Awkward Conversations about the Margin
There are items within the cost structure that have something in common.
They don't belong to anyone in particular.
They aren't the responsibility of any one department.
Operations uses the service. Finance pays the invoices. Purchasing intervenes when necessary. But no one truly manages it. And so the years go by.
Each department makes small decisions. A new supplier at a plant. A service contracted by marketing. A tool installed by IT. Over time, this expense becomes part of the cost structure as if it were permanent.
Not because someone decided to keep it that way. But because it's transversal across several teams and ends up being managed operationally. Nothing seems problematic. Until someone takes a comprehensive look. And that's when familiar things start to appear: too many suppliers for the same service different prices within the same company contracts that are renewed without review duplicate tools overlapping insurance coverage
It's not a negotiation problem.Not because it was done poorly.But because no one was looking at the big picture.
And that's where the problem usually arises. It's not about pricing. It's that this expense isn't managed as a category. When an expense item doesn't have a clear owner, it also lacks strategic review. And when that happens, it stops being reviewed.
And in many cases, that's precisely where something interesting emerges. More margin than it seemed.
