Business insights, reports, whitepapers and research for COOs: PwC

10Minutes on conflict minerals

10Minutes on conflict minerals provides insight into the strategic benefits and risks companies will want to focus on as they comply with the SEC's conflict minerals rule. The rule is effective for 2013 calendar year operations, so regardless of whether companies view conflict minerals as a supply chain opportunity, risk to their brand or another regulatory to-do, they should act now to prepare.

10Minutes on harnessing customer demand to drive growth

Consumer-packaged goods (CPG) companies, retailers, and their business partners often tout the ways they put customers at the center of their strategies. But while many companies do a good job of understanding their customers, perhaps not as many create demand by coordinating across marketing, sales, and innovation—functions and activities that now encompass the demand chain. This 10Minutes explores ways companies can capitalize on knowing their customer with demand functions pulling in the same direction.

APEC 2012 CEO Summit survey report: Addressing challenges. Expanding possibilities.

PwC's report, building on a survey of more than 370 business leaders and interviews from across the region, confirms the necessity of regional cooperation for our companies' futures.

APEC 2012 CEO Summit: Improving supply chain integration to make them more reliable

One of the challenges for the continued economic growth of the APEC territories, are integrated supply chains that are reliable. Removing key trade bottle necks will facilitate faster, less expensive, and more secure intra-APEC trade.

APEC 2012 CEO Summit: Economic integration an imperative for continued economic growth

For the continued economic growth of the APEC territories, the need for economic integration, both between the APEC territories, and beyond is established reality. The fastest growing APEC economies will account for about two-thirds of overall APEC trade, up from about half in 2011.

10Minutes on academic medical centers

Academic medical centers (AMCs) are the nucleus of the U.S. health system, yet they face multiple challenges.

10Minutes on business continuity management

The best disaster survival manual may be obsolete if it doesn’t anticipate major disruptions to the supply chain or at outsourced operations. As a result, business continuity management programs are being designed to continually assess— as well as counter—risks stemming from the interdependencies integral to running a business.

10Minutes on customer impact

Designing and delivering truly exceptional customer experiences has become the key to achieving sustainable, profitable organic growth. In fact, new socio-economic and demographic conditions have fused themselves with technological innovation to redefine the very nature of customer value and how businesses should go about delivering it.

Combating cybercrime: The general counsel’s role

Cyberattacks aren’t just an information technology matter. Legal obligations, damages to the organization, and business relations with customers all come into play. Often the last to know, it is imperative that general counsel be the first on the cybercrime scene. They can play a pivotal role in protecting an organization if they act promptly when a company’s systems have become compromised.

10Minutes on doing deals in China

Companies seeking growth in China are exploring alternatives to outright M&A strategies, acquisitions, traditional joint ventures, wholly foreign owned entities (WFOEs), and dollar-denominated private equity funds to succeed. Here we discuss their approach.

Doing business in a changing China

As the fastest-growing major economy in the world, China continues to offer global companies attractive investment and business opportunities, but doing business there also means navigating the complexities that arise from China’s unique historical, political, and cultural contexts. Despite the challenges, what are leading US companies doing to succeed in China? For one, they're developing collaborative relationships with Chinese stakeholders and demonstrating the agility to continuously adapt their strategies to the country’s dynamic environment. What other steps are they taking?

Cloud computing gets strategic: Reducing technology costs is just the starting point

Most organizations today are no longer deciding whether they’ll use cloud computing - rather, they're deciding how they'll use it. But will they use software-as-a-service to provide CRM for their sales team instead of managing the application in-house? Should they take advantage of inexpensive, virtualized storage to meet mushrooming data needs? Will a private cloud enable them to better leverage technology investments among different business units? These are now the questions being asked and here, we take a look at the answers.

10Minutes on Engaging your pivotal talent

Higher employee engagement means improved retention, customer loyalty, revenue, sales and profit. But should you strive to raise engagement among all employees? The answer may surprise you.

Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act

Touted as a bill that will completely overhaul the financial regulatory system, the Dodd-Frank Act creates new regulators, regulates new markets, brings new firms into the regulatory arena, and provides new rule-making and enforcement powers for existing agencies. It will have enormous impact on both financial and non-financial services firms. Here we examine the Act in detail, offering you key guidance to better understand its reach and impact.

The rise of the public-private partnership

The benefits of PPPs can be compelling. Public-private partnerships don’t simply provide much-needed capital for projects; they can also serve as models of efficiency and reliability and be champions of high levels of accountability and transparency. In addition, PPPs can be cost-effective and time efficient. But are PPPs applicable to all capital projects? We break down the issues in greater deal in this edition of View.

Framework for SOA services

SOA is now a mainstream strategy for improving IT performance, yet the architecture often does not live up to expectations. The reason? Many implementations are not built on a proven framework for reusable services. To realize maximum gains from SOA, organizations must take extraordinary care to craft a Centralized Services Framework that fuses business knowledge with technical expertise.

CIO leadership in post-transaction relationships: IT’s role in customer engagement

By evolving IT to focus on the end customer, CIOs have the opportunity to be key partners in helping their businesses break new ground.

10Minutes on shaping the boardroom agenda

This 10Minutes outlines key points from PwC’s 2012 Annual Corporate Directors Survey that illustrate how boards are working to improve their oversight.

10Minutes on building the customer-centered organization

What does a customer-centered organization look like? What investments are needed to take you there, and what might that journey look like? This 10Minutes discusses these questions and how companies who focus on creating a customer-centered organization may reap real dividends.

10Minutes on supply chain flexibility

Volatility has become a fact of life in today’s business landscape. Yet, after years of global expansion, many companies’ supply chains are brittle, unable to respond to frequent fluctuations in demand and supply. This 10Minutes explores strategies companies can deploy to make their supply chains more agile and adaptable.

10Minutes on creating value from Global Business Services

In 2013, company leaders are looking for value creation from their operations. To achieve this goal, organizations are moving beyond shared services and outsourcing to a Global Business Services (GBS) model. GBS helps provide those intangibles by focusing on customer needs and business strategy first and foremost.

10Minutes on derivatives reform for non-financial services companies

For non-financial services companies, regulations introduced by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Basel III will result in significant changes to the derivatives market. Every aspect of a corporation using derivative to manage risk will ultimately be affected—from risk strategies and corporate funding to operations and accounting. This 10Minutes provides insight on the impacts of new regulation on corporate entities and what those entities need to do now in order to meet impending reform deadlines and ensure they're well equipped to manage increased costs and compliance responsibilities.

10Minutes on environmental and social risk

Environmental and social issues are posing greater commercial risks than ever. In this 10Minutes we'll explore what's changing and how companies can take a more forward-looking risk approach.

10Minutes on talent priorities

Talent continues to top the list of executive concerns. Company leaders are focusing on how talent can help them achieve the following four strategic priorities: power growth, realize ROI, manage risk, and enable transformation.

10Minutes on US manufacturing resurgence

Signs point to a potential surge in domestic manufacturing, and US companies are carefully watching seven key factors that are impacting the trend. They also need to consider what a potential move or expansion of manufacturing facilities to the US could mean for all aspects of their business.

10Minutes on the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis

As Europe continues to grapple with sovereign debt problems, austerity measures, and recession, the Eurozone is changing and will likely emerge from the ongoing crisis looking quite different from the one we know today. Because the world is so interconnected, virtually every company will be affected and needs to figure out the impact on their companies worldwide - from strategy and operations to execution - and start preparing now.

10Minutes on the CEO Agenda 2012

For 2012, US CEOs show measured optimism as they face wide disparities in their operations around the world. Slow recovery at home and the crisis in Europe are immediate concerns. But they are taking deliberate steps to grow in priority markets.

10Minutes on managing water scarcity

Managing risks related to dwindling freshwater supply is becoming more urgent for businesses. This 10Minutes discusses how companies can prepare for the consequences of water scarcity by monitoring water use, evaluating risk across the supply chain, and partnering with local communities to replenish water supply.

Medical innovation

The way we assess value in medical technology is changing radically. Payers are refusing to pay for incremental innovations that do not significantly improve health or reduce cost.

Expanding business in Asia Pacific

As Asia Pacific economies continue their rapid growth and become more deeply integrated, multinational companies are changing how they're expanding in the region for the long-haul--from setting up regional hubs and distribution networks, to developing local talent, to building brand loyalty amongst the region's rapidly growing number of middle class consumers.

10Minutes on the boardroom agenda

In this short report, PwC discusses new governance regulations, new risks, and issues of executive compensation and succession planning.

10Minutes on investing in Africa

Africa has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and offers the highest risk-adjusted returns on foreign direct investment among emerging economies. To succeed, investors must look beyond dazzling returns and one-off projects, and sign on as participating partners in Africa's long-term growth and development.

Enterprise success with emerging social technology

Mention social technology or social networking, and most people think of consumer-driven applications such as Twitter or Facebook. But some organizations realize that Facebook, Twitter, and their secured equivalents inside the enterprise are just a catalyst for deeper changes that must be made to collaboration tools and methods. So what are the changes companies need to make to improve things?

10Minutes on the future of revenue recognition

Revenue, or the “top line,” is a closely monitored measure of an entity's growth and market share. The FASB and IASB are currently in the process of replacing existing revenue guidance with a new global accounting standard for all revenue transactions. How will this change affect your business?

Seeking shared agendas with governments

By helping create jobs in the private sector and by investing in infrastructure, governments can help create an environment conducive for growth. In fact, almost half of CEOs surveyed say that improving the country’s infrastructure and fostering a skilled workforce should be government’s top priorities. But how can CEOs enter strategic and collaborative relationships with governments to pursue their own growth agendas?

The technology powering business mobility

Operating systems, devices, wireless networks, and other IT components all comprise business mobility. But the real power lies in the convergence of the technologies and in how each organization applies them to redefine the way it works. While the chief information officer will lead the charge here, it's important that the rest of the leadership team understand the choices and issues that pertain to the following technology building blocks.

Rebooting Your IT Strategy: Using IT to Accelerate Your Business

A review of IT organizations in financial services and discussions with bank CIOs reveal that firms benefit when their IT organizations innovate and are aligned with their business groups.

How business innovation happens: Technology forecast: PwC

Is radical innovation conceived in a single, stunning act of invention and delivered as an entirely new offering? No. Innovation is a process that taps into genius, but it need not be the accidental province of the madly brilliant. Here we look at how organizations can develop, manage, and continually improve an end-to-end process, supported by technology, in which innovations are more likely to be discovered, better assessed, and better converted into profits—what PwC calls the idea-to-cash process.

10Minutes on the CEO agenda

The changing global economy, emerging markets and a renewed focus on growth — how are companies capitalising on opportunities to increase revenue, create innovative products and services, and fill skills gaps in unfamiliar parts of the world?

Trust but verify: From transparency to competitive advantage

“Trust but verify” was a slogan used during the Cold War to describe the basis for transparency in political relationships. Today, the term can be used to describe a strategy for narrowing the “trust gap” not between nations, but between companies and stakeholders. Whether you are trying to prevent a trust-eroding event or repair the damage after one has occurred, transparency is key. But it's not the only factor of a successful solution. You need credibility to back up the promise of transparency. What can companies do to achieve both?

Customizing healthcare: How a new approach to diagnosis, care, and cure could transform employer benefits in a postreform world

Healthcare reform in the US will change funding, insurance coverage, and regulation will affect virtually everyone—including large employers, the majority of which are self-insured. What are proactive companies doing already to consider how reform will change plan eligibility, plan design, underwriting rules, tax deductions, and more and how are they reevaluating their benefits strategies accordingly?

Defining the lead director role

A new role emerged as a result of recent corporate scandals: the lead director, whose main function is to foster greater transparency and accountability among senior leadership. Beyond that, there's been little consensus regarding the responsibilities a lead director should assume. Here we take a closer look at how the role should be defined and what its key offerings are to an organization.

View 13: Weighing in on the world’s cities

What makes a city great? Surely factors like livability, abundant resources and thriving business come to mind. But other factors show that intellectual capital is also at the core of a city’s appeal; a strong intellectual base not only attracts investment but can also foster innovation, while a brain drain deflates a city’s potential for vibrancy. Here we take a closer look at the factors revealed in the Cities of Opportunity study and what the keys to a well-balanced city are.

Supply chain management: Achieving agility through the sales inventory operations planning process

Developing a vibrant supply chain that responds with agility to changing conditions is essential to achieving a competitive advantage. The direct route to this is through a rigorous sales inventory operations planning (SIOP) process. But how effective are corporate leaders’ SIOP processes? PwC stresses the urgent for a review to make sure the process can control costs, reduce capital expenses and improve customer service.

The future of the CIO: Business strategy and technology innovation

Every Chief Information Officer (CIO) knows that the job has become more complex. The changes of the past 20 years will seem mild compared with those of the next five. CIOs will face unprecedented pressures, and our research shows that many executives expect CIOs to point the way for agile business in today's volatile economy. So how can your CIO help define and execute forward-looking business strategies for your company? Here, we offer some ideas.

Business insights designed with the busy COO in mind.