The CEO develops strategy,the Board approves it.Well, not quite.Not any more anyway. Why? Corporate directors have long had the responsibility of seeking to assure the long-term viability of the companies they serve, specifically to maximize long-term value. While this standard…

Consumer-focused companies, such as retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, experience good times and bad times. Yet some companies seem to consistently outperform their peers regardless of economic conditions. Recognizing this anomaly, HighPoint InSights posed the following question to…

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have gotten a bad reputation, as have CRM, HR and data warehouse projects. Most CFOs will tell you that large-scale IT projects always cost more than budgeted, seldom deliver on their promises, and often falter…

Strategic sourcing is not just another term for “beat up your suppliers.” In fact, when fully and properly deployed, the goal of strategic sourcing is competitive advantage first, cost considerations second. Yet in many corporations, strategic sourcing simply equates to…

When corporate executives hear the term “strategy-making,” many of them reach for the aspirin. Strategy-making conjures images of massive data analysis efforts, indecipherable PowerPoint decks, and money spent on people who at the end of the day don’t typically get…

Disasters, both man-made and natural, have generated a lot of public attention in the past few years. According to data collected by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), natural disasters cost the world’s economy $35 billion…

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) represent substantial opportunities for companies to consolidate, grow or diversify their strategic positions. M&A also represents a significant level of economic activity across the global economy. Market watchers estimate that 2011 global M&A activity increased to…

While the IPO market has not recovered to pre-recession levels, the number of IPO filings over the past 24 months is more than double that of the previous 24, and the trend may continue. This looks to be good news…

HighPoint Associates utilized a unique approach to the delivery of high value management consulting services. The company manages a network of over 500 experienced, independent professionals from diverse industry and functional backgrounds providing best-of-class, customized advisory services for growth-oriented companies….