Pekka Pere

White Paper

Many companies are realizing sizable gains in cost and efficiency from cloud computing. Others are building potentially disruptive new business models. It is too early to say whether the cloud will upend business strategies, as the Web did in the 1990s, but it is not too soon to be prepared.

Report

The pace of digital growth in the BRICI markets is unforgiving of strategic mistakes—today’s Internet user base of 610 million will swell to 1.2 billion by 2015. Companies need to connect with these new digital consumers now in order to grow with them in the future. This report draws from 2,000 interviews and numerous focus groups in ten cities to detail Internet and mobile-phone usage in the BRICI markets, where online behavior patterns differ markedly from those in developed countries.

Report

The information and communications technology industry has tremendous potential to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and mitigate climate change. But it is necessary to have a common yardstick for assessing carbon emissions savings arising from such solutions as smart motors, smart logistics, smart buildings, and smart power grids.  This report proposes a methodology for identifying and quantifying the impacts of these measures. The report was sponsored by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), an international partnership of companies.

White Paper

When you have only one shot at winning, you must make it count. Any business-to-business company that relies on infrequent bidding for major contracts must master what we call “one-shot pricing.” Because no one-shot-pricing scenario is exactly like another, companies may wrongly assume that they can simply take an ad hoc approach. In reality, a sharply focused strategic lens and disciplined execution remain crucial. In most cases, at least one or two percentage points of operating income are at stake.

White Paper

Since deregulation in the 1980s and the emergence of the commercial Internet in the 1990s, the telecommunications industry has faced disruptions and premature reports of its untimely demise. But the challenges have never been greater than now. As the successes of Google, Apple, and others demonstrate, tremendous opportunities abound in the broader technology and telecom space. But in order to capture them, carriers need to make hard choices about strategy and business models.

Report

Tablets and e-readers are likely to usher in an explosion of new digital products and services. Unlike with other digital transitions, there is cause to be optimistic for many of the players in the media value chain: aggregators, software providers, device manufacturers, but especially content owners. Tablets and e-readers are the last, best chance to rejuvenate businesses that the digital era has damaged. Read

Perspective

A growing number of adaptive competitors are using an array of new approaches and technologies to expand the scope and impact of experimentation in their business. In doing so, they create a simulation advantage by achieving superior “economics of experimentation.” They generate, test, and replicate a greater number of innovative ideas quicker, at lower cost, and risk than their rivals. The Perspective examines six levers that companies can use to transform their approach to experimentation.

White Paper

This White Paper examines the prospects for equipment manufacturers in China’s dynamic wind-power sector. It looks at forces shaping demand, the current competitive landscape and how it has evolved, and factors likely to drive future success. It concludes with a checklist of questions competitors should ask themselves if they hope to remain (or become) viable over the next several years.

White Paper

As wealth management clients, women are both significant and undervalued. They control about 27 percent of the world’s wealth, yet more than half of the women we surveyed feel that wealth managers could do a better job of meeting the needs of female clients. By recognizing the importance of women and the drivers of dissatisfaction among this group, wealth managers can attract new clients and strengthen loyalty. And they can do so by fine-tuning, rather than reinventing, their approach.

White Paper This White Paper argues that budget-constrained governments will require greater private-sector involvement to meet the global need for infrastructure improvements over the next 20 years. The paper identifies key challenges and requirements for both the private and public sectors if they are to develop successful collaboration.

White Paper

Change in retail markets comes slowly, so it’s easy to miss opportunities to make necessary adjustments. Yet a small group of retailers have steadily improved their performance over time, despite shifting economic conditions, regulations, and consumer demographics. What they have in common is an ability to adapt. Their fine-tuned radar can pick up early signs of shifting shopping patterns while their competitors see the same market, day in and day out. As a result, they adapt their business models to gain market share and deliver superior financial returns.

Report Asset managers today face a host of tall challenges. An altered playing field, increasingly demanding investors, and a shifting product landscape are among the pressing issues at hand. Yet amid widespread uncertainty in the industry, there are solid reasons for optimism, such as an improving outlook for profitability. In BCG’s eighth annual report on the global asset management industry, the authors discuss the specific steps that asset managers must take to achieve leading market positions in the postcrisis era.

White Paper

Improving the efficiency of government IT poses a distinct set of challenges, especially at the federal level, given the size and scope of operations. This article details how the Australian government successfully approached the task—and did so without compromising the government’s delivery of services. Its lessons are relevant to both the public and private sectors.

White Paper

As investors begin to anticipate economic recovery, they are demanding that companies strike a declicate balance, according to this survey of professional investors and market analysts. Investors want companies to invest more aggressively in growth—but only when they have a sustainable competitive advantage.  And they want companies to return more cash to shareholders once they have fully funded their profitable growth opportunities.  Getting that balance right requires companies to align carefully their business strategy, financial policies, and investor messaging.

Read

White Paper

Employees who are engaged and committed can make corporate strategy come alive. Unfortunately, the economic downturn damaged the willingness of employees to go the extra mile for their companies. Middle managers, who oversee the vast majority of all employees, are the key to bringing back engagement. This paper outlines a four-step process for helping middle managers. The paper is based on a global survey of more than 5,500 executives conducted jointly by BCG and the World Federation of People Management Associations.

Report

In the fourth Making a Difference report, BCG examines how to address enduring challenges that cut across the social impact sphere.  We explore, for example, how to foster cooperation among like-purposed organizations, how to optimally engage the private sector, and how to leverage scale. It also features an overview of our project work in social impact for 2008 and 2009.

White Paper

Managing complexity in products, processes, and supply chains is a growing challenge. The related costs are often hidden, but they can be a significant drain on profitability. This paper provides guidance on how to uncover the true costs of complexity, optimize the value of product portfolios, and master complexity across the value chain. By following these guidelines, companies can achieve a 25 to 100 percent increase in profit margins.

White Paper

Key accounts—a company’s closest and most committed customers—must be served not just through transactions but in true collaboration. With effective key-account management (KAM), companies can lift revenues, improve margins, and lower the cost to serve. Creating excellence in KAM is not easy, however. Deep, trusting key-account relationships need time to develop and cannot be managed simply by setting quarterly quotas. It is important to focus on share of wallet, rather than just revenues, and to measure progress along the way.

Read

White Paper

At the same time the global telecommunications industry has hit barriers to growth, it finds itself with plenty of waste to cut. Traditional cost-cutting methods are insufficiently bold or holistic to meet the challenge. Using BCG’s Lean Advantage methods, however, some telcos have reduced complexity and increased earnings. Lean Advantage uses precise analytics and intense employee engagement to produce quick savings and a culture of continuous improvement—usually without large capital expenditures.

Report

With signs of the global economy returning to growth, the decline in mergers and acquisitions that began with the Lehman Brothers collapse has bottomed out. BCG’s sixth annual M&A report includes a groundbreaking analysis of 3,500 deals from around the world since 1992 and identifies the characteristics that generate long-term value. Consolidation deals and cash-only transactions deliver higher short-term and long-term value on average. Acquisitions during downturns outperform those during boom times by 12 percentage points over two years. Despite persisting concerns about the outlook, there are attractive opportunities for companies that are ready to take advantage of them. Learn more about this publication via our video slide presentation.