Cost Management

Unlike one-dimensional cost reduction or restructuring plans, our approach to cost advantage yields long-term agility, efficiency, speed, and value.

• Leaner. We enable leaders to do more with less. Applying our decades of expertise, we identify where and how to reduce costs, convert fixed costs to variable costs, and improve efficiency. We then rigorously prioritize cost reduction initiatives based on ROI to ensure that clients capture maximum value. Our advanced AI, digital, and technology capabilities make cost reductions stick—all underpinned by our industry leading change management approach. 
• Faster. Our battle-tested cost strategy accelerates speed to value by establishing empowered, proactive program leadership that drives a consistent operational tempo across an enterprise. Bureaucratic roadblocks are replaced with rigorous governance and accountability, facilitating timely and thorough execution to accelerate cost reduction. We also ensure that changes are owned by line management and engage an organization to help it stick. 
• Stronger. Strengthening an enterprise through effective cost management is fundamentally about change management. Our experts help build a culture that embraces a methodical approach to cost reduction—one that is deliberate, not sluggish—to ensure that these savings become a lasting part of your daily operations. 

We bring extensive expertise to support holistic cost transformations, including the following:

• Zero-Based Budgeting. More than deploying one-time cost-reduction strategies, our approach to zero-based budgeting uses facts to decide how to liberate resources and make smart choices about where to allocate them. We anchor this approach in a culture of cost consciousness. 
• Operational Excellence. Holistic value-chain transformation enhances service and quality, reduces costs, and mitigates risks—boosting efficiency and effectiveness. 
• AI and Technology Cost Optimization. We help clients harness the power of traditional and generative AI to capitalize on near-term cost management opportunities while building productivity across functions. We also help them transform their IT functions into world-class, cost-efficient, technology functions that are strategic partners and digital business enablers. This means building up digital capabilities and increasing efficiency and simplification, across the board.  
• Organization Design. A successful cost management program requires changing the organizational context in which employees perform to be more efficient and effective.
• Pricing and Revenue Management. By transforming pricing, companies can drive significant value to the bottom line by transforming their pricing strategy and optimizing their marketing spend. We help clients build the capabilities, processes, and mindsets that unlock the power of their pricing and marketing functions—in both good times and bad. 

Strategic cost management requires unlocking short- and long-term savings while achieving context-specific business goals. Although the scope of actions and the timelines differ depending on the situation, our three-step approach delivers both speed and value:

1. Provide a roadmap for taking out costs (4–6 weeks). We size cost-reduction opportunities that align with our clients’ overarching strategic goals and establish initiatives to realize value.  
2. Capture near-term wins and design long-term initiatives (12–18 weeks). We help our clients realize real value quickly and lay the groundwork for longer-term cost-transformation initiatives. 
3. Implement longer-term wins (6–12 months). To promote sustained value, we launch cost-transformation initiatives tied to long-term strategic goals and establish processes to ensure continuous cost management.