While the typical benchmarking clause in an outsourcing agreement provides the opportunity to benchmark the services, many clients find third-party benchmarks to be expensive, disruptive and time-consuming. In addition, the outcome can be unpredictable, as results may just as likely confirm that a vendor’s price is market competitive, and no savings are to be had. Further, third-party benchmarks by their nature pit client against vendor – making them all but impossible to complete – and risk damaging what otherwise might be a good working relationship.
There is a better way. Clients looking to confirm market competitiveness are increasingly relying on… Read the rest
Predictive analytics have been used in actuarial services in the insurance industry for many years now. However, given the nature of the insurance business and the market, it is now used in various other functions in the insurance industry – to enhance customer experience and satisfaction, for sales and marketing, to improve operational efficiencies and to reduce costs. In business, predictive models exploit patterns found in historical and transactional data to identify risks and opportunities.
Insurers gather and store a tremendous amount of data. Information from a variety of sources, including applications for policies, premiums and claims contain vital intelligence… Read the rest
Given the maturation of the outsourcing industry, it’s likely that several of your transition team members have already gone through at least one transition. And that they’ve done so – albeit on different teams, even at different companies – can be highly advantageous to your initiative. They fully understand the complex and grueling nature of a transition, know many of the pitfalls you can encounter during the journey, and appreciate the criticality of finely-tuned plans and processes.
However, the fact that they have prior transition experience can, in and of itself, also result in unexpected challenges. Does this sound counterintuitive?… Read the rest
The function of the CFO organization is evolving from being a support organization to driving the strategic decision making in the organization. The financial planning and analysis (FP&A) function plays a key role in this evolution, helping the business navigate the turbulent macro-economic environment as well as the demand shift with its competitive pressures. FP&A is not about stating the obvious; it’s about finding the reality, analyzing it and then telling the organization what to do; these are critical tasks organizations need to drive organizational growth. In other words, a robust FP&A function is critical because it not only analyzes… Read the rest
How do you convince first timers that outsourcing will solve their intractable business problems? Outsourcing community, please help me!
The back story: As most of you know, I live in Las Vegas. Having been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the economic boom, Clark County, the municipality we live in, is paying the price. Big time.
Clark County, for the last three years, has been the per capita foreclosure capital of the U.S. That translates into a revenue shortfall to the state because of precipitously declining property taxes. The state legislature had no choice but to slash all state services… Read the rest
The heavily regulated and IP-driven life sciences industry operates in a state of continual flux. This dynamic nature of the industry throws a diverse mix of powerful challenges and equally promising opportunities at the pharmaceutical executive all the time.
Some of the key challenges facing pharmaceutical companies at the moment are:
- A patent cliff
- Dwindling pipelines and late-stage attritions
- Rising cost of commercialization
- A host of healthcare cost containment measures adopted by regulators and payers across key markets
To offset the revenue loss triggered by major patent expirations, companies have moved towards innovative therapies—often biologics—for niche indications with… Read the rest
As the job situation in America stubbornly refuses to improve, people look for scapegoats. We in the outsourcing world have long been a prime suspect.
Now two professors at M.I.T have just published a book that serves as a beautiful rebuttal when people blame outsourcing for the lost jobs. In their eBook, “Race Against the Machine,” the professors predict more jobs for machines, not people. In other words, it’s automation, stupid!
Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist and director of the M.I.T. Center for Digital Business, and Andrew P. McAfee, associate director and principal research scientist at the center, are experts on… Read the rest
The retail sector is a significant contributor to a country’s economy. In 2010, retail consumption accounted for two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product at $4.35 trillion. In the UK, retail sales were over £293 billion, according to the British Retail Consortium.
The retail industry has seen upheaval with the global economic crisis and intensely competitive environment, where margins are slimming down and customer loyalty is constantly fluctuating. It is critical for retailers to obtain insights to decide how much and what merchandize to stock, how to operate, and which customers they should fight to retain so that they can… Read the rest
Analytics beyond patterns
All successful Financial Service providers are exploring analytics to manage business. An important aspect of analytics is to use historic patterns to determine future trends. Thus the knowledge of fraud patterns can be used to strengthen fraud management.
Regulations changing risk analytics needs
Maintaining an organization or individual risk score card was once confined to larger organizations. Bureaus filled the gap by offering a unified approach to scoring based on behavioral attributes, which appealed to smaller firms. The evolution of business intelligence and analytical tools has helped smaller organizations adopt analytical insights and risk-grid-based pricing to… Read the rest
What will the future bring in terms of HR technology? Jason Averbrook, co-founder and CEO of Knowledge Infusion, and Naomi Lee Bloom, managing partner, Bloom & Wallace, attempted to define that future during the second annual “Great Technology Debate” at the HR Technology Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas on October 4.
Here are some nuggets from the lively 90-minute discussion. N.B: Their sage insights are universal, applying to technology in general.
About HR data and analytics:
Bloom: “We have a bunch of sludge sitting at the bottom of our databases. HR has postponed the inevitable. But now is… Read the rest
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