Costing

Something strange is happening in the debate about the U.S. federal budget deficit. Across the land, in books and on editorial pages, the message seems to be changing. In October 1987, Peter Peterson wrote in the Atlantic Monthly that the federal deficit is the centerpiece of many grim scenarios, including global depression, severe inflation, a […]

An intermediate step can help make the transition to outcomes-based payment for health care.

To compete effectively in international markets, a nation’s businesses must continuously innovate and upgrade their competitive advantages. Innovation and upgrading come from sustained investment in physical as well as intangible assets—things like employee skills and supplier relationships. Today the changing nature of competition and the increasing pressure of globalization make investment the most critical determinant […]

And it could lower costs in the long run.

In my last post, I talked about the ways you can use green data — footprinting information on your products and services up and down the value chain — to create enormous value for your company. As they say, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. And those with the best information can cut costs, […]

Few truisms apply universally in the business world, but four related ones are valid in every business situation. 1. Over the long term, it is absolutely essential to be a lower cost supplier. 2. To stay competitive, inflation-adjusted costs of producing and supplying any product or service must continuously trend downward. 3. The true cost […]

Kaiser Permanente has a tool for that.

When Liberty Mutual told vendors to cut the paper and submit their bills electronically, it discovered a gold mine in the mountain of new data.

Scott Anthony, president of Innosight and author of The Silver Lining, explains how to innovate when time and money are tight.

Instead of casting a wide net, try a more strategic approach.

Few economic decisions are as difficult as those involving the choice between present and future consumption. Some people, unable to place much faith in the future, happily borrow to fund present pleasures; others, with longer time horizons, are wary of such “fly now, pay later” policies. They fear that the required payments, when viewed up […]

When advising project teams frustrated by their seeming inability to deliver promised innovation or creativity to key customers, one provocative recommendation almost always produces positive results: Cut whatever’s left of the budget by 15%. Innovate with that. The immediate reaction(s) are revelatory: People are shocked. Their disbelief palpable. Are you crazy? We need more money, […]

Switching from broad-spectrum to more targeted antifungals can cut costs without adversely affecting outcome.

Few, if any, articles on finance that have appeared in HBR have enjoyed the influence of the 1962 article reprinted here as a “Classic.” Gordon Donaldson’s analysis of how many companies haphazardly established their debt capacity, and his careful explanation of what he considered a better way, seemed to strike a chord among corporate administrative […]

A small number of hospitals are responsible for nearly 80% of the excess payments for common Medicare procedures.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of overtime.

A wounded-but-wiser AT&T veteran recounts how one of the world’s biggest and best-known companies became one of its most battered—and explains how others can avoid that fate.

Five proven principles for reducing costs without compromising quality.

Four budgeting hacks from a financial advisor.

Companies doing business in the developing world have to contend with the staggering human and financial costs of HIV infection—and most would agree that conventional approaches to controlling the epidemic aren’t working. In our experience in the labor-intensive mining industries of Russia, South Africa, and Botswana, we’ve seen infection rates among workers exceeding 90% in […]