• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » The World is Far From Flat

The World is Far From Flat

September 19, 2007
From Global Services/Rinku Tyagi

The world is far from flat. And, we have just begun to see the impact of globalization. Outsourcing will be the greatest economic leveling force in mankind's existence, says the President and Founder of the Delphi Group Thomas Koulopoulos.

What are your view on outsourcing in the light of globalization? Outsourcing's move to the services sector has caused us to re-think some of the most basic tenets of successful sourcing partnerships--the ones that didn't just hand off a function to a partner but architected it the way a partner would actually operate as an insider. The objective should be to integrate processes and increase innovation across every part of your organization.

What's the tradeoff between low cost services and innovation? You have to consider that the foundational value of "lower costs" is table stakes for a partnership. Twelve chief sourcing officers of the world's largest organizations, I spoke to, felt that the sourcing providers were so driven by lower cost that they had become myopic, missing out on the strategic value that they could add. They saw an absolute lack of "innovation" coming from their suppliers. So, providers need to get more strategic about adding value and start innovating in the businesses they serve.

What is lacking when it comes to customer satisfaction? Innovation very rarely finds its way into the mechanics of a contract. The customers and providers should define what innovation means to them; allocate budget for it; create a mechanism for good ideas to be evaluated, tracked and measured; take time for SLA integration of innovation; provide profit-related performance for provider when they innovate (not penalty based); and share best practices. While the involvement of senior leadership is critical, all innovation must be customer-centeric.

Is the BPO being overshadowed by IT Outsourcing (ITO)? Yes, but ITO is not the end game. This is just a natural migration to lower levels of granularity in how we address the standards and compatibility of smaller pieces of a business. The ideal scenario is to have infinite flexibility in sourcing pieces of everything in an organization, akin to sourcing an entire drivetrain for a car to an offshore partner. Outsourcing of IT services gets more granular by providing a platform for picking which parts of the drivetrain to source. Beyond that come various methods for sourcing every tiny piece of the car to a global network of providers.

Tech firms are in a race to becoming big and bigger. Are they losing out? It's a combination of inertia and unyielding pressure from investors and analysts. When I told one of the world's richest and most accomplished tech entrepreneurs that his company was no longer innovating in a radical way, his response was basically, "We don't need to be innovators. As long as we have cash we can buy innovation." I'm not so sure this paints a bleak picture. I point out in my book SmartSourcing that the real innovations of the industrial age come when we're able to put in place a power utility infrastructure. The parallels to that are significant when we talk about technology. I'd love to see all of the mayhem we today call the IT sector reduced to a utility.

The outsourcing landscape in a few years from now is going to be a rough road for many providers. There will be enormous consolidation and with it an artificial sense of industry innovation as investors try to cash in by building many new small sourcing firms in hopes of an exit will be the greatest economic leveling force in mankind's existence, though it'll take time.
We have just begun to see the impact of globalization. With all due respect and admiration for Tom Friedman, the world is far from flat. Will bind the world together in a way that is difficult to imagine today. And that binding force will be the single great counter balance to what is increasingly an uncertain and unstable political landscape.
http://globalservicesmedia.com

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Technology
KEYWORDS Technology
  • Related Articles

    Future Factories Will Impact the World Far Beyond the Factory Floor

    Amazon Is Far From Moving in to Its Chosen NYC Home

From Global Services/Rinku Tyagi

More from this author

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • This Uber-Like Solution for Trucking Grains Could Optimize U.S. Agriculture

    Supply Chain Data Is Key to Solving Global Food Crisis

    Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt
  • FedEx

    Can Rival Shippers Join Forces to Optimize Transportation?

    Logistics
  • 1014_digitaltabletfactory.png

    How the Metaverse Has Changed Manufacturing

    Technology
  • data

    Podcast | Quantum Computing for the Supply Chain: Is It Here Yet?

    Technology
  • code

    Achieving True Visibility Through a Supply Chain Control Tower

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

Digital Edition

Scb may 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain ESG Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • Returns Management SaaS Saves Retail Giant $4 Million Monthly

  • 3PL Doubles Productivity With Robots to Fulfill Medical Supply Orders

  • E-Commerce Company Cuts Order Fulfillment Time by 40%

  • Fashion Retailer Halves Fulfillment Time With Omichannel Automation

  • Distributor Scales Business by Integrating Warehouse Automaton Software

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming Alithya Barcoding
Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics CoEnterprise
Data Capture E2open Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Inmar Keelvar Kinaxis
Korber Liberty SBF Locus Robotics
Logility Lucas Systems Nvidia
Old Dominion ORTEC Parsyl
PMMI QIMA Redwood Logistics
Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics Schneider Dedicated
Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD Shipwell
Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
Tive Trailer Bridge Vecna Robotics
Verity Verusen  
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2022 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing