Chapel Hill, N.C., research firm. The goals are clear, he added, and include "producing the double-digit growth that is required by all of [GE's] business units.

Boundaries to Stealing All Those Bright Ideas. Jeffrey L. Seglin. January 17, 1999	According to Christopher E. Bogan, chief executive of Best Practices, a management consulting firm in Chapel Hill, N.C.: "The concept of 'steal shamelessly' is really grounded on the concept of 'don't be afraid to borrow.' It's a dramatic statement that no individual, no company, no team, no industry can corner all good ideas. It doesn't for a minute suppose that you should steal proprietary information or trade secrets."

How To Steal The Best Ideas Around Jeremy Main. October 19,1992	Kearney, and Towers Perrin have set up groups of companies that benchmark each other regularly. Since the members often compete, these groups pass information through the consultant so members can find out about the best practices without the sources being identified. Specialized consulting firms like Best Practices Benchmarking & Consulting Inc. of Lexington, Massachusetts, are also springing up.
Steal this Strategy Ilan Mochari. July 1, 2001	Ideas. Strategies. Statistics. Given the explosion in business information that’s taken place over the past decade, you should have no trouble finding them. But you don’t need us to tell you that the abundance of sources of business ideas hasn’t made finding practical ideas any easier. And what’s the point of combining through business books, magazines, case studies—this very article—if you can’t implement your findings at your own company? But a few folks have mastered the fine art of filtering useful wisdom out of oceans of hype. Led by CEO Chris Bogan, the staff at the appropriately labeled Best Practices LLC (BP), a benchmarking group-cum-consultancy in Chapel Hill, N.C., has been spotting—and swiping—fruitful best practices since 1992. BP efficiently implements and monitors the results of the new ideas too. How the company does all that is a practical strategy in itself.
How to Make Rx-Dx Alliances Work Peter Keeling and Paul Meade. July 1, 2003	Partnerships between pharmaceutical (Rx) and diagnostic (Dx) companies are difficult to achieve because most managers don’t understand what it takes to make them work. Some pharma executives see diagnostic tests as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, tests can diagnose patients who should take a particular medication, thereby expanding market share. Yet, diagnostics threaten to limit market share by inhibiting doctors from prescribing a medication without a confirmed diagnosis.
The Right Staff Keith Symmers. March 1, 2003	A quality-control department under fire can do immense damage to a company's reputation and shareholder value-and may even affect patient health if substandard products reach the market, new products are delayed, or products become unavailable. Such a department, if understaffed or poorly directed, can bring an entire pharma company to its knees. Although manufacturing design and production procedures have a sizable bearing on consistent product quality, the single most important factor in maintaining consistency is the staff. Many companies have faced FDA scrutiny for quality issues in recent years, but others consistently maintain exceptional reputations with few or no major observations or "483" warning letters. Understanding what those companies are doing right is critical to staying on the leading edge of product quality and avoiding the pitfalls of sub-par performance.
Marriages Made in Heaven? Christopher Bogan and Keith Symmers. January 1, 2001	In recent years, some of the industry's largest companies have said "I do" at the merger altar. Midsized pharma, small biotech, and genomics companies have also joined the mating frenzy. The mixed results of those unions have left shareholders, customers, and employees wondering-are such marriages made in heaven or in hell?
Launching a Blockbuster: The Making and Marketing of Megabrands Christopher Bogan and David Wang. January 1, 2001	“Blockbusters are not discovered, they are built!” With those words a marketing executive issued a clarion call to would-be players in the high-potential pharmaceuticals’ game. Current winners with “power hitter” portfolios can attest to the competitive advantages: the ability to recruit and retain top talent, marketing economies of scale, greater access to medical thought leaders, a positive halo effect over smaller products in the sales rep’s bag, and enormous cash flow to fuel future growth.
Toward Competitive Intelligence Denis Myshko. September 1, 2002	Paul Meade, vice-president of the consulting company Best Practices and a 23-year pharma industry veteran, discusses a study of CI practices at 19 companies, 15 of which are pharma. He says companies can empower CI personnel to help them more effectively manage the competitive environment.
The Newest Sales Channel John King. January 2003.	"There are large numbers of docs who are not high prescribers and are not always the ones they are trying to get to see," says Chris Bogan, president and CEO of Best Practices LLC, a pharmaceutical research company that conducts work based on the principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics, and winning strategies. "Theoretically, with e-Detail they can get in there and have the opportunity to better serve large volumes of lower-prescribing doctors."
Pharma Voice
Applied Competitive Intelligence Denise Myshko. September, 2004	"The Internet offers tremendous opportunities for gathering information. Companies can listen and watch local market activities in a way they never previously could. For example, if there is a key competitor that has a facility in Minneapolis, a competitive intelligence official can set news alerts and review coverage in local newspapers," said Chris Bogan.
Behind the Mirror: The Science and Art of Market Research Denise Myshko. March, 2003	"Pharmaceutical companies that get the most for their market research dollar have several things in common," says Chris Bogan, president and CEO of Best Practices, LLC. "What we're talking about is market research that is brand-specific, therapeutically relevant, and Designed to help the early design and development teams understand what doctors need," said Chris Bogan.
CRM Initiatives Are Not Meeting Predefined Goals
Colin Beasty, April 14, 2005	Seventy percent of CRM initiatives do not meet project goals defined prior to the start of the implementation, according to a study conducted by industry research and consulting firm Best Practices. The study, "Customer Relationship Management: Changing your Cultural Focus from Products to Customers," found that more companies are realizing that success with CRM initiatives is not only determined by selection and implementation of an appropriate CRM system, but also by the capabilities of a company to effectively manage the associated organizational change. "The real value drivers of a successful CRM initiative start with an awareness and appreciation for the organizational issues and employing proven best practices to effectively manage both technology and people," says Jonathan Tanz, Vice President of Research and Publishing.

Download E-catalog: "Insights & Intelligence: Best Practices, LLC's Research Partnership with Business Media"

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