In this new Executive Insights, L.E.K. Consulting draws from its experience helping clients think through the merits of upstream and downstream acquisitions to identify the three factors that most often underlie successful vertical integration.

For retailers, customer excellence requires constant evaluation and improvement. L.E.K. Consulting has developed a proprietary framework that assesses how well a retailer’s brand connects with its core customers called the B.U.Y. Index.

Catalog marketing has a problem. Consumers are rapidly going digital, and the mailbox at the end of the driveway is looking more and more like a trash can. Some consumers just don’t need or respond to paper-based “stimulation” anymore, and others simply need less of it. In this report, L.E.K. highlights two core questions retail executives are forced to answer if they want to succeed in this new digital era.

Gone are the days when hospital-based doctors are blindly spending funds on the latest and greatest medical products and technologies without a second thought to the price tag. Low margins, combined with an increasing mix of less profitable patients and growing provider competition, are forcing hospitals and other medical providers to simultaneously control costs and improve outcomes. L.E.K. Consulting believes there is huge opportunity for medical device and medical technology partners to innovate and move away from solely focusing on product innovation and product sales. To be successful, they must evolve towards a new “Customer Excellence” model.