Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 4, 2018

The ABU was set up as a centralized profit center with ambitious targets and with direct reporting to the chief operations officer; most often, similar units are organized as cost centers with no specific targets. This setup fosters focus on high-yield projects, actionable analytics, and speed of execution. Support from the top.

Company 8

Company Chief Operating Officer Incentives Project 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 16, 2014

In too many companies, IT leaders, relegated to their cost centers, are subordinate to other C-level executives. As a consequence, CIOs work on go-to-market strategies as well as on acquiring and retaining new customers. To borrow a computer-science term, the denotational semantics are all wrong.

CIO 11

CIO Information Technology Forrester Technology 11

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

Tanveer Naseer

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

They make the workplace more political, needlessly enforcing nerve-wracking centers of power. They don’t make products better and they don’t serve customer needs. One of your most promising managers has just led a two-year late-to-market death march on a brand extension that has launched and failed.

Performance Review 100

Performance Review Review Learning-by-Doing Document 100

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

We call these people Cost Center Consumers, and they come in two flavors. Divas: These are high maintenance consumers who drive costs up after purchase. They tie up your call centers, incur costly returns, and generate other costs that occur below the gross margin line, which is harder to see.

P&L 14

P&L Supply Chain Retail Price 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 25, 2013

Service at American Express, he argued, should not be treated as just a cost center; rather, it offered an opportunity to invest in building the sort of warm relationships between American Express and its customers that the venerable company’s brand had always been based on. Bush saw a way to change the game.

Call Center 9

Call Center Attrition Cost Center Learning-by-Doing 9

HR Digest

JANUARY 5, 2022

For example, Bosch recently introduced the Virtual Visor product, which helps improve safety for drivers by using a driver-facing camera and a smart flip-down LCD to digitally block sun glare. The idea for this product came from creative brainstorming by two Bosch associates, who secured leadership support to bring their idea to life.

Human Resources 52

Human Resources Education Resources Innovation 52

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 16, 2015

CSO, CFO, CIO, IT, Ops (Practice Leaders): Typically, these decision makers run cost centers as opposed to generating revenue. Sales, Marketing, GMs, Product (Business Leaders): These decision makers are directly involved in generating revenue and they are judged based on the numbers.

P&L 8

P&L Due Diligence CIO COO 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 6, 2016

As marketing continues to shift and improve, we’ve come to rely on IT to provide expertise on current technology and, perhaps more importantly, to provide a road map that shows where technology will lead, where integration is critical, and how to make the best use of increasingly sophisticated tools. This means being more strategic.

Marketing 8

Marketing Banking Technology System 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

BPM reflected the interactions of different stakeholders, from product creation through supply chain to final assembly. This will likely mean a more flexible work structure as well, in the interest of products and services that ideally can be adjusted to anticipate customer needs. How it effects product design and customer experience.

Management 12

Management Software BPM Technology 12

Harvard Business Review

MAY 31, 2012

Marketers get no respect, writes Ivey Business School professor Niraj Dawar on INSEAD's blog. Yes, marketing faces a steep uphill battle its quest for a seat at the table of valued corporate functions. For one, it’s a cost center. So what can marketing do to regain respect? BONUS BITS: Double-Edged Swords.

Supply Chain 12

Supply Chain Real Estate ROI CFO 12

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

For example, many brands that have made unsuccessful and unprofitable attempts to market to Hispanic consumers using inauthentic tactics have now decided to lump Hispanics into what they call " total market " strategies. Think profit center, not cost center. trillion by 2015, according to a recent Nielsen report.

Policies 15

Policies Short-term Diversity Education 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

For example, many brands that have made unsuccessful and unprofitable attempts to market to Hispanic consumers using inauthentic tactics have now decided to lump Hispanics into what they call " total market " strategies. Think profit center, not cost center. trillion by 2015, according to a recent Nielsen report.

Policies 8

Policies Short-term Diversity Education 8