Business Challenge Archives

How Sophisticated Consumers, Globalization, and the Economy are Changing How Companies Compete

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Changes in the global economy and new demands by consumers have radically altered the business landscape, according to M.S. Krishnan. In light of four game-changing trends, he believes companies must focus on the centrality of the individual and on access to resources, not ownership of them, or what he calls N=1 and R=G. Read about how to apply his recipe for success.

Companies Need Customer Expectation Management Because Successful Customers Create Profitable Businesses

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Competition is fueling customer churn and testing customer loyalty. Vijayalakshmi S. Paduvalli describes how customer expectation management helps companies extend market share and expand relationships in today’s challenging economy.

Why Shell Created an ‘Ecosystem’ of Three Suppliers When It Outsourced its IT Infrastructure

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Instead of outsourcing its IT infrastructure to just one supplier that takes care of everything, Shell chose to outsource to best-of-breed suppliers. It created an IT ecosystem designed to encourage three suppliers to work together. Read how they made multi-sourcing a success.

How Hot Spot Teams Innovate

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Lynda Gratton at the London Business School has studied teams for the last five years. She explains how to encourage hot spots, a business environment where ideas and excitement ignite teams, who then solve problems and innovate.

Outsourcing Provides a New Method for Customer Service for Online UK Retailer Using Home-Based Agents

Outsourcing Center, Bruce McCracken, Business Writer

High-level customer service is essential for online. Ramping up and down call center staff due to seasonal fluctuations make it challenging to provide the kind of top-notch customer service this segment expects. Shop Direct tried a new approach for the UK: using home-based agents. Here is its success story.

Suppliers: How to Make Your Brand a Sales Accelerator

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

In today’s tough outsourcing marketplace, winning all the business you can is the name of the game for suppliers. Being able to articulate what differentiates your brand in the marketplace is one way to increase your wins. Brenna Garratt knows how.

How to Improve Knowledge Management in New Product Development Projects

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Companies that hope to capture market share when the economy turns must continue to invest in new product development. Knowledge management in R&D is difficult because the valuable learning is tacit knowledge, which is hard to codify. Professor Keith Goffin describes the best ways to do this.

Trends in Outsourced Product Development and Accelerated Time to Market

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

A new, more strategic outsourcing model is necessary for speeding time to market yet also limiting the development cost of new products. It requires a different kind of thinking, communicating, and strategizing. Here’s how to leverage this new model for competitive advantage.

Enabling Offshored Call Centers to Move Back On Shore

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

In the past, barriers to moving a call center back on shore included the high cost of staffing, training, technology, and terminating a contract early. Organizations can now handle their move back onshore cost-effectively and get up and running again quickly. Here’s how.

Mitigating Risk in the Race to the Cloud

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Ed Anderson, CompuCom’s new chief strategy officer, shares his insights on who should move to the cloud, when they should move, and why. He also discusses how racing a sailboat and World War II history taught him important leadership skills.

Research & Insight