Single instance ERPs lend themselves to greater standardization and control, but can often lead to the local country or regional 3rd party applications cropping up and IT departments supporting large numbers of interfaces to the ERP. Alternatively, multiple instance ERPs allow for certain deviations, but are more costly to maintain and overall governance and control […]
Shared Services employees work in an environment that pushes for “better, faster, cheaper” coupled with the backdrop that the work can move elsewhere at any time. Leaders have the challenge of creating a Shared (Business) Services environment that offers opportunity, flexibility, and positive energy for employees. In a recent PeercastTM in the Shared Services Leadership […]
An effective Purchasing Card Program can add significant value to a company through cost savings, simplicity, and reporting transparency. Successful implementations require proper planning and execution to avoid sub-optimal or possibly negative ramifications. Recent Peeriosity Benchmarking of organizational structures indicated that the vast majority of companies have their Shared Services organizations manage their Purchasing Card […]
Shared Services organizations around the globe have recovered millions of dollars in lost profit for their companies through formalized recovery service processes within their Accounts Payable functions. A PeercastTM in the Peeriosity Accounts Payable research area featured a global Shared (Business) Services organization that is the leader in their industry and has suppliers in over […]
Background Most companies aspire to find the optimal balance between global scale and local flexibility. From an efficiency view, a single global payment-processing center may be optimal, but depending on any number of factors, may not be practical. Member companies within Peeriosity for Shared Services recently completed a benchmarking exercise, which included information on their […]
Shared Services (and Global Business Services) organizations can drive efficient processes with strong controls as the result of the implementation of Lean Six Sigma. Coupled with a Business Process Management (“BPM”) methodology, these efficiencies can extend beyond Shared Services to entire global processes. The use of formalized quality methodologies within Shared Services has been an […]
Shared Services organizations have implemented imaging and workflow technology for years to improve the efficiency of processes that were paper and approval-intensive such as Procure-to-Pay and Quote-thru-Cash. However, many Record-to-Report process activities have been slower to embrace the technology that can not only reduce paper flow and e-mails but also track and facilitate required approvals, […]
The best technology and processes in the world will not deliver superior results if your Shared Services team is not fully engaged. The challenge for Shared (or Business) Services leaders is to create and maintain an environment where their teams are performing at the highest performance levels; identifying and implementing value-creating initiatives and projects while […]
Recently, a Peeriosity member company launched a poll question within the Corporate Card research area targeted to the Corporate Card Managers from global organizations. The question turned into some great collaboration on best practices to attain the objectives of global scale for cost benefits, as well as to preserve the flexibility to maintain or enhance […]
Since we originally published this post on December 1, 2011, there have been further developments that are noteworthy for US-based card administrators. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal on February 28th (see link below) a number of banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and US Bancorp have begun offering EMV cards […]