Media Relations
Media relations inquiries about The Hackett Group should be directed to Gary Baker, Communications Director at gbaker@thehackettgroup.com or +1 917 796 2391.
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Hackett in the News
Spend Matters Weblog, "Spend Management Maturity: Hackett Dials Up the Amp to "Eleven,"
April 8, 2008
Blogger Jason Busch: I recently had the chance to catch up with my old friend and colleague, Pierre Mitchell of The Hackett Group, on a variety of topics. The main focus of our chat was to discuss Hackett's latest procurement capability maturity model.
InfoWorld, "Here's the proof: Strategic IT enables business success,"
April 8, 2008
Any CIO or CTO has heard the lecture from the C-suite, consultants, analysts, and the press: Get strategic about IT as a business value generator. Stop focusing on constantly rebuilding your engine. Now there's proof from the Hackett Group that this advice is true. According to Hackett's research, when compared (by industry) to the typical $22.3 billion Global 1000 companies, top IT "business value management" performers generate $1.1 billion more operating profit on an annual basis and $645 million higher net profit. In addition, not a single company in the Hackett study was able to deliver superior financial performance without also being a top performer in IT business value management.
Baseline, "IT Really Does Drive Business Value,"
April 4, 2008
Research from a new study shows that savvy IT companies turn in far better financial results. Nicholas Carr, read the software code and weep. Yet another nail in the coffin laying to rest the premise of Carr's famous article in the Harvard Business Review asserting that IT is a commodity that doesn't yield competitive advantage will be driven home Tuesday. That's when a new research study from The Hackett Group will be released showing that companies that have mastered the use of information technology to provide maximum business value achieve significantly better financial results than their peers.
CIO.com, "Four Qualities of a Top Performing IT Department,"
March 31, 2008
A new study by the Hackett Group contends there are four characteristics that link the solid financial performance of companies to how efficiently their IT departments run. The survey, which polled 50 companies in the Fortune 1000, said 46 percent of "top-performing" IT departments deliver higher operating margins and 49 percent higher net margins to their companies.
Workforce Management, "Large-Market Outsourcing: A Lofty Ideal,"
March 17, 2008
The business case for human resources outsourcing remains strong, but doubts linger about the ability of any one supplier to manage big end-to-end HRO deals. According to Hackett HR Practice Leader Stephen Joyce, transformational change in the context of offshoring offers companies much broader benefits than simple cost cutting.
CFO Magazine, "No Uncertain Terms,"
March 1, 2008
In response to weaker receivables performance, CFOs have several choices, including reeling in marginal customers and tightening sales terms. But trade-credit decisions are not as straightforward as some banks' lend-or-no-lend determinations, even in the toughest economy. They require dispassionate evaluation of data and a willingness to swap some risk for potential profits. The trick, of course, is to be aware of heightened risk well before a customer asks for extended terms. This article includes insights from REL President Steve Payne and REL Senior Consultant Matthew Kreider.
Manufacturing Business Technology, "Purchasing's evolution to strategic sourcing is a multistage process,"
March 1, 2008
When considering the move from transactional purchasing to strategic sourcing and world-class supply management, while there is no sure-fire method for refining procurement processes, there is a five-step process that most companies pass through as they move their value propositions up into higher and higher levels. The Hackett Group, an Atlanta-based strategic advisory firm, suggests a series of discrete stages that incorporate benchmarking, best practices, and corporate methodologies.
CNBC Europe, "Squawk Box: Accurately Predicting Companies' Earnings"
February 25, 2008
Stock valuations, analyst reputations and the careers of CFOs ride on the ability to accurately predict a company's earnings, but recent research shows 1/3 of companies are getting it wrong. Joel Roques from The Hackett Group discusses.
Associated Press, "Looking, But Not Seeing,"
February 15, 2008
Most companies do a poor job of predicting their own sales and earnings, making it hard for investors to gauge performance, according to a new report from The Hackett Group. After studying 70 large U.S. and European companies' internal forecasts not necessarily the numbers trumpeted to Wall Street the strategic advisory firm says most companies miss the mark for the next quarter's results by more than 5 percent, either up or down.
CFO.com, "Faulty Forecasts on a Roll,"
February 12, 2008
Faulty forecasts have been the downfall of many CFOs. Last year the retirement of Motorola's finance chief, David Devonshire, coincided with the technology company dropping its revenue projections by a billion dollars in the first quarter. At Ericsson, the telecommunications giant, the CFO departed last October after profits came in short and share prices fell by 30 percent. Despite such consequences, companies are continuing to struggle with accurate forecasts both internally and in the numbers they report to Wall Street. New research from The Hackett Group, a business consultancy, finds that two-thirds of 70 surveyed U.S. and European companies are missing their forecasted earnings by at least 6 percent, up to a high of 30 percent.
CNBC TV, "Closing Bell: Study Shows Companies Struggle to Predict Profits and Sales,"
February 11, 2008
CNBC Closing Bell's Matt Nesto discusses Hackett's latest Book of Numbers research, which finds that two out of every three companies are unable to accurately forecast earnings for the next quarter, missing the mark by anywhere from 6% to over 30%.
Finance Week (UK), "Companies Worsen Impact of Earnings Drops by Failing to Predict Them,"
February 7, 2008
While companies can pay dearly for missing earnings forecasts, most companies are doing little to improve forecasting accuracy, according to new research from The Hackett Group.
Crain's Financial Week, "Majority of businesses say they can't forecast three months out,"
February 6, 2008
While businesses like Coca-Cola, McDonald's and AT&T have drawn criticism for not offering earnings guidance, such a policy might be preferable to providing forecasts that are way off the mark. Turns out there's a lot of that going around. Indeed, companies are increasingly wide of the bull's-eye when forecasting earnings. "Corporations are getting worse," said Bryan Hall, head of the finance practice at Hackett Group, a consulting firm that advises clients on best practices and benchmarking. "There are now a lot of variables in the market that companies were not exposed to a couple of years ago, and it goes to show that the forecasting models, when really put to the test, aren't working well at all."
Business Finance Magazine, "What's Wrong With Forecasting - And How to Fix It,"
February 6, 2008
Companies still struggle with earnings and sales projections, but determined action can yield big improvements in the forecasting process. For CFOs, the consequences of inaccurate forecasting go far beyond a plunging stock price and unhappy shareholders. A finance chief may be able to get away with one way-off-base earnings projection, but two is pushing it. "Very often you see that after, let's say, a second profit warning, companies fire the CFO because credibility is totally lost at that point," says Fritz Roemer, who leads The Hackett Group's enterprise performance management executive advisory program.
Finance Director Europe (UK), "World-Class Finance,"
February 1, 2008
This case history discusses how StatoilHydro, with the help of Hackett benchmarks, is continuing to drive towards world-class performance in finance, balancing cost and quality in an increasingly competitive market.
FAO Today, "Best-Practices Event Looks to the Future,"
Feb 1, 2008
According to The Hackett Group , top performing organizations clearly see where they stand and envision precisely where they are headed. Their growth and profitability reflect their insight and vision while other companies stumble. The Hackett Group's 18th Annual Best Practices Conference , April 24-25, in Atlanta aims to put attendees in touch with top executives from leading organizations as they share their journeys toward world-class performance. But even the smartest executives can be blind-sided by unforeseen events or market conditions; because of the twists and turns the economy has taken and the looming possibility of a recession, this year's event has special urgency.
CFO, "Preparing Your Company for Recession,"
January 30, 2008
"At kitchen tables across our country, there is a concern about our economic future," the President said in his State of the Union address Monday night. He might well have mentioned conference-room tables, too. A new paper http://www.thehackettgroup.com/hpn/docs/rword/ by The Hackett Group notes that financial crises are an inevitable part of the business cycle, and that companies that respond rapidly and wisely often emerge stronger. For Hackett, that involves a three-part strategy: look for cost-savings from long-term structural changes, seek ways to free cash from working capital, and hone your company's planning and forecasting capabilities.
Business Finance, "How to Recession-Proof Your Business,"
January 29, 2008
It's just Economics 101: All business is cyclical, and that's true even when, as seems the case in the new century, the cycles are speeding up. Finance executives need to be prepared to meet the challenges of bad times as well as good. Companies that react quickly to an adverse market have a good chance of preserving profitability. But world-class organizations go beyond that, says The Hackett Group: They leverage disruptive events to get the buy-in they need -- from management, workers and stakeholders -- to drive transformative change and raise their organization's performance to world-class levels. Hackett's research identifies several areas where the best companies focus their efforts. They reduce G&A costs, improve working capital performance, examine globalization opportunities, and fine tune the performance of their Enterprise Performance Management system.
CFO, "Top 10 Ways to Cut Your Audit Bill"
January 24, 2008
Think there's no way around sky-high audit costs? Think again. A recent study by The Hackett Group found that the average company spends $584,000 per $1 billion of revenue on audit fees. The companies that earned the "world-class" designation, based on a variety of factors, however, paid only $307,500 per billion- nearly 50 percent less. What sets the best apart from the rest? Below, we offer tips and advice from Hackett and a number of finance executives on how to winnow down audit costs.
CFO, "Is Your Finance Job Recession-proof?"
January 23, 2008
Hackett Finance Practice Leader Bryan Hall is featured in this article on the potential impact of a recession on each finance function: tax, internal audit, treasurer, and controller, as well as the prospects for finance employees in general, and, yes, for the CFO.
Consulting Magazine, "Hackett's Hall: Life 5 Years After Sarbanes-Oxley,"
January 3, 2007
Bryan Hall, the finance practice leader at the Hackett Group, shares the results of the firm's 2007 Finance Book of Numbers. Hackett expected compliance costs to start to drop for all companies, now that Sarbanes-Oxley marks five years. "We were expecting that overall burden of the project, as it were, the compliance costs, to come down, and what we're finding at leading companies, it certain did, but for [others], it didn't." Hall spoke with Consulting about the research and life in a post S-O world.
Events
Best Practices Conferences
Conferences blending executive-level case studies across the G&A landscape and newly published Hackett research and insights.
- European Conference
16-17 October 2008, London