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BRITISH COMPANIES WARNED THAT DOWNSIZING IS NOT QUICKEST ROUTE TO PROFIT

Groundbreaking management book, Profit Building: Cutting Costs Without Cutting People recommends a team approach to cost reduction and profit improvement .

London, England, 17 July 2003: British companies experiencing a downturn in business due to the state of the global economy must not consider downsizing and layoffs as a short-term solution to current financial difficulties. Instead they should better utilize their greatest resource, their employees. That’s according to Profit Building: Cutting Costs Without Cutting People, written by Perry J. Ludy, president and founder of LudyCo International.

“Cutting people is a short-term response to current economic conditions. What companies need to find are long-term solutions that capitalize on their people resources. They must turn to their employees for feedback and insights into how best to grow profits,” Ludy insists.

In Profit Building, Ludy presents a blueprint for profit improvement that executives, managers, business professionals, and small business owners can immediately implement. This book outlines a five-step method for cost reduction and profit improvement that starts with establishing a Profit Building Team, a cross-section of the best and brightest employees in the company.

A management veteran of such corporations as Procter & Gamble, Environmental Systems Products, and Pizza Hut (a subsidiary of PepsiCo), Ludy believes that this Profit Building Team could have a dramatic effect on the company.

“Business leaders must learn how to mine the organization not only for hidden profits but also for hidden people resources. By turning to a diverse group of people made up of representatives from each key department within the organization, the company can take advantage of a broad range of opportunities to improve profitability continuously without layoffs.”

Also in Profit Building, various techniques are described for refocusing an organization’s daily business activities on profit opportunities as well as how to obtain the necessary tools for avoiding inappropriate strategies and tapping into the expertise within companies for creative ways to build profits.

“Profit Building is a clear, easy-to-read book on how any organization can achieve profit improvement. Ludy has included real-world examples, coupled with his many years of management expertise, to illustrate how using a systematic approach, a company can find innovative solutions and ideas to reduce cost”, says Lionel L. Nowell, III, Senior Vice President and Controller, PepsiCo, Inc.

Furthermore, Profit Building offers more than one hundred specific, tested ideas for cost reduction, generated by a variety of teams using Ludy’s approach. For example: constantly look for software modifications that can reduce labor expenditures; explore the use of professional employee organizations to lower cost of benefits; hire consultants to challenge the price of utilities, telecommunications, and property tax; and assess the feasibility of videoconference and Internet solutions to reduce travel costs.

Availability
Profit Building can be purchased at any major bookstore including Waterstones. Online it is available from Amazon.com and other major booksellers. The recommended retail price is £16.76.

Profit Building has been translated into Swedish, Polish, and German languages.

Note to Editors:

About the Author

Perry J. Ludy is the founder and president of LudyCo International, a consulting firm that specializes in helping both American and overseas companies to develop creative approaches to cost reduction, profit improvement, and innovation management. He also customizes corporate training programs, conducts seminars, and consults on mergers and acquisitions.

For more information contact:

Sue Glanville, EuroPr Group, Tel: (0)20 8971 6404/6410, Fax: (0)20 8947 9042, E-mail : sglanville@europrgroup.com

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