Case Study: Chemicals Company - Strategic Reassessment of Cost Management

From Internal Comfort to Global Competitiveness

The Challenge

A major international company faced a strategic crossroads.Some senior managers believed cost management was a significant weakness.Others, backed by internal benchmarking data, were confident the company was a cost leader across much of its industry. The result: organisational complacency, conflicting narratives, and no shared sense of urgency.

The leadership commissioned Cameron Consultants to investigate. The central question: Was cost management truly a strength — or a blind spot?

Our Approach

We conducted an objective competitor analysis across several industry sectors to test the company’s assumptions. These studies revealed a striking truth: in key areas, the company was lagging far behind true international cost leaders.

Further investigation showed that the internal cost benchmarking relied too heavily on self-reported data relying on the judgements of managers with no first-hand experience of working inside competitor companies. To go deeper, we undertook a comparative performance review of the company’s own global sites, measuring them against each other and against international competitors on a wide set of manufacturing Critical SuccessFactors.

This internal benchmarking uncovered major performance gaps between the company's best-performing sites and its laggards. Meanwhile, our external comparison showed that only a minority of managers — those with first-hand experience of competitors — had an accurate understanding of the company’s true position.

The Solution

We synthesised the results into a series of strategic briefings for senior management. These presentations not only clarified the true competitive picture — they resolved internal disagreement, and helped forge a new consensus.

With the full weight of evidence behind them, the company’s leaders embraced a strategic shift:

• Cost  management was repositioned as a core organisational priority
• Site benchmarking became a key driver of continuous improvement
• Internal performance gaps were acknowledged and addressed
• Global best practice was actively sought and embedded

The Outcome

This new strategic clarity reshaped the company’s culture and execution:

• Productivity doubled within a few years
• The company became respected across its industry for cost leadership
• A  longstanding internal myth was replaced with a shared, evidence-based  strategy

This was not just a course correction — it was a strategic turning point.

‍