McKinsey on the Impact of Offshoring to Global Employment
Waiting Games People Play
Distraction, information, and compensation are common strategies that may mollify waiting customers.
Content: Article | Author: Dave McMahon, Ph.D. | Source: Graziadio Business Report | Subjects: Customer Related, Operations
When Your Suppliers Talk… Listen
This article discusses why listening matters- particularly as it relates to suppliers. Your suppliers have taken up residency in some of the best run companies in the world, which makes them wellsprings of information. In many cases, this means they have already dealt with and overcome some of the same challenges that you face. Spend time with your suppliers and you may hear an informed … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Richard Sheinfeld, Robert M. Tevelson | Source: Kearney | Subject: Operations
The Forecasting Canon: Nine Generalizations to Improve Forecast Accuracy
Using findings from empirically-based comparisons, this article develops nine generalizations that can improve forecast accuracy. The author finds that these are often ignored by organizations, so that attention to them offers substantial opportunities for gain. The article offers recommendations on how to structure a forecasting problem, how to tap managers’ knowledge, and how to select appropriate forecasting methods.
Content: Article | Author: J. Scott Armstrong | Source: Foresight | Subject: Operations
As Simple as Possible
There is a great old movie called Network, about television news and a crazy anchorman who gets everyone in New York to open their windows and shout, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” That’s basically the message from the three authors of this new Perspective about complexity. We should be telling our clients, “Don’t take it anymore. It costs … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Bob Victor, Kenneth Keverian, Vikas Taneja | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Management, Operations
Six Success Levers for R&D
Clearing the Capacity Cobwebs
Measuring capacity has never been simple. But combining activity-based costing techniques with a model designed to assemble data in a process format can lead to powerful metrics.
Content: Article | Author: Tad Leahy | Source: Business Finance Magazine | Subjects: Finance, Operations
Risk and Reward in Supply Chain Management
What should you be doing to manage supply chain risk? As supply chains grow ever more complex, the question has never been more difficult to answer.
Content: Article | Author: David Bovet | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Operations, Risk Management
Forward and Reverse Logistics Characteristics
No Nasty Surprises: Anticipating the hidden risks of outsourcing
As more companies move to outsource services currently performed in-house, they’ll likely encounter a slew of risks, some of which become clear only when something goes badly wrong. Managers will have to mitigate these risks in order to reap the substantial benefits that outsourcing provides.
Content: Article | Authors: Andrew Chadwick-Jones, David Bovet, Olivier Fainsilber | Source: Mercer Management Journal | Subjects: Management, Outsourcing / BPO
A New Take on Business Process Redesign
Product-focused organizations are becoming more customer-centric and learning that their current processes cannot deliver on new market requirements. Thus, once again, companies are reevaluating and redesigning their business processes-customer- and noncustomer-facing-in search of increased customer value, and internal efficiency. This new round of BPR (1) differentiates processes based on customer profitability and cost to serve; (2) occurs within the context of an overall organizational change; … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Source: Strategy& | Subjects: Management, Operations
From Baldrige to the Bottom Line: A Road Map for Organizational Change and Improvement
It’s one of the best-kept secrets of the corporate world: for years, leading companies have been quietly using the Baldrige framework – not just to apply for this prestigious award – but to improve their bottom line results. Companies such as IBM, FedEx, and Xerox have been using Baldrige to conduct organizational assessment as a way of driving their improvement efforts. And pioneering organizations in … [ Read more ]
Content: Book | Author: David W. Hutton | Subjects: Management, Operations
Selection Tree for Forecasting Methods
Reverse Logistics Costs
Inside Outsourcing: The what, who, and how of outsourcing IT-intensive processes
Many companies today outsource the wrong processes to the wrong vendors in deals with the wrong structure. The resulting chaos and rancor that has come to typify much of the IT-outsourcing market is a clear indication of the need for a simplifying but rigorous framework that provides practical guidance.
Making the right outsourcing decisions requires answering three questions:
* What to outsource
… [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Michael E. Raynor | Source: Deloitte | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Outsourcing / BPO
You Only Have One Supply Chain?
When it comes to supply chains, having three or more may be just what you need to meet the needs of your best customers.
Content: Article | Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Operations
IT Outsourcing Rediscovered: Getting Your Share This Time Around
In a quest for cost savings and improved efficiency, many companies outsource portions of their IT. Few companies, however, ultimately capture the value they expected. This article provides eight levers to help remedy the situation.
Content: Article | Authors: Anthony Datel, Peter Balnaves, Ralf Dreischmeier | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Outsourcing / BPO
Thomas Koulopoulos and James Champy
When examining any complex business model, it becomes obvious that being exceptional at your business means becoming extraordinarily efficient at handling exceptions. Breaking away from the anticipated and structured is the very foundation of innovation and, we would claim, is impossible without a focus exclusively on your company’s core competency.
If you approach the market with the idea that exceptions are the norm and then … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subjects: Innovation, Operations
Business Process Modeling, Simulation, and Design
A focus on business processes, as well as manufacturing processes and general OM problems, plus an emphasis on simulation modeling using a state of the art commercial simulation software make this a unique, standout volume in the area of operations management. The volume blends traditional qualitative issues, operations management and discrete event simulation by taking an analytical modeling perspective on process design and emphasizing the … [ Read more ]
Content: Book | Authors: Johan Marklund, Manuel Laguna | Subjects: Management, Operations
Business Process Outsourcing & Offshoring
Having exploited most of the first-generation cost savings available through outsourcing, leading companies are now focusing on business model transformation. They are looking beyond IT and general and administrative (G&A) services and outsourcing processes closer to the core, including line operations, often using offshore resources. Moreover, many are exploring ways to commercialize their own world-class internal services through spin-offs and joint ventures.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Disher, Eduardo Alvarez, Vinay Couto | Source: Strategy& | Subject: Outsourcing / BPO