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Financial Shared Services: Delivering Exceptional Customer Service and Business Value

Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Business Intelligence
Published: January 2005
Product Code: R125-68
Description
Financial Shared Services, a new report from Business Intelligence, is your definitive guide to creating a customer-centric finance shared services organization (SSO).

Based on in-depth analyses of eight corporations, who collectively work out of shared services centres throughout the world, this report shows that leading SSOs are migrating from a primarily cost saving focus in value creation to becoming truly customer-centric stand-alone business units.

The experiences of a number of other SSOs, the input of expert consultants and advisors, an examination of other major research reports, plus the results of a specially commissioned survey of SSO practitioners adds to the knowledge and learning from our major case organizations. Furthermore, each chapter within the report concludes with a self-assessment checklist to assist you in gauging your organization's preparedness in creating and implementing an SSO.

This management report features:
  • how to create a customer-centric Finance SSO how to dramatically improve compliance management how to take shared services to new levels of effectiveness and efficiency self-assessment checklists to help you plan the creation of a service-focused Finance SSO the key building blocks of a Financial Shared Services Organization (SSO) in-depth case studies from leading international organizations including FedEx, NHS and Reuters.
Financial Shared Services also provides you with an action template and twenty key questions which capture the learnings of the report. Answering these questions will put you in a good position to elevate your SSO to its next evolutionary level.

Finance departments who have got it right found that that an FSSO helped to achieve the company’s strategic goals, and have delivered a whole range of benefits to the organization including:
  • Higher quality services
  • Dramatic and sustained savings in operating costs of up to 45%
  • Increased customer satisfaction
  • Streamlining and simplification of processes
  • More reliable service delivery through automation
  • Easier and more effective compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley
  • An improved strategic focus - more time for finance to focus on added-value services.
Financial Shared Services provides a definitive blueprint on how to plan and scope FSSOs to generate the greatest reward for the organization in terms of higher quality services as well as lower costs. It also explains what the main challenges are and how to overcome them with examples from companies that have tackled and resolved common problems ranging from culture change and location selection to charge back and staff retention issues.
Table of Contents
Author Profile




Acknowledgements




Business Intelligence




Preface




List of Tables and Diagrams




Chapter 1: Finance Shared Services - the basic building blocks

Overview

Introduction

The Cost Imperative

Cost Reduction: The Evidence


Case examples


Case Study Catalyst for SSO Creation


Defining Shared Services

Centralization and Shared Services

A Standalone Business Unit

Geographically Dispersed Centres

Shared Services Ownership

Process/Services Housed within Shared Services

Case Study Examples


Agilent Technologies

City of Cape Town

Eastern Health Shared Services

FedEx

InterContinental Hotels Group

UK National Health Service

New York Times Compnay

Reuters Asia


Conclusion

Self-assessment Checklist




Chapter 2: Defining the Customers’ Needs

Overview

Introduction

Defining the Customer

How Customers View Performance

SSO Maturity and Customer Satisfaction


Case examples


Customer-facing Benefits: Case Examples


Benefits during growth


Case example:Tchibo Holding AG



Sarbanes-Oxley


Cutting costs and resources


Customer Involvement


Case example: National Health Service, UK


End-to-end Processes

Beyond Customer-focus

Customer Councils

Service Charges


Taking the aggressive approach

A more incremental view

Future charging plans


Conclusion

Self-assessment Checklist




Chapter 3: Creating a Customer-centric Culture

Overview

Introduction

Behavioural and Culture Change

Change Levers

Branding

Values

Training


Case Example: Allied Signal


Case Study Example


Customer Relationship Building

Recruitment

Existing Staff

Recruiting New Staff

Using New Recruits

Skill Requirements

Communications

Appraisal and Compensation

Cultural Congruence

Change Management

Conclusion

Self-assessment checklist




Chapter 4: Selecting the Right Location

Overview

Introduction

Case Organization Location


City of Cape Town

Eastern Health Shared Services

FedEx

InterContinental Hotels Group

National Health Service, UK

New York Times Company

Reuters


A Costing Paradox

The Brownfield/Greenfield Debate

Choosing a Site Location

Language Requirements

Favoured Destinations


Diageo Case Report


Criteria Overview

Conclusion

Self-assessment Checklist




Chapter 5: Beyond Shared Services - evolving delivery models

Overview

Background

Raising the Performance Bar

Pioneering SSOs

Outsourcing

Corporate Governance

Co-sourcing

Accenture/NCR Corporation Case Example

People

Processes

Technology

Location

Late Developers

Virtual Centre

Four Stages of Maturity


Stage 1: Consolidation

Stage 2: Standardization

Stage 3: Optimization

Stage 4: Virtualization


Horizontal SSOs

Selling Services Externally

Conclusion

Self-assessment Checklist




Chapter 6: Performance Measurement

Overview

Background


Survey Findings


Service Level Agreements


Case Examples


Working Without SLAs


Case Report: Standard Chartered Bank


Baseline Measures

Benchmarking


Case Examples


Efficiency and Effectiveness Axis

Customer-facing Metrics

Customer Satisfaction Surveys

End-toend Process Metrics

Balanced Scorecards

The Balanced Scorecard Explained

Whirlpool Europe Case Example


Case Example: Eastern Health Shared Services


Other Case Examples

Scorecard - Observation

Self-assessment Checklist




Chapter 7: Conclusion and Action Template

Overview

Background

Twenty Questions




Chapter 8: The Case Studies

Agilent Technologies

City of Cape Town

Eastern Health Shared Services

FedEx

InterContinental Hotels Group

UK National Health Service

The New York Times Company

Reuters Asia




Appendix




References




Index

Ordering and More Information
Price and Delivery Options



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