Setting the SceneIn recent years C-level executives in many of the world's largest and most successful organizations have been forced to introduce a wide range of cost-cutting measures as macroeconomic forces continue to create a challenging and uncertain trading environment. In many instances, and with growth becoming an increasingly difficult goal to achieve, organizations have been under intense pressure to reduce the cost base to help growth. But at what cost to future success? An overzealous attack on the bottom line to maintain shareholder value in the short term could mean organizations are leaving themselves open to damaging productivity shortfalls in the future.
Cost Reduction - A Balanced Approach
An unbalanced approach toward cost reduction will inevitably bring serious implications for mission-critical factors such as employee productivity, organizational efficiency, and competitive advantage. IDC believes that companies need to manage and improve key business processes in order to capture essential productivity and efficiency gains. They must also take measures to ensure the enterprise is ready to meet the challenges posed by the changing dynamic of the future workforce. This paper discovers how some of Europe's leading organizations are benefiting from taking an innovative approach to managing and improving the myriad documentintensive workflows and processes that together form the lifeblood of the contemporary business.
Changing Demographics - Managing Productivity and Efficiency
In a stark indication of what the future holds for businesses in the region, the European Union (EU) currently forecasts that the working-age population (15 to 64) will fall by 48 million between 2006 and 2050. (See Commission Communication "The demographic future of Europe – From challenge to opportunity" COM 571). As a result there will be a significantly smaller pool of knowledge workers in the future labor market, a trend that will mean companies will need to operate more efficiently in order to succeed. It is partly for this reason that, as this scenario continues to evolve, productivity and efficiency will become an increasingly significant item on the C-level agenda. IDC believes businesses must focus attention and expertise on rationalizing and improving business processes to remain competitive in the new economy.
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