• 52 percent of executives polled list cost reduction either as their top strategy, or within their top three strategies for delivering earnings and funding growth in 2012
• 60 percent say they will focus on non-people-related cost reductions, as opposed to 30 percent that will turn to layoffs or downsizing
• Half of Fortune 1000 executives say reducing indirect and non-product input costs could provide significant savings, without disrupting business
• Fortune 1000 executives cite limited resources, large, disparate organizations and lack of information as reasons why managing indirect spending has been a challenge for them
• More than 70 percent of executives polled say that their purchasing group does not play a highly strategic role, with global impact, in managing indirect and non-product expenses
"With the slow growth that we've seen globally, it's no surprise that companies remain focused on managing costs in 2012," said Carl Guarino, CEO of Procurian. "What's unique about this data is that the majority of companies are focusing on their indirect costs, which is an area of spending that has been largely undermanaged in the past. As companies have exhausted other cost reductions such as layoffs or downsizing, they've started to look elsewhere for savings that can be used to improve margins or fund product innovation and growth and have identified indirect spending as a significant source of savings."
