Large company managed costs strategically to improve competitiveness and position themselves for growth
Approach: Tackle the problem both on a strategic and tactical level
From a strategic perspective—
Tying cost containment to business objectives
Building a cost leadership culture not just a target
Knowing that achieving sustainability would mean structural and cultural changes for the company (e.g., how it was organized, what functions are needed and an inspection of how work gets done) not just incremental cost cutting.
Investing time building strong relationships and trust so that tough conversations could be had.
Getting everyone at all levels involved.
Tactical —
Broke down big, seemingly unattainable cost goal down into manageable, targets by cost lever
Getting executive sponsorship
Clearing defining governance structure and establishing project management office (PMO)
Establishing a regular and frequent cadence of executive progress meetings to increase sense of urgency and pre-empt issues.
Being transparent and communicating objectives broadly