564 Posts Found

How to avoid 10 potential issues in your outsourcing relationship.

Content: Article | Author: John A. Gliedman | Source: Darwin Magazine | Subjects: Legal, Outsourcing / BPO

Years ago, “lean” thinking captured the imaginations of manufacturers as they tried to eliminate much of the waste inherent in their production processes. Before long, companies began using the same lean principles in designing products. But of the popular approaches used to reduce design waste, most, if not all, had fatal flaws.

This paper, The Line on Design, introduces a fundamentally new approach to eliminating … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subject: Operations

Metrics and Incentives are an important component of outsourcing relationships, but as executives use outsourcing more strategically, these become more critical than ever.

In this research study, we found that each type of outsourcing relationship calls for different metrics and incentives to some extent. More importantly, executives also use the same metrics and incentives in different ways to shape the outsourcing relationship they need. Tapping new … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Alice Hartley, Jane C. Linder, Joseph Sawyer | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Best Practices, Outsourcing / BPO

Since the days of the industrial revolution, companies have struggled with the issue of what to do with their unused assets.

Recently, the idea of selling idle or obsolete assets – so-called “asset disposition”- has grown in popularity as companies recognize the extent of their equipment stockpiles and their potential value. The idea of selling idle assets is further spurred by rapidly evolving B2B (business-to-business)Internet … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Finance, Operations

Bain research highlights five “New Year’s resolutions” that companies should make to roll back inefficiencies in inventories and forecasting-the kinds of inefficiencies that supply-chain exemplars like Dell are delighted to exploit.

Content: Article | Authors: Miles Cook, Philippe Hauguel, Roman Zeller | Source: Bain & Company | Subject: Operations

It takes more than technology to keep your supply chain humming. CIOs need to first look at corporate strategy, management mind-sets, and operational processes to determine what’s really driving costs.

Content: Article | Author: James Ayers | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Operations

Many corporations are restructuring their business processes in order to become more competitive and cost effective. Once the decision has been made to outsource, a corporation must structure the deal. This book shows you how to request proposals and negotiate and close the agreement-creating the best outsourcing strategy for your business.

Content: Book | Author: John K. Halvey | Subjects: Management, Operations

Benchmarking isn’t just about data-culture and circumstances must be taken into account when you view the results. Here are the best practices of leading practitioners and advisers.

Content: Article | Author: David Stauffer | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Best Practices, Operations

Real-time data can improve the routing and logistics of field personnel and parts–and the company’s bottom line.

Content: Article | Author: Michael Blumberg | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subjects: Customer Related, Operations

Since 1992, A.T. Kearney has performed a series of studies to explore the trends, business developments and emerging issues surrounding procurement. For 10 years, we have seen leading companies transform a transaction-based business necessity into a strategic weapon with the potential to deliver significant competitive advantage. These leaders use marketplace knowledge and supply relationships to create value via innovation, growth and cost leadership. They have … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Best Practices, Operations

Companies thinking about using offshore outsourcing need to consider more than just cost savings.

Content: Article | Author: Mary Hayes | Source: InformationWeek | Subject: Outsourcing / BPO

Knowing the risks of offshore outsourcing will help you avoid shoals along the way.

Content: Article | Author: William Bierce | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subjects: Best Practices, Outsourcing / BPO

Historically, the critical interfaces for IT have existed with the functional departments. Key business processes such as finance, human resources, and marketing weren’t standard between companies and, in many cases, weren’t even standardized within an enterprise. In such an operational environment, business-process automation software was often custom-built to bridge the gap between the IT infrastructure and the rigid business-process architecture. It made sense to keep … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Outsourcing / BPO

Businesses that outsource gain powerful new control over business performance according to a multinational survey conducted by Accenture. A full 86 percent of executives realize control gains over business results-most within the first year of outsourcing.

Content: Article | Authors: Adam Johnson, John D. Rollins | Source: Accenture | Subject: Outsourcing / BPO

Successful outsourcing of your business processes begins close to home.

Content: Article | Author: Peter Ackerson | Source: Darwin Magazine | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Outsourcing / BPO

For most companies, the sources of R&D waste are due to deficiencies in the way R&D operations relate to the market-not to how R&D groups work internally. This article outlines six areas of waste and how to address them. It demonstrates that the responsibility for getting more out of R&D goes beyond R&D itself and significantly involves Marketing Departments. The alignment of the two groups … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jean-Philippe Deschamps | Source: Prism (Arthur D. Little) | Subject: Operations

Few companies know the true cost of their assets – from property, plant and equipment to intellectual capital. Some don’t even know what they own or where major assets are located. Here are suggestions that can help stop the insanity.

Content: Article | Author: Samuel Greengard | Source: Business Finance Magazine | Subjects: Finance, Operations

The logistics of disaster relief projects using supply management technology and the complex relationships between numerous parties during a series of natural disasters in El Salvador are mined for key lessons and their pertinence to future international rescue projects. The case analyses the management of this series of disasters and lays out key learning points for such future projects with especial relevance for international multi-partner … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Luk N. Van Wassenhove, Rolando M. Tomasini | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: Miscellaneous, Operations

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New software enables business managers to fine-tune important processes virtually on the fly, with only minimal involvement by the IT department.

Content: Article | Author: John Verity | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Operations