---

Knowledge Management: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

16 June 2000

Ford Expert to Discuss Best Practice Replication

               
    CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Ford Motor Company's Best Practice Replication process 
was one of the first knowledge management applications to be patented and 
licensed as Intellectual Property.  For over three years, Ford has successfully 
employed the Best Practice Replication process to collect and share proven 
practices throughout the company.  Across twenty global communities, Ford has 
identified nearly $1 billion of value resulting from implementing its
replication process.

    "Ford is a company that has proven the benefits inherent in sharing best
practices internally across its functional and divisional borders," said Chris
Bogan, President and CEO of Best Practices, LLC, a leader in the field of
benchmarking.  Best Practices, LLC will host the Summer Meeting of the Global
Benchmarking Council (GBC), August 9-11 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palm
Beach, Florida.  "Ford's presentation "Proven Practices, Proven Process,
Proven Results" provides a first-hand view inside a knowledge management
leader's innovative processes.  Anyone tasked with harnessing the power of
their company's stored knowledge will benefit from exposure to Ford's
influence," Bogan said.

    Drawn by discussions of Maximizing Competitive Advantage through Knowledge
Management, Strategic Planning: Creating Roadmaps for the New Millennium, and
Benchmarking and Best Practice Sharing, GBC members and guests will gather in
Palm Beach, FL to trade insights and information through detailed
presentations, success sharing roundtables, and informal conversations.
Attendees will participate in interactive presentations from companies
including Boeing, Ford, Motorola and Intel.  Guests will also share in the
collective experience of member organizations including Cisco Systems, GM,
QUALCOMM, Dell, AT&T, Lucent, Nokia, DuPont, Bell Atlantic, GTE and Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals.

    ABOUT THE GLOBAL BENCHMARKING COUNCIL

    The Global Benchmarking Council (GBC) was launched in 1998 by Best
Practices, LLC, a Chapel Hill, NC research firm, in collaboration with
founding member companies GTE, Sprint, DuPont, and AT&T.  GBC Membership
transforms colleagues into partners and partners into friends. In addition to
a year-round network of fellow corporate innovators and benchmarking thought
leaders and attendance at quarterly council meetings, GBC members enjoy
numerous other benefits.