Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

An impatient marketing or finance manager would, on the sly, secure some extra budget money and hire a contractor to build a little database that tracked mailing addresses or top-line financials. Slowly but surely, as the little database grew bigger and bigger, the manager would wedge the cost into her operating budget.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain CIO Budgeting Project 15

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 26, 2013

Carr predicted that an organization''s ability to compete through investing in information technology was about to change dramatically. The IT boom of the 1980s and early ''90s had brought information technology to the corporate masses, unleashing the first full-scale technology revolution in the enterprise. Why is this?

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Competitive Advantage Information Technology How To 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

You’ll often find customer relationship management within marketing, budgeting within finance, supply-chain management within operations, outsourcing within procurement, training within HR, and new product development within R&D. When functional boundaries prevail, there is no construct for managing capabilities.

Development 8

Development Supply Chain Incentives Outsourcing 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

Over the last decade, most companies’ digital agendas have focused largely on technology — moving to cloud-based software, modernizing IT infrastructures, adding digital channels, and digitizing business processes. This is a break from the traditional paths of finance, sales, and operations to the top spot.

CEO 8

CEO Marketing Span of Control Sports 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

It may seem counterintuitive, but smart companies need to routinely rid themselves of less profitable customers, the same way an asset manager or rebalances an investment portfolio or a Major League Baseball general manager trades a declining player. We call these people Cost Center Consumers, and they come in two flavors.

P&L 14

P&L Supply Chain Retail Price 14

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Theories and practices of management often spring from the opportunities created by new technologies. Client-server technology begat enterprise resource planning systems, and the consequent system-wide visibility that was required for what we call business process management (BPM). yagi studio/Getty Images.

Management 9

Management Software BPM Technology 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Who at your company will be put in charge of turning buildings operations from a cost center to a revenue center? And yet few corporate managers are asking such questions, much less taking advantage. Cost Savings. And of course, few such managers have a background in information technology.

Energy 8

Energy Resources Information Technology Cost Center 8