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INTRODUCTION
In April and May of 2009 OCIMA and Penn Post, an IMA member, conducted
a survey of Southern
California finance executives who indicated their most successful cost
reduction strategies being used today.
In April and May of 1009 OCIMA and Penn
Post, an IMA member, conducted a survey of Southern California
The survey was conducted through the Orange County Chapter of the
Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). IMA, with 60,000
professional members, is the world’s leading organization dedicated to
empowering accounting and finance professionals to drive business
forward.
The purpose of the survey and this report is to provide a basis for IMA
members and other interested parties to assess their companies’ cost
reduction initiatives compared to other companies, and identify new ways
they can employ to reduce their costs.
The survey consisted of questions about
six resource categories: purchased materials, purchased services,
personnel, equipment, facilities, and inventories. For each resource
there were two questions: 1) Ways to reduce the unit cost of acquiring
or using the resource, and 2) Ways to use less of the resource or
improve productivity of the resource.
Respondents were asked to select for
each question the two actions that were producing the largest cost
reductions.
Demographic questions asked for
respondents’ industry, functional area they worked in, job title, and
annual revenue.
57 members of IMA responded to the
survey. 93% of respondents worked in the Finance function. 45% of
respondents worked for Manufacturing companies, 14% for Aerospace and
Defense contractors, 8% for financial services firms, and the balance
from 14 different industries.
Penn Post and Chris Stiehl conducted the
survey, analyzed the results, and prepared this report.
REPORT CONTENTS
1. The business environment in Southern
California at the time of the survey, and some of the key challenges
faced by companies in this area.
2. Actions respondents indicated were producing the largest cost
reductions for each survey question
3. Summary of responses
4. Interpretations of responses
5. Conclusions
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