During the "bubble" years, all that mattered was growth – at any cost, and by any means necessary. Many strategies were driven by acquisitions, joint ventures, and the promise of emerging technology. While successful for a handful of lucky companies, most of these strategies created little to no real value.

Many companies have now adopted a "back to basics" philosophy with a renewed emphasis on profit improvement – balancing top-line growth and careful cost management. Our experience indicates that operational execution is the key driver of continuous profit improvement. Enhancing execution elements such as quality, speed and service while diligently managing costs can simultaneously lead to competitive differentiation and profit improvement.

Our Capabilities

Over the years, Alliance has worked with clients in industries ranging from consumer products to telecommunications on profit improvement assignments. Although we tailor our approach to the unique needs of each client situation, common areas that we explore include:

• Value Chain Mapping – Obtaining a deep understanding of where value is being captured and lost is critical to ensure that resources and investments are being properly allocated. We take a holistic view of an industry's value chain, including supplier and customer economics.
• Customer Relationship Management – Understanding specifically what customers want, what they do not want and what they are willing to pay for is the key to maximizing customer profitability. We have proven methodologies to uncover this information and to create a strategic CRM process.
• Supply Chain Assessment – Just as the top-line revenue of many businesses is determined by a small concentration of customers (e.g., the 80/20 rule), overall profitability is also often driven by a small concentration of suppliers. We believe that it is imperative that businesses manage their suppliers as carefully as they monitor their customers.
• Cost Reduction Initiatives – Often as a result of some of the above activities, companies recognize the need to systematically structure and manage targeted cost reduction initiatives (e.g., headcount reduction, asset sales). We have experience in designing processes to efficiently and effectively execute these type of initiatives.

Case Study

• Restructuring an organization to improve operating results
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