223 Posts found for Source: Kearney

Showing results 101 to 120

Pricing: An Eternity of Frustration?

The issue of pricing sometimes feels like a Sisyphean task. It’s hard work to push price up a hill. Before you can reach your goal, the rock tends to fall back down. The potential value erodes, often cannibalized by excessive discounts, generous payment conditions or free-of-charge services. For all the work of setting a high price, companies rarely achieve that price. There is a better … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Annett Tischendorf, Martin Dürr | Source: Kearney | Subject: Pricing

The Art of the Alliance

Alliances, whether in business or politics, require a foundation of trust. The great military historian Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, said, “We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.” Today, companies are being forced to consider alliances as a key component of their business strategy. As trade barriers disappear and new playing fields open up, … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Daniel Dadoun, Luca Rossi, Sebastien Declercq | Source: Kearney | Subject: Strategy

Build Your Own Acquisition Factory

Although mergers and acquisitions are an attractive option for growing profit and expanding a business, the risks involved may cause some companies to avoid realizing their full potential. An acquisition factory is an excellent complement to organic growth and a large-scale mergers and acquisitions approach, as the focus is on acquiring smaller, more manageable companies in a similar or related field. It also involves a … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Juergen Rothenbuecher, Martin Handschuh, Michael Maxelon, Sandra Niewiem | Source: Kearney | Subject: Mergers & Acquisitions

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective IT Governance

Based on our research and experience working with a wide variety of clients — from multinational conglomerates and old-line businesses to rapidly growing start-up companies — we have observed seven habits for gaining maximum value from IT governance. The most successful companies are those that have matured beyond simply linking IT strategy and the business, and instead have established a fully integrated operating environment. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subject: IT / Technology / E-Business

Three Years After the Marriage

Most M&A experts and merger integration managers would agree that a successful outcome from any single merger or acquisition is far from certain. Studies repeatedly confirm that half of all business “marriages” fail. Yet when M&As work, they create significant value – as demonstrated by the 50 percent of corporate unions that succeed. The secret to their odds-beating success? Strong leadership combined with professional execution … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Juergen Rothenbuecher, Pablo Moliner, Phil Dunne, Sandra Niewiem, Sebastien Declercq, Simon Mezger | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Best Practices, Mergers & Acquisitions

Globalization 3.0

At some point in the past few years, that overworked phrase “the post-Cold War world” fell out of fashion, even though it has not really been replaced. It was neither a satisfactory nor a popular way of describing the strange and somewhat anomalous time after the Gorbachev reforms and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union changed the geopolitical furniture. Some preferred to describe the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Martin Walker | Source: Kearney | Subjects: History, International

Adopting a Lean Mindset

Today’s service industries are in a conundrum. To stay competitive and profitable, companies must focus on keeping labor costs low, but the increased demand for speedy service requires more labor. Offshoring certain back-office functions may help strike a balance temporarily, but many companies are bumping into the limits of this strategy. So what else can they do? It’s time for the service industries to look … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subject: Management

The Growth Cube for Scale-Based Competition

Do you compete against a company? Or against its scale? In today’s ever-consolidating, ever-internationalizing, ever-scaling business environment, your competitors’ greatest strengths may reside in their size just as much as in their people, products and strategies. Choosing the right kind of growth will play a significant role in the quest for long-term profitability.

Content: Article | Authors: Andrej Vizjak, Carsten Seeliger, Thomas Salditt | Source: Kearney | Subject: Strategy

JumpStart Your Merger

Merging companies have a choice. They can waste the time between the merger announcement and the deal’s close by sitting around waiting for regulatory approvals and the official change of control. Or they can use their time wisely to identify synergies and plan operational integration – giving the merger a JumpStart by predefining the new company’s post-merger identity.

Content: Article | Authors: Daniel Mahler, Joy Peters, Kenneth Lee | Source: Kearney | Subject: Mergers & Acquisitions

The Purchasing Chessboard: Buying in a Seller’s Market

Consolidating supplier markets, rising energy prices and the growing demand for raw materials in emerging markets have fundamentally changed the purchasing framework. Suppliers are more powerful than ever, which means buyers must adjust quickly to a new playing field.

A.T. Kearney developed The Purchasing Chessboard — a compilation of insights and experience from thousands of purchasing projects performed worldwide—to help procurement professionals master the tools of … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Best Practices, Finance, Management, Operations