High Performance through Procurement: The role of technology
Procurement mastery—significantly outpacing competitors in areas such as sourcing, category management and supplier relationship management—can be immensely profitable and yet a surprising number of companies never implement a procurement-optimization effort. Accenture can help companies understand the nature of procurement mastery—how and why to achieve it, and how it contributes to high performance.
Content: Article | Authors: Kevin Potts, Rob Woodstock | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Best Practices, Operations
Sourcing: Finding the Optimal Mix of Suppliers
Mastering Global Operations to Enable High Performance
Companies compete in a multi-polar world—an environment characterized by a new and more complex phase of increased economic interdependence across multiple centers of economic power and activities. Accenture research into global operations reveals that succeeding in this environment demands a new way of thinking about global operations. In particular, it points to five guiding principles that can position companies for high performance on this new … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Christophe Cases, Greg Cudahy, Narendra Mulani | Source: Accenture | Subjects: International, Operations, Risk Management
Integrated HR Systems
Chapter 6: The Talent Powered Organization: Embedding and Sustaining Talent Power
In this sixth chapter of The Talent Powered Organization, the authors explain the importance of understanding and measuring how talent contributes to an organization’s performance. Once that is understood, it is clear that everyone in an organization must be involved in multiplying talent—from top leaders to HR, to line managers, to employees. Therefore, the second part of this chapter focuses on the need to:
* Maintain … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Elizabeth Craig, Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas | Source: Accenture | Subject: Human Resources
Rethinking Retention: If You Want Your Best Executives to Stay, Equip Them to Leave
Rather than guaranteeing employment security, many firms now claim to provide opportunities for employees to accumulate skills and experiences that both improve company performance and enhance employees’ employability in the labor market. This “employability approach” encourages and often expects individuals to take greater personal responsibility for their careers.
Since many believe that the employability approach allows, and even invites, the loss of talent, organizations are often … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Chi T. Pham, Elizabeth Craig, Sarah Bobulsky | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Best Practices, Human Resources, Management
The High Performance Supply Chain Study: Service Management Mastery
As products become commoditized and customers more demanding, service management is an increasingly important enabler of high performance. Accenture leverages its High Performance Business research and extensive client experience to identify the challenges to the mastery of service management, and outlines the common practices of the masters in this section of the supply chain.
Content: Article | Source: Accenture | Subject: Operations
High-Performance Talent Management in an Outsourcing Environment
Performance Management and Technology in Corporate Governance
This note addresses how performance management—the integration and application of the right information within decision-making processes and enabled by technology—may improve governance and reduce information asymmetry. Typical hazards of information asymmetry include missing financial projections by a wide margin, letting knowable risks knock a company off kilter or being unaware when management action might damage corporate reputation.
Integrating performance management into the board agenda should minimize … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Anthony J. Relvas, George Marcotte, Joshua J. Bellin, Robert J. Thomas | Source: Accenture | Subject: Corporate Governance
Achieving High Performance by Transforming Sales Operations
The drive to achieve high performance through sustained top-line growth is dominating the strategic agenda of most global companies, and that has placed an even more intense focus on the productivity of sales organizations. Many corporate leaders have been trying to meet the challenge to generate growth and improve sales effectiveness by focusing on process improvements, cost reductions, sales tools and training. However, for most, … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Kevin F. Bandy | Source: Accenture | Subject: Marketing / Sales
Talent Management and High Performance: Driving Business Value from HR and HR Outsourcing
Everyone’s talking about “talent management” today as a way to boost the performance of the human resources (HR) organization. But what are the elements of a talent management strategy, leveraging advanced HR outsourcing solutions, that can actually drive high performance for an entire company?
This article offers an innovative and practical approach to talent management—planning and executing an integrated set of management processes that generate greater … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Craig Mindrum, Ph.D., Sian Beacham | Sources: Accenture, HRO Today | Subjects: Human Resources, Outsourcing / BPO
Returns and Repairs Cost Breakdown
Chapter 5: The Talent Powered Organization: Engagement
In this fifth chapter of The Talent Powered Organization, the authors address the question of engagement which, they argue, is the engine of the modern organization and a prerequisite for high performance.
Engagement – that is, the extent to which employees take responsibility for the organization’s goals – is the “magic” ingredient that lifts performance above that of a peer organization. This quality is highly measurable … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Elizabeth Craig, Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior
Chapter 4: The Talent Powered Organization: From Talent Development to Deployment
Chapter 4 of The Talent Powered Organization turns the reader’s attention to talent development and talent deployment as key organizational capabilities of talent-powered organizations that support talent multiplication and competitiveness.
Accenture High Performance Business research shows that few companies are achieving high performance in learning and skills development of their workforces. Indeed, the nature of skills required by modern business is changing, and with it the … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Elizabeth Craig, Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior
Workforce of One: Confronting Organizational Challenges
As organizations move toward a more customized approach to human capital management in the quest for high performance, they face trade-offs and challenges. In particular, although the four workforce-of-one techniques (outlined in research notes four through seven in this series) make it possible for organizations to achieve a greater degree of fit between individual employees and various human capital management practices, they must sacrifice a … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Nicole Di Paolo Foster, Susan Cantrell, Susan Miele | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Human Resources, Management
Together We Innovate
Geniuses are great. But bright, motivated teams are better. Unfortunately, many companies are pouring more money into generating ideas, but falling short on team-building, networking and collaboration. In a Wall Street Journal Online article, Accenture’s Robert Thomas and three noted academics dissect the problem and posit a solution.
Content: Article | Authors: Andrew Hargadon, Rob Cross, Robert J. Thomas, Salvatore Parise | Source: Accenture | Subject: Innovation
Creating a Corporate Culture that Drives Greater Financial Returns and High Performance
Corporate executives used to look upon issues of their corporate culture as “soft and fuzzy” areas over which they had little control. No longer.
Today’s senior leaders are increasingly finding that their most sophisticated corporate strategies stand little chance of being adopted and executed if the inherent culture of their company cannot or will not accommodate the change.
Learn more about creating a culture conducive to high … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Ana Dutra, Richard Hagberg | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior
Accenture’s Organization Strategy Framework
Techniques for Managing a Workforce of One: Segmentation
Leading companies are increasingly seeking high performance by treating each employee as a workforce of one. The author has identified four techniques an organization can use to tailor human capital management practices and policies to individual employees. This research note explores the technique of segmentation, which breaks down the monolithic conception of a workforce into more granular, meaningful parts. The author examines several types of … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Nicole Di Paolo Foster, Susan Cantrell | Source: Accenture | Subject: Human Resources
The Workforce of One: An Overview
To get maximum performance from their employees, leading companies are now considering each employee as a “workforce of one.” The author explains that in taking this approach to human capital management, companies tailor people practices and policies to individuals and groups of employees with the goal of improving individual and organizational effectiveness. The author also explains four techniques that companies can use, alone or in … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Susan Cantrell | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Human Resources, Management