Study: Focus Shifting From Cost Control To Growth

ByJohn S. McClenahen Are your management colleagues saying, "We can't cut our way to success" or "We have got to focus now on growth"? You have company. A study of 244 senior executives from management consultants Accenture reveals 42% of respondents saying their companies will focus primarily on growth during the next year and only 18% saying cost control will be the primary focus. That's a shift from the 32% who say their companies primary focus now is on cost control and the 27% who relate that growth is the primary focus. Accenture's study was conducted between December 2003 and April 2004 and included executives in 17 business sectors, including manufacturing, in the U.S., UK, France, Germany and Australia.