Is Process Ownership the Most Critical Enabler of Global Business Services (GBS) Success?

The benefits of a Shared Services model are generally defined in terms of cost, consistency, and control. Beyond that, however, Global Business Services (GBS) models are able to fully optimize a globally dispersed workforce by tapping into talent where it is available, and delivering its benefits across borders.

In leveraging technology, too, GBS outperforms non-GBS in terms of being able to drive performance improvements across a broader range of activities. Indeed, more recently, the model has shown itself significantly more successful than SSOs in leveraging the opportunities presented by intelligent automation and data analytics.

Global Process Ownership

In all these wins, global process ownership and the ability to manage a process end-to-end play a significant role in driving success and GBS is becoming the preferred model for deployment.

Let’s take a comparative look at the end-to-end scope of services delivered via GBS versus Shared Services.

Within GBS organizations, the extent of E2E penetration across processes is as follows:

  • P2P: 80%
  • OTC: 62%
  • RTH: 50%
  • H2R 32%

Extent of E2E penetration

By comparison, within SSOs, the penetration is:

  • P2P: 73%
  • OTC: 32%
  • RTH: 23%
  • H2R 22%

SSOs E2E penetration

So while procure-to-pay is commonly delivered via both models [roughly ¾ of the current scope of work is end to end], there is a big difference in order-to-cash, where GBS has 62% of the end-to-end process, but shared services only 32%; in record-to-report, where GBS has 50% and shared services 23%; and in hire-to-retire, where GBS has 32% and shared services only 23%.

To fully realize the potential of your E2E processes, it is critical to understand how best-in-class centers are performing across various metrics.

SSON Analytics, the global data analytics center of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON), recently released its latest benchmarking study with the world’s Top 20 Most Admired Shared Services Organisations (SSOs). Now in its 4th year, the Most Admired global SSOs are identified using a methodology that collates SSON’s cross-channel proprietary data from its global community of 180,000 members and applies a weighting system to the various criteria under consideration.

SSOs performance against key E2E processes

Let’s take a look inside the Metric Checker to see how these SSOs are performing against key E2E processes.

Procure-to-Pay (Days Payable Outstanding)
37% have between 45-<60 Days

Days Payable Outstanding

Order-to-Cash (Days Sales Outstanding)
22% have between 30 Days -<45 Days

Days Sales Outstanding

As you continuously strive to improve your performance standards, rely on SSON Analytics’ benchmarks to identify the areas where gaps exist and opportunity is knocking!

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