Harvard Business Review

JUNE 2, 2011

We manage the measurable, rather than the things that create meaning that fuels creativity, that enables innovative thinking and that helps any company to outpace the market. We tag performance as the quantitatively focused work of what we can design, market, measure, track, bill, and monetize. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Hamel 15

Hamel Customer Loyalty Creativity Cost Center 15

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

MARCH 5, 2012

Government in its entirety is a cost-center to society, so we desperately need to create not just jobs, but private sector jobs. Increasingly, your "natural market" is not defined by geography. That means that the jobs you can get may not be like the jobs you had. A job is not a job is not a job. Build your network.

Cost Center 12

Cost Center Entrepreneur Fashion Learning-by-Doing 12

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

You’ll often find customer relationship management within marketing, budgeting within finance, supply-chain management within operations, outsourcing within procurement, training within HR, and new product development within R&D. Business units come and go, but finance, HR, marketing, IT, legal, and R&D seem to last forever.

Development 8

Development Supply Chain Incentives Outsourcing 8

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

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 9

CIO Information Technology Forrester Technology 9

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 8, 2017

With expanding middle classes demanding more-comprehensive care, governments of these emerging markets are under pressure to invest as chronic disease rates — particularly those related to Western lifestyles — dramatically increase and the average age of their once-young populations begins to rise.

Health Care 8

Health Care Tourism Pharmaceuticals Cost 8

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

OCTOBER 14, 2015

We subsequently observed meaningful reductions in smoking rates in regions where we have a large market share. As providers increasingly participate in value-based purchasing arrangements, what used to be profit centers have become cost centers. Retail health care is good for health systems.

System 8

System Health Care Retail Cost 8

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 8

Call Center Attrition Cost Center Learning-by-Doing 8

HR Digest

JANUARY 5, 2022

The pandemic hasn’t diminished market demand for continuous innovation, but it also presented the opportunity for Bosch to re-evaluate how we build strong relationships and collaborations in an ever-evolving world. . It’s important for CHROs to leverage data analytics to illustrate positive and negative shifts in sales and EBIT contribution.

Human Resources 52

Human Resources Education Resources Innovation 52

Tanveer Naseer

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

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. You have lost market share, customer service complaints are up, and your own boss is pissed off. Your competitor is getting nothing but a disingenuous cost center.

Performance Review 100

Performance Review Review Learning-by-Doing Document 100

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

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 13

Supply Chain Real Estate ROI CFO 13

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

“It’s already changing organizations, by moving IT from a cost center to something with a place at the table in a lot of different meetings,” said Chris Jackson, head of cloud platforms at Pearson, a global learning company. “It forces our internal teams to think about innovating faster,” said Mr. .”

Management 10

Management Software BPM Technology 10

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

While social stuff is often associated with marketing or customer service, social can affect every part of the business model , including how we organize. As the definition of and market for the latest thinking evolves, SU is in a unique position to fluidly respond. Isn't This Just Another Way To Cut Costs? Is that scary?

Participative 15

Participative Decentralization Globalization Cost Center 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 15

Policies Short-term Education Diversity 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 Education Diversity 8