The Cost of Waste

  Cost Management   Knowledge Shelf  

In these tough economic times, companies are rushing to cut operating expenses at a record pace. Unfortunately, many organizations are ignoring the golden opportunity to be found by simplifying costly operational processes that create financial waste.

Businesses today are facing an abrupt paradigm shift in their reality. Where once there was plentiful operating capital, now there is limited liquidity and tightening credit. Companies are being forced to limit their expenses significantly. However, these companies have spent the booming economic years of the past by adding layer upon layer of bureaucracy and complex operational processes that eat into the bottom line.

How can this be fixed?

Corporations must take on the responsibility to document and understand their current processes. From the ground up, this enterprise-wide activity can reveal areas of fallout and breakdown, as well as missed revenue opportunities. Millions of small opportunities can be found that are multiplied and amplified by transactional volume. Handoffs where customers fall through the cracks or are left out of the communication loop can be identified and resolved. Wasted dollars can be reclaimed by the business and spent on areas that will promote greater revenue or returns to shareholders. And the business can lay the foundation for efficient processes so that it will have a competitive …

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