<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="/tresources/styles/tendenci-rss.xsl" type="text/xsl" media="screen"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" 
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
<channel>
<title>Value Chain Group RSS Feed</title>
<itunes:subtitle>Value Chain Group</itunes:subtitle>
<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rss</link>
<description></description>
<itunes:author>Value Chain Group</itunes:author>
<image>
<url>http://www.value-chain.org/tresources/en/images/icons/tendenci34x15.gif</url>
<link>http://www.value-chain.org</link>
<title>Value Chain Group and Podcast</title></image>
<itunes:image href="http://www.value-chain.org/tresources/en/images/icons/tendenci34x15.gif" />
<copyright>Copyright 2010 Value Chain Group</copyright>
<generator>Tendenci Association Software by Schipul - The Web Marketing Company</generator>
<language>en-us</language>
<webMaster>noemail@value-chain.org</webMaster>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:58:11 GMT</pubDate>
		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/147/</link>
			<title>How to become a Member of the Board of Directors?</title>
			<description>&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #632035; font-size: 13px&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;How to become a Member of the Board of Directors?&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;This is a pertinent question for many ambitious people across the world.&amp;nbsp; Yet few find the right answer and much less use that valuable information to become a Board Member.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;If the real goal of asking this question is not to become a board member then any time spent on the question is purely academic in nature.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Moreover, if somebody simply wants to attend a board of directors meeting then that is a separate discussion.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Here I am putting my perspective on becoming a board member.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Continued on my blog:&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;smarterwiki-linkify&quot; href=&quot;http://acquirebuildandfulfill.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-become-member-of-board-of.html&quot;&gt;http://acquirebuildandfulfill.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-become-member-of-board-of.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt; 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;21-Feb-10 4:00 PM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>How to become a Member of the Board of Directors?</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #632035; font-size: 13px&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;How to become a Member of the Board of Directors?&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;This is a pertinent question for many ambitious people across the world.&amp;nbsp; Yet few find the right answer and much less use that valuable information to become a Board Member.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;If the real goal of asking this question is not to become a board member then any time spent on the question is purely academic in nature.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Moreover, if somebody simply wants to attend a board of directors meeting then that is a separate discussion.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Here I am putting my perspective on becoming a board member.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Continued on my blog:&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;smarterwiki-linkify&quot; href=&quot;http://acquirebuildandfulfill.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-become-member-of-board-of.html&quot;&gt;http://acquirebuildandfulfill.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-become-member-of-board-of.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/147/</guid>
			<author>Praveen Chintakayala</author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/146/</link>
			<title>Design Thinking: How to Nurture Future Leaders</title>
			<description>&lt;div style=&quot;color: red&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #800000&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #800000&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design thinking brings creative techniques to business. The only problem? No one can agree on how to teach its methods.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's a scary time to be a new graduate. But some seem more optimistic than others. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Around the world, graduates are emerging from interdisciplinary master's programs that integrate &lt;a href=&quot;http://bx.businessweek.com/product-design/&quot; rel=&quot;topic&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;design&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, technology, and business. These professionals are trained in &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bx.businessweek.com/design-thinking/&quot; rel=&quot;topic&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;design thinking&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&quot; Sure, it's the latest trendy term to sweep the business world, but it's a technique that designers and executives alike hope may help to provide a solution to some of the world's serious challenges. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/sep2009/id20090930_806435.htm?chan=innovation_special+report+--+design+thinking_special+report+--+design+thinking&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Read more.....&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;30-Sep-09 7:00 AM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Design Thinking: How to Nurture Future Leaders</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;div style=&quot;color: red&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #800000&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #800000&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design thinking brings creative techniques to business. The only problem? No one can agree on how to teach its methods.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's a scary time to be a new graduate. But some seem more optimistic than others. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Around the world, graduates are emerging from interdisciplinary master's programs that integrate &lt;a href=&quot;http://bx.businessweek.com/product-design/&quot; rel=&quot;topic&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;design&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, technology, and business. These professionals are trained in &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bx.businessweek.com/design-thinking/&quot; rel=&quot;topic&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;design thinking&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&quot; Sure, it's the latest trendy term to sweep the business world, but it's a technique that designers and executives alike hope may help to provide a solution to some of the world's serious challenges. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/sep2009/id20090930_806435.htm?chan=innovation_special+report+--+design+thinking_special+report+--+design+thinking&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Read more.....&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/146/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/145/</link>
			<title>Cloud Computing and the Promise of On-Demand Business Innovation</title>
			<description>&lt;h3 class=&quot;channelNav&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial&quot;&gt;The wow isn't just about technology; it's about process flexibility and reuse that will enable enterprises to quickly serve new customers and launch new lines of business.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
By &lt;span class=&quot;hpBlogAuthor&quot;&gt;Peter Fingar&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;h3 class=&quot;channelNav&quot;&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;hpTopStoryBlurb&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center; padding-left: 10px; float: right&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Peter Fingar&quot; src=&quot;http://i.cmpnet.com/intelligententerprise/images/0907/Peter-Fingar.jpg&quot; width=&quot;119&quot; height=&quot;156&quot; /&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Peter Fingar&lt;/div&gt;
We are witnessing a seismic shift in information technology, the kind that comes around every decade or so, and it will have a huge impact on business -- especially in today's economy.
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;First things first: What the hell is Cloud Computing? Definitions and opinions of cloud computing abound. At one point Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, declared it to be &quot;complete gibberish&quot; and &quot;insane.&quot; &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Reasons the enterprise shouldn't adopt cloud computing abound: security, privacy, lack of cost savings, data governance, migration issues, and legal and regulatory issues. Pick your favorite. &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.intelligententerprise.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218500039 &quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Read More&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;31-Jul-09 9:00 AM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Cloud Computing and the Promise of On-Demand Business Innovation</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;h3 class=&quot;channelNav&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Arial&quot;&gt;The wow isn't just about technology; it's about process flexibility and reuse that will enable enterprises to quickly serve new customers and launch new lines of business.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
By &lt;span class=&quot;hpBlogAuthor&quot;&gt;Peter Fingar&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;h3 class=&quot;channelNav&quot;&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;hpTopStoryBlurb&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center; padding-left: 10px; float: right&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Peter Fingar&quot; src=&quot;http://i.cmpnet.com/intelligententerprise/images/0907/Peter-Fingar.jpg&quot; width=&quot;119&quot; height=&quot;156&quot; /&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Peter Fingar&lt;/div&gt;
We are witnessing a seismic shift in information technology, the kind that comes around every decade or so, and it will have a huge impact on business -- especially in today's economy.
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;First things first: What the hell is Cloud Computing? Definitions and opinions of cloud computing abound. At one point Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, declared it to be &quot;complete gibberish&quot; and &quot;insane.&quot; &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Reasons the enterprise shouldn't adopt cloud computing abound: security, privacy, lack of cost savings, data governance, migration issues, and legal and regulatory issues. Pick your favorite. &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.intelligententerprise.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218500039 &quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Read More&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/145/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/144/</link>
			<title>Survey Finds BPM Projects Lack Architecture</title>
			<description>&lt;h3 id=&quot;ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder_ctl01_MainHeading&quot; class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;By &lt;a href=&quot;http://adtmag.com/forms/emailtoauthor.aspx?AuthorItem={11376451-1698-4D09-956E-614A348C4E83}&amp;amp;ArticleItem={35D005EF-3F47-449E-9EB9-17C1C2FCDEF5}&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#810081&quot;&gt;Jeffrey Schwartz&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;- 07/02/2009&lt;/h3&gt;
Organizations embarking on business process management need to bring in IT architects earlier in the process, according to a report released last week.
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Only 52 percent of organizations classified as leaders have enterprise architecture teams leading their BPM efforts, a Web survey of 135 enterprises, showed. Of those described as followers, only 31 percent had enterprise architects leading the efforts.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adtmag.com/articles/2009/07/02/survey-finds-bpm-projects-lack-architecture.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Read more.....&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;3-Jul-09 10:00 AM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Survey Finds BPM Projects Lack Architecture</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;h3 id=&quot;ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder_ctl01_MainHeading&quot; class=&quot;title&quot;&gt;By &lt;a href=&quot;http://adtmag.com/forms/emailtoauthor.aspx?AuthorItem={11376451-1698-4D09-956E-614A348C4E83}&amp;amp;ArticleItem={35D005EF-3F47-449E-9EB9-17C1C2FCDEF5}&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#810081&quot;&gt;Jeffrey Schwartz&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;- 07/02/2009&lt;/h3&gt;
Organizations embarking on business process management need to bring in IT architects earlier in the process, according to a report released last week.
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Only 52 percent of organizations classified as leaders have enterprise architecture teams leading their BPM efforts, a Web survey of 135 enterprises, showed. Of those described as followers, only 31 percent had enterprise architects leading the efforts.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adtmag.com/articles/2009/07/02/survey-finds-bpm-projects-lack-architecture.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Read more.....&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/144/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/139/</link>
			<title>Value Chains, Value Streams, Value Nets, and Value Delivery Chains</title>
			<description>&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'&quot;&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot; align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;by George W. Brown&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The Value Chain Group together with partners have developed approaches and methodologies to support the process of successfully aligning business and IT strategies, architecture, design, execution, monitoring and management of the processes.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'&quot;&gt;But there has still been a considerable amount of discussion about value chains and related concepts like value streams, value nets and related concepts by those involved in business process change.&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/FOUR%2004-009-ART-Value%20Chains-Brown.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read entire article....&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;11-May-09 3:00 PM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Value Chains, Value Streams, Value Nets, and Value Delivery Chains</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'&quot;&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot; align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;by George W. Brown&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The Value Chain Group together with partners have developed approaches and methodologies to support the process of successfully aligning business and IT strategies, architecture, design, execution, monitoring and management of the processes.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'&quot;&gt;But there has still been a considerable amount of discussion about value chains and related concepts like value streams, value nets and related concepts by those involved in business process change.&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/FOUR%2004-009-ART-Value%20Chains-Brown.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read entire article....&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/139/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2009 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/137/</link>
			<title>Free VCG - Oliver Wight Webinar</title>
			<description>&lt;style&gt;
body, td { font: normal 11px/1.4em Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; }
&lt;/style&gt;
&lt;table bordercolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; height=&quot;100%&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
    &lt;tbody&gt;
        &lt;tr&gt;
            &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
            &lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;575&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                &lt;tbody&gt;
                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.value-chain.org&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;96&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;/attachments/wysiwyg/9/Masthead-Webinar.jpg&quot; width=&quot;575&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
                        &lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;5&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                            &lt;tbody&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td valign=&quot;middle&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
                                    &lt;table bordercolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; cellspacing=&quot;1&quot; cellpadding=&quot;13&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                                        &lt;tbody&gt;
                                            &lt;tr&gt;
                                                &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; bgcolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; rowspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;Hello [firstname],&lt;br&gt;
                                                &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;Please join VCG's free webinar presented by Oliver Wight entitled&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12px; line-height: 24px&quot;&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #808080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #808080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Managing in a Tough Economy: Survive Today and Prepare for the Future&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;11:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET US (16:00-17:00 GMT) on Thursday 19 March 2009&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Register Here&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;padding-right: 0pt; padding-left: 15px; padding-bottom: 15px; width: 140px; padding-top: 0pt; height: 135px&quot; height=&quot;135&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;/attachments/wysiwyg/106/OWCA-2x2.jpg&quot; width=&quot;140&quot; align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;This interactive webinar will show participants how to: &lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;&#8226;&amp;nbsp;Provide focus on today's business problems while charting strategy for future prosperity.&lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Develop strategic processes that reflect best practices. &lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Communicate in a concise and repeatable way that promotes consensus. &lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Deploy process technologies in the fastest and most efficient way possible. &lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Utilize the VRM containing the Oliver Wight Checklist for Business Excellence that facilitates rapid process documentation, design, and overall implementation.&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;We will also:&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;&#8226;&amp;nbsp;Demonstrate a fundamental process improvement in Master Scheduling.&lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Show you how VRM has been configured to produce blueprints for ERP systems to enable the delivery of specific, actionable instructions to your enterprise architects.&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: underline&quot;&gt;Speakers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rick Burris&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oliver Wight Principal&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/the_team/pdfs/burris.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;more speaker information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roger Brooks&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oliver Wight Principal&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/the_team/pdfs/brooks.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;more speaker information&lt;/a&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;About &lt;strong&gt;Oliver Wight&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight.com&quot;&gt;www.oliverwight.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;Sponsor: &lt;strong&gt;Value Chain Group&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.value-chain.org&quot;&gt;www.value-chain.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                                                    &lt;tbody&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td width=&quot;32&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td width=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;
                                                            &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Managing in a Tough Economy: Survive Today and Prepare for the Future&lt;/div&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Date:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;
                                                            &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Thursday&amp;nbsp;19 March 2009&lt;/p&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;
                                                            &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;11:00 AM-12:00 PM ET USA (16:00-17:00 &amp;nbsp;GMT) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Time Zone Converter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                    &lt;/tbody&gt;
                                                &lt;/table&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;Post event, all registrants will&amp;nbsp;recieve a link to the recorded webinar.&lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;31&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://img.gotomeeting.com/g2mimages/webinar/themes/basic/button_registerNow.gif&quot; width=&quot;183&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; nosend=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Space is limited.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                Reserve your Webinar seat now at:&lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;System Requirements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;br&gt;
                                                PC-based attendees&lt;br&gt;
                                                Required: Windows&amp;#174; 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Macintosh&amp;#174;-based attendees&lt;br&gt;
                                                Required: Mac OS&amp;#174; X 10.3.9 (Panther&amp;#174;) or newer&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/td&gt;
                                            &lt;/tr&gt;
                                        &lt;/tbody&gt;
                                    &lt;/table&gt;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                            &lt;/tbody&gt;
                        &lt;/table&gt;
                        &lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
                &lt;/tbody&gt;
            &lt;/table&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;4-Mar-09 3:00 PM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Free VCG - Oliver Wight Webinar</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;style&gt;
body, td { font: normal 11px/1.4em Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; }
&lt;/style&gt;
&lt;table bordercolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; height=&quot;100%&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
    &lt;tbody&gt;
        &lt;tr&gt;
            &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
            &lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;575&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                &lt;tbody&gt;
                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.value-chain.org&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;96&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;/attachments/wysiwyg/9/Masthead-Webinar.jpg&quot; width=&quot;575&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
                        &lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;5&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                            &lt;tbody&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td valign=&quot;middle&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
                                    &lt;table bordercolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; cellspacing=&quot;1&quot; cellpadding=&quot;13&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                                        &lt;tbody&gt;
                                            &lt;tr&gt;
                                                &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; bgcolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; rowspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;Hello [firstname],&lt;br&gt;
                                                &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;Please join VCG's free webinar presented by Oliver Wight entitled&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12px; line-height: 24px&quot;&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #808080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #808080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Managing in a Tough Economy: Survive Today and Prepare for the Future&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;11:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET US (16:00-17:00 GMT) on Thursday 19 March 2009&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #3366ff&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Register Here&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;padding-right: 0pt; padding-left: 15px; padding-bottom: 15px; width: 140px; padding-top: 0pt; height: 135px&quot; height=&quot;135&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;/attachments/wysiwyg/106/OWCA-2x2.jpg&quot; width=&quot;140&quot; align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;This interactive webinar will show participants how to: &lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;&#8226;&amp;nbsp;Provide focus on today's business problems while charting strategy for future prosperity.&lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Develop strategic processes that reflect best practices. &lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Communicate in a concise and repeatable way that promotes consensus. &lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Deploy process technologies in the fastest and most efficient way possible. &lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Utilize the VRM containing the Oliver Wight Checklist for Business Excellence that facilitates rapid process documentation, design, and overall implementation.&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;We will also:&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;&#8226;&amp;nbsp;Demonstrate a fundamental process improvement in Master Scheduling.&lt;br&gt;
                                                &#8226;&amp;nbsp;Show you how VRM has been configured to produce blueprints for ERP systems to enable the delivery of specific, actionable instructions to your enterprise architects.&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: underline&quot;&gt;Speakers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rick Burris&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oliver Wight Principal&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/the_team/pdfs/burris.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;more speaker information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roger Brooks&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oliver Wight Principal&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/the_team/pdfs/brooks.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;more speaker information&lt;/a&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;About &lt;strong&gt;Oliver Wight&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oliverwight.com&quot;&gt;www.oliverwight.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;Sponsor: &lt;strong&gt;Value Chain Group&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.value-chain.org&quot;&gt;www.value-chain.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
                                                    &lt;tbody&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td width=&quot;32&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td width=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;
                                                            &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Managing in a Tough Economy: Survive Today and Prepare for the Future&lt;/div&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Date:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;
                                                            &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Thursday&amp;nbsp;19 March 2009&lt;/p&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                        &lt;tr&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                            &lt;td&gt;
                                                            &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;11:00 AM-12:00 PM ET USA (16:00-17:00 &amp;nbsp;GMT) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Time Zone Converter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
                                                            &lt;/td&gt;
                                                        &lt;/tr&gt;
                                                    &lt;/tbody&gt;
                                                &lt;/table&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;Post event, all registrants will&amp;nbsp;recieve a link to the recorded webinar.&lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;31&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://img.gotomeeting.com/g2mimages/webinar/themes/basic/button_registerNow.gif&quot; width=&quot;183&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; nosend=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Space is limited.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                Reserve your Webinar seat now at:&lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/296458451&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;System Requirements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
                                                &lt;br&gt;
                                                PC-based attendees&lt;br&gt;
                                                Required: Windows&amp;#174; 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Macintosh&amp;#174;-based attendees&lt;br&gt;
                                                Required: Mac OS&amp;#174; X 10.3.9 (Panther&amp;#174;) or newer&lt;/div&gt;
                                                &lt;/td&gt;
                                            &lt;/tr&gt;
                                        &lt;/tbody&gt;
                                    &lt;/table&gt;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                            &lt;/tbody&gt;
                        &lt;/table&gt;
                        &lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
                &lt;/tbody&gt;
            &lt;/table&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/137/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/131/</link>
			<title>Advanced BPM program in Australia next week - discount for Group Membership!</title>
			<description>One day, Certified program led by Global Leader, Steve Towers. Latest Case Studies and innovations - hands-on, practical. Contact details - caroline.smith@icmgworld.com Event locations - Sydney : 24 Nov '08 | Brisbane: 25 Nov '08 | Melbourne : 26 Nov '08 | Perth : 28 Nov '08 |&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
For more details please visit http://www.BpmTrainingToday.com&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Regards&lt;br&gt;
caroline smith&lt;br&gt;
0390160205&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;20-Nov-08 2:00 AM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Advanced BPM program in Australia next week - discount for Group Membership!</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>One day, Certified program led by Global Leader, Steve Towers. Latest Case Studies and innovations - hands-on, practical. Contact details - caroline.smith@icmgworld.com Event locations - Sydney : 24 Nov '08 | Brisbane: 25 Nov '08 | Melbourne : 26 Nov '08 | Perth : 28 Nov '08 |&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
For more details please visit http://www.BpmTrainingToday.com&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Regards&lt;br&gt;
caroline smith&lt;br&gt;
0390160205&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/131/</guid>
			<author>caroline smith</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/130/</link>
			<title>Booz Allen Study Finds the World's Leading Corporate Innovators Stepped Up R&amp;D Spending in 2006</title>
			<description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;t2&quot;&gt;Rise in R&amp;amp;D expenditures now matches sales growth.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;t2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt;North American headquartered companies led the way with a 13% increase; India &amp;amp; China are rapidly boosting their R&amp;amp;D investment, but their share of total spending remains small.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt; &lt;span class=&quot;t2&quot;&gt;Customer focus yields performance gains.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Booz Allen Hamilton's (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boozallen.com/&quot;&gt;www.boozallen.com&lt;/a&gt;) third annual analysis of the world's 1,000 largest corporate R&amp;amp;D spenders, released today, finds that these corporations increased their R&amp;amp;D investment last year by twice the dollar amount of 2005's R&amp;amp;D spending rise. For the first time in four years, the pace of R&amp;amp;D spending in 2006 caught up to the rate of sales growth among these companies. North American headquartered companies led the way with the largest increase in absolute spending; R&amp;amp;D investment in emerging markets continues to grow rapidly, but remains a relatively small percentage of the global total. Toyota was the largest corporate spender on R&amp;amp;D in 2006, up from third place the prior year. &lt;a href=&quot;http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071016/20071016005463.html?.v=1&quot;&gt;Link to Article....&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;16-Oct-07 3:00 PM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Booz Allen Study Finds the World's Leading Corporate Innovators Stepped Up R&amp;D Spending in 2006</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;t2&quot;&gt;Rise in R&amp;amp;D expenditures now matches sales growth.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;t2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt;North American headquartered companies led the way with a 13% increase; India &amp;amp; China are rapidly boosting their R&amp;amp;D investment, but their share of total spending remains small.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12pt&quot;&gt; &lt;span class=&quot;t2&quot;&gt;Customer focus yields performance gains.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Booz Allen Hamilton's (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boozallen.com/&quot;&gt;www.boozallen.com&lt;/a&gt;) third annual analysis of the world's 1,000 largest corporate R&amp;amp;D spenders, released today, finds that these corporations increased their R&amp;amp;D investment last year by twice the dollar amount of 2005's R&amp;amp;D spending rise. For the first time in four years, the pace of R&amp;amp;D spending in 2006 caught up to the rate of sales growth among these companies. North American headquartered companies led the way with the largest increase in absolute spending; R&amp;amp;D investment in emerging markets continues to grow rapidly, but remains a relatively small percentage of the global total. Toyota was the largest corporate spender on R&amp;amp;D in 2006, up from third place the prior year. &lt;a href=&quot;http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071016/20071016005463.html?.v=1&quot;&gt;Link to Article....&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/130/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/129/</link>
			<title>Interest in XML-Based Standards</title>
			<description>&lt;div&gt;
&lt;center&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;Interoperability and choice are key factors driving strong Open XML adoption in Europe and the U.S.&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;/center&gt;REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IT managers at large organizations are increasingly interested in employing XML-based standards, including Open XML, among their document standards, according to a study of U.S. and European organizations commissioned by Microsoft Corp. The results of the survey, which polled 200 government and private-sector organizations to better understand which factors drive adoption of open document standards, are available in an IDC white paper. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=CorpNews&amp;amp;articleid=425597&quot;&gt;Link to the rest of the article....&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;29-Aug-07 8:00 AM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>Interest in XML-Based Standards</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;div&gt;
&lt;center&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;Interoperability and choice are key factors driving strong Open XML adoption in Europe and the U.S.&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;/center&gt;REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IT managers at large organizations are increasingly interested in employing XML-based standards, including Open XML, among their document standards, according to a study of U.S. and European organizations commissioned by Microsoft Corp. The results of the survey, which polled 200 government and private-sector organizations to better understand which factors drive adoption of open document standards, are available in an IDC white paper. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=CorpNews&amp;amp;articleid=425597&quot;&gt;Link to the rest of the article....&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/129/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>

			<category>Articles</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/128/</link>
			<title>BPM TAKES ROOT, BUT STILL AN ADJUSTMENT FOR MANY</title>
			<description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma&quot;&gt;Experts agree that business process management (BPM) is a good practice, but say it can be tough to make happen if the people within your organization are more data-focused than process-focused. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://searchcio.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid19_gci1262653,00.html?track=NL-48&amp;amp;ad=595413&amp;amp;asrc=EM_NLN_1720074&amp;amp;uid=4279763&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;......&lt;/div&gt;
 
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;3-Jul-07 1:00 PM
</description>
			<itunes:subtitle>BPM TAKES ROOT, BUT STILL AN ADJUSTMENT FOR MANY</itunes:subtitle>
			<itunes:summary>&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma&quot;&gt;Experts agree that business process management (BPM) is a good practice, but say it can be tough to make happen if the people within your organization are more data-focused than process-focused. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://searchcio.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid19_gci1262653,00.html?track=NL-48&amp;amp;ad=595413&amp;amp;asrc=EM_NLN_1720074&amp;amp;uid=4279763&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;......&lt;/div&gt;
</itunes:summary>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/art/128/</guid>
			<author>Scott Palmer</author>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/52/</link>
			<title>VCG Announces 2009 Board of Directors</title>
			<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PITTSBURGH, 2 February 2009&lt;/strong&gt; The Value Chain Group, Inc&#8217;s 2009 Board of Directors convened for the first time in January to nominate and approve its leadership. Carrie Sutherland, Manager, Program Management, AMD, accepted the Chairmanship and Michael Uram, EDS Americas Manufacturing Marketing Manager, HP/EDS, accepted the Vice-Chairmanship.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;&#8220;I am excited about the year ahead and I look forward to fully supporting the VCG&#8217;s initiatives,&#8221; said Ms Sutherland. &#8220;We have successfully used the VCG Framework at AMD to achieve desired results quickly. We endorse theValue Chain Group&#8217;s proven methodology for best-in-class business process management.&#8221; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;The 2009 Board of Directors:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;- Chair Carrie Sutherland, Manager, Program Management, AMD&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;- Vice-Chair Michael Uram, EDS Americas Manufacturing Marketing Manager, HP/EDS&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;- Dennis Groves, Chairman, Oliver Wight&amp;nbsp;Americas&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;- Henk de Man, Research Director, Cordys&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;- Mathias Kirchmer, PhD, Executive Partner, Accenture &lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The VCG bylaws call for routine and staggered elections of the Board of Directors. Members are asked to accept a slate proposed by the outgoing Board. Once the Board is approved, they convene a meeting to determine leadership for the year. &lt;br&gt;
The VCG Board of Directors establishes strategic goals in support of the organization&#8217;s mission and vision.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;The Value Chain Group, Inc (VCG) is a public not-for-profit, global business consortium with membership open to corporations, academia, research institutions and governmental offices. The VCG offers an open source extensible business process framework and a proven methodology for the establishment of business architectures encompassing best-in-class business process management, metrology and IT blueprinting. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/52/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/47/</link>
			<title>VCG Executive Briefing Speakers Support Vision of the BPTF</title>
			<description> PRESS RELEASE &#8211; Pittsburgh, PA &#8211; June 19, 2008    The Value Chain Group held an Executive Briefing June 17, 2008 in Putten, The Netherlands, at Kasteel De Vanenburg next to the headquarters of Cordys, the event&#8217;s co-sponsor. Over 50 attendees gathered at the Kasteel de Vanenburg to hear presentations on how technology, methods and practice support the Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF).     Jan Baan, Founder &amp; Chairman of Cordys, gave the keynote, which addressed the BPTF&#8217;s role in executing his company&#8217;s Business Operations Platform (BOP), a merger of value stream packaged methodology and Business Process Management Suite technology based on a Service Oriented Architecture grid.    Cordys strategically cooperates with Value Chain Group (VCG) and Value Chain Associates (VCA) to execute on the BOP vision. The BPTF addresses the essential elements of Lean Transformation (value stream mapping) and Six Sigma projects (SIPOC, DMAIC). Specific Lean Techniques (pull, flow) and...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/47/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/41/</link>
			<title>Metastorm Introduces New Reference Model Based on VCG Framework </title>
			<description> Implementation-ready Framework Helps Organizations Develop Competitive Value Chains with Highly-integrated Business Processes     BALTIMORE, MD &#8211; March 26, 2008 &#8211; Metastorm, a leading provider of Business  Process Management (BPM), Business Process Analysis (BPA), and Enterprise Architecture (EA) software for aligning strategy with execution, today announced the availability of the Metastorm Value Reference Model (VRM). The Metastorm VRM is implemented using the Metastorm ProVision&#174; enterprise modeling solution and helps organizations develop unique, competitive value chains composed of highly integrated business processes that cut across corporate and functional boundaries and are better aligned with corporate strategy.Built on the foundation of the VRM developed by the Value Chain Group, Inc. (VCG) - an independent, not-for-profit global organization - the Metastorm VRM provides capabilities to improve business operations required for the design, manufacture, delivery, and support...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/41/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/32/</link>
			<title>SOA Information Model Publicly Available</title>
			<description> PRESS RELEASE &#8211; January 17, 2008 Pittsburgh, PA The Value Chain Group, Inc (VCG) is pleased to announce that Semantion, author of the VCG SOA Information Model (SOA-IM) specification, is providing the SOA-IM to the VCG as a publicly available open source document. Semantion, the creator of the SOA Information Model (SOA-IM) and SOA Virtual Machine (SOA-VM), is the first vendor to offer a business process semantics-based SOA architectural framework.  The SOA-IM is a specification based on the Federated Enterprise Reference Architecture (FERA). SOA-IM enables executable process definition in a service-oriented information exchange environment. SOA-IM defines all entities and their associations required to represent any collaborative process of any complexity involving people and information systems in both synchronous and asynchronous information processing mode.  Goran Zugic, CTO of Semantion, is the co-author of the SOA-IM specification. As SOA-IM knowledge expert, Goran assumes the...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/32/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/31/</link>
			<title>IDS Scheer Adopts Value Reference Model (VRM) for Enterprise-Wide Support Using ARIS Platform</title>
			<description>  BERLIN (June 13, 2007) &amp;#8211; IDS Scheer, the leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM), today announced at ARIS ProcessWorld 2007 Europe that the ARIS Platform now fully supports the Value Reference Model (VRM). VRM (formerly VCOR), developed by the Value Chain Group (VCG), has been used by practitioners for over three years to help identify and improve the full spectrum of business operations required for the design, manufacture, delivery and support of products. This reference model accelerates business improvements by providing a validated reference set of measurements, processes and best practices.  &amp;#8220;We are pleased that IDS Scheer recognizes the importance of VRM and the potential to drive the value chains for its ARIS Platform global customer base,&amp;#8221; said Scott Palmer, CEO, Value Chain Group. &amp;#8220;We look forward to working in tandem with IDS Scheer to support the widespread adoption of VRM.&amp;#8221;  The Value Chain Group, Inc. is an independent,...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/31/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/28/</link>
			<title>VCG Announces New Model Name</title>
			<description>  PRESS RELEASE &#8211; April 12, 2007 Pittsburgh, PA    The Value Chain Group, Inc (VCG). announces plans to change the name of the Value Chain Operation Reference (VCOR) model to Value Reference Model (VRM).    The Value Reference Model (formerly VCOR) has been used by practitioners for over three years to help them identify and improve the full spectrum of business operations required for the design, manufacture, delivery, and support of products. It accelerates business improvements by providing a validated reference set of measurements, processes, and practice.    Unlike other reference models, VRM fully integrates all critical business operations in a single framework and is available to the public as resource that does not require an association membership, said VCG CEO Scott Palmer. We are excited by what we have accomplished with VRM and the direction we are going. Over the last two years, our members and representatives of the Supply-Chain Council have indicated that the...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/28/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/26/</link>
			<title>PRESS RELEASE  March 7, 2007 Pittsburgh, PA Chief Model Architect Announced</title>
			<description>  The Value Chain Group, Inc. is pleased to announce George W. Brown will be assuming the role of Chief Model Architect (CMA).    As CMA George will be active in technical development, model management and model change control. Model work may entail research initiatives, model validation projects, detailing requirements for methodology, technical discussion and creation of white papers.    The CMA will define model and methodology goals, approaches, and project opportunities to be carried out through collaboration within the membership and with partnering companies and synergistic associations.    &amp;#8220;Considerable communication and collaboration including solicitation of new participants in the development and continued improvement of VCG frameworks are my top priorities,&amp;#8221; said Mr. Brown.    Until recently, George had worked for Intel since 1994 as a Senior Program Manager within the IT Research. He collaborated with the senior management of Intel business units and...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/26/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/19/</link>
			<title>Value Chain Reference Model version 2.0 Available</title>
			<description>Pittsburgh, PA, October 12, 2006 - The Value Chain Group, Inc announces the release of the Value Chain Operations Reference model Version 2.0. This effort is the culmination of many months of work led by Chief Model Architect Tom Mercer and VCG members who participated in the Model Change Committee.  Model Improvements  Version 2 of the VCOR has added additional Level 2 processes of Plan/Govern Information and Finance. This links the needs of Financial and Information processes to performance and execution of the extend network through inputs, outputs, and metrics. learn more          More detail about Version 2.0 can be found here: VCOR Version 2 Release. Members of the Value Chain Group are encouraged to download Version 2.0 by clicking here: Downloads - Members Only.      The Value Chain Group, Inc. (VCG) is an independent, not-for-profit, global organization with membership open to corporations, academia, research institutions and governmental offices. VCG has three Chapters being...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/19/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/13/</link>
			<title>VCG Position Statement</title>
			<description>   PITTSBURGH, September 1, 2006 The Value Chain Group Position Statement           The formation of the Value Chain Group (VCG) was driven by the need for a holistic view of business processes across operations, product development, and customer facing domains of an enterprise. VCG calls this framework VCOR. Because this integrated framework covers supply chain processes some may be confused with respect to the relationship of the VCG reference model (VCOR) and the Supply Chain Council (SCC) reference model (SCOR). To clarify any questions, the VCG Board of Directors emphasizes that the VCG and the SCC operate as two independent, not-for-profit organizations separate from one another. The VCG and the SCC have independently developed distinctive reference models, architecture, tools, and methodology that have major differences in scope, scale, structure, and detail.  About the Value Chain Group   The Value Chain Group, Inc. (VCG) is an independent, not-for-profit, global organization...
</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/13/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Release</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/2/</link>
			<title>VCG Board of Directors</title>
			<description>&lt;div class=&quot;O&quot; v:shape=&quot;_x0000_s1026&quot;&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;mso-char-wrap: 1; mso-kinsoku-overflow: 1&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray; mso-color-index: 2&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PITTSBURGH, February 9, 2006&lt;/strong&gt; The Value Chain Group announces 2006 Board:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;George Brown, Chairman, Intel&lt;br&gt;Herbert Heinzel, Vice Chairman, BTC/H2O&lt;br&gt;Bob Gill, Director, PDMA&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;Mark Deck, Director, PRTM&lt;br&gt;Don Brown, Director, CPD Associates&lt;br&gt;Bill Moore, Director, AIT Group&lt;br&gt;Dan Shunk, Advisor, Arizona State University&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Non-voting Board Members include:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Jo Vegheim, Executive Director, Value Chain Group&lt;br&gt;Scott Palmer, Operations Director, Value Chain Group&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;mso-char-wrap: 1; mso-kinsoku-overflow: 1&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray; mso-color-index: 2&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Verdana&quot;&gt;Tom Callarman, Asia Pacific Liaison, China Europe International Business School&lt;br&gt;Tom Mercer, Model Architect, Value Chain Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Note for Editors:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The Value Chain Group, Inc. (VCG) is an independent, not-for-profit, global organization with membership open to corporations, academia, research institutions and governmental offices. VCG has three Chapters being Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA). See www.value-chain.org. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/rel/2/</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2006 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/62/</link>
			<title>About the Value Chain Group, Inc</title>
			<description> The Value Chain Group BPTF  The VCG Business Process Transformation Framework provides robust reference dictionaries and methods that are tested and proven for the extended enterprise value network. The standard framework promotes consensus and helps drive continuous improvement and transformation of processes.  The integrated process framework guides the modeling, design, and measurement of business performance by uniquely encompassing the plan, govern, and execute requirements for the design, product, and customer aspects of business. We believe in consensus-driven and non-proprietary, open source standards and seek the diversity of ideas provided by our constituents and partners as we share value network perspectives, strategies and best practices.  Strategy  The VCG is dedicated to bringing awareness to C-Level executives on the challenges, benefits, costs, and return on investment of the BPTF.  Key to this strategy is identifying the internal champions and working with these...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/62/</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:19:43 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/3917/</link>
			<title>Path Finder Program</title>
			<description>    Contact VCG about our next virtual session.   The VCG now offers its members a unique opportunity to participate in its Path Finder Program. This program is designed to teach all participants the power of the VCG&amp;#8217;s Business Process Transformation Framework which enables best in class Business Process Management initiatives within industry.    To facilitate your learnings, VCG will provide access to the Value Chain ICIM Architect application designed to capitalize on the VCG Framework &amp; Methodology.     The VCG' Path Finder offers an industry derived framework and a proven methodology that gives businesses the tools and a pathway to capture processes in a model based environment and establish the ability to analyze its process work and prioritize process improvement initiatives.  Participants will be able to achieve ICIM Certification in the Levels of the Integrated Continuous Improvement Methodology through the Path Finder Program. Sessions will be be delivered virtually,...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/3917/</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:42:45 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/5194/</link>
			<title>Value Link - Product Roadmap</title>
			<description>     A high level schedule of future product releases with brief descriptions of market requirements and features for those releases.       Title:         Author             Link         Building a Product Roadmap   Tom Shields woodsidefund.com  How to Create a Product Roadmap unknown ehow.com  A Strategy for the Product Trade-off  Eyal Benaroya  ilpma.org  How to create compelling Product Roadmaps Brian Lawley svpma.org          

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/5194/</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:59:50 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/5050/</link>
			<title>Business Process Library - Public List</title>
			<description> This is the list of documents found in the Value Chain Group's Business Process Library. Member Subscribers are able to download all of our available material from this activated page. Members are also able to access the Model Library Browser which is the source of most of these documents.    VCG Member Subscribers may click here to access the full BP Library.    You can join the VCG via this link. Should you have questions, do not hesitate to contacts us - see bottom of page.    Value Reference Model Documents  VRM 3.0 Report - .PDF version  VRM Quick Reference Guide &#8211; Also, see Value Stream Design Charter under ICIM  VRM Wall Poster   VRM Blueprint    VRM 3.0 XML Representation - zip file    VRM Model Library Browser    Value Reference Model Glossaries   Input/Ouput  Metrics  Practices    ValueCards &#8211; Also, see Value Stream Design Charter under ICIM   Enterprise  Product Development  Supply Network  Customer Relations   Value Reference Model Archive   VRM 2.2 Downloads   ...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/5050/</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:43:24 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/5181/</link>
			<title>Value Chain Analysis</title>
			<description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana;&quot;&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;value chain&lt;/strong&gt;, also known as &lt;strong&gt;value chain analysis&lt;/strong&gt;, is a concept from business management that, first described and popularized by &lt;a title=&quot;Michael Porter&quot; href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;Michael Porter&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in his 1985 best-seller, &lt;em&gt;Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance&lt;/em&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_chain&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;as posted on Wikipedia&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Add VCG member partners who have offerings for VC analysis utilizing the VCG Framework&amp;nbsp;&amp;amp; Methodology:&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Oliver Wight - blurb&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Value Chain Associates - blurb&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Here is a list of companies who have benefited from VC Analysis utilizing the VCG FW &amp;amp; Methodology:&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Weyerhauser, AMD, P&amp;amp;G, etc.&lt;/div&gt;

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/5181/</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:48:47 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/3628/</link>
			<title>Technology Partners</title>
			<description>                   Cordys BPMS delivers speed and control throughout the business process lifecycle, from design and execution to monitoring and improving. When combined with Cordys@Work, our unique, proven, and complete methodology for deploying BPM-based solutions, Cordys BPMS enables you to design your business process automation model in days, implement it in weeks, and make changes whenever necessary&#8212;reducing your implementation time by up to 80% compared to traditional stack vendors. Join Date: 21-Mar-08         iGrafx is a recognized leader of comprehensive Business Process Analysis (BPA) solutions. iGrafx BPA solutions help organizations document, analyze, improve, align, and manage processes and technologies that support, simplify, and automate their business operations. iGrafx solutions enable companies to achieve process excellence in a controlled, centralized and collaborative manner across functional boundaries, geographies, and levels of maturity.    Click here for a...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/3628/</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:39:11 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/354/</link>
			<title></title>
			<description>Welcome to the Value Chain Group Website!     The Value Chain Group&#8217;s Business Process Transformation Framework provides a robust Library of reference dictionaries and methods that are tested and proven for the extended enterprise value chain. The standard framework promotes consensus and helps drive continuous improvement in business processes and value chains.    Our member subscribers have full access to our Business Process Library and Model Library Browser. You may access these here.     Become a site user with a confirmed email address then click here to learn about the BPTF. All site users may click here to view our Business Process Library catalogue that are available to Member Subscribers.                                                                                           Sign Up for Free     Gain free access to most sections of our web site with a valid email address.   Click here to log in and/or find out if your company is already a Member.        NEW! VRM Process...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/354/</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:36:14 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/brand-equity-pyramid</link>
			<title>ValueLink - Brand Equity Pyramid</title>
			<description>    A standard tool for understanding a brand&#8217;s associations to customers&#8217; response. The strongest brands exhibit both duality (emotional and functional associations) and richness (a variety of brand associations or equity at every level, from salience to resonance).        Links  Strategic Brand Management - Soni Simpson Adjunct Professor, Stuart School of Business    http://www.stuart.iit.edu/courses/MC%20502/Fall2004/Classfiles/6th%20class%20Spring%20final%20case%20assignment.ppt    Branding From the Inside Out: How to Approach Brand Strategy - Prepared by Carol Phillps, BrandAmplitude LLC     http://www.brandamplitude.com/images/Branding%20from%20the%20Inside%20Out.pdf    Brand Strategy Toolkit - Prepared by Carol Phillps, BrandAmplitude LLC    http://www.brandamplitude.com/whitepapers/brand_strategy_toolkit.ppt     A Brand Building Literature Review - Francisco Guzae    http://www.brandchannel.com/images/papers/257_A_Brand_Building_Literature_Review.pdf   A concpetual and...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/brand-equity-pyramid</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:03:45 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/education-training</link>
			<title>VCG - Training &#0038; Education</title>
			<description> The Value Chain Group, Inc. (VCG) is a global not for profit trade organization offering Training &amp; Education on a regular basis. These events will be posted under the Events Calendar and notification will be sent to our Newsletter Subscribers. If you prefer, it is possible to schedule in house web meetings and on-site training. For more information email Scott Palmer, or call him at +1 412 487 2922.   Here are brief descriptions of upcoming Education &amp; Training events:        Introduction to Value Chain Thinking - The VCG Framework    This is a one day on-site event. Please contact VCG for more information.       Introductions and Familiarization with Workshop Material   Introduction to Value Chain Thinking and Challenges   Value Chain Definition        The Value Card          Process Dictionaries        Value Stream Configurations     Metric Decomposition and Application from the Strategic to the Operational Level          Introduction to Methodology and Workshop Business Case     ...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/education-training</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:51:57 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Content Managers</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/3928/</link>
			<title>Path Finder Level 1 - Framework &#0038; Process Design Principles: Agenda</title>
			<description>    ICIM Methodology* Introduction - Two 2 Hour Sessions      1. Principles of value stream mapping &#8211; key methodologies and concepts       a. Value streaming (how do we know we are adding value to the end customer)       b. Lean Thinking (how to isolate various wastes in the value stream, how to        determine their impact on performance)       c. Six Sigma (what drives variability in a value stream, what drives cycle time, how         to compare different value stream designs)       d. Systems Engineering (determining critical dependencies for high fidelity process          design and high credibility analysis)       e. Enterprise Architecture (a generic reusable set of components, principles and         guidelines for defining the process and analyzing business performance)         2. Principles of Semantic Framework       a. Taxonomy of Processes       b. Class Model of a Normalized Dictionary       c. Standardized Terminology of Class Elements       d. Working with Multiple...

</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/cms/3928/</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:22:05 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<category>Survey</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/sur/?6</link>
			<title>Best Practice Survey</title>
			<description>Objectives: &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA&quot;&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 8pt&quot;&gt;The Value Chain Group&#8217;s mission is to be the primary resource for identifying and enabling performance improvements, process changes and business agility in all domains across the value chain. To that end, we are committed to providing the resources our constituents may need to identify quantify and realize process improvement across the extended enterprise. &lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
We ask you to complete this brief VCG Survey so that we may gain more insight into the business issues that exist today and to identify subject matter experts who can help us to resolve these issues&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Release Date: 21-May-09 9:00 AM&lt;br&gt;Expiration Date: 19-Aug-09 9:00 AM&lt;br&gt;</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/sur/?6</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 13:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Survey</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/sur/?3</link>
			<title>Research Proposals</title>
			<description>Objectives: &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Release Date: 15-Aug-05 5:00 PM&lt;br&gt;Expiration Date: 13-Nov-05 5:00 PM&lt;br&gt;</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/sur/?3</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2005 21:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

		<item>
			<category>Survey</category>
			<link>http://www.value-chain.org/en/sur/?2</link>
			<title>Test</title>
			<description>Objectives: test goal&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Release Date: 12-Aug-05 11:00 AM&lt;br&gt;Expiration Date: 10-Nov-05 11:00 AM&lt;br&gt;test introductionj</description>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.value-chain.org/en/sur/?2</guid>
			<author>noemail@value-chain.org</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Aug 2005 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>

</channel></rss>