Review
A timely look at cost-cutting in a downturn. Cost-cutting may be an unglamorous subject for a business author. But it is an undeniably timely one. Andrew Wileman has produced a practical and readable book, shot through with appealing empathy for struggling firms. Managers of smaller firms who cannot afford consultants and don't have time to peruse management journals should find Mr Wileman's book especially useful. Nuggets of advice come thick and fast, covering customers, suppliers and staff. Mr Wileman's prose brims with useful tips; dry business theory is handled lightly; personal anecdotes are actually amusing; and each chapter closes with a summary presented in bullet points. --Economist.com, 27th August 2008
Mr Wileman s text is irrepressible: jaunty, energetic and all-knowing. The author knows his subject. He has been cutting swaths through flabby balance sheets and cost structures for three decades. A crisp new book ... refreshing in many ways. Although he is evangelical about managing costs, Mr Wileman remains realistic. He is neither vandal nor sadist. Clients will be grateful for his distinctive blend of candour and can-do. --Stefan Stern, The Financial Times, 12 June 2008
'Fills an amazingly large gap in the business book universe, with substance and insight. Read it to stay ahead, in tough times and good times.' --Chris Outram, Founder & Partner, OC&C Strategy Consultants
Product Description
This is the first accessible and practical book to address cost management in a general and holistic way for managers at every level and in every function. Driving Down Cost sets out a structured, practical approach to intelligent cost management, offering a toolkit of key ideas and cost management strategies, frameworks for analysing cost, and practical techniques for implementing cost-reduction programmes. Cost management is not an issue only for the CEO, or for senior management, or for technical specialists. Junior managers who are proactively tight on cost are learning good habits for the future, ones that will bring them recognition and advance their climb up the organizational chart. And cost management is relevant to private-sector businesses and public-sector organizations, and to managers in every function. You only need to engage in high-profile cost cutting if you haven t been effective at long-haul cost management.While this book does cover one-off cost reduction programmes, its main theme is what interests most managers a sustained cost management programme. In this timely book Andrew Wileman gives you the inside scoop on what has worked for him over years of consulting on costs. He looks at the smart ways cost can be created and the even more innovative ways they can be cut like getting your customers to do your work for you, or turning cost into revenue. Sometimes cost management is in fashion, sometimes it is out of vogue. As it happens, the US, the UK and other big Western economies are currently appearing shaky. A cost-cutting wave looks imminent and this book s theme seems prescient. But actually, timing does not and should not matter. In three or five years time growth will be back, but cost will still be critical. Cost management is not just for downturns, but for always. Visit www.drivingdowncost.net for further information.
by Denise S. Tarcher
by Ludy
by John P Kotter
