ANSR Hackett Grp., Inc.(The) (MM)

"Leveraging G&A for Competitive Advantage" Conference Also Features Presentations by Execs from Alcoa, Citigroup, Hewlett-Packard, and Others The Hackett Group, a strategic advisory firm and an Answerthink company (NASDAQ:ANSR), announced today that it will preview findings from its 2006 Book of Numbers(TM) research at its 16th Annual Best Practices Conference, "Leveraging G&A for Competitive Advantage: From Back Office to Front of the Line," in Atlanta May 4 & 5. The research, which quantifies spending, staffing, and other key efficiency and effectiveness metrics of world-class performance in finance, IT, HR, procurement and other areas, will be one of several conference highlights. The two-day invitation-only event will also feature presentations by senior executives from 17 of the world's most successful companies including: Alcoa, Citigroup, Hewlett-Packard, MeadWestvaco, United Airlines, and United States Steel. Several presentations will provide strong insights into the value leverage possible through effectiveness strategies focused on Total Working Capital Management. In addition to first-hand client experiences, the conference will feature research insights from Hackett-REL, the world leader in Working Capital improvement. Four Advisory Member Forums will immediately precede the Best Practices Conference on May 3. These exclusive forums, which focus on Finance Shared Services, Enterprise Performance Management, Total Working Capital, and Hackett World-Class Passport(TM) offering, provide members of Hackett's advisory programs the opportunity to learn about and participate in discussion of the latest research findings, dialogue on relevant issues they are currently facing, and discuss their companies' successes and challenges in an open peer learning environment. "When you face unrelenting pressure to cut costs, it's easy to view your G&A spend as the culprit. But increasing G&A efficiencies should be viewed as an enabler, not the end goal. Our 2006 research, and the companies that are presenting at this year's conference, clearly demonstrate that a competitive cost position in SG&A is just a starting point to world-class business performance," said Hackett Chief Research Officer Richard T. Roth. "In an economy where products and services can be delivered from virtually any location or time zone, the best organizations are focusing on SG&A effectiveness, and putting the right information into the hands of the right people to achieve competitive advantage. This is how G&A can transcend its humble back-office image to become an important component in the race to the front of the line," said Mr. Roth. Executives from 17 companies are currently scheduled to present at the conference, which will be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta. The following executives are currently scheduled to present: -0- *T Alcoa, Inc. Chairman's Counsel Richard Kelson and Vice President Global Business Services & CIO Rudolph P. Huber "Aspiring to be the Best -- The Journey to Excellence" BHP Billiton Vice President Global Supply Betsy Harrington "Becoming a Benchmark Target - The Transformation of Supply / Procurement at BHP Billiton" Author Nicholas A. Carr "Does IT Matter?" Citigroup Global Wealth Management Chairman & CEO Todd S. Thomson "Keys to Success in a Changing Market" Constellation Energy Group Inc. Senior Vice President & CIO Beth S. Perlman "IT -- A Strategic Asset" Greif, Inc. Vice President Corporate Business Development Robert Zimmerman "A Strong Result Requires True Grit and New Behaviors" The Hackett Group Chief Research Officer Richard T. Roth "Jacks or Better: Lower G&A Costs Are Just the Start for Hackett's 2006 World-Class Performers" The Hackett Group Senior Business Advisor John McMahan 2006 Metrics and Best Practices in Enterprise Performance Management The Hackett Group President Wayne Mincey "Best Practices Insights" The Hackett Group European Practice Leader Transformation and Advisory Tom O. Bangemann and Hackett Practice Leader - Global Process Globalization and Outsourcing Julio Ramirez "Globalization of the Back Office - In Search of the Best Global Talent at the Best Cost" Hewlett-Packard Company Senior Vice President & Treasurer Cathie A. Lesjak "The Journey -- A Closer Look at HP Treasury" Koch Industries, Inc. Senior Vice President & CFO Steven Feilmeier "Best Practices and Market-Based Management" Kohler Co. Director Global Procurement Steve Cassady "Elevating the Role of Procurement: A Center-led Approach to Capturing Strategic Value" Sprint Nextel Corporation Vice President Customer Lifecycle & Proactive Retention Chad Jones "Lessons from Leaders in Leveraging Customer Insight to Drive Increased Sales" Major League Baseball Executive Vice President & CFO Jonathan Mariner "World-Class Finance Steps up to the Mound" MeadWestvaco Corporation Senior Vice President James McGrane "Going to the Show: A Four-Year Journey toward World-Class Performance" North Central Texas Council of Governments Director, Administration Monte Mercer "Using Best Practices to Drive Business Process Improvement" Pride International Inc. President & CEO Louis A. Raspino "Driving Shareholder Value and Debt Reduction through Total Working Capital Management" QUALCOMM, Inc. Senior Manager of Finance Systems, QCT Finance Group Robert Loreto "Planning for All of Your Business - Enterprise Planning and Cognos Finance" Southern California Edison Company Director of Supply Chain Gary A. Myers "Using Customer Insight to Drive Profitability" United States Steel Corporation Executive Vice President & CFO Gretchen Haggerty "The Road to Functional Excellence When Cost Really Matters" UAL Corporation Director Finance & Vice Chairman UATP Marc Krohn "United Airlines Leverages Technology to Achieve Significant Time & Attendance Benefits" *T More information on The Hackett Group's 16th Annual Best Practices Conference is available: by phone at (770) 225-7300; by e-mail at info@thehackettgroup.com; or on the Web at http://www.thehackettgroup.com. About The Hackett Group The Hackett Group (http://www.TheHackettGroup.com), a strategic advisory firm and an Answerthink company, is a world leader in best practice research, benchmarking and business transformation services that empirically define and enable world-class enterprise performance. Through the acquisition of REL Consultancy Group, a global leader in generating cash improvement from working capital, we offer Hackett-REL Total Working Capital services to liberate cash flow from operations through improved working capital, reduced costs and increased service quality. Hackett-REL has helped clients in more than 60 countries free up over $25 billion through working capital improvements in the last 10 years alone. Only The Hackett Group empirically defines world-class performance in sales, general and administrative (SG&A) and supply chain activities with analysis gained through 3,500 benchmark studies over 14 years at 2,000 of the world's leading companies. Our clients comprise 96 percent of the Dow Jones Industrials, 77 percent of the Fortune 100 and 92 percent of the Dow Jones Global Titans Index. Book of Numbers and Hackett World-Class Passport are trademarks of The Hackett Group.