Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of Randall Stanicky of Goldman Sachs & Company. Your line is open.
Randall Stanicky - Goldman Sachs
Great. Thanks very much for the questions, guys. I just have two, first on the cost reductions which were pretty significant this quarter. I guess if we look at the 54 percentage range on a gross margin obviously above what you talked been a target a 50%. Which I also think excludes and so how do we think about that going forward. And then may be Fred how do we calibrate that with your current year targets.
Fred Eshelman
Okay Dan, why do not you take the question on margins.
Dan Darazsdi
Okay thanks Fred. Randall, the margins as we closed up the year really demonstrated two key factors one, in North America even the softer revenue position, we were able to actually increase the fourth quarter margins on a year-over-year basis and principally that's through operational initiatives would be operation scheme and the finance op scheme working together and significant focus on project delivery and productivity.
In Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific we started to actually get some benefit resulting from the strong authorizations that we have talked about through the year as we generated more revenue and got some volume leverage. So while we continue to talk to a 50% gross margin target rate. We closed out a little bit better say actually significantly better in Europe, Middle East and Africa and in Asia-Pacific, resulting from some of that volume leverage.
So obviously we are going to do the best we can to keep the margins up but we think that we just had a, kind of a good result coming from some volume leverage and we will have to continue to drive productivity. But over time, we think our 50-20 rule is the one that we really are expecting to deliver again.
Randall Stanicky - Goldman Sachs
Assuming there has not anything meaningfully changed in terms of headcount additions. But it does not sound like there is near-term. We should be able to expect to take that level of run rate for 4Q at least over the next near term and in terms of how we think about the margin profile?
Dan Darazsdi
While the fourth quarter once again really benefited in EMEA and Asia-Pacific so as the rest of the world from some volume leverage and we are always trying to catching up in terms of infrastructure relative to the volume growth there. So we are looking at the total year margin rates and our target rate we do not want to start to signal that we're going to be able to consistently run much over the 50-20 rule at this time.
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