Supply Chain Cost Management: The AIM & DRIVE® Process for Achieving Extraordinary Results

Chapter 2. The AIM & DRIVE Process of Cost Management

Successful cost management initiatives often start with a kickoff meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page. When I began working with IBM, the kickoff meeting was actually the first time that procurement managers and leaders from around the world came together.

Even though the agenda was packed, I was given a half hour to speak. I began by telling the audience that I was not there as a professor, consultant, or procurement guru, just a concerned stockholder. The previous week I had bought a fairly large number of shares of IBM at an average price of $70 (that would be $17.50 after all splits in 2007). I put up a slide that Gene Richter had used earlier in the day (see Figure 2-1 ...