Customer Satisfaction Archives

Judicial Middle Ground

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Judicial Middle Ground – A goal to realign resources to be more client-centered led to outsourcing at Justice Canada, the federal Department of Justice that is the attorney general for Canada. Linda Holmes, Director of Informatic Services and Technology Division of the Information Management Branch (IMB) for Justice Canada, says that IMB decided to establish a front office function, where the focus would be on the business of law and how technology can enable the department to do that business better. Budget constraints, however, were no help in establishing this business analyst/architect design function. The solution was to shift employees into this new core area and then outsource the day-to-day operations.

Swan Saga

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

When CNA Insurance, a business-to-business property and casualty insurer, paddled fast but still encountered a weight that kept it from soaring toward its goals, it hired the wings of Hewitt Associates as its human resources outsourcer in 1998 and really took off.

Risky Business

Chris Pryer, Business Writer

The issue of how liability is addressed in an outsourcing agreement is very real. The ultimate goal of any outsourcing arrangement is mutual satisfaction. The outsourcing entity hopes to acquire a higher level of performance in a particular aspect of its business that was not attainable in the past and be cost effective while doing so. The outsourcer leverages its expertise and economies of scale in the hopes of meeting the client’s expectationss and making a profit in the process. But it doesn’t always work out that way.

The Big Picture

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Solutions for Public and Private eMarketplaces “Major multinational companies will buy software solutions,” says James Hatcher, vice president of business development for ECNet. “But when you go to the supplier base, only 10 percent of them will buy software. So what do you do with the rest of the guys? An eMarketplace needs to scale …

Healthcare’s Biggest Challenge

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Behind closed doors, discussions about the biggest challenge for both providers and payers in the healthcare industry are not about HIPAA compliance. It’s about how to be profitable. Given the numerous industry problems besetting companies, revenue has been drastically cut, and most have lost millions of dollars for several years in a row. The solution, as many are discovering, is for organizations to become more efficient. And the only way to accomplish that objective is to outsource non-core business processes and take advantage of outsourcers’ expertise and technological resources.

Like a Fifth Wheel

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Striving to be competitive involves tremendous risks. The timing must be right, and the resources must be available. It’s costly, and the return on investment might be low. In fact, the entire effort might fail. And someone will be held accountable.

Driving Change

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

The MG sport car is its history. The MG Salute car is its future. The M.G. Rover Group decided to outsource so it could introduce its new models faster.

Virginia COMPETEs for the Common Good

Chris Pryer, Business Writer

Government Competes with Private Sector on Level Playing Field Today, as local and state governments struggle to provide services to an ever-growing, ever-demanding public despite inadequate financial resources, outsourcing and privatization of government functions is becoming more and more of an issue. Taxpayers expect their governments to deliver products and services commensurate — at least in their own minds — with what they pay in taxes. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, a unique organization works to ensure its citizens get the most for their tax dollars. The 15-person Commonwealth Competition Council, created by the Virginia Legislature as part of the Virginia Competition Act of 1995, is proving that there is a better and less costly way to serve its citizens. The Competition Council, whose members hail from government, academia and the private sector, was mandated to research and recommend ways in which state government can reduce the size and scope of its activity, as well as investigate h

How to Minimize Risks When Entering the Wireless World

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

People are doing wireless today without having thought about it first, and now they have some real problems, states John Stehman, principal analyst with the Robert Frances Group. They can’t even support all the devices they have out there. They have five to seven different devices and the help desk doesn’t even know what some of them are. Wireless technologies are still experimental, and Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D. with KPMG Consulting, believes it’s difficult to know which applications will catch on and which providers will be successful. Wireless technology is changing, coverage is changing, and providers and pricing are changing. Users are trying to decide if applications will have value. To enter this world requires a strategy built on flexibility and minimizing risk; both are best accomplished by outsourcing.

First Aid for HR

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Johnson & Johnson is the largest and most diversified healthcare company in the world. It manufactures world-renowned health care products and provides related services to consumers and pharmaceutical markets, selling products in more than 175 countries. With more than 190 operating companies in 51 nations, the company has more than 99,000 employees worldwide. It’s a human resources migraine, to be sure!

Research & Insight

Business Challenge