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At the same time, for the explanatory factors of outsourcing, a medium-term vision of the profession and an operational sensitivity to costs are simultaneously mentioned. Refocusing on the business and reducing costs explains the use of outsourcing (Quélin and Duhamel, 2003). Indeed, in 2006, 32.3% of companies considered outsourcing very important to “improve the company's refocusing on its businesses” (60% for the “very important” and “important” levels combined) (see figure 1). This point can be compared to the 52.3% of companies who consider outsourcing important to “mobilize internal resources for other uses”.
As such, half of the companies therefore perceive outsourcing as a vector for reorganizing professions and activities. The latter would naturally relate to the scope of activities.
However, 65.7% still consider outsourcing important to “reduce and control operating costs”. And this reason is as important as the reallocation of resources internally for other uses.
It is interesting to question the criteria that managers perceive as determining the success of an outsourcing operation. Next, we must examine under what conditions outsourcing can become a true strategic partnership. These points are discussed below.
Outsourcing is based on a principle of delegation, based on a lasting contractual relationship, by entrusting economic responsibility to the service provider. In this way, it is opposed to subcontracting. As a result, the company having outsourced finds itself in a situation quite comparable to the project owner.
Means and objectives have been defined beforehand, but operational execution is beyond the direct control of the client. The latter must then equip itself with tools for managing the relationship with the service provider: operational monitoring and a dashboard.
Bringing together the client and the service provider, an outsourcing contract monitoring committee is generally in charge of two levels of responsibility. First of all, operational monitoring can sometimes take the form of weekly monitoring: for example for incident management in the fields of telecommunications, energy supply or logistics. Secondly, more monitoring through which the service level agreements (SLAs), prices, volumes and services offered are re-examined, on a half-yearly basis, in order to best adjust the contract to the customer's expectations.
HILLANDER Group Ltd.
at Trade Register of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland
Class: 550.1.238.700
IDE/UID: CHE-292-282-178