Prism articles
Issue 1, 2009
Beyond the downturn: Waking up in a new world
Michael Wagemans, Herman Vantrappen and Luc Dossche
In a survey conducted in March 2009 Arthur D. Little spoke to senior executives around the globe about the economic downturn. The survey focuses on what the crisis means to business and how ...
How the robust and audacious thrive through business cycle swings
Jan Beckeman, Daniel Gustafsson and Daniel Winther
Among many companies, the knee-jerk reaction to a downturn is to pull back. Capital spending is cut, acquisitions are scaled down and marketing expenditure is slashed in a desperate effort to survive ...
Restructure and reinvest in innovation
Daniel Roos, Anders Johansson and Volker Kirchgeorg
Innovation is traditionally one of the first casualties of a downturn. When companies are casting around for capital just to survive, spending on developments that may or may not pay off some time in ...
Making money from green consumerism in the downturn
Emanuele Cacciatore, David Lyon, Philip Balbirnie and Massimo Armenise
In the last few years, many leading companies have been vigorously marketing the green attributes of their products and services to cash in on perceived demand among consumers. But the coming of the ...
Effective procurement negotiations in the downturn
Gregor Berz, Andy Dvorocsik, Daniel Deneffe and Ralf Gampfer
The squeeze is on for subassembly manufacturers. Sharp declines in demand for the products of their customers has left them under heavy pressure to reduce their prices, and the only way they can do ...
Releasing working capital across the supply chain
Roswitha Tertea, Stephen Abseck, Florian Bergener and Boris Herzog
In a credit crisis, one common way of finding cash is by reducing working capital. However, successfully reducing working capital within one company can damage other businesses in the supply chain, ...
"In a connected world we must work together"
Interview with Jürgen Hambrecht, CEO of BASF
On April 3rd, Arthur D. Little interviewed Jürgen Hambrecht, CEO of the world’s most respected chemical company. Through its myriad business relations, BASF has unparalleled insights into the ...