Twitter is very neat. Xerox SG&A? Not so cool.

About an hour ago, I tweeted:

RT @benin wondering what the bing+wolfram alpha alliance has in store for us...MJ: fascinating-to-me http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Then I went to WolframAlpha.com. I entered XRX, SPLS, and GOOG. Then I got the information below:

Selling, general, and administrative
Xerox = $ 4.414 billion
Staples = $ 4.785 billion
Google = $ 3.775 billion

So, Xerox spends more than Google and only a little less than Staples on SG&A (Selling, General and Administrative)? Wonder whatever happened to the Lean Six Sigma stuff. C'mon guys, we can do better than that.

The good news going forward
SG&A is not about the "general economic conditions". It is completely in the control of the management team. Each percentage that is reduced means $40 million to the bottom line. 11% would double the net in the worst economy in a generation.

Meanwhile all the necessary skill is in house. Managed Print Services is the leading wedge of Managed Business Services. As for the excess people, don't fire, repurpose. Closer to the ground there is a saying that might be useful at the top of the pyramid. "Eat your own dog food."