Outsourcing Center, Karthik Nagendra, Business Writer
One of the questions that continue to hound buyers and providers of outsourcing is how to mitigate the risk of failure. This is despite a longer history of outsourcing than you would suspect—outsourcing can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution. For 150 years, until 1900, industry in Europe outsourced its requirements. Functions like accounting …
Frank Usher, Managing Consultant
When considering sourcing alternatives for IT services, buyers must make a fundamental decision on structure. Do you want a single IT provider or multiple IT providers? Both have their pros and cons. Neither of the approaches is wrong. But each presents unique challenges, both in operations and in provider management. When IT outsourcing initially evolved, …
Outsourcing Center, Patti Putnicki, Business Writer
16th Annual Outsourcing Excellence Awards—Best BPO: International Paper and Aon Hewitt “Instead of communicating by change requests and contract management, we can sit down and talk. That is what makes us successful.” Scott Lacy, Manager of HR Operations, International Paper It was the 1990s and the paper and packaging industry was dramatically evolving. To keep …
Outsourcing Center, Karthik Nagendra, Business Writer
What is outsourcing? It is not a new or alien phenomenon. Almost every organization outsources some aspect of its business. A paint company may outsource the manufacture of its paint cans; a mobile network may outsource its billing activity; a hospital may outsource medical waste disposal; an auto manufacturer may outsource servicing; and an IT …
Dennis Winkler, Director, Jim Matthews, Managing Consultant, Alsbridge
Executives are all asking similar questions of their shared service organizations (SSO): “How do I get to the next level of shared services and realize more value?” “How do I change my SSO model to expand services and go global?” “How do I drive continuous process improvement initiatives?” “How do I deal with social media …
Outsourcing Center, Karthik Nagendra, Business Writer
Some years ago, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was going to bring supply chain management to the next level. Retailers like Target, Metro Cash & Carry and Walmart adopted it, only to discover that there were several challenges. Integration with SCM was one—tracking everything down to the last part/unit using RFID was turning out to not …
Simon Shah, Redwood
There’s a reason automation solutions are on every business owner’s mind. Today’s business enterprise is in a state of continuous change—the pressure to optimize performance while lowering costs is enormous. The real-time expectations of the ‘now’ economy is no longer limited to manufacturing and shipping but is driven by information services, an increasingly mobile workforce …
John Harney, Business Writer
What if the New York Times replaced Pulitzer Prize winner Gretchen Morgenson, cited for her “trenchant and incisive Wall Street coverage”, with outsourced personnel in India to save four-fifths of her salary? Absurd, you say? Absurd or not, doing so seems to be a developing trend in American newspapers. Though it’s unlikely a writer of …
Robert Joslin, Managing Director, Alsbridge
Hint: 12 Months Out is TOO Late When should you start working on your next outsourcing contract? Many organizations do not address the end of a contract until the last year of its term. The notification period in the contract, typically 6-to-12 months, usually triggers this discussion. However I believe this is a mistake. Developing …
Outsourcing Center, Patti Putnicki, Business Writer
The past few years have not been kind to the retail industry. Sluggish economies, shrinking margins and a more cost-conscious consumer have taken their proverbial toll. “We’ve seen retail sales increase by 5 percent to 6 percent, yet profits declined from 3.5 percent to 2 percent. So, even though stores are selling more, they’re making …
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