The Hackett Group

December 11, 2008

CFO, "Nobody Doesn't Like...Outsourcing?"

Sara Lee announced today that it will cut about 700 back-office jobs and outsource some finance positions. In addition to saving between $200 million and $250 million over the next three years, the company expects to gain more efficiency and flexibility as it cuts positions in North America and Europe. Some of these jobs were held by contractors.

As companies cut some finance jobs, they are offshoring others. Nearly half of the more than 350,000 back-office jobs that will move to India and other low-cost job markets in 2009 and 2010 will be in corporate finance, according to new research by consultancy The Hackett Group.

December 10, 2008

CNBC, "Should We Protect American Jobs?"

This conversation on the merits of President-Elect Obama's plans to try and slow the movement of U.S. jobs offshore uses as a launching point data from Hackett's new globalization research, showing that 1 in 4 IT jobs will be offshore by 2010. The discussion is with Alan Tonelson, of the U.S. Business & Industry Council, and Dan Griswold, of the Cato Institute.

December 9, 2009

ComputerWorld, "Survey: One in four IT jobs moving offshore"

Large companies are accelerating their use of offshore outsourcing, and as many as a quarter of IT jobs at Global 1,000 firms may be moved offshore by 2010, according to The Hackett Group, a Miami-based consulting firm whose clients include many multinational corporations. According to the firm's research, those large companies -- which have revenues of at least $5 billion -- will move about 350,000 corporate jobs offshore over the next two years. More than half of those jobs will be in IT, with the remainder in finance, human resources and procurement.

December 9, 2009

ComputerWorld, "Survey: One in four IT jobs moving offshore"

Large companies are accelerating their use of offshore outsourcing, and as many as a quarter of IT jobs at Global 1,000 firms may be moved offshore by 2010, according to The Hackett Group, a Miami-based consulting firm whose clients include many multinational corporations.

According to the firm's research, those large companies -- which have revenues of at least $5 billion -- will move about 350,000 corporate jobs offshore over the next two years. More than half of those jobs will be in IT, with the remainder in finance, human resources and procurement.

December 8, 2008

CNBC Europe Power Lunch, "More Job Cuts Next Year?"

In this 'Credit Crunch' special report, CNBC Europe's Ross Westgate interviewed Hackett President Wayne Mincey on Hackett's new globalization research, which shows that the offshoring of jobs in finance, IT, and other back office areas is dramatically accelerating. According to Hackett's research, more than 800,000 back office jobs will be offshore by 2010.

December 8, 2008

CFO Europe, "Cashing In"

This article spotlights findings from the new REL/CFO Europe Cash Masters scorecard, which shows a clear opportunity for European companies to improve their bottom line through an increased focus on improving cash conversion efficiency (CCE) - the amount of cash flow that companies derive from operations as a percentage of sales.

December 5, 2008

Business Finance, "Riding the Recession: 5 Moves to Make Now"

With the National Bureau of Economic Research's announcement on Monday, it's official -- we're in a recession, and have been for a year now. Among the welter of advisories from consultancies about what companies should do about it, The Hackett Group's have been standouts this year. The global strategic advisory firm was early to the game, with guidance on G&A savings published back in May (reported here).

But the economic outlook has darkened since then, and Hackett has updated and extended its guidance to reflect current conditions. A new report lists five actions Hackett believes every business should take right now to e! nsure saf e passage through the storm.

December 1, 2008

CFO, "Tight Makes Right: Companies still have plenty of opportunity to squeeze more cash out of operations"

Regal Beloit Corp. CFO David Barta has taken approximately 30 days out of his company's cash cycle over the past four years. But he and the rest of the leadership team at the $1.8 billion maker of motion-control products want more. "Our commitment to the board this year is to take another 3 days out of the cycle, " Barta says. "That is not a huge stretch, but it is something for which my feet are held to the fire."

November 20, 2008

The Economist, "Managing in the downturn: Desperately seeking a cash cure"

From Citigroup to British building product maker Wolseley and beyond, the recent global economic turmoil has driven firms to cut hundreds of thousands of jobs. Companies globally have been hammered by the fallout from the subprime-mortgage debacle and its repercussions in financial markets. Many are desperately seeking a cure. And the most attractive medicine on offer looks like cash.

But preserving cash in such formidable times presents managers with an unprecedented test of their skills.

Hackett President Wayne Mincey is one of the experts cited in this trend story. He discusses Hackett's new research showing that a typical multinational with revenues of about $23 billion can save up to $400 million a year by taking a hard look at how it runs areas such as finance, human resources and technology. Hackett's research also estimates that the same $23 billion company could save as much as $1 billion a year by improving the lines of communication between executives responsible for sales, procurement and production.

November 6, 2008

Dow Jones Newswire, "IN THE MONEY: Minimize Layoffs By Creating A Cash Mine: Study"

The average global corporation is sitting on enough cash to buffer half the impact of a yearlong recession, if management could only figure out a way to get their hands on it That's the conclusion of a study released this week by strategic consultants at the Hackett Group.

Signs abound that this recession could be severe. Motorola Inc; . (MOT) recently announced it was laying off 3,000; Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(GS); 3,260; Xerox Corp. (XRX); 3,000; and Chrysler LLC; 5,000. By contrast Hackett estimates the 1,000 global companies in its study could minimize job cuts and s ave $3.2 billion, or nearly 13% of annual revenue, if companies were more strategic.

Eliminating administrative steps, consolidating related activities, improving sales forecasts and collecting debts faster are all ways to mine the cash buried in the balance sheet instead of preparing for recession with an ax.

November 3, 2008

Business Finance, "How to Move Procurement to the Next Level"

Procurement departments have been under the corporate Klieg lights recently as companies take stock of the supply continuity risks generated by the downturn and gyrating commodity markets. Few organizations have tapped into the full value of procurement. But investing in the function certainly pays off. Every dollar that a typical company ploughs into procurement yields three dollars in spend savings, according to Chris Sawchuck, procurement practice leader with The Hackett Group. Not bad. But procurement operations that Hackett identifies as world-class do much better, returning up to eight times the investment.

November 1, 2008

CFO Asia, "Finding Your Strong Suit"

The latest Cash Masters Survey from CFO Asia and REL offers hints on how to prepare for a slowing economy. As Warren Buffett likes to say, you don't know who's been swimming naked until the tide goes out. Although this latest CFO Asia/REL Consulting Cash Masters Survey covers 2007, a happier time for the APAC 850 (the 850 largest Asia Pacific companies in terms of sales), it may offer a few hints about how to get your business suit ready for what promises to be one of the corporate world's highest, driest periods in decades.

The reason is that the Cash Masters survey ranks companies by their cash conversion efficiency (CCE)-free cash flow from operations over sales. Overall, REL found that the cash conversion efficiency among the APAC 850 last year averaged 9.5 percent, 1.1 percentage points higher than last year in absolute cash terms, and 4.8 percentage points more than in 2006. Although still less cash-conversion efficient than Western companies, Asian growth kept pace.

November 1, 2008

Kiplinger's Personal Finance, "7 Great Companies for $7 or Less"

When we talk about a low-priced stock, we usually mean one whose share price looks cheap in relation to the company's profits or some other fundamental measure. We've identified seven stocks that trade for roughly $7 or less that we think won't be so low-priced down the road.The Hackett Group is a consulting firm that helps big global companies operate more efficiently and, if necessary, transform their businesses. The low share price notwithstanding, Hackett boasts a profitable business with good margins and a lot of growth opportunities, particularly overseas.

November 1, 2008

Supply & Demand Chain Exec, "Executive Memo: The ROI on Skills"

Earlier this year the Council on Competitiveness, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization focused on increasing the United States' economic competitiveness in the global market, issued a report called "Thrive: The Skills Imperative, " which called for a national skills strategy to ensure that Americans are prepared to compete in the global economy and that global companies continue to invest in the United States.

September 1, 2008

IR Magazine, "Failing at Forecasting"

Few things are more irritating to an investor than making a decision based on guidance that turns out to be rubbish. A recent study suggests that a majority of corporations may be trashing their reputations with forecasts (and, as a result, guidance) that could be considered more akin to throwing darts at a board than proper mathematical modeling. IR, of course, is left to pick up the pieces. In a study of internal forecasting completed in late 2007, management consulting firm the Hackett Group found that two out of every three companies are unable to accurately forecast earnings one quarter in advance, missing the mark by anywhere from 6 percent to over 30 percent.

September 1, 2008

CFO, "No Time to Lose: The 2008 Working Capital Survey"

Beware your survival instincts: they may dampen corporate performance more than you might expect. With a recession looming or quite possibly upon us, it can be tempting to ease up on receivables and retain inventory in order to placate cash-strapped customers. But those seemingly small sacrifices actually impose a steep cost, diverting precious cash to working capital. CFOs who want to bolster the case for strict working-capital policies may find plenty of support in the 11th annual CFO/REL Working Capital Scorecard.

September 1, 2008

CFO Asia, "Buddy, Can you Spare a Trillion?"

Asia's top 850 companies f! ailed to make full use of US$833 billion in working capital because of inefficient cash flow practices. Last year, CFO Asia's 2007 Working Capital Survey estimated that the region's 725 biggest companies, excluding automakers, had US$535 billion in working capital unnecessarily tied up in receivables, payables, and inventories in 2006. It's the same story in this year's survey, which covered 850 of the Asia-Pacific region's top enterprises. According to REL, the U.S. consultancy that conducts the study, US$833 billion in total working capital was not put to productive use in 2007.

August 31, 2008

Associated Press, "Checks in the Mail"

It's taking more time for companies to collect on their sales, longer than any time since the 2001 recession. Cash Flow consultant REL, (a division of The Hackett Group) and CFO Magazine found it took the country's 1,000 largest publicly traded businesses, excluding automakers, an average of 41 days for them to collect their money from customers in 2007. That's a 3.4 percent jump from 2006.

August 27, 2008

Reuters, "Corporate America taking longer to collect: study"

Corporate America is having the hardest time getting its customers to pay their bills since the last U.S. recession in 2001, according to a study released on Wednesday. The 1,00! 0 largest U.S. public companies in 2007 took 41 days on average to collect payments from their customers, up from 39.7 days a year earlier and 39.2 days in 2001, the study by consultancy REL and CFO Magazine found.

August 27, 2008

Financial Times, "Crunch brings working capital into sharp focus"

U.K. companies are now doing a worse job at managing working capital performance, as they also see their ratio of free cash flow to sales falling sharply, according to research by REL, a division of The Hackett Group.

August 26, 2008

Financial Week, "Customers say innovation not part of outsourcers' services"

Companies that rush to move their finance and other back-office operations to low-cost countries may cut expenses-only to find they are paying an unexpected price in missed opportunities for innovation. In a new study, the Hackett Group, a consulting and advisory firm, found that businesses that have already begun to move their general and administrative functions offshore will likely pick up the pace over the next three years.

August 14, 2008

CFO.com, "Offshoring Is Still Going Strong"

Offshoring may be getting less air-time as a political wedge issue this year, but by no means has the practice fallen from favor. A new study by The Hackett Group, in fact, sees companies increasing their use of offshore resources by 50 percent in the next three years, while cutting costs by up to half through the use of cheaper overseas labor.

July 22, 2008

California Executive, "How to Handle Delinquent Accounts Before Calling Collections"

This article on how companies can reduce late payments in the current cash-strapped economy, includes insights from REL Global Practice Leader Hye Yu.

July 18, 2008

Investor's Business Daily, "Hackett Group's Change Came At A Good Time"

The Hackett Group (NASDAQ: HCKT) is a consulting firm that is enjoying solid growth thanks to its distinct focus.

Hackett Group stock has defied the tanking market so far this year. Shares are up more than 30% in 2008 and now trade above 6. This month, the stock joined the Russell 3000 Index of the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. IBD gives the stock a Relative Strength Rating of 98, meaning it's performed among the top 2% of stocks over the past 12 months.

Hackett calls itself a strategic advisory firm. It consults on industry best practices for clients to reach certain business benchmarks. Customers fill out detailed forms, then Hackett gives advice on how well they're doing with certain business practices. The key is its database, which provides benchmarks for best practices in any number of areas.

July 8, 2008

CFO Europe, "Dash for Cash"

With credit at a premium, freeing up funds from working capital gains a new urgency. This cover story features findings from the 2008 REL/CFO Europe TWC Research. It also profiles two companies that have made dramatic improvements in TWC - German commercial vehicle group MAN and Italian white goods manufacturer CFO.

July 8, 2008

CFO Europe, "Working Capital Scorecard 2008"

Companies have improved working capital management, but not by much. This article provides detailed results from the 2008 REL/CFO Europe TWC Research, and links to the complete survey results, which provide detailed metrics for the 1000 largest public companies in Europe.

July 1, 2008

HR Executive, "A Functional Critique"

We've long wondered what other top business leaders and C-suite executives think about human resources-whether they're getting what they need or expect from the function, and whether the function has their respect. At The Hackett Group's 18th Annual Best Practices Conference in Atlanta, we got a chance to find out for ourselves when a group of senior executives from finance, IT and procurement, and the CEO of a global life-sciences company, agreed to come together (at the invitation of Human Resource Executive®) to share their perceptions of HR.

June 30, 2008

CNBC Europe, "The Check's in the Mail"

Europe's biggest companies are paying their suppliers more slowly, bringing the average pay period to over 45 days, a new report shows. Brian Shanahan from REL discusses the findings.

June 16, 2008

FinancialWeek, "Feeling the pinch? Think locally, streamline globally"

A recent Hackett Group report estimates the current economic malaise could reduce profit margins at large global companies from about 9.3% as of May to 5.5%, the level seen during the last recession, in 2001. The report said the largest cost-cutting gains are to be found in information technology and finance, where spending is normally heaviest. But the research also showed that trimming from eight other areas could add back as much as 21% to 45% of any loss in pretax profits incurred during the downturn. Dow Chemical, for example, is currently in the process of completing an overhaul of its IT infrastructure as part of a three-year plan to standardize operations.

June 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Executive Profile: Preparing for Change"

Major changes are afoot in the world of business and finance and administration outsourcing, and The Hackett Group stands poised to help its clients make the most of every trend. According to Wayne Mincey, president of Hackett (pictured at left), there are big opportunities out there, and they are efficiency-driven, as well as cost-driven.

June 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Focus on the Road Ahead"

The Hackett Group's 18th Annual Best Practices Conference examines the future state of business while offering success s! tories an d advice for surviving the economic downturn and thriving in the days ahead. According to Ted Fernandez, CEO of The Hackett Group, the 20/20 Vision theme for its 18th Best Practices conference in April was appropriate, given the changes being encountered in the marketplace and with competitors. As Fernandez extended his welcome to 400 attendees from 175 companies, he said, "The state of the global economy set the stage last year. Is the wind behind our backs or in our faces?" This extended article includes spotlights on conference presentations by Smurfit-Stone, and Centrica.

June 1, 2008

BusinessWeek Research, "The Payoff of Pervasive Performance Management"

Spreading data analysis tools from the executive suite to the shop floor brings top-line and bottom-line benefits. This research piece cites data from Hackett's Enterprise Performance Management Book of Numbers detailing the superior equity market returns seen by top EPM performers, along with insights from Hackett Senior Business Advisor Tom Willman.

June 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Sharing the Love"

Shared services have been doing a very good job for a lot of companies. And you know what happens when you do work well? You get more of it. "What's happening in shared services! , once peo ple get past digging their heels in, they get embedded control, handle more data than before, and consolidate and improve processes. They have a whole lot more capability as far as providing useful data and information than they ever had in the past, " said Penny Weller, senior business advisor at The Hackett Group. Hackett client Philips and their partnership with Infosys is also profiled in this article.

June 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Progress & Procurement"

From an evolutionary standpoint, procurement is a bit behind the eight ball. Although the area is white hot these days, with demand for procurement professionals on the rise, executives are scratching their heads trying to figure out the best approaches. According to Chris Sawchuk, senior business advisor at the Hackett Group, procurement ties! into some of the biggest challenges the C-suite faces. "Talent management comes up consistently, " said Sawchuk, "and it's especially challenging in procurement. People can get trained for IT, get an MBA in finance, but until recently, there were no schools focusing on supply chain or procurement management. There are a lot of changes going on in this field." This article also profiles Corning, a Hackett client, based on their presentation at Hackett's 2008 Best Practices conference.

June 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Compliance Culture: Are You Covered?"

Being in compliance isn't just about making sure your accounting entries are on the right side of Sarbanes-Oxley. Now, sound ethics and compliance practices have to permeate the fabric of your company, from the C-suite on down to your third-party providers' overseas location. According to Hackett Managing Director Julio Ramirez, companies need to work closely with their outsourcers to ensure that appropriate compliance practices are in place.

May 8, 2008

Wall Street Journal Business Technology Blog, "How To Cut Your Tech Budget 30%"

Information-technology departments can cut their budgets by about 30% by honestly answering this question: Are we really that special? One of the reasons businesses spend so much on IT is that they assume they need to do things they really don't, Erik Dorr, a researcher at the Hackett Group, tells the Business Technology Blog.

May 7, 2008

CIOUpdate, "Saving IT in a Recession"

Everyone says we're in it, so now what do you do about it? If this recession turns out to be like the one we came out of just a few years ago, then IT is going to be cutting back a lot, again. Since most companies still view IT as a cost center; something lumped in with other G&A expenses such as finance and HR, it's only logical for the CFO to show up asking for across the board savings of say, 10 to 15%. Once this happens, the question becomes, how are you going to do this without cutting vital services and completely quashing important projects? Well, there are ways. According to a recent Hackett Group paper, this may actually be a good time to make some needed changes around your IT shop.

May 1, 2008

CFO, "Let the Games Continue"

Last year, when we first took a look at the corporate propensity to prop up fourth-quarter results at the potential expense of the following quarter's performance (see "Fourth and Goal, " November 2007), recession loomed on the horizon. Today everyone from Warren Buffett to a bevy of economists to, in fact, CFOs say that the recession isn't just looming, it's here - and it's not leaving anytime soon.

April 29, 2008

Human Resources Executive, "Prospering in Tough Times"

Tough economic times make it harder for executives to stick to the course of long-term planning. "The current economic uncertainty has many companies considering some tough choices, and it's easy in an environment like this to fall back on short-term thinking, " said Wayne Mincey, president of the Miami-based Hackett Group, which brought international business leaders to Atlanta last week for its 18th annual Hackett Group Best Practices Conference. "But the best companies, " he said during his opening address, "have always been looking out five years into the future, charting a course in finance, IT, and other key back-office areas that supports their larger business strategy." The annual conference -- which focused on the question: "Are You on the Right Path to World-Class?" -- was attended by nearly 400 business leaders from all over the globe.

April 28, 2008

CNBC Europe, "Cutting Costs Intelligently"

As the contagion from the credit market turmoil continues to spread to the economy, many companies have tightened the purse strings. Joel Roques, of The Hackett Group, discusses various ways for companies to intelligently cut costs.

April 24, 2008

CIO.com, "Hackett Group Research: IT Leaders Can Slash Nearly 40 Percent of their Spending"

The weakening economy is beginning to effect the earnings of companies outside the industries that have been hit hardest by the mortgage crisis. To minimize the effects of a recession on corporate profits, benchmarking firm The Hackett Group recommends that companies make targeted cuts to their general and administrative (G&A) spending (IT, finance, HR and procurement) that quickly impact the bottom line without compromising the quality and service the company provides or its ability to grow when the economy picks up again.

April 21, 2008

Business Finance, "Managing the Business Value of IT"

It's yet another new acronym, this time courtesy of The Hackett Group, but IT BVM -- IT business value management -- is a useful and revealing concept. Consider this: Global 1000 companies that excel in IT BVM generate on average $1.07 billion more operating profit on an annual basis and $645 million higher net profit than their peers. What's more, not one company Hackett studied in its latest Book of Numbers research managed to deliver superior financial performance without also being a top performer in IT BVM.

April 8, 2008

FinancialWeek, "The secret to IT? Do fewer, more targeted projects"

Companies that have poured millions into new data networks, server farms and ERP systems will be interested in the results of new research from the Hackett Group. In a survey of global 1000 companies, Hackett found that typical IT investments-expensive projects to update enterprise infrastructure-tend to generate so-so results. The consulting firm found that more discrete technology enhancements on individual projects generate greater profits, return on assets, and return on equity.

April 8, 2008

Spend Matters Weblog, "Spend Management Maturity: Hackett Dials Up the Amp to "Eleven"

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.

April 8, 2008

InfoWorld, "Here's the proof: Strategic IT enables business success"

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.

April 4, 2008

Baseline, "IT Really Does Drive Business Value"

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.

April 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Are You Ready for the 'R' Word?"

Rather than view a potential recession as something you can only "ride out, " seize the moment to drive changes that will reduce operating spend and free up cash for projects that will create competitive advantage. A bylined article by Hackett President Wayne Mincey, Chief Research Officer Michel Janssen, and Finance Practice Leader Bryan Hall.

March 31, 2008

CIO.com, "Four Qualities of a Top Performing IT Department"

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.

March 17, 2008

Workforce Management, "Large-Market Outsourcing: A Lofty Ideal"

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.

March 1, 2008

CFO Magazine, "No Uncertain Terms"

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.

March 1, 2008

Manufacturing Business Technology, "Purchasing's evolution to strategic sourcing is a multistage process"

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.

February 25, 2008

CNBC Europe, "Squawk Box: Accurately Predicting Companies' Earnings"

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.

February 15, 2008

Associated Press, "Looking, But Not Seeing"

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.

February 12, 2008

CFO.com, "Faulty Forecasts on a Roll"

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.

February 11, 2008

CNBC TV, "Closing Bell: Study Shows Companies Struggle to Predict Profits and Sales"

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%.

February 7, 2008

Finance Week (UK), "Companies Worsen Impact of Earnings Drops by Failing to Predict Them"

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.

February 6, 2008

Crain's Financial Week, "Majority of businesses say they can't forecast three months out"

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."

February 6, 2008

Business Finance Magazine, "What's Wrong With Forecasting - And How to Fix It"

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.

February 1, 2008

Finance Director Europe (UK), "World-Class Finance"

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.

Feb 1, 2008

FAO Today, "Best-Practices Event Looks to the Future"

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.

January 30, 2008

CFO, "Preparing Your Company for Recession"

"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.

January 29, 2008

Business Finance, "How to Recession-Proof Your Business"

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.

January 24, 2008

CFO, "Top 10 Ways to Cut Your Audit Bill"

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.

January 23, 2008

CFO, "Is Your Finance Job Recession-proof?"

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.

January 3, 2008

Consulting Magazine, "Hackett's Hall: Life 5 Years After Sarbanes-Oxley"

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.