What is Bestshoring?

Keywords: bestshoring, rightshoring
Bestshoring, also known as rightshoring, is the process of identifying the best location to move manufacturing, IT or business processes for a company. The decision is to be based on quantifiable criteria which are intended to take subjective and political input out of the decision cycle. Many companies use external consulting firms to make these decisions.

Photo credit: Aceinfoway.com

On August 1, 2004, Hillary Clinton wrote an article  -- 'Bestshoring' Beats Outsourcing -- explaining why bestshoring beats outsourcing. Her argument is that "Foreign labor isn't as cheap as it seems."

Excerpt of the article

You can't turn on the news without hearing about offshore outsourcing -- the shipping of jobs overseas to take advantage of lower wages. This trend has spread widespread fear among working families around the country. Although these fears are legitimate, I believe that the savings from such outsourcing are exaggerated and that America is more competitive than most realize. Read the full article on Wall Street Journal

Best alternative to a negotiated agreement

Keywords: Best alternative to a negotiated agreement, BATNA 

In negotiation theory, the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement or BATNA is the most advantageous alternative course of action a party can take if negotiations fail and an agreement cannot be reached. BATNA is the key focus and the driving force behind a successful negotiator. A party should generally not accept a worse resolution than its BATNA. Care should be taken, however, to ensure that deals are accurately valued, taking into account all considerations, such as relationship value, time value of money and the likelihood that the other party will live up to their side of the bargain. These other considerations are often difficult to value, since they are frequently based on uncertain or qualitative considerations, rather than easily measurable and quantifiable factors.

The BATNA is often seen by negotiators not as a safety net, but rather as a point of leverage in negotiations. Although a negotiator's alternative options should, in theory, be straightforward to evaluate, the effort to understand which alternative represents a party's BATNA is often not invested. Options need to be real and actionable to be of value, however without the investment of time, options will frequently be included that fail on one of these criteria. Most managers overestimate their BATNA whilst simultaneously investing too little time into researching their real options. This can result in poor or faulty decision making and negotiating outcomes. Negotiators also need to be aware of the other negotiator's BATNA and to identify how it compares to what they are offering.

Some people may adopt aggressive, coercive, threatening and/or deceptive techniques, this is known as a hard negotiation style; a theoretical example of this is adversarial approach style negotiation. Others may employ a soft style, which is friendly, trusting, compromising, and conflict avoiding. According to Fisher and Ury, when hard negotiators meet soft negotiators, the hard negotiators usually win their position, but at the cost of potentially damaging the long term relationship between the parties.

Attractive alternatives are needed to develop a strong BATNA. In the best-selling book Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, the authors give 3 suggestions of how to accomplish this:

1. Inventing a list of actions one might take if no agreement is reached
2. Converting some of the more promising ideas and transforming them into tangible and partial alternatives
3. Selecting the alternative that sounds best

In negotiations involving different cultures, all parties need to account for cultural cognitive behaviors and should not let judgments and biases affect the negotiation. The individual should be separate from the objective.

The purpose here, as Gulliver mentions, is for ... Read more

Backsourcing

Keywords: backsourcing, outsourcing, insourcing

Backsourcing is the process of bringing previously outsourced jobs back under the roof of the company to be performed internally.

Backsourcing has been increasingly discussed as companies decide to cease outsourcing operations, whether because of the problems with the outsourcing agreements, because of the pressure to bring jobs back to their home country, or simply because it has stopped being efficient to outsource particular tasks.

Backsourcing is sometimes confused with insourcing. However, insourcing simply refers to conducting certain activities in-house (whether or not by a third party), while backsourcing refers to bringing previously outsourced activities back in-house.

Automotive Business Development Center

Keywords: BDC, Business Development Center

The term BDC typically stands for "Business Development Center" in the professional business world. BDC usually refers to a center staffed with customer service representatives responsible for sales and service at every customer touch-point.

This definition was initially pioneered and made famous by Jeff Slaybaugh. Dealer Magazine, the leading trade magazine for auto dealers, regularly has experts writing about the benefits and struggles of an Automotive BDC. There are also many industry experts who perform training and consulting services for Auto Dealers and their staff. The BDC has truly become a necessary part of the Auto Industry, and is quickly being recognized as beneficial in other industries as well.

Traditionally, the Automotive BDC specifically refers to an in-house call center staffed and managed by the Dealership that handle their customer contacts, service, follow-up, and lead generation.

More and more, Auto Dealers are finding ways to reduce the high-costs associated with an in-house BDC such as payroll, training, and equipment. Many Dealers have found success by outsourcing their BDC tasks to an outside professional call-center that can execute prospect follow-up calls, set appointments for service and sales, and gauge customer satisfaction. However, for various reasons, customer satisfaction is typically reduced when dealerships opt to outsource their bdc tasks.

This joint-relationship with a call center who represents the Dealership has inspired a new term in the Auto Industry called the Hybrid BDC. This refers to the fact that the bulk of the calling work is done by the outside call center, and the HOT leads and actionable info is forwarded to the in-house Dealership staff for action.

Source: Wikipedia

How many users come to your site each month? What is your best online referral channel?

Keywords: importance of analytics, online referral channel, Google Analytics, Search Console

The Importance of Analytics

By Ryan Shelley 

How many users come to your site each month? What is your best online referral channel? Is your traffic trending up or down? If you can’t answer these questions you have analytics issues. With the amount of free data available to website owners and marketers, there is no excuse not to be tracking and analyzing it. In the video below I’ll share a few free options you can start using right know to better understand your audience.

If you’re not currently tracking your online marketing efforts, you’re not alone. But that’s still not a good excuse. Did you know that…

• 45% of marketers still don’t formally evaluate their analytics for quality and accuracy or, even worse, don’t know if they do or not. (Contently)
• Less than 30% of small businesses use website analytics, call tracking or coupon codes. 18% of small businesses admit to not tracking anything at all. (MediaPost)

With free tools like Google Analytics and Search Console available to all website owners, there is no reason not to be tracking your efforts. Using the data will help you make smarter decisions that will yield real business results.

Today we have more access to data than ever before. You can track nearly every aspect of a marketing campaign. It’s amazing that digital marketing gives us this ability to know what’s really working and what’s not working so well. But even though we have all this access to data, a lot of people still aren’t engaging with it.

45% of marketers still don’t formally evaluate their analytics for quality or accuracy. And even worse many don’t know if they do or not. That’s kind of a scary statistic because this data’s available to help us make better decisions. But it doesn’t just stop there. Less than 30% of small business website owners actually use analytics, call tracking or other codes and 18% of small businesses admit to......Read more

Today, in matters of business and economics, the global corporation is viewed as a key factor in promoting employment and economic growth in a nation

Keywords: globalization, global business, michael chibba

Historical and conceptual aspects of globalization and global business

By Michael Chibba

Growing a business to the global level and sustaining its competitiveness is extremely challenging, even under the most favourable conditions. Bearing this in mind, the purpose of this paper is two-fold: to sketch selected historical and conceptual aspects of globalization and global business; and to outline the cornerstones of global business. The discussions and viewpoints presented are not intended to be exhaustive; rather the intent is to highlight what I view as some key points that fall within the scope of this brief paper. Moreover, as a practitioner (in the fields of business and economics) and policy expert, my viewpoint is guided by my experience, knowledge and deep interest in all matters of business, economics, policy and strategy. My perspectives are also tempered by the opinions and arguments of others, and this imparts some balance and a broader scope to the discussions and analyses presented than would otherwise be the case.

Globalization and Global Business

Along with the recent rise of economic globalization, the use of the term “global business” (GBiz) - in lieu of, or in addition to, the relatively established term “international business” - is increasing in virtually all business and related global contexts. GBiz is today all the rage from business schools to private enterprises to state-led global firms to researchers, academics and policy-makers. Given that there is no received wisdom on what exactly is a GBiz, I define it simply as any business that has a global or international dimension and thus the world is its business territory. To add some depth to this definition, and also to offer a semblance of the nature and scope of the subject, here are a few complementary perspectives that are prima facie self-explanatory:

“Global business consists of transactions that are devised and carried out across national borders to satisfy the objectives of individuals, companies and organizations” (Czinkota et al. 2004)

“… at the center of globalization when things go well international corporations can marshal enormous resources, spread the most advanced technology, and increase available markets exponentially … (but)… the problems of corporations pursuing policies that impose costs on society which the firm itself does not bear (offers a simple lesson:) incentives matter, and governments and the international community must work harder to ensure that the incentives facing corporations are better aligned with those they touch …” (Stiglitz 2006: 187-210; parenthesis added)

“Multinational companies of the 21st century will evolve into globally integrated enterprises … (with headquarters-based) knowledge operations distributed to other countries … (and) through the capabilities of information and communication technologies coordinated to develop and deliver products and services for both global and local markets… (moreover) through this approach, new career routes are opened up within the company that are truly international/ global…”

Indeed, globalization and business - at both national and international levels – are closely linked. Globalization, as defined by Rugman and Hodgetts (2003) in their book entitled International Business is “ the production and distribution of products and services of a homogeneous type and quality on a worldwide basis”. But the concept of globalization is de facto broad in scope and hence the definition depends on the viewpoint being espoused. There are at least five main conceptualizations of globalization, including discussion of its nature and origins (Moore and Lewis 2009; Steger 2009). One viewpoint suggests that globalization has ancient roots and it is a long-term process. The second perspective contends that globalization began with the emergence of the early capitalist system some five centuries ago. The third, argues that the breakthrough to globalization occurred in the 19th century. The fourth attributes the relatively recent collapse of the communist ideology as the turning point in the rise of globalization. And with the fifth conceptualization, as expounded by Moore and Lewis (2009: xiv-xv), globalization is perceived to have five dimensions: (a) “internationalization” -- or as put by Govindarajan and Gupta (2001:4), globalization is “the growing economic interdependence among countries, as reflected in the increased cross-border flow of three types of entities: goods and services, capital, and know-how”; (b) the related phenomenon of “liberalization … (towards an) open, borderless, world economy”; (c) “universalization” (or as a synonym of “worldwide”); (d) “westernization or modernization, especially in its Americanized form”; and (e) “deterritorialization” or reconfiguration of geography, so that social space is no longer wholly mapped in terms of ..... Read more

Automated Business Process

Keywords: Business Process Management, automated process, Automated Business Process systems

Many computer systems are available in the commercial marketplace that address the various aspects of Business Process Management. Most address one specific set of functionality; for instance, some allow the processes to be mapped and documented; others allow for simulations to take place (such as ARIS). But most of these are very limited in their ability to address the full requirements of BPM.

Very few systems provide for full automation. These allow the users to define the process flow and then enter the business rules' that generate the complete working system, including the database and all application logic. They also provide full management facilities to manage the running of the processes (such as changing users when someone is off sick), as well as a complete history trail so that activity-based costing analyses can take place. They also provide full statistical analyses (P and R measures) that allow the automated process to be changed and improved.

These system differ from all traditional IT developments in that everything is time based. Traditional systems (often found as Legacy systems) are 'passive', in that they provide excellent functionality when specifically asked to do something - they will answer enquiries, process updates and produce reports. Active systems are driven by time - in what sequence must activities happen; when must tasks be completed and by when; what happens if work misses a deadline; how are parallel activities to be resynchronised. These facilities are all handled by true Automated Business Process systems.