Strategic Cost-Cutting: How to Improve Profitability in a Downturn

There has been a recent significant economic, financial market, and business slowdown. And there are still significant threats ahead. In coming months and quarters, it will be a critical time to improve profitability. But haphazardly cutting costs won't get us there. At a critical time like this, it's important to engage in strategic cost cutting by using data, analysis, and proven best practices to identify and reduce excess spending. In Strategic Cost Cutting , world-recognized management consultant, Jason Schenker, shares best practices to cut your way to higher levels of profitability, without sacrificing your most important people - or your core business. The complete outline of the book is below. * OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 - THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC COST-CUTTING CHAPTER 2 - THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN A DOWNTURN CHAPTER 3 - BUSINESS PRIORITIES * SPEND ANALYSIS CHAPTER 4 - GETTING NUMBERS TOGETHER CHAPTER 5 - CLEANING THE DATA CHAPTER 6 - PRIORITIZING SPEND CATEGORIES CHAPTER 7 - BENCHMARKING COSTS CHAPTER 8 - OFF-LIMITS TOPICS CHAPTER 9 - STRUCTURED PHASES * MAKING CUTS CHAPTER 10 - PRIORITIZING VENDORS CHAPTER 11 - NEGOTIATING WITH VENDORS CHAPTER 12 - REVERSE AUCTIONS CHAPTER 13 - EXITING CONTRACTS CHAPTER 14 - REDUCING PHYSICAL OVERHEAD * ASSET RECOVERY AND DISPOSITION CHAPTER 15 - ASSET RECOVERY CHAPTER 16 - ASSET IDENTIFICATION CHAPTER 17 - ASSET REDEPLOYMENT AND REPURPOSING CHAPTER 18 - ASSET DISPOSITION AND DIVESTITURE * LABOR COST-CUTTING CHAPTER 19 - LABOR CONSIDERATIONS CHAPTER 20 - REDUCING OVERTIME CHAPTER 21 - LAYOFFS: THE LAST MOVE? * FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIESCHAPTER 22 - TWO PIECES OF ADVICE CHAPTER 23 - CUTS TO AVOID CHAPTER 24 - LIMIT THE DOWNSIDE * CONCLUSION* COST-CUTTING TABLES