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

JUNE 26, 2013

Only the largest of enterprises could afford the best technologies, and even for those with the largest bank accounts, IT strategies were limited to basics like CRM , ERP , or email. IT management Information & technology Strategy' Today, though, Carr''s prediction is coming true. Why is this?

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Competitive Advantage Information Technology How To 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

CEOs remain reluctant to invite CIOs to the executive table, insisting that IT is a cost center, not the innovation incubator it could be. Categorizing projects in a sustained and structured way can inform development processes, resource decisions, new vendor conversations, and hiring strategies.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain CIO Budgeting Project 15

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 4, 2014

Similarly, when another company needed to reduce its expenses, the pain was spread like peanut butter across the different cost centers because the senior management team couldn’t reach a decision about where to focus — which meant that areas with growth potential lost as much muscle as those with less opportunity.

Construction 9

Construction Cost Center Committee Licensing 9

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

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

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Insight Center. By treating security as an integral part of our product life cycle strategy, we’re able to identify and prevent potential security issues at speed and scale. One of the most popular misconceptions about security is that it’s destined to be a cost center and it survives on executive generosity (or paranoia).

Team 8

Team P&L Engineering Cost 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 14, 2015

Patients have many reasons for not taking their medications, including lack of understanding of the treatment, misperceptions about asymptomatic conditions, cultural beliefs, drug costs, therapy complexity, and cognitive and logistical challenges. Retail health care is good for health systems.

System 8

System Health Care Retail Cost 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

The first two paths, up and over , occur when CEOs make the shift to a customer-focused growth strategy, and CMOs step up to drive enterprise-wide transformation around the customer experience. Up : CMOs are promoted into new roles. But the rest of the organization doesn’t know this yet, including most CEOs.

CEO 8

CEO Marketing Span of Control Sports 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 13, 2013

One of the things I''d learned working for a number of CIOs was that IT is most commonly viewed as the largest cost center in the enterprise. Move Beyond Enterprise IT to an API Strategy. There''s only so long enterprises can hold out against that. IT Has to Deliver Great Tools — and Teach People to Use Them.

CIO 8

CIO How To Technology Directory 8

HR Digest

JANUARY 5, 2022

This will help continue to dispel the perception that HR is a cost center or soft skill-based function and demonstrate how data-driven HR can directly impact the bottom line. . Charlie thrives on developing and implementing strategies that accelerate a culture of high performance. How are you going to shake things up next?

Human Resources 52

Human Resources Education Resources Innovation 52

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 16, 2015

If a close competitor is doing a similar deal, for example, or others in the industry are aligned with the strategy or direction, it will help Top Dogs bring shareholders on board. CSO, CFO, CIO, IT, Ops (Practice Leaders): Typically, these decision makers run cost centers as opposed to generating revenue.

P&L 8

P&L Due Diligence CIO COO 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 2, 2011

Talent, purpose, culture and creating meaning is the peopley work mostly viewed by the performance folks as "cost centers," or departments that exist only to manage legal risk. We tag performance as the quantitatively focused work of what we can design, market, measure, track, bill, and monetize.

Hamel 16

Hamel Customer Loyalty Creativity Cost Center 16

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 6, 2016

For example, when we formed a council focused on the digital business, we worked with Mobley as a way to ensure that the strategy would be more comprehensive. Like marketing, IT is often seen as a cost center rather than revenue generator. Ways to empower all marketers (not just analysts). Establishes data as a top priority.

Marketing 8

Marketing Banking Technology System 8

LDRLB

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

HR is an enigmatic profession, as the authors write, “the sad reality is—even in today’s enlightened age of recognizing the value of people to the business—too many top executives still view HR as a non-strategic cost center instead of a core, profit-contributing function.”

Ulrich 137

Ulrich Metrics Report Storytelling 137

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Typically an in-house cost center, service is usually viewed as a necessary evil and constantly targeted for "efficiency." Over time, notable service firms built outsourcing capacity in India, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere to allow any firm to have a global service workforce at low cost. Model #2 is an example of that.

Participative 15

Participative Decentralization Globalization Cost Center 15

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 18, 2012

We may not be keeping pace with these pressures, but leading companies continue to evolve more sustainable strategies and tactics. Announcements on waste may not be exciting, but they demonstrate how companies can turn a cost center into a source of profit. Let's look at some top macro- and company-level stories. Macro Trends.

Supply Chain 10

Supply Chain Constraint P&L Energy 10

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