Business Transformation Outsourcing: Partnering for Radical Change

Some executives still use outsourcing as a blunt

instrument to offload unimportant activities and

wring the costs out of non-core activities. But

many have moved to a much more sophisticated

approach. They engage in collaborative

relationships with outsource business partners to

create high-performance support operations that

keep pace with industry best practice. A few

bold CEOs, however, have taken the concept one

step further. They are partnering not just to

re-engineer support processes, but to drive

enterprise transformation.

July 18, 2001 · ©2001Accenture · Institute for Strategic Change · www.accenture.com/isc

Business TransformationOutsourcing: Partnering for RadicalChange

Jane Linder, Alvin Jacobson,

Matthew D. Breitfelder, and Mark Arnold

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Institute forStrategic Change

Some executives still use outsourcing as a blunt instrument tooffload unimportant activities and wring the costs out, butmany have moved to a much more sophisticated approach.Sixty-five percent of the organizations we interviewed engagein collaborative relationships with outsource business partnersto create high-performance support operations that keep pacewith industry best practice. The result? Outsourcing benefitshave multiplied. Companies now report cost savings that aver-age 50 percent over ten years, as opposed to an average of 20percent savings reported in the mid 1990s.2 Furthermore, theygain access to competitive skills, improve service levels, andincrease their ability to respond to changing business needs.Many public sector organizations have had similar experiences(see Sidebar 1: Transforming Government).

A few bold CEOs, however, have taken the concept one stepfurther. Thirty-one percent of the firms we studied are partner-ing not just to re-engineer support processes, but to dramati-cally improve business capabilities that are critical to the firm'ssuccess. (Exhibit 1 compares different types of outsourcing.)These programs employ different mechanisms�some involvepure outsourcing and others rely on joint ventures, for example.But they share one unique characteristic: they are being used todrive enterprise transformation. Whether the strategic agendainvolves dramatic growth, market repositioning, or rapid diversi-fication, the early results are stunning.

What Is Business Transformation Outsourcing?

Business transformation outsourcing (BTO) is:

A program to transform the way a business works, enabledby outsourcing, to achieve a rapid, sustainable, step-change improvement in enterprise-level performance.

Business transformation is not a new concept; companieshave been transforming and reinventing their businesses fora long time and will continue to do so. What is new and dif-ferent about business transformation outsourcing is that itoffers executives a way of achieving transformational out-comes at speed. CEOs who use this approach start with abold strategic agenda. They share risks and gains with anoutsource business partner as they collaborate to transformroadblock business processes into competitive weapons in anaccelerated time frame. And they measure the resulting per-formance improvement in dramatic gains in share price,market position, and return on capital.

Imagine you are CEO of a multi-national financial servicescompany. Over the past three years your firm has steadilyslipped from a dominant market position to middle of the pack,and nimble new entrants are circling to take their share of thecompany's hide. You were brought in to lead a turnaround, andyour board has given you three years to pull it off. You have abroad vision about how it should happen, but lack the culture,IT capabilities, and management bench-strength to make it so.

Now roll forward three years. Operating margins haveincreased from $151MM to $370MM, market share has grownfrom 19.1 percent to 28.1 percent, assets under managementare up 64 percent and share price has doubled in two years.

Sound impossible? Well, it's not. This is the true story of a firmwe'll refer to as Archer Financial Group. And a small, but growingnumber of companies are proving they can achieve high-speed,breakthrough results like this with a bold new approach wecall business transformation outsourcing.

This report addresses three principal questions:

1. What is business transformation outsourcing? 2. How does business transformation outsourcing work? 3. When should you use it?

Outsourcing Comes Of Age

Slightly over a decade ago, Eastman Kodak shook the corporateworld by announcing a $250 million, ten-year deal to outsourceits entire IT function. Cutting costs and reserving managementattention for core activities were the primary objectives. Sincethen, both the number of deals and their value have ballooned.Worldwide spending on outsourcing services in 1999 totaled$116 billion.1 But the real story isn't about the number or sizeof the deals; it's about their character.

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OUR STUDY

This report is based on interviewing executives familiar with theoutsourcing experiences of 26 organizations. Of these, 73 percentwere private sector firms, and the remainder were in the publicsector. Sixty-five percent of the organizations were headquarteredin the US, and 35 percent were based in Europe and Asia.

Business Transformation Outsourcing · ©2001 Accenture · Institute for Strategic Change · www.accenture.com/isc

a large consulting firm to serve as the company's primeadviser to design and help implement a strategic reposition-ing and comprehensive transformation management programto help J. Sainsbury regain its market leadership.

This ground-breaking partnership includes innovative finan-cial structuring that makes future cost savings available upfront to fund strategic investments. It also includes transfor-mation of critical IT capabilities: Sainsbury has transferred800 employees to the partner firm which now runs all thecompany's IT systems and networks.

For example, J. Sainsbury, the second largest grocery retailerin the United Kingdom, found its premier position slipping asoperating issues chipped away at its performance. Costswere rising faster than revenues, and profits had moved sub-stantially out of line with industry leaders. Over the previousthree years, profits had fallen by 40 percent, and share priceand market capitalization had consequently declined signifi-cantly. Hastening the slide were major new competitivethreats from other grocery retailers such as Asda and Safeway.

Calling for aggressive action, the board hired Sir Peter Davisas the new CEO and gave him a mandate for radical change.Within months, Sir Peter had entered into a partnership with

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SIDEBAR 1: TRANSFORMING GOVERNMENT

The public sector's appetite for change is growing. Spurred inpart by the wave of privatizations begun in Europe in the 1980s,"reinventing" government has taken root on both sides of theAtlantic. Outsourcing has become the principal tool of thisgovernment reinvention. In an era of perpetually shrinkingbudgets, public sector organizations are increasingly usingoutsourcing as a lever to lower costs, gain access to bestbusiness practices, and refocus attention on core functions.

Governments at all levels are being challenged to go through thesoul-searching necessary to identify activities that need not beperformed by government personnel while preserving their ability tofulfill their core mission. This leads to serious questions aboutalternatives: how to compare cost structures and minimize red tapein order to find out who is best equipped to provide needed services.

Leading government officials are becoming more adept atseeking whole new ways of getting the job done. In the UK,Inland Revenue has outsourced its entire IT function, selling itsassets and transferring over 2,000 employees to its partnerorganization, with expected savings of at least £220 million. TheBelgian Post is working to transform itself through the creationof Laterio, an innovative joint venture with a large consultingfirm. This unique venture will build business solutions like anonline fulfillment platform that will not only serve the BelgianPost, but can also be resold to third parties as well.

In the United States, federal laws and market realities are drivinggreater consideration of the use of outsourcing. The FAIR Act of1998 mandates that each federal agency conduct an annual jobinventory that distinguishes between functions that are

inherently governmental and those that are commercialin nature. The 2000 FAIR Act inventory shows thatnearly half of the 1.7 million civilian jobs in the federalgovernment could eventually be outsourced.3

In the near term, much attention will be focused in the IT area�which accounts for nearly $44 billion of federal spending eachyear. As many agencies move towards eGovernment models ofservice delivery, the need for critical skills is growing. At thesame time, the skill-levels of existing federal IT workers have notkept up. Moreover, a huge number of IT workers are approachingretirement age, and rigid federal pay scales will continue to makeit difficult to attract quality talent to fill the gap.

One of the Bush Administration's top five management prioritiesis to use more public-private competitions to determine whodoes federal work. The White House is requiring federal agenciesto compete at least 10 percent of the jobs on the inventory by theend of fiscal 2003.4 NASA has broken new ground with itsdecision to outsource the majority of its desktops. NASA'scontract has an umbrella structure that makes it easy for otheragencies to sign on.

NASA-type innovations could lead to networks of outsourcingagreements. From there it's a short step to volume-buying acrosslevels of government�federal, state, and local. This would openthe door to much more dramatic changes in the way governmentworks. And as risk and benefit sharing make it easier forgovernment agencies to pursue private sector partnerships, weexpect momentum towards business transformation outsourcing in the government to build.

1. C-level leadership. Enterprise-level change requires enter-prise-level sponsorship. In each of the business transforma-tion outsourcing cases we studied, the CEO was the forcebehind the program. This doesn't mean just an inspiringkick-off meeting and a regular quarterly review. TheseCEOs took hands-on roles in overcoming obstacles, dealingwith resistance, redirecting resources, and mastering newskills while they made sure the ongoing business didn't fal-ter. For example, one of Les Dietzman's motivations fortaking the top spot at Family Christian Stores was to joinan organization with a higher mission. When he arrived hesaw an unexpectedly compelling opportunity for transfor-mation. He developed an overall vision for companygrowth, then personally oversaw the effort to triple thecompany's revenues and profits. On the other hand, when anew CEO took over at a large financial services organiza-tion and delegated the governance processes to a lowerlevel in the organization, the outsourced business processescontinued to operate, but the transformation stopped.

2. Bold strategic agenda. BTO means big change fast. With-out a radical new agenda, executives have little hope ofachieving the seismic results they're after. They need tobreak out of their industry's strategic ruts to tap newsources of value. What's more, BTO is specificallydesigned to implement strategy at an accelerated pace.Whether on their own or with their business partner,

What kinds of benefits can CEOs expect from business transfor-mation outsourcing? In the small number of examples we haveidentified, the J. Sainsbury and Archer Financial Group benefitsappear typical: increased revenues, increased profits, and animproved competitive trajectory (see Sidebar 2: Benefits ofBTO). While business transformation outsourcing is not the onlyfactor that accounts for these results, executives closest to theground in these programs acknowledge that it is a major one.

What Makes BTO Distinctive?

Business transformation outsourcing achieves rapid results byintegrating five essential components:

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SIDEBAR 2: BENEFITS OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATIONOUTSOURCING

� Step-change improvement in enterprise-level performance � Reduced time-to-market� Shared risk� Increased innovation through access to world-class skills,

resources, and industry knowledge� Enhanced core capabilities � Strengthened competitive positioning

even more aggressively than the firm itself. Otherwisethese broken processes roadblock the strategic agenda.For example, Archer's CEO recognized that he had to trans-form distribution channels, call centers, branch operations,and back office processes to reverse his company's perfor-mance slide. In his mind, information technology was centralto all of these activities, and he recognized that his internalstaff couldn't manage the transformation required. He part-nered with a large consulting and outsourcing firm to putdiscipline and cost controls into existing systems operationsand to invest the savings in critical new applications.

5. Focus on enterprise outcomes. Business transformationoutsourcing raises the stakes in the game. While collabora-tive outsourcing seeks respectable improvements in costs,service levels, and support capabilities, BTO aims squarelyat outcomes shareholders�and competitors�can see. Alongthe way, other issues like call center response rates andspeed of management decision-making will certainly beaddressed. But companies that want sweeping change setgoals like doubling profits or achieving market dominance.

In our research, we saw many cases where executives usedcollaborative outsourcing to transform a support function orprocess. But the radical change stopped there. BTO holds ahigher standard. It's a comprehensive approach to both createnew capabilities and to use them to achieve a clear strategicobjective (see Exhibit 2).

executives develop a compelling set of strategic impera-tives for the company, then use BTO to implement itrapidly. For example, Sir Peter Davis took over as ChiefExecutive of J. Sainsbury in March 2000. By November ofthat year, he had developed a reinvigoration strategy andentered into a partnership to begin implementation.

Setting a bold agenda doesn't mean carving the CEO'svision in stone. Business transformation outsourcing part-ners are constantly scanning the horizon to keep the edgeon their agenda.

3. Innovative deal structure. A transformational deal'sfinancial structure must serve two masters. First, it mustfund the necessary investment at the best possible cost ofcapital. Second, it must motivate the business partners'commitment by aligning goals, distributing risks, andpromising rewards. Business transformation outsourcingdeals require that both partners have skin in the game.

Innovative financing arrangements can take a wide vari-ety of shapes. Some companies use joint ventures. Thefirm and the outsourcer jointly create a separate ventureto house the people who will transform the criticalprocesses. The outsourcer may also buy assets from thefirm and lease them back over time. This removes assetsfrom the firm's balance sheet and produces a quick-winimprovement in ROA.

Companies can also use debt markets to "borrow againstresults." Especially if the outsourcer has an establishedreputation for delivering on promises, a company canattract financing for the transformation based on theexpected outcomes. For example, a premier capital firmfunded Family Christian Stores' IT transformation. Workingwith a recognized outsourcer helped the small retailerbring this firm into the deal, secure attractively pricedfinancing, and pay off the cost of its transformation withincremental profits.

4. Collaborative outsourcing to transform critical process-es. Most firms try to distinguish between core and non-core processes to decide what's appropriate to outsource.In a dynamic business environment, that's not necessarilythe important distinction. Transforming a business quicklymeans handing off the critical processes to a specialistcompany that can bring them up to competitive snuff.Outsourcing makes all the difference because a skilledand highly motivated business partner can drive change

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partner's compensation in one European bank deal waspegged to the bank's total assets. As the bank's businessgrew, the business partner's share grew as well.

� Make your agreements flexible, not airtight. You mayneed to abandon some of the micro-level checks and bal-ances that would be normal in a conventional outsourc-ing deal in order to get an arrangement that is flexibleenough to adjust to business conditions. For example,most BTO programs go through a careful partner selectionprocess, but not the yearlong, formal contract negotiationthat is typical in outsourcing.

Managing The Transition

After the deal is crafted and signed, you'll want to begin tran-sitioning people and processes to your business partner (or thejoint venture that you've established). Executing the transitioneffectively is critical to start the BTO program off on the righttrack. If the transition is marred by service outages, timedelays, customer complaints, and operating problems, thedamage may be irreparable.

� Clearly assign leadership and control. Transitioningemployees to a new organization is more like an acquisi-tion than a merger: you have already made the decisionthat your business partner will be in charge of specificprocesses, and your employees need to hear this. Clearcontrol is what enables your business partner to beaccountable for its part of the agenda. Commenting onthis need for visible authority and control, one executivenoted, "You won't achieve a real transformation unlessthe outsourcer takes control of the process. It's essentialthat they have the authority to implement new operatingpractices quickly, or you'll never free up the funds youneed to invest in the future."

� Communicate, communicate, communicate. The firmsthat do this best spend lots of time with their people.They communicate to large groups. They communicate todepartments. And the new managers communicate per-sonally with each individual who will be affected. Somecompanies use a buddy system to connect transitioningemployees to a peer who has survived the experience.Savvy management of this process can help turn initialresistance into energy and enthusiasm.

Making BTO Work: End-To-End Execution

A European bank had a business strategy for expanding mar-ket share but lacked the experience, skills, and resources tomake it happen. A US-based retailer had a vision of how toexpand its retail market, but similarly lacked the IT capabilitiesand deep retail knowledge to make it happen. Both companiespartnered to "make it so." The "make it so" quality of businesstransformation outsourcing is what fundamentally distinguishesit from strategy consulting. It is a high-stakes game, and execu-tion makes all the difference. Successful firms pay close atten-tion to key issues as the program evolves through four stages:crafting the deal, managing the transition, transforming thecritical processes, and leveraging new capabilities.

Crafting The Deal

Business transformation outsourcing is not an off-the-racksolution. It should be tailored to the specific circumstancesthe firm faces. Effective deals often incorporate creativearrangements like third party financing, new legal entities, orequity plays to maximize benefits and distribute risk. Execu-tives start with an entrepreneurial attitude, then:

� Look for a strategic ally, not a conventional outsourc-ing vendor. In effective deals, executives place a priorityon business partners who listen instead of selling, givebefore they get, and strive to tell the unvarnished truth.The ideal business partner will have holistic skills: robuststrategy, implementation, and operating capabilities aswell as expertise in your industry. Firms with a tight net-work of alliances can also bring the right sub-contractorsinto the deal fast. However, you will want your businesspartner to manage the other vendors in the constellationso it can be accountable for results.

� Leverage your business partner's brand. You'll want itssolid reputation behind the program to manage the oper-ating risk. Its good name can also add market credibilityto the initiative and help bring financial services firms tothe bargaining table to fund the transformation.

� Align incentives around enterprise outcomes. Most out-sourcing contracts include bonuses and penalties thatdepend on achieving pre-agreed service levels. BTO, onthe other hand, targets enterprise-level outcomes likemarket share and ROE. Create a "win/win" deal so thatboth you and your business partner benefit when theneedles on these gauges hit the green zone. The business

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Leveraging New Capabilities

Transforming critical processes converts them from roadblocks toenablers. The real value lies in leveraging these new capabilitiesto implement the strategic agenda. In most industries today,that means aiming at a moving target. You will want to workwith your business partner to jointly explore new ways to createvalue from the retooled processes, technologies, and people.

� Jamming in the wings. Just because the bandleaderknows the score doesn't mean that everyone else does aswell. Great bandleaders help their musicians go beyondthe notes on the page and create an environment wherethey can improvise together. Executives must help oper-ating managers get in tune so they can understand thevision and drive implementation. All too often this is themissing link in the value-delivery chain.

� Take advantage of your business partner's partners.You'll want comprehensive solutions that work, not com-ponents that your people have to stitch together. Tapyour business partner for its network of best of breedsuppliers and knowledge about how to apply these prod-ucts to solve your problems. For example, Accenturebrought its relationships with firms like Blue Martini,Siebel, and Retek to its partnership with a major retailer.

� Demand continuing innovation. Sustaining value is acontinuous process that calls for constant renewal. In allthe transformational cases we studied, executives askedtheir business partner to fuel innovation by bringingprovocative opinions about industry trends and new ideasto the relationship. One partner firm executive explains,"We hold regular 'Innovation Workshops' for the board.We present our firm's latest research on everything frombiotech to business models to stimulate their thinking."

Managing The Relationship

When we asked executives for the secret to effective out-sourcing, they all said the same thing: trust. A trusting, openrelationship is what enables executives to share control withtheir business partners. But most executives, even collabora-tive outsourcing veterans, built trusting relationships intu-itively�with varying levels of success. Business transformationoutsourcing leaves no room for error in this critical activity. Toachieve the level of flexible, intense guidance that BTOdemands, you'll want to manage relationships deliberately

� Don't blink. An effective communication plan will help toovercome some anxiety, but as one senior executiveobserved, "You'll never convince turkeys that Christmas isa good idea." The CEO must stand behind his or her deci-sion to push ahead at a pace that some other executivesmay find uncomfortable�even if it means replacing thesefolks with individuals from the partner firm.

Transforming Critical Processes

Transformation means turning an also-ran function or processinto a world-class operation. It usually involves bringing exist-ing day-to-day operations under rigorous discipline to makethem both reliable and cost effective while resources are redi-rected toward new, higher payoff activities. For example, theLondon Stock Exchange reduced its fixed IT costs by 40 per-cent and its service incidents by over 50 percent. In addition,redirecting resources toward new development enabled it tointroduce new markets and new information services onschedule, which worked reliably from the start.

� Set crystal clear expectations. Transformation spellschange not only for the employees who will move, but alsofor the business managers who now have to rely on thepartner organization for services. Even if executives expectthe program to deliver service improvements over thelonger term, they should make sure their managers under-stand how new disciplines will affect service in the shortrun. One manager remarked, "The 'old-boy' network wasdismantled overnight. Instead of ringing up my friend [inthe outsourced process] to get something done, I have tomake a business case to the program office."

� Work shoulder-to-shoulder and "mano a mano." Workingon the front lines of a transformation process is challeng-ing. Experienced executives favor a team-based approachwhere distinctions between company and business partnerstaff quickly blur in the quest to find and unlock value."We hunt in packs," summarized one senior executive, "tobring all the right skills to the problem."

� Relentlessly drive performance improvements. Some firmshave gotten stuck in the weeds by tracking hundreds ofmetrics. To keep your eye on the prize, select four or five keymeasures and use them to drive progress. You'll want toperiodically review outside benchmarks to make sure youalways know what "great" is. When you reach your goal, paybonuses all around, then reset the bar for the next round.

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� Strategic governance. Governing a BTO relationship isn'tabout coloring within the lines; it's about jointly chartingthe business' strategic course as the transformation playsout. J. Sainsbury's CEO and its business partner lead haveoffices on the same floor so they can meet frequently.They jointly report to the board of directors every secondweek to keep the high-stakes agenda on track. At FamilyChristian Stores, the BTO lead functioned as the CIO andparticipated as a full member of the CEO's direct staff.

� Personal relationships. "We're not talking about hot tubsand champagne," remarks one senior vice president, "butthe personal side of these business partnerships makes allthe difference." Executives from both sides spend socialtime together, but the real bonds develop as they workshoulder-to-shoulder to transform the company. At itsbest, this personal chemistry builds at all levels of thebusiness partnership�from the leadership to the individualson the front lines of radically changing business processes.

Relationships aren't linear. "Things move in cycles," stated anoutsourcing firm executive involved with a transformation in thefinancial services sector. "You go through long phases wherethings are very positive, and then a serious incident or key playerdeparture will throw things into a downward spiral." By using allfour levers deliberately, managers give themselves options whenbad things happen. And every executive we talked to describedincidents as opportunities. By working together to resolve aproblem, they actually improved and deepened their relationship.

Is BTO Right For You?

Given an option, most executives will avoid the disruption ofseismic change in their organizations in favor of sustained andaggressive incremental change.5 But in today's volatile busi-ness environment, executives are called on to change theiroperating models much more frequently than ever before.More often than not, this means that they don't have all theskills and capabilities they need to succeed at the new game.Companies that have slipped out of the winner's circle as aresult should consider using business transformation outsourc-ing to regain their lead.

Is your company in this situation? Take the self-test in Exhibit4. If you can answer "yes" to most of these questions, BTOmight work for you. Even if you're not quite ready to sign upfor a business transformation outsourcing deal, you can takeadvantage of the trend in that direction:

with four levers: contract negotiations, a track record of per-formance, strategic governance, and personal relationships(see Exhibit 3).

� Contract negotiations. In BTO, executives use contractnegotiations to make sure they have the right conversa-tions. At the beginning of the deal�and every time theyrevisit the contract�they discuss key objectives and mea-sures of success, how to make sure both partners have skinin the game, and how they'll deal with the big transitions.The process couldn't be further away from the kind of dick-ering over contract compliance that conventional out-sourcing frequently inspires. Instead, these frank discus-sions set the tone for an open and honest dialogue goingforward. As one executive remarked, "The relationshipstarted when we agreed up front that our business partnerdeserved to make a fair margin." And delegating theprocess to an overly aggressive legal team may get you abetter price, but it may also lead to a poorer relationship.

� Track record of performance. Business partners establishcredibility through performance by regularly assessingprogress against a few key, enterprise-level outcome mea-sures�like customer retention and time to market. And thenthey advertise it. They publicly announce both their aspira-tions and their achievements, using visibility to underscoretheir commitments and put their own reputations at stake.It's not just the fact that they have set and met promises,but the way they use this information that makes demon-strated performance a lever for relationship management. Asone executive remarked, "We periodically remind each otherthat what we have accomplished has been both difficult andsignificant. It helps motivate us to press on together."

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Notes1. Cynthia Doyle, "Worldwide Outsourcing Market Forecast and Analysis,

1999 - 2004," International Data Corporation.

2. David Bryce and Michael Useem, "The Impact of Corporate Outsourcing

on Company Value," European Management Journal 16, no. 6 (December

1998): pp. 635-643.

3. Katy Saldarini, �Fair Thee Well,� Government Executive, April 2001.

4. Jason Peckenpaugh, �OMB Targets More Jobs for Outsourcing in 2003,�

Government Executive, June 2001.

5. See the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change research on changing

business models by Jane Linder and Susan Cantrell,

<http://www.accenture.com/isc>.

� Challenge your staff to identify breakthrough opportu-nities that are blocked by poor processes. Rank-orderthe opportunities and then ask your staff to consider howsourcing with an outside firm could deliver results thatmake you all famous.

� Make a list of services and resources that would "delight"you if your current outsourcing provider offered them toyou. You may not be stretching your outsourcer enough.Rather than asking them to tell you what is available, pushthem to come up with solutions and services that wouldmake a step-change difference in your performance.

� Learn the collaborative outsourcing ropes by turning aconventional deal into a business partnership. If youwant to see what a collaborative business partnership islike, try it out. The next time an outsourcing agreementcomes up for renewal, invite your partner "under thetent," and craft a deal where both of you share account-ability for results.

For companies with an appetite for radical change, businesstransformation outsourcing is a powerful tool. One of the pio-neering executives we interviewed put it best:

"This is like using one of those new, high-tech golf clubs.They definitely give you an advantage. But the golfcommunity hesitates to embrace them because they areunconventional. As far as I'm concerned, while they sitaround debating, I'll move forward. I can use the edge."

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About The Institute For Strategic Change

The Accenture Institute for Strategic Change is a "think andact" tank dedicated to keeping Accenture among the worldleaders in breakthrough management thinking. In today'sultra-competitive, knowledge-based economy, such thinking iswhat enables businesses to establish and redefine markets.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the ISC is made up ofexperienced management researchers working in concert withbusiness educators and executives.

The ISC conveys its ideas through Research Notes, WorkingPapers, articles, books, conferences, and hosted client visits.Each of these products shares a common goal: to provideactionable insights and ideas for addressing strategic businessissues.

The Institute is currently working on these seven researchprojects:� Global mCommerce� The Art of Work� mMe� Next Generation Leaders� Supply Chain Effectiveness� CRM/Marketing Strategy� Capturing Value in Financial Services

For more information or to subscribe to our research, pleasecontact the Institute at (617) 454-4180 or send an email [email protected].

About The Authors

Jane Linder is a Senior Research Fellow at the Accenture Institutefor Strategic Change. She joined the Institute from PolaroidCorporation, where she was director of demand/supply planningin the worldwide logistics organization.

Before joining Polaroid, Jane was a professor at Harvard Busi-ness School in the information management area. Her researchfocused on the impact of information technology in significantorganizational changes such as mergers and strategic turn-arounds. She has authored award-winning papers in both thebanking and the health care industries. Jane also spent morethan 10 years implementing business processes and the associ-ated information systems at major manufacturing firms.

Jane may be reached at (617) 454-8461 [email protected].

Alvin L. Jacobson is a Research Fellow at the Accenture Insti-tute for Strategic Change. His most recent research examinesthe role of the account executive in managing customerknowledge and customer relationships. Al is also founder andpartner of Hartwell Associates, a management consultingpractice focused on financial services and the securities processing businesses.

Matthew D. Breitfelder is an Intern at the AccentureInstitute for Strategic Change and is currently an MBA stu-dent at Harvard Business School. Matt has a background ineCommerce, Internet privacy, and international trade policy.He serves as an advisor to the CEO of Privista, Inc., a con-sumer credit and privacy services firm he helped launch in2000. Previously, Matt served as a Senior Advisor to the UnderSecretary of Commerce for International Trade.

Mark Arnold is an Intern at the Accenture Institute forStrategic Change and is currently an MBA student at the Uni-versity of Michigan Business School. Mark has a B.S. inMechanical Engineering from Columbia University and hasextensive experience consulting in the health care industry.

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Business Transformation Outsourcing: Partnering for Radical Change

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