APQC Logo Register Sign in Search Icon TOOLS GEAR ICON Menu Breadcrumb APQC ABOUT APQC Our Story After serving as commissioner of the US Price Commission under President Nixon in 1971, entrepreneur and business educator C. Jackson “Jack” Grayson understood that America had a problem: Productivity growth was failing. To address this problem and improve American competitiveness, six years later, Grayson founded the American Productivity Center (APC), a nonprofit benchmarking and best practices firm in Houston. The organization was later renamed APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center). A Lifetime Applying Quality Thinking to Improve Business and Society “Process is all the work you do every day – everything that happens in industry, at home, here in this Center – is a process.” – Jack Grayson, Founder, APQC Learn more about Jack Grayson Want to get in touch with us? CONTACT APQC A Pioneer & Leader in Business Productivity Since 1977, our organization has been a pioneer and leader in key aspects of business productivity, providing industry-leading resources and research to help companies improve their processes and performance. Here are some notable highlights from our history: Developed the Process Classification Framework®, now a globally-recognized process model Hosted the first knowledge management (KM) industry conference in Houston Co-chaired the first White House Conference on Productivity Benchmarking methodologies named “number one in the world” by Bradford University’s School of Management Recognized Nationally & Globally for Innovation & Value to Customers We have been recognized for our work by numerous national and international organizations, including being named to KMWorld’s list of 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management multiple times (most recently, in 2014), being inducted into the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) Hall of Fame, and winning several North American and global MAKE Awards. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Established in 1987, the Baldrige Award was the brainchild of APQC founder Jack Grayson, who envisioned an award that would set national standards for quality and recognize organizations that met and surpassed them. Grayson worked with business leaders and Congress to have the idea passed into law. The award is named in honor of Malcolm Baldrige, the US Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan Administration, who passed away while the bill was still in Congress. The award is administered by the Baldrige National Quality Program, under the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the US Department of Commerce. icon-check-star Membership matters APQC membership provides you—and every employee in your organization—access to research-based best practices and business drivers, benchmarking tools and data, and expertise so you can discover, understand, and implement the most effective methods for process and performance improvement. Want to take the next step? Learn more about our membership icon--arrow--right Already have an account? Sign in. APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center) is the world’s foremost authority in benchmarking, best practices, process and performance improvement, and knowledge management (KM). With more than 550 member organizations worldwide, APQC provides the information, data, and insights organizations need to support decision-making and develop internal skills. Learn more. US: 1-800-776-9676 INTL: +1-713-681-4020 FAX: 713-681-8578 APQC 123 N. Post Oak Ln Houston, TX 77024 USA Footer LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE BENCHMARKING CODE OF CONDUCT © 1994-2021 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED