Research: Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail Industry  Research RSS Feed 02/27/12Integrated Facilities Management Success FactorsIn this article, we will explore several IFM critical success factors, some of which need to be performed prior to going to market, and others that must be performed later in the process. 02/16/12When Do Cost Savings Become Liabilities?Obviously all firms should be looking for ways to improve their bottom line. But what are the risks when facilities managment cost reductions are not well thought out? 01/09/12Bundling: Outsourcing Multiple Business FunctionsCould bundling be a sensible strategy for your organisation? Whether services will be performed by third party service providers or a shared services centre, you should know the bundling options for your processes and the pros and cons of each potential arrangement. 07/19/11KPMG: 2011 Mobile Payments OutlookThe use of mobile phones as a payment alternative to cash, checks or credit cards looks set to increase significantly. In order to assess the mobile payments market, KPMG conducted a global online survey of 970 companies between the period of September 2010 and February 2011.This paper identifies adoption barriers and opportunities, and provides insight into the forces shaping the mobile payments market. 12/09/10Defining New Business Models for 21st Century Competitive DifferentiationGlobal Integration and the Ascendance of Competency-based Models: The need to cut costs has spurred organizations to narrow the focus of the activities they perform internally. It is increasingly clear that legacy Western business models across many industries (e.g., media, public sector, retail, pharma) are unsustainable in their historical form necessitating more aggressive cost-cutting, partnering and specialization of offerings. 09/13/10Sustain Competitive Advantage by Rethinking Your Business Services ModelsAs the global economy strengthens, will companies lose focus on cost competitiveness, relaxing cost control policies and hiring back staff into old models? Or will they instead fundamentally shift their business models to take advantage of the robust offerings of the market place? Those who do the latter will truly have competitive differentiation. 08/11/10Knowledge Management Makes a ComebackHow does an organization get the right knowledge into the hands of the right people at the right time? Modern organizations must focus on capturing and protecting their intellectual property assets as well as harvesting the personal knowledge of their workforce members. A commitment to process can enable an organization to create a consistent and repeatable methodology that, when combined with robust technological tool sets, will drive a successful knowledge system that demonstrates bottom-line results. WIth workforces shrinking and aging, its time to make knowledge management part of your organization's strategic plan. 06/18/10How to Champion Sustainability, Reduce Costs and Consumption and Win Friends in High Places... Without Increasing Your SpendTiming is everything in business. Just as green initiatives were gaining momentum with real estate executives and facilities managers, along came the worst recession in 60 years. Sustainability quietly became an unfunded mandate. Here's how to use outsourced facilities management service providers to regain momentum, achieve your sustainability goals and move toward LEED certification. 05/14/09Top Five Ways to Help Optimize Operations and Outsourcing During Mergers, Acquisitions, Divestitures, or DownsizingOrganizational changes of a large magnitude involve significant opportunity for improving profitability and cash flow through the effective delivery of internal operations. Yet many organizations become overwhelmed with the amount of data, decisions and deadlines they face during mergers, divestitures, or layoffs. How can operations be optimized in times of organizational turmoil? 05/08/09OutTake: The Need for SpeedOrganizations seeking near-term savings should consider "speed sourcing". 12/08/08Moving Up in a Downturn: Proactive Service Delivery Trends for the CPG IndustryHow do consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies stretch their own dollars while maintaining or improving their current level of performance? This is the challenge, and it is why more and more CPG organizations are fundamentally rethinking how they deliver and manage their core support services. The result is a greater use of sales, general and administrative (SG&A) alternative service delivery models like shared services, information technology outsourcing, and business process outsourcing. 08/01/08It's a Question of Balance - How Professional Advisors can Add Value to the ProcessThis EquaTerra Position explores the need for sourcing advisors and the role they can play in ensuring your strategic decisions are based on a balanced perspective. Every sustainable sourcing strategy is a question of balance. It's rare that a business will outsource every part of an existing internal process - much may go, but some things will almost certainly stay. That begs three major questions: 1. What should stay and what should go? 2. When bits need to go, where should they go to? 3. How should you manage those bits after they've gone?