The Winning Edge in Uncertain Times

How do organizations gain advantage during times of economic turmoil? This question is uppermost in the minds of business leaders today. Through our Accenture research, we know high-performance businesses act decisively at all times and take advantage of focused growth opportunities. They also practice rapid and sustained cost management principles to generate cash flow and reinvested a portion of that back into their business to support growth and other strategic initiatives.

In an uncertain economy, reducing costs quickly without slowing growth is a front-and-center issue that makes rapid and sustained cost management a critical strategy for companies determined to succeed during and after an economic slowdown. Accenture’s approach is to focus on two kinds of initiatives: those that drive operating advantage and those that drive structural advantage.

Businesses following a disciplined, analytically driven cost reduction approach outperform their peers in revenue growth, profitability, cash flow and total return to shareholders. And they sustain and increase their market leadership over time.