Hackett examines strategies for responding to the global economic crisis at its 19th annual conference, under the theme “Business Disrupted: How World-Class Companies Mitigate Recession Risk and Create Competitive Advantage.”
 
By FAO Today staff
 
How are the world’s most successful companies reducing cost, managing working capital, and creating competitive advantage during these challenging recessionary times? What changes are they making to efficiently and strategically manage key General & Administrative (G&A) areas such as finance, IT, procurement, and HR given unprecedented volatility in business demand?
 
These questions are at the heart of the agenda for The Hackett Group’s 19th Annual Best Practices Conference, to be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta May 13-14, 2009.
 
This year’s Hackett conference, entitled “Business Disrupted: How World-Class Companies Mitigate Recession Risk and Create Competitive Advantage,” will bring together speakers from more than a dozen of the world’s most successful companies, including Alcoa, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Renault, and Unisys, for two days of in-depth sessions.
 
The invitation-only event will also feature previews of Hackett’s 2009 Book of Numbers research in finance, IT, procurement, and HR. The research quantifies spending, staffing, economic return, and other key efficiency and effectiveness metrics of world-class and typical performers. Finally, Hackett will spotlight findings from three newly-completed performance studies examining trends and best practices in cash flow forecasting, cost control, and how best to organize back-office functions to deliver the greatest value.
 
“Today’s uncertain economy has driven executives to focus on business value like never before,” said Hackett President Wayne Mincey. “At this year’s conference we’re spotlighting how world-class companies are not only effective and efficient, but also nimble enough to respond quickly to dynamic market conditions. There’s a lot to learn from these companies and how they’ve optimized their back-office organizational models, technology platforms, and process frameworks to deliver the greatest value to the business.”
 
This year’s conference will cover how to improve working capital and reduce reliance on credit; how world-class companies reduce cost and complexity and create flexibility; strategies for leveraging low-cost labor markets; and how to optimally leverage key effectiveness drivers including enterprise performance management, talent management, IT business value management, and supplier management.
 
The agenda will feature the following companies and executives, among others:
• Kevin Horner, CIO, Alcoa, Inc., who will introduce the three keys to delivering value: Flexibility, low cost, and low complexity;
• Deborah Henderson, vice president and CIO, ArvinMeritor, Inc., presenting her take on how ArvinMeritor IT became an effective business solutions delivery organization;
• Sid Banwart, vice president Human Resources, Caterpillar, discussing how companies can reap the benefits of planning for the worst of times during the best of times;
• Joseph Heinrich, chief accounting officer & controller and Bill Johnson, vice president shared services, at Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc., who will present a BPO case study on Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.’s formula for success;
• Cynthia Dautrich, chief procurement officer of GMAC Financial Services, who helped that company build a global procurement organization during tumultuous times;
• Donn Hanbidge, CFO of Ontario Power Generation, which is raising the bar to go beyond world-class finance;
• Mark Tennant, president Americas at REL Consultancy, who will speak about ways to free working capital to reduce short-term debt;
• Scott Singer, chief procurement officer at Rio Tinto plc, talking about stress testing procurement transformation;
• Mark Bender, director of business process for Finance Terex Corp., which leveraged shared services to improve its performance in finance; and
• Peter Mares, vice president integrated finance service delivery at Unisys Corporation, who will give a presentation on how Unisys responded to the recession using proactive engagement and visibility.
 
The Hackett Group’s executive branch will be well represented at the conference, including: David Ackerman, IT advisory practice leader (Business Uninterrupted: How World-Class IT is the Great Enabler); Ted Fernandez, chief executive officer (conference welcome); Bryan Hall, finance advisory practice leader (Business Uninterrupted: How World-Class Finance Delivers Greater Value); Stephen Joyce, HR advisory practice leader (Business Uninterrupted: How World-Class HR Addresses Harsh Economic Realities); Wayne Mincey (Business Disrupted: How to Enable Success in Any Economy); and Christopher Sawchuk, procurement advisory practice leader (Business Uninterrupted: How World-Class Procurement Delivers Greater Value).
 
For more information on the conference, visit http://www.thehackettgroup.com/events/usbp09/
 
The Hackett Group, a global strategic advisory firm, has staked its claim to fame in best practice advisory, benchmarking, and transformation consulting services including shared services, offshoring, and outsourcing advice.