(The Wall Street Journal, 25 April 2012) In Brief: German automaker Daimler plans to stop production of Orion city buses and take a minority stake in Motor Coach Industries Ltd., in a move aimed at increasing efficiency and profitability, Daimler, which will concentrate on the travel coaches of its Setra brand, said it expects the [...]
Read more(CNBC, 29 August 2011) In Brief: Faced with a weakening economy, big banks are bracing for a new, “leaner” financial landscape by reducing their workforces, consolidating businesses, and seeking new ways to generate income. Our View: While some downsizing may be unavoidable, companies can also look to process improvement and efficiency gains to cut costs. [...]
Read more(BBC News, 18 August 2011) In Brief: The US-based soft drink giant will invest a further US$4 billion in China’s fast-growing market between 2012 and 2014, building on the US$3 billion it has invested since 2009. Our View: There is little doubt that China is an increasingly important market for Western companies, but our recent [...]
Read more(Treasury and Risk, 8 August 2011) In Brief: There were 145 corporate spin-offs in the first six months of 2011–more than any half-year period for 10 years–as well as an additional 17 between 30 June and 7 August. Companies “feel more pressure to review their portfolios in this environment,” says one portfolio manager. Our View: [...]
Read moreCompanies report losing nearly 40% of the total potential value of their strategic plans on account of flawed execution. Misaligned performance management and resource allocation systems are responsible for two-thirds of this lost value. Because these systems are conventionally optimized to support current operations, any change in strategy must compel a change in these systems [...]
Read more(Yahoo! Finance, 13 July 2011) In Brief: In Brief: President Obama said that if the debt ceiling doesn’t get raised by the beginning of August, there is a distinct possibility that nearly one-half of all government checks will not make it to their recipients. Congress continues to deliberate on the debt ceiling with tensions rising [...]
Read moreMany firms are actually quite good at improving performance on projects of small scope within traditional organizational boundaries. But, while most have the appetite to improve their process excellence (PE), many firms struggle to sustain improvements when these are exported across large business processes, such as order fulfillment and new product introduction. Operations Leadership Exchange [...]
Read more(Bloomberg Businessweek, 22 June 2011) In Brief: This profile of MySpace describes what caused the social media site to lose users and market share. Traffic peaked at 75.9 million unique visits in December 2008, and was at 34.8 million in May 2011. Our View: Launching a new business in a new industry will always require [...]
Read more(Finance Director Europe, 12 May 2011) In Brief: Shell’s finance function recently went through a restructuring effort, driven by the need to cut costs and improve process management, which resulted in “improved performance, lower costs, and higher-quality, dedicated finance process management,” explains Tim Morrison, EVP Finance of Royal Dutch Shell’s downstream. The overhaul included centralizing [...]
Read more(Fast Company, 3 May 2011) In Brief: Foxconn, the world’s largest maker of electronic components, plans to invest as much as $12 billion in Brazil, but only if Brazil’s government satisfies a stringent list of demands that includes expedited shipping at airports, funding support from the Brazilian National Development Bank, and fiber optic Internet connections. [...]
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