How the survey was done – Methodology Review – Cost Management Survey of North American publicly traded companies – Brief Article
For the ninth annual Cost Management Survey, CFO magazine again teamed with Gunn Partners, an Exult company. This year’s survey sample is based on North American publicly traded companies that reported at least $750 million in revenue annually for the years 1997 through 2001. More than 1,000 companies were grouped into 50 major industry groups. Company data was sourced in a standardized format from Thomson Financial, part of The Thomson Corp.
Data was analyzed for consistency and comparability across companies and industries. Metrics were calculated to assess cost efficiency and performance. This year, like last, the perspective was broadened to look at both COGS and SG&A (before depreciation and amortization). For financial firms, noninterest expense was used.
Candidates were ranked by their five-year cost management index (CMI), which equals COGS plus SG&A, divided by operating revenue.
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