UPS and FedEx Investigated for Price Fixing
In the March 18, 2011, 10-Q Quarterly Filing by FedEx Corporation is a brief reference to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into alleged anti-competitive actions: In February 2011, we received a demand for the production of information and documents in connection with a civil investigation by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice into the policies and practices […]
Cost Reduction Strategies: What About Utilities?
Many times, I get asked about cost reduction strategies for utility bills. Clients want to know what we can do for them in this area. Here are three questions to ask yourself regarding utility bills: Doesn’t everyone pay the same rate? Aren’t all utility bills correct? Is there something I can do to reduce my rates? If you […]
Indiana’s New Unemployment Legislation: What It Means for Your Company
The Indiana General Assembly recently passed unemployment insurance legislation that will have an immediate impact on the premium rate for your state unemployment taxes. There are two parts to this new legislation: good news and bad news! First the bad news. This new law creates a surcharge to the employer to help pay the interest due on the loan […]
Is Your Business Costing You?
A study commissioned by the Expense Reduction Analysts’ Centre in the UK in September 2009 polled more than 1,300 board directors and senior managers. The participants said their organizations had not employed any cost reduction programs for business expenditures in the past six months. Furthermore, nearly half (46%) had not conducted any contract renegotiations with suppliers in the past year, […]
Sustainability: A Popular Cost Savings Solution
Recently, Business Week published an article on the tangible impact of sustainable business practices and why they are becoming attractive for CEOs. The intangible impact can hardly be ignored either as both provide cost savings. Sustainable business practices are what many consider “out-of-the-box” solutions. Many times, the return on this type of solution is comparatively substantial to […]
Spend Analysis: How Does Your Company Compare?
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” – John Wooden Recently, I was researching spend analysis and came across a study completed by the Aberdeen Group. Although the findings were released September 2004, I believe they are still very applicable: Spend data management is critical for supply management and business success. Insufficient visibility […]
The Cost of “Doing Nothing”
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.” – John F. Kennedy Today’s economic environment of shrinking margins and soaring costs has everyone focused on controlling costs. However, there is a cost that is often overlooked. That is the cost of doing nothing. We […]