The Outsourcing Enterprise

`Leslie Willcocks has been a reliable guide to the latest outsourcing fashions for years. Here he and his colleagues are once again ahead of the curve in showing how sophisticated outsourcers are building collaborations and adding value, not just cutting costs. With examples from Machiavelli to leading edge IT businesses The Outsourcing Enterprise is an entertaining and practical guide to best practices.'- Sir Howard Davies, Director, London School of Economics and Political Science

`An invaluable guide to professional practice. The book is carefully thought through and well illustrated with myriad examples from USA, Europe and Asia Pacific. As a CIO who has been and is still working in multiple industries and countries, I ... recognize from my own experience the value of their work in systematizing and distilling the practices that make the difference. This book should be on every outsourcing professional's desk.'-Peter Mahler, CIO Axa Australia, and formerly Coles Myer and Belgacom

`Frustrated by the sense that you're failing to cash in on the opportunities that outsourcing presents? This book's for you! Directive, insightful, and easy to read, the authors have leveraged their enormous research base to explain how smart companies can create real business advantage from strategic outsourcing.'-Dr Jeanne W. Ross, Director, MIT Center for Information Systems Research, MIT Sloan School of Management

`With two-thirds of our members telling us that senior executives are more involved in outsourcing decisions than ever before, the timing of Leslie's book could not be better. Here he and colleagues...show how outsourcing can produce great results, but only when outsourcing professionals ensure great execution.'-Michael F. Corbett, Chairman, International Association of Outsourcing Professionals

`This book is an excellent source for CEOs, strategists, or anyone that needs to understand the drivers and issues of outsourcing ... the UK's National Outsourcing Association fully endorses this book's central theme that outsourcing has now moved firmly to the strategic corporate agenda...It would be very useful to those considering or taking qualifications in outsourcing, such as the NOA's degree or Masters Pathway courses.'- Martyn Hart, Chairman, National Outsourcing Association

The Outsourcing Enterprise distills 20 years of research into over 1500 outsourcing arrangements. It provides evidence-based answers to the vital managerial question: under what conditions does outsourcing become an effective approach to achieving organizational objectives? The internationally acclaimed authors assess the evolution of outsourcing, pinpoint the practices that work, and show how each organization can get to the next stage in leveraging the ever-expanding services market for significant business advantage. The common denominator finding is that outsourcing itself is not a quick fix but represents a different way of managing. The requisite practices are described in detail, together with multiple case examples and guidelines. Much depends on experiential learning and sheer hard work. Executives must conquer a significant learning curve and build key in-house capabilities in order to successfully exploit outsourcing opportunities. They need to accept that outsourcing is not about giving up management but managing in a different way.

Suppliers also need to work on their strategies and capabilities if they are to sustain the more collaborative relationships that clients increasingly demand, and deliver meaningfully on an innovation as well as a cost and service agenda. The book details the practices suppliers need to adopt.

Written to influence executives, focused on the new opportunities, while learning from the past, this book shows how to: develop a dynamic strategy linking business, sourcing and IT objectives and actions; leverage suppliers through collaboration to look for innovation as well as cost reduction opportunities; reduce the pressure through more BPO and offshoring; and, crucially, how to maintain effective flexibility and control in present and future outsourcing arrangements. In practice, The Outsourcing Enterprise is a must read for any practitioner, student, or scholar concerned with global sourcing in the next ten years.