Strategic Cost Reduction

For many businesses, Cost Reduction has been a priority for some time. As the Recession deepens and the Credit Crunch bites, however, the urgency has intensified. In a crisis, companies may need to cut many costs to restore their corporate health. Unfortunately, cost cutting is sometimes undertaken carelessly, and may cut a corporate artery; or is performed so persistently that it can lead to a corporate 'death by a thousand cuts'. At other times, cost cutting occurs randomly, meaning that the savings made are only temporary and that the costs re-appear. Cost reduction is often omitted from management books, or is dealt with in a fragmented, incomplete way. Written by a chartered accountant and an engineer, this new book takes a holistic approach to the subject, and is an original practitioners' guide on how to reduce costs in a way which does not ultimately destroy the business. This involves integrating the experience of leading practitioners with the available strategic models and theories.Strategic Cost Reduction is aimed at any person who is in a position to influence the strategy of the business, irrespective of its size, including directors, business unit managers and owner-managers, together with their advisors, such as chartered accountants. While it is written from an Irish perspective, many of the examples given are from multinationals operating in a global context, and so the book has wider relevance. While some success may result from focussing on the more obvious and immediate cost reduction targets, radical cost reduction is unlikely to be achieved by a draconian policy of 'slash and burn.' The ground-breaking strategic perspective described in this book will be far more productive. By careful planning and skilful implementation, it should be possible for companies to avoid the pitfalls and achieve lasting success. Outline of the Book Strategic Cost Reduction is in four parts. Part 1 deals with budgeting and other traditional approaches to cost reduction, including the various functional departments, to assess the effectiveness of existing cost reduction systems.It continues with the measurement of the problem, the setting of cost reduction targets and how to approach an emergency. Part 2 places cost reduction in a wider framework of strategy and values, considering different types of strategies and the critical functional safeguards, which should not be overlooked. It then looks at the wider strategic drivers of cost and approaches the issue by using the value chain, rather than traditional accounting information, which may not identify the root causes of the problem. Finally it delves into the issue of economies and diseconomies of scale. Part 3 outlines the modern operational tools used to analyse and manage costs by world class companies, such as Toyota and Motorola. It discusses 'world class' and 'lean' manufacturing, six sigma and business process reengineering. This is followed by the challenges of benchmarking and outsourcing. It provides a number of case studies and offers practical tips for implementation, as well as outlining the options available. Part 4 deals with issues of implementation and monitoring. It reviews issues around the structuring and rewarding the labour force.It goes on to establish the critical links with the budgeting and costing system, the role and costs of the head office and how quality and values can be monitored through a balanced scorecard. It finishes with a summary of how to plan the journey and get started. Each concise chapter gives numerous examples and illustrations, and each one ends with a checklist of thoughts for the practising manager. The contents of the text are set out below:

A practical approach to business transformation Fit for Growth* is a unique approach to business transformation that explicitly connects growth strategy with cost management and organization restructuring. Drawing on 70-plus years of strategy consulting experience and in-depth research, the experts at PwC’s Strategy& lay out a winning framework that helps CEOs and senior executives transform their organizations for sustainable, profitable growth. This approach gives structure to strategy while promoting lasting change. Examples from Strategy&’s hundreds of clients illustrate successful transformation on the ground, and illuminate how senior and middle managers are able to take ownership and even thrive during difficult periods of transition. Throughout the Fit for Growth process, the focus is on maintaining consistent high-value performance while enabling fundamental change. Strategy& has helped major clients around the globe achieve significant and sustained results with its research-backed approach to restructuring and cost reduction. This book provides practical guidance for leveraging that expertise to make the choices that allow companies to: Achieve growth while reducing costs Manage transformation and transition productively Create lasting competitive advantage Deliver reliable, high-value performance Sustainable success is founded on efficiency and high performance. Companies are always looking to do more with less, but their efforts often work against them in the long run. Total business transformation requires total buy-in, and it entails a series of decisions that must not be made lightly. The Fit for Growth approach provides a clear strategy and practical framework for growth-oriented change, with expert guidance on getting it right. *Fit for Growth is a registered service mark of PwC Strategy& Inc. in the United States

Discover the tools for knowing the costs your company should cut, without impacting its ability to deliver goods and services New from Steve Bragg, this book provides the tools for determining which costs a company should cut, without impacting its ability to deliver goods and services. It explains how to use throughput analysis in order to locate bottleneck operations in a company, which in turn dictates where capital investments should (and should not) be made. Delves into process analysis, to determine where excess resources are being used in a business process Describes the total cost of ownership, showing how a single purchasing decision actually snowballs into a variety of ancillary costs Shows how to create and use a spend management system to reduce procurement costs Shows how just-in-time systems can be used to eliminate inventory costs Cost Reduction Analysis: Tools and Strategies provides examples to show how much cost can potentially be eliminated to avoid drastic action later that can imperil your corporation's direction and future.

For most companies, cost cutting in a down economy means across-the-board slashing that "spreads the pain" of budget reductions across many departments. While that may sound like the best approach for getting critical results fast and for limiting political infighting, it is a mistake-one that will leave your company weaker, not just smaller. Instead, companies that need to reduce costs should treat the challenge as an opportunity to identify and reinforce their key capabilities, while divesting from those activities that do not truly reflect the business's strengths or long-term goals. This more strategic approach will make your company more resilient as tough times continue and more robust as recovery begins. In Cut Costs, Grow Stronger, an e-book published as part of the Harvard Business Press Memo to the CEO series, Booz & Company's Shumeet Banerji, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi provide executives with the tools they need to rapidly implement capabilities-driven cost reduction. First they demonstrate how to identify and clearly articulate your company's key capabilities-not just core competencies or skill sets, but those very few strengths that, in combination, define how your organization competes. You can then use this information to create your company's unique blueprint for effective and efficient cost reduction. The authors' detailed, step-by-step framework walks you through the process, which can be completed in as little as two or three months-it's something that you can do now. This practical guide to capabilities-driven cost-cutting is the tool executives need to confront the challenge of today's economy while strengthening the foundation for what will set their company apart in the future.

According to author Michael Rindler, "Every hospital has the ability to reduce its costs by at least 5 percent annually without harming clinical quality or customer service." In Strategic Cost Reduction: Leading Your Hospital to Success, he reveals a proven, step-by-step leadership plan for managing costs at all types of hospitals in any location-from small rural hospitals to large urban academic medical centers. With a focus on leadership approaches rather than financial techniques, this book explains how to alleviate the anxiety of cost reduction efforts and engage all managers, physicians, and employees in creating a financially healthy organization. You will learn practical strategies for building a cost-reduction culture, uncovering cost-saving opportunities, promoting accountability at all levels, and monitoring results.

This book deals with the systems of cost reduction that originated in Japan. These are mostly new systems that did not exist in western practices before they were utilized in Japan. The book also presents the Japanese ways of carrying out the globally popular cost reduction practices.(1) It describes the strategic cost management conducted by top management through alliances between companies and/or between government and industry.(2) It shows the functional cost reduction systems along the various phases of the product life cycle, as follows: R&D ? Product development ? Manufacturing ? Administration and indirect operations(3) It conducts some humanistic or behavioral aspects of Japanese cost reduction systems.