Issue 1: Expectations of companies from different reorganisation alternatives for the finance and controlling processes
Outsourcing:
Personnel cutback (56%),
Cost reduction (50%),
Focus on core business (43%)
Shared service center (SSC):
Cost reduction (68%),
Economies of scale (62%),
Increase of process quality (57%)
Centralisation:
Increase of information quality (82%),
Better information delivery (78%),
Reduction of coordination complexity (69%)
Source: Horváth & Partner „CFO-Studie 2007 Reorganisation im Finanzbereich"
Issue 2: Cost aspects
66% of companies expect 20-40% cost reduction as a result of shared service implementation.
Measures to cut costs:
Process standardization,
Personnel cost reduction,
Reduction of system / IT complexity
Use of location advantages
Source: BearingPoint „Finanzstudie" 2007 „Shared Service Center - Wertbeitrag und zukünftige Trends"
Issue 3: Advantages of an HR shared service center
Advantages of an HR shared service center:
Speed,
Entrepreneurial acting,
Lower error rates,
Higher customer focus
Typically HR SSC bunch similar processes from different areas in form of one internal centralized entity in order to achieve qualitative and quantitative advantages.
Source: Hewitt-Studie „HR Shared Service Centres in Deutschland 2008"
Issue 4: Shared services in UK further and higher education
The following findings from the research of shared services in further and higher education in the UK can be listed:
There is a low level of enthusiasm for shared services in the sector,
Adopting shared services carries risk with uncertain benefits, which are in any case dependent upon institutional circumstances,
The principal impetus for institutions towards shared services is the delivery of better services rather than towards being leaner organisations,
Partnership issues are the principal group of inhibitors hindering adoption of Shared Services,
There is considerable commonality in the approaches of FEIs and HEIs to the adoption of shared services.
Source: JISC Study of Shared Services in UK Further and Higher Education, September 2008
Issue 5: Shared services vs. outsourcing
59% of IT executives classify the perspectives of SSC as positive or very positive. 18% of them are sceptical about SSC. 40% of the study participants show advantages of SSC comparing with outsourcing. The main advantage of SSC vs. outsourcing is avoidance of dependency on a third party. Almost 2/3 of IT executives are of the opinion that SSC are an instrument to cut costs and increase performance.
Source: Infora-Studie: Shared Service Center attackieren das Outsourcing-Geschäft, 2008
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