Internal service organizations, whether Global Business Services, Shared Services, or something similar, usually have a core tenet that they “run like a business” as a key difference from being just another corporate function. In addition to signaling a greater customer-focused approach, these organizations often charge out for their services using some type of pricing model. […]
Many Shared Services leaders can, off the top of their heads, quickly quote you their organization’s KPIs, SLAs, volume growth, headcount reduction, and percent cost-saving reductions for each of the past five years. Ask them how satisfied their customers are and they will most likely pause, and say something along the lines of “If they’re […]
More than technology or processes, the foundation of a solid Shared Services organization is its people. It’s critical for leaders to create an environment and culture that keeps the team engaged, customer-focused, and innovative. While evaluating various sourcing options, striving for standardization among customers with differing perspectives, and reacting to changing levels of upper management […]
Only a few years ago, it seemed that leaders of Shared Services used to debate the merits of being a “captive” versus “outsourcing” as if it was an either/or decision. The discussion quickly started to include more terms, like nearshore and offshore, that related to both captive and outsourced. To further the matrix of options, […]
A member company tells us how they consolidated over 400 different systems to a single instance of SAP, supported by a captive shared services center. Talk about a challenge…how about taking 400 systems, located in over 42 countries, multiple business segments, and 10 different languages, with the goal of creating common business processes running on […]
Is the objective of Shared Services to be an efficient, back-office “utility”? Many Shared Services leaders would argue that Shared Services is, in fact, a “value-adding business partner” and not just a “low-cost, high-volume, transaction processing factory”. On a recent Peeriosity webcast, member companies were in broad agreement that part of their vision is to […]
As Shared Services organizations expand and take on more complex implementations, as well as the ongoing evolution of the enterprise business model, the need for project management techniques as a core skill is critical as more and more functional areas and operational locations are impacted. Some Shared Services organizations have a formal Project Management Office […]
“If our master data is wrong or inconsistent, it can lead to major issues that may not be easily identified or rectified, including errors in reporting. We must have strong controls and governance over all of our master data.” This quote can be attributed to almost any CFO. On a recent Peeriosity webcast, member companies […]
While many companies have realized significant savings when first transitioning to Shared Services, uncovering additional saving opportunities can be a challenge without proper focus. One attribute of many successful Shared Services operations is a well-established continuous improvement program that is ingrained within the culture of the operation. Recently a poll, followed by a webcast featuring […]
Optimization efforts generally have the recipe ingredients of parts technology, process, and organization optimization. One of the ongoing benchmark surveys within Peeriosity allows a company to benchmark the “organization” piece of their back-office structure. Finding the back-office structure “sweet spot,” located somewhere between a highly leveraged cost structure and reliable high-quality service, has always been […]