BPO And The “New Normal”
How Outsourcing Can Help You Prepare For What Comes Next
It’s been said “generals are always preparing to fight the last war”.
There’s always that chance in business as well – particularly since we’re in a period where the future is not clear and it may be easier to look back in the rearview mirror than to peer ahead. That natural inclination is exasperated by what Jason Zweig, author of Your Money & Your Brain, refers to as recency bias – “the human tendency to estimate probabilities not on the basis of long-term experience but rather on a handful of the latest outcomes.” We cleared one obstacle to looking forward when economists recently declared the recession ended in June 2009. That’s good news even though its months after the fact. That also means we’re now operating in a different period – what some people are calling the “New Normal”.
So what do we know about this New Normal and what should we be doing about it? The 2010 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey of 232 large-company, senior business executives revealed several key insights into their thinking about the future:
- Revenue growth (as opposed to cost cutting) is their prime focus
- Strongest consumer growth will be in emerging and developing markets
- Industry-level business model change is expected but M&A may be a simpler growth option
- Technology will be a key element in the post-recession strategy
Whether your company is faced with emerging market expansion, M&A, business model change, or industry-level technology transformation every person involved in BPO sourcing strategy and supplier selection needs to ask:
- “Does our company have the capacity and capability to do it”?
- “Is there a faster way to get from point A to point B?”
- “Are there better tools to get the job done?”
- “Do we have to do it all ourselves?”
- “Can we partner with someone who can share the load?”
Are you ready for the New Normal?
