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The Management of Cost Reduction-Method or Myth?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

H. Davies
H. Davies*
Affiliation:
Survey and Reliability, Reaction Motors Division, Thiokol Chemical Corporation
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Extract

“When I use a word”, Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” Lewis Carroll's words could hardly be more appropriate than to the expression “Cost Reduction” as used by the businessman. To some, cost reduction appears as a game played with imaginary money to earn “brownie points” to please a customer. To some in organised labour, the words are viewed in the same generic class as “sweat shop” and “scab”. To others, however, cost reduction seemingly implies a business discipline exercised in earnest and to be reflected in the company balance sheet. The question then, may well be asked, “What is cost reduction?“—“Is it possible to provide a meaningful management technique to motivate cost reduction activities and to measure the results?“

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 70 , Issue 666 , June 1966 , pp. 639 - 648
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1966

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