341 Posts found for Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

China is in the early stages of its economic development. This report describes the five phases of IP evolution that companies and nations pass through. Without strong international IP rights, Chinese companies may face exclusion from international markets, have to pay onerous royalties, or be otherwise penalized. While it is written for Chinese companies, the main messages of the report apply broadly to companies in … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Collins Qian, David C. Michael, Vladislav Boutenko | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: International – China

As consumer companies make better products at lower cost, it becomes harder to differentiate among them. Therefore, advantage has shifted from supply-side capabilities to demand-side strategies, from upstream processes to the downstream go-to-market activities of pricing, trade spending, marketing, advertising, and sales. Today, success comes not just from raw data, but its transformation into strategic information. It is in organizing for adaptability and responsiveness that … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Anthony Pralle, Jens Harsaae, Miki Tsusaka, Patrick Ducasse, Tomer Tzur | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Marketing / Sales

Innovation, both at the project and portfolio level, can be managed better by drawing cash curves of cumulative cash flow. These pictures will cause managers to question their assumptions about various kinds of risks (market, financial, technical, etc.) and consider alternative development models.

Content: Article | Authors: Harold L. Sirkin, James P. Andrew | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Innovation

Strategic pricing is one of the most powerful sources of profits and growth. Yet, in recent years, it has been the least exploited driver of shareholder value. Few manufacturers review their pricing systematically. Most set prices reactively. Some extrapolate from history, and for others it’s just a hunch.

Content: Article | Authors: Henry M. Vogel, Matthew A. Krentz, Michael Grindfors | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Pricing

Private equity offers a distinctive governance model that, in many respects, is superior to that found at public companies. This model allows private-equity firms to drive changes in a company’s fundamental value-creation performance. The good news, for public managers, is that they don’t necessarily have to sell out to a private-equity firm in order to benefit from this superior governance model. It’s possible to adapt … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Heino Meerkatt, John Rose | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Management

Published jointly by BCG’s Operations practice and The Wharton School, the report is the first in a four-part series exploring various operations topics. It features thinking from many BCG experts as it explores several different aspects of this important topic for our clients. It includes articles about developing the optimal supply chain, coordination and collaboration, flexibility and enterprise systems.

Content: Article | Sources: Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Operations

Whether they are sales associates, flight attendants, cashiers, hotel receptionists, or telemarketers, frontline employees are central to value creation. As the first interface with the consumer, they can make or break the relationship. From a strategist’s perspective, however, it can be difficult to get frontline employees to treat customers consistently the way the business and the competitive environment demand. Faced with an angry customer, many … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Anthony Miles, Yves Morieux | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Customer Related, Management

Companies have more power to create value through pricing – including raising prices, even under weak economic and strong competitive conditions – than many realize. Companies that focus their organizations on what we call precision pricing typically boost EBIT margins by three to five points, and sometimes by as much as ten points. Moreover, they score these gains fast. The key is to conduct continuous, … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: J. Kevin Bright, James P. Andrew | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Pricing

Most of China’s 500 million consumers still shop at small markets and local department stores. These consumers, who are reaching threshold spending levels for many products, represent China’s fastest-growing market. Yet only a fraction of Western companies have explored the traditional trade beyond the largest cities, primarily because of distribution challenges. Of the various methods for dealing with distribution, active management of the wholesale channel–an … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Alvin Lam, Hubert Hsu, Jim Hemerling | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: International – China

Low-cost-country outsourcing has become much more sophisticated, but that doesn’t mean outsourcing is the answer for every company. Not all products – and not all portions of a product’s supply chain-should be outsourced. Lasting competitive advantage requires a nuanced approach. You must consider internal costs and organizational processes in deciding what you send, where you send it, and how you operate. Even when outsourcing is … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Hubert Hsu, Jim Hemerling, Jonathan Cowan, Katrina Helmkamp, Michael Zinser | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Outsourcing / BPO

Consumer-goods companies, which in general, generate high returns on capital and relatively low asset intensity, are finding it particularly hard to deploy their reserves of cash in ways that create superior shareholder value. Our report describes four specific cash traps and how companies can avoid them.

Content: Related Content | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

The basis of trust may be changing. It used to be based on reciprocity and as such was fragile and personal. Because of technology, trust is now based on reputation among people who don’t know each. It is both less personal and more robust.

Content: Article | Author: Philip Evans | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Miscellaneous, Trends / Analysis

Today, most consumer goods companies are trying to upgrade their sales forces to serve increasingly sophisticated customers and fight the war for visibility, shelf space, and promotions. But product pushers can’t become insight generators overnight. The authors discuss eight fatal flaws of sales forces and how companies can make detailed, thoughtful, nuts-and-bolts adjustments to remedy them.

Content: Article | Authors: Katrina Helmkamp, Michael Zinser, Simon Goodall | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Marketing / Sales

To be successful, a company should have a portfolio of products with different growth rates and different market shares. The portfolio composition is a function of the balance between cash flows.

Content: Article, Related Content | Author: Bruce D. Henderson | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Strategy

Despite the mounting competition for M&A and size of deals, it is still possible to create substantial value from transactions by following some systematic rules. This report, based on one of the largest studies of M&A (over 4,000 completed deals), explai

Content: Article, Related Content | Authors: Alexander Roos, Jeff Gell, Jens Kengelbach, Kees Cools | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Mergers & Acquisitions

Too often, industrial companies measure only the core product-related elements of their customers’ experience rather than the full range of interactions. So they lose customers without understanding why and also miss out on powerful opportunities to create value and cement customers’ loyalty. This article outlines a disciplined, impartial approach that can transform a company’s understanding of its customers’ experience from a set of general, possibly … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: David Rickard | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Customer Related, Marketing / Sales

When an idea takes off, its success, in hindsight, seems obvious. Why didn’t you think of salsa chips shaped like little scoops? Yet, too many attempts at innovation fail. Often, the problem is a backward-looking process. Companies invest too much in marginal improvements and too little for products consumers have never dreamed of. The authors present a rigorous, four-step approach that focuses on distilling a … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Kermit King, Marcus Bokkerink, Michael J. Silverstein | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Innovation

Companies that rush overseas in search of low production costs may be walking into a strategic trap, as gridlock hits ports and railways in the United States and Europe. It’s easy to underestimate the hidden costs in long supply chains and their impact on profitability. The authors demonstrate how companies can get a handle on costs by comparing the economics of a typical North American … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: George Stalk Jr., Michael J. Silverstein | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: International – China, Operations

In most firms strategy tends to be intuitive and based upon traditional patterns of behavior which have been successful in the past. In growth industries or in a changing environment, this kind of strategy is rarely adequate.

Editor’s Note: written in 1968…

Content: Article | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subject: Strategy

Without a supporting infrastructure to guide, monitor, and measure skills, behavior, leadership, and collaboration, cultural change is nearly certain to fail, because it is not tethered to business goals.

Content: Quotation | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior