Cut costs; increase productivity. These are the refrains — even mandates — being heard across business sectors and functions. But how will you know where to cut and how much? In response to this question, we've pulled together a few timely best practices resources.

• Optimize what you have.  Optimize shared services to increase the amount of time employees can devote to problem solving.
   
• Prepare for the months ahead. Learn how finance organizations are using metrics to make well-informed decisions during this period of global economic uncertainty.
   
• Position your organization for the future. Invest in research and development to make sure you're prepared when the economy recovers. See what we've learned from Bausch & Lomb, IBM, Procter & Gamble, The Clorox Company, and more. 
   

Too often, organizations make cost-cutting or output-increasing decisions without considering hidden consequences that affect:

• quality,
• cycle time,
• efficiency, or
• customer satisfaction.

APQC continuously examines metric performance data and can give you the hard numbers to determine your course of action and bolster your business case.

Find the roadmap to success for your
school at www.apqceducation.org.