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Posts Tagged ‘PricewaterhouseCoopers’

Australian manufacturing industry contraction: highlights from the April 2011 Australian PMI

Monday, June 6th, 2011

According to the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the manufacturing industry in Australia is on a contraction trend, with the Australian Performance Manufacturing Index (PMI) below 50 points in April 2011 (which is the level separating expansion from contraction).

Some of the highlights of the Australian PMI survey are the following (Ai Group & PwC, 2011):

The manufacturing sector contracted in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but expanded in other states;
Margins narrowed, as selling prices decreased, while wages and input costs increased;
The decline was more significant in the transport equipment and textiles, due to the strengthening of the Australian dollar, soft national demand and import competition;
However, manufacturing output expanded 2.4 point (especially led by the clothing & footwear, basic metals, and machinery & equipment sub-sectors);
Also, the capacity utilization rose to 74.4% (especially in the miscellaneous manufactures and food & beverages sub-sectors);
Overall, the areas that expanded from the previous month were Production, Input prices and Average wages (these two affecting production costs), as well as Capacity utilization, while the others contracted (Employment, New orders, Inventories, Export and Selling prices). (more…)

Tags: Australia, economic indicators, manufacturing, Manufacturing KPIs, manufacturing performance, PricewaterhouseCoopers
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Econometrics and the most significant World Cup performance value drivers

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

In two previous blog posts we have presented different methodologies incorporating a variety of correlations, constructed by consultants from Goldman Sachs and J.P Morgan to determine the most probable winners of the World Cup 2010.

Today we will bring to your attention a third perspective, an econometric model adapted by PricewaterhouseCoopers consultants for analyzing the most influential drivers of World Cup performance and determine which are the most likely national teams to win this year’s World Cup edition.

For calculating the econometric model 2 broader measures for national performance in football were taken into consideration:

• Total World Cup Points ever gained at a final tournament, where one victory counts for 3 points and a draw for 1

• Total FIFA World Ranking points

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2010

These 2 main measures were than separately correlated in the econometric model developed with what were considered to be three of the most important external drivers of world cup performance.

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita

• Population size

• Host country advantage

The results of the econometric analysis showed out that while population size and gross domestic product are statistically insignificant for determining the most probable winners of the World Cup, the two constants from the model, the historic World Cup performance and the FIFA world ranking together with the host country advantage driver demonstrated to be the most important factors that count for determining the World Cup winners.

More than that, the advantage of the host country seems to have a highly significant positive effect in determining the teams who will have good performance at the World Cup. Host crowd support and familiar climate conditions are probably two significant factors in that respect.

As the table below shows, only the Spanish team outperformed at the 1982 World Cups, the hosts of the other World Cup editions having decent, if not even brilliant performances. Thus, countries such as Ghana, Nigeria or South Africa are likely to have good performances at the World Cup 2010 edition, even though it is hardly believable that they will be able to win the tournament.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2010

Finally, according with the three most important drivers or determinants of World Cup performance, as showed by the PricewaterhouseCoopers econometric model, Brazil is the most likely team to win the World Cup. It is ranked on the first place both in the Historical World Cup performance ranking and in the FIFA World rankings and is the only team who has ever won a world cup title outside of its own continent.

References:

PricewaterhouseCoopers 2010, What can econometrics tell us about World Cup performance?, available at http://www.pwc.com/fi_FI/fi/tiedotteet-2010/tiedostot/Drivers_of_World_Cup_success_May2010.pdf, (accessed 21 June 2010)
PricewaterhouseCoopers 2010, Power vs passion: Wealth comes second to location and tradition when projecting World Cup winners, available at http://www.pwc.com/ru/en/press-releases/2010/Power-v-passion.jhtml, (accessed 21 June 2010)

Additional resources:

smartkpis.com 2010, KPIs Blog, Investment bankers views on the 2010 World Cup South Africa – England likely to win the World Cup, available at http://www.smartkpis.com/blog/2010/06/17/investment-bankers-views-on-the-2010-world-cup-south-africa-england-likely-to-win-the-world-cup/, (accessed 21 June 2010)
smartkpis.com 2010, KPIs Blog, Investment bankers views on the 2010 World Cup South Africa – The World Cup and Economics 2010, available at http://www.smartkpis.com/blog/2010/06/15/investment-bankers-views-on-the-2010-world-cup-south-africa-the-world-cup-and-economics-2010/, (accessed 21 June 2010)

Tags: Econometric model, FIFA rankings, Football, PricewaterhouseCoopers, World Cup 2010
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Performance Management matters – PricewaterhouseCoopers reports on Performance Management in the global economy

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted during 2008-2009 an exhaustive research regarding the importance of performance management in the context of a globalized economy. The research was lead by PwC Canada, in partnership with several academic and research institutions from Canada, Switzerland and Australia.

The methodology consisted of two stages: an online survey to more than 400 senior managers in both private and public sectors, followed by 12 in-depth interviews aiming to investigate several issues in a more complex perspective.

The purpose of the research was to provide answers to several core questions (PwC, 2009):

Do effective Performance Management practices contribute to driving superior performance?
Are these contributions the same in downturns as in good times?
Is performance management standardized or does it have to be customized for particular needs of organizations of different sizes and in different industries?

Source: PwC, 2009

Some of the most representative findings, were (PwC, 2009):

The identification of seven best practices that drive high performance and superior results, among which:

having a holistic, broad approach (high performers focus on broad issues, such as brand loyalty, employee satisfaction, service quality, aspects that can create competitive advantage);
creating linkages, alignment and integration of the measures to the key business drivers and cascading accountability at all organizational levels;
adopting high value planning practices, such as vision, mission and value statements and environmental and social responsibility plans;
developing advanced technology such as dashboards and business intelligence tools to complete the spreadsheets that are still predominant across respondents.

Performance management practices are equally essential in both recession and growth periods. As one argument, the interviews revealed that organizations with strong performance management programs can better manage costs strategically and, if the case, make difficult decisions in ways that minimize impact on the long-term.
Performance management in the public sector is not as different from the private sector as it might be believed. It was concluded that high performing public organizations are the ones that employ practices also identified in high performance private entities, such as linkage and alignment to strategy, use of advanced technology and use of value planning practices in the shape of vision, mission or values.

Canada was given a particular attention, being under the loop for comparison to the rest of the world. The finding was that Canadian organizations employ less robust performance management practices, but are better at overcoming potential barriers.

For complete overview of the research, please follow: http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/finance/performance-management/global-performance-management-research-study.jhtml

You can register for a full version of the report or directly download an executive summary.

Reference:

PricewaterhouseCoopers (2009), Performance management matters. Sustaining superior results in a global economy, CA.

The research was lead by PwC Canada, in partnership with several academic and research institutions from Canada, Switzerland and Australia. The methodology consisted of two stages: an online survey to more than 400 senior managers in both private and public sectors, followed by 12 in-depth interviews aiming to investigate several issues in a more complex perspective.

Tags: Global Economy, Performance Management, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, Recession, Report
Posted in Business Intelligence, Government, Performance Management | No Comments »