564 Posts Found

Placing a new research, design, or engineering center in emerging markets demands more than just “location, location, location.”

Content: Article | Authors: Ajay Chamania, Heral Mehta, Vikas Sehgal | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Operations

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In recent years, many companies have been focusing on achieving productivity gains in their internal operations. Most have improved internal processes, reduced overheads and eliminated redundant activities. With TQM, Six Sigma and other related methodologies, they have improved the quality of their products and services and rid their operations of profit-reducing mistakes. Many companies have introduced Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and other productivity-improving forms … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Darrell Kent | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subject: Operations

How Cisco started to get things right after things weren’t right from the start.

Content: Case Study | Author: Inder Sidhu | Source: The Conference Board Review | Subject: Operations | Company: Cisco Systems

How intelligent forecasting can lead to better decision making.

Content: Article | Authors: Casey Lichtendahl, Tim Laseter, Yael Grushka-Cockayne | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Operations, Organizational Behavior

Working capital is an important measure of a company’s financial health. It’s defined as the difference between Current Assets and Current Liabilities (Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities). When a company has positive working capital, it is able to pay off its short-term liabilities from assets that can be quickly converted to cash.

Inventory is a part of current assets … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Michael Periu | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subject: Operations

Many executives demonstrate a great mastery when it comes to justifying increased spending, but have no methodology for saving. In his new book, IESE Prof. Ignacio Urrutia discusses the 10 common mistakes in cost cutting and offers practical advice on how to successfully cut back spending.

Content: Article | Author: Ignacio Urrutia de Hoyos | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Management, Operations

Many companies are trying to cut costs by reducing the number of product classifications (stock-keeping units or SKUs) they offer. Here’s a story of a typical SKU optimization effort and 10 provocations that companies can use to help achieve lower costs, fewer out-of-stocks, higher revenues and lower prices.

Content: Article | Author: Bob Byrne | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales, Operations

Managing complexity in products, processes, and supply chains is a growing challenge. The related costs are often hidden, but they can be a significant drain on profitability. This paper provides guidance on how to uncover the true costs of complexity, optimize the value of product portfolios, and master complexity across the value chain. By following these guidelines, companies can achieve a 25 to 100 percent … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Aaron Brown, Bernd Elser, Felix Münnich, Reinhard Messenböck, Satoshi Komiya | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Management, Operations

McKinsey research identifies six management practices used by companies with high-performing supply chains, including segmenting supply chains to get control of complexity, applying lean tools, and tailoring supply networks to optimize service and costs. The findings have implications for executives in high tech, manufacturing and assembly, pharmaceutical, and retail industries.

Content: Article | Authors: Brian D. Ruwadi, Bruce Constantine, Joshua Wine | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Operations

Customers continue to demand greater value at ever-lower prices. But for many companies, the ability to produce savings through more traditional cost-cutting measures is nearly exhausted. The solution: Combine cost-cutting initiatives with design and development activities, using cost-driven product and service innovations to create new streams of profitable growth.

Content: Article | Authors: Greg Cudahy, James M. Ellis, Paul F. Nunes | Source: Outlook Journal (Accenture) | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales, Operations

Designing a manufacturing network entails devising and managing flows of innovation and know-how—not just determining what to produce and where—and organizing the resulting logistics flows.

Content: Article | Authors: Ann Vereecke, Arnoud De Meyer | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Operations

Though often missing, a formal operations strategy can guide the crucial decisions that build competitive advantage.

Content: Article | Author: Tim Laseter | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Operations, Strategy

Private label products, or store brands, can bolster a store’s market share and positively impact retail sales. But what effect do private label products have on the supply chain? Is introducing a store brand always a good idea, or can it have detrimental effects as well? Marc Sachon and Víctor Martínez de Albéniz propose a model that can help retailers determine whether introducing a private … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Marc Sachon, Víctor Martínez de Albéniz | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Industry Specific, Operations | Industry: Retail

The outsourcing gurus have been…saying everybody ought always to do this. But it is really contingent on where you are on the spectrum from “not good enough” to “more than good enough,” relative to each tier of the market. It is when the product is not good enough that proprietary integration gives you a competitive edge. You cannot outsource and be competitively successful in this … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Clayton M. Christensen | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Outsourcing / BPO

Buffeted by years of offshoring, formidable Asian competitors and a global economic downturn, some companies are finding ways to make manufacturing in the U.S. a competitive advantage.

Content: Article | Author: Dale Buss | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Management, Operations, Outsourcing / BPO, Strategy

Fixed costs turn growth into profit. But they can also turn declines into big losses. Variabilization—transforming your fixed costs into variable ones—offers an attractive alternative. A variabilized cost structure is responsive, adapting rapidly to both increases and decreases in demand. Many companies are doing more than variabilize their own costs, they are developing and offering “variabilization solutions” to their customers. This trend suggests that the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Nicolas Kachaner | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Finance, Management, Operations, Strategy

The A.T. Kearney Assessment of Excellence in Procurement is the most comprehensive global study of supply management best practices. In the May/June issue of Supply Chain Management Review, Editorial Director, Frank Quinn interviewed A.T. Kearney Partner and AEP co-leader Randy Watson. In the interview, Watson highlights the traits of supply management excellence that differentiate leading companies from followers. There are three important factors: a clear … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Randy Watson | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Finance, Operations

Okay, so you implemented best practices for your inventory management system only to realize they didn’t work as hoped. Rest assured: best practice implementations can fail despite good intentions. The fact is that not all best practices are “one size fits all”—you’ll need flexibility to implement them in your unique environment.

Drawing on his consulting experience at Ernst & Young, author Steven Bragg breaks down inventory … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Steven M. Bragg | Subject: Operations

Six Sigma started as a revolutionary quality tool at Motorola, gained fame as a powerful driver of cost savings at GE, and has spawned an entire industry of publications and consultants, many peddling a watered-down version of the original Motorola Six Sigma process.

Now, Keki Bhote, one of the founders of Six Sigma, taps into the rigors and rewards of this breakthrough process–but moves it beyond … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Keki Bhote | Subjects: Management, Operations