Total Cost Management
Economic uncertainty is pressuring organizations to make hard choices. They have begun to make across-the-board cuts but realize that short-term band-aid solutions will hinder competitive advantage, market share gains and long term profitability. At ECG, we strongly believe that the current economic conditions provide an enormous opportunity for organizations that are willing to Re-think their business and operations. To be successful, these organizations will need to adopt a new cost management mindset and embed it within the corporation.
Symptoms…Ineffective Cost Management Programs
- Headcount reductions causing significant backlogs
- Budget overruns despite headcount reductions
- Reorganization that neglects relationships with external partners
- Shifting customer accounts contacts that adversely impact cash flow
- Slow and untimely management reporting caused by non-integrated systems
- Product, service and operational costs are higher than competitors
- Cost reduction opportunities are focused only within internal operations
- High growth product /service areas are hindered by current resource allocation
Lessons Learned…Cost Management Must be Part of Your On-Going Business Strategy
- The highest level of success may be achieved through changes in business and cost models rather than improvements in functional processes.
- RE-Thinking work or eliminating work by introducing new business models and/or maximizing the use of technology.
- Cost reduction opportunities are not limited to your organization. Greater opportunities exist when you look beyond the boundaries of your business.
- Timely and accurate information is essential to enable you to reduce cost surgically.
- Organizations must expand their view of cost reduction. They need to assess the enterprise-wide, long term impact that cost reduction has on the organization
How We Can Help:
Structured Diagnostic
ECG offers a structured diagnostic that measures company performance in key areas. We identify cost management opportunities that reflect key levers of your company’s business. Here’s how…
- Use Industry benchmarks to highlight the gaps between your performance and the performance of your competitors
- Define specific metricsto manage and achieve greater performance predictability
- Compare industry best- practices to your existing practices and provide recommendations to improve performance in terms of cost, quality, time and customer satisfaction
- Uncover high level performance gaps and cost reduction opportunities
Portfolio of Improvement Opportunities
We provide a comprehensive cost management portfolio with specific action steps on how to implement and achieve results.
- Prioritize improvement opportunities to achieve optimal results
- Develop a risk assessment for each improvement opportunity
- Summarize “what it will take” to implement each opportunit
Real Solutions… Measureable Results
Determined to reduce costs while providing the same service level to the business, this global Media & Entertainment company requested assistance to review their finance and information technology organizations to identify cost improvement opportunities.
A 20% cost reduction was achieved by simplifying, standardizing and consolidating processes for digital revenue and shared service operations. This was accomplished by:
- Introducing self-service models and web enabled technologies to increase productivity
- Improving the use of their ERP investment to enhance management reporting
- Reducing month end close cycle time by standardizing global processes and introducing a soft close
- Enforcing usage of consistent data to eliminate rework
Our experience means your success. And your success is what we’re all about!