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BNET
- 2005-08-31
Can an obsession with product costs ultimately hurt profits? Can products be too good for their own good? Companies that manage this relationship skillfully can maximize their gross margins and, in turn, fatten their R&D and marketing budgets. The higher their gross margins, the better positioned a company is to...
Tags: Product, A.T. Kearney, Research & Development, Marketing Research, Sales Strategy, Business Operations, Marketing, Sales
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BNET
- 2005-05-02
Outsourcing has grabbed headlines in the past few years. Some proclaim it as a necessary, effective, and inevitable strategy to reduce costs, focus on the core business, maintain competitiveness, and obtain needed capabilities. Others see outsourcing as a threat to jobs, companies, industries, and whole economies. And numerous studies point...
Tags: Competitive Advantage, A.T. Kearney, Managed Hosting, Outsourcing, It Operations, Business Operations, Outsourcing & Subcontracting
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BNET
- 2005-04-21
Leaders in the study are creating value and gaining competitive advantage from supply markets by focusing on four areas: Innovation and growth, value chain optimization, advanced cost management techniques, risk management and supply continuity. Customer demands for a constant stream of new products and features as well as increased competition...
Tags: Sourcing, Cost Management, Value Chain, A.T. Kearney, Managerial Accounting, Purchasing & Procurement, Strategy, Channel Management, Finance, Business Operations, Management, Marketing
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BNET
- 2005-04-05
Cross-border corporate investment could be reaching a tipping point. Expressing the greatest optimism in years, global investors show less concern about operational risks and expect to move more aggressively offshore. This article discusses how the US faces severe competitive pressures from two of the dynamic and rapidly evolving economies -...
Tags: A.T. Kearney, Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Currency & Foreign Exchange, Outsourcing, Investment, Finance, It Operations, Business Operations, Outsourcing & Subcontracting
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BNET
- 2004-11-15
Every month, it seems, another retailer posts disappointing financial results. Top-line growth sags; bottom-line profitability erodes. Hypermarkets drive down prices, pharmacies cut into grocery sales, discounters invade malls. In today's hypercompetitive retail environment, no company is safe. All retailers need to find new ways to create value. To drive the...
Tags: Retail Company, A.T. Kearney, Procurement, Retail, Food & Beverage, Purchasing & Procurement, Sales Strategy, Manufacturing, Business Operations, Sales
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BNET
- 2004-11-02
In an industry in which one incorrect data point can lead to grave consequences, pharmaceutical companies have not been eager to jump on the global outsourcing bandwagon. The risk is too great, the perceived reward too small. Today's push and pull dynamics, however, are changing attitudes and strategies. The article...
Tags: Pharmaceutical Company, A.T. Kearney, Outsourcing, It Operations, Business Operations, Outsourcing & Subcontracting
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BNET
- 2004-11-02
For a growing number of people, mobile phones are already much more than voice communication devices; they are an indispensable lifestyle tool and an expression of individuality. Trendsetters use them to play games, listen to music, surf the internet, and swap email, photos and video messages. This article discusses how...
Tags: Mobile, A.T. Kearney, Real Estate, Corporate Communications, Advertising & Promotion, Business Operations, Marketing
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BNET
- 2004-08-20
What does off-shoring do to the U.S. economy? Many facts and figures have been cited to bolster the case for, and against, moving jobs to cost-effective locations overseas. For instance, a study on global sourcing of computer and software services by the Information Technology Association of America found that by...
Tags: A.T. Kearney, Offshoring, Outsourcing, It Operations, Business Operations, Outsourcing & Subcontracting
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BNET
- 2004-08-20
"Satisfaction guaranteed" is still promised by many retailers today. But what happens to those returned products? How do the retailer and the manufacturer handle them? Both have traditionally focused on delivering goods to customers, not on managing their return in an efficient manner. The handling of returned products, often called...
Tags: Logistics, A.T. Kearney, Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Business Operations, Enterprise Software, Software
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BNET
- 2004-08-12
Filling the CEO's Chair offers a summary and analysis of the major findings of Corporate Governance Effectiveness survey of S&P 500 independent directors. It also examines changes boards have made either in the past 12 months or since our 2002 survey and, in some cases, changes boards have not made...
Tags: Strategy, A.T. Kearney, Survey, CEO, Corporate Governance, Marketing Research, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Marketing
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