Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

The coming commoditization of processes.

Thomas H Davenport1

  • 1Process Management Research Center, Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. tdavenport@babson.edu

Harvard Business Review
|June 10, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Companies often struggle with outsourcing due to a lack of process standards for comparison. Developing these standards will improve internal and external processes, making outsourcing more viable and cost-effective.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Factors governing the adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare providers.

Discover health systems·2023
Same author

Human aspects of the management of drug discovery knowledge.

Drug discovery today. Technologies·2014
Same author

Data scientist: the sexiest job of the 21st century.

Harvard business review·2012
Same author

The wisdom of your in-house crowd.

Harvard business review·2012
Same author

Competing on talent analytics.

Harvard business review·2010
Same author

Make better decisions.

Harvard business review·2009

Area of Science:

  • Business Process Management
  • Outsourcing Strategy
  • Corporate Structure

Background:

  • Most companies perform most processes internally due to the difficulty in comparing internal capabilities with external providers.
  • Cost is the primary, often leading to dissatisfaction, criterion for evaluating outsourcers.
  • Lack of comparability hinders effective outsourcing decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the impact of process standards on outsourcing decisions and corporate structure.
  • To highlight the future of outsourcing driven by standardization.
  • To provide a framework for companies to improve both internal and outsourced processes.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of current outsourcing practices and challenges.
  • Discussion of the role of emerging process standards.
  • Examination of industry examples like the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for software development.

Main Results:

  • Broad process standards will soon enable easy determination of outsourcing benefits.
  • Standards will facilitate service provider comparison and cost-benefit analysis.
  • Outsourced processes will become commoditized, leading to significant price drops and increased offshore job flow.

Conclusions:

  • The development and adoption of process standards are crucial for effective outsourcing.
  • Standardization will drive significant changes in corporate strategy and competition.
  • Companies should proactively create or adopt process standards to improve operations and gain competitive advantage.

Related Experiment Videos