FOUR in five corporate cost-cutting programmes do not achieve their stated objectives because many companies take an over-reactionary one-off view of the problem and fail to consider all the factors that affect their operations.
According to KPMG consulting director Aaron Lo, research conducted by his company found that 80% of cost reduction programmes fail for reasons ranging from the lack of a clear strategy and focus, to eliminating people and changing processes without fully recognising process interdependencies.