The Horizons Tracker

AUGUST 17, 2020

While the coronavirus-induced transition to our home offices has presented whole new challenges in terms of our ability to concentrate, such concerns have a long history due to the fashion for open plan offices that has dominated over the last few decades. Informal meetings were also important, however.

Long-term 96

Long-term Cost Center Fashion System 96

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

manufacturers do source from domestic suppliers, they tend to regard them purely as a cost center. Past work by McKinsey found that inefficiencies in manufacturer-supplier interactions add up to roughly 5% of development, tooling, and product costs in the auto industry. Any long-term, strategic vision for making U.S.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain McKinsey Incentives Bottom-up 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 13, 2013

Captive offshore operations centers — company-owned delivery units located in low-cost countries such as India and the Philippines — have come a long way. Originally designed to provide labor cost arbitrage, they are now on the brink of being a source for strategic advantage.

Offshoring 8

Offshoring Cost Benchmarking Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 4, 2018

Disclosure: Jose is long GFNorte; the rest of us do not have GFNorte holdings.). GFNorte recently established a Central Analytics Business Unit (ABU) with the mandate to convert information into profits at a rate of 10X cost and to lead the adoption of a customer-centric approach within the organization. Support from the top.

Company 8

Company Chief Operating Officer Incentives Project 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 12, 2011

But surveys show that more than 25% of firms still think of IT as a cost center, 53% of CIOs' time is focused on cost control, and 54% of companies outsource their IT services. It's easy to fall into the Kodak trap, especially in austere times when there's almost overwhelming pressure to cut costs.

CIO 9

CIO Outsourcing Cost Center Film 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 1, 2013

Find common ground on medium-term issues. We propose business and IT work in that direction by bringing a few tough technological trade-offs front and center, with the goal of finding some middle ground. Companies must invest in these parts of IT for the long term. It is time to put a stop to this.

Information Technology 8

Information Technology Technology Cost Center Constraint 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 7, 2018

Golf coaches have long known what marketers are figuring out: the best way to hit the ball is to focus on the swing and follow-through. Usage brands, by contrast, elevate customer service and loyalty from resource-starved cost-centers to key drivers of growth and profitability.

Brand 8

Brand Succession B2B Advertising 8