outsource issue 31 - (Page 113)

THE BACK END INSIDE SOURCE Peering under the covers of the outsourcing space… Love Finds A Way Inside Source loves a good conference – especially when the wine is ﬂowing and the temptations of being away from home prove irresistible… So imagine the delight to hear of a racy episode at a recent high-proﬁle event. As the story was related to me, late one evening when all were thoroughly refreshed and thoughts were beginning to turn to bed, those gathered in the venue’s bar were somewhat surprised to see one of the event’s contingent staff – a rather attractive young lady with a certain something about her, by all accounts – leaping over a wall into the car park. Just when the spectators were concluding that the pressure of the event had all become too much for the poor girl, they were even more astonished to see one of the delegates following suit by jumping the wall and pursuing her through the car park – as far as what our American cousins call an RV, which they proceeded to enter together and which subsequently (says my informant) rocked rhythmically to the tune of sweet sweet music for (a rather paltry, in my opinion) ten minutes in front of a stunned audience back in the bar. After what was presumably a very energetic sharing of services, culminating in a short burst of outsourcing, our somewhat dishevelled protagonists exited the scene of their romance and returned to the venue, perhaps content in the knowledge that their tryst would remain a lifelong secret, known only unto them and – albeit in anonymised form – Outsource’s global audience… Remember you can send any gossip or insider information to me at insidesource. outsource@gmail.com… Entente Uncordiale Outsourcing may be picking up pace on the continent but it’s still got some way to go, if an anecdote that reaches me from la belle France is anything to go by. A pair of consultants from one of the usual big players (yawn) was on site at an engineering ﬁrm which has commissioned their organisation to look at possible transformations and efﬁciency programmes. Apparently nothing is off the table – assuming compliance with France’s notorious employment legislation of course – and in fact the top brass at the client company have encouraged the consultancy to think very radically as they seek to steal a march on their competitors. Unfortunately for our consultants the aforementioned top bras had omitted to discuss this with the management of the plant being visited; when the advisors introduced themselves and explained the purpose of their visit they were treated to an increasingly terrifying tirade from the site boss, who then summoned some of his team to join him in pouring invective upon the heads of the hapless consultants who were accused of, among other things, coming to take everyone’s jobs away and “industrial treason” (neither of the two in question are French, it should be noted). This ugly scene culminated in both being frogmarched off the premises to the jeers and hisses of various employees. Their thoughts when they were informed a few days later that the situation had been cleared up and they were to return to the plant are unfortunately not ﬁt for publication here, though my source tells me that their second visit passed frostily, and without incident – other than the letting-down of the tyres on their hire car at some point during the afternoon. “An espionage organisation is a collector: it collects raw information. That gets processed by a machinery that is supposed to resolve its reliability, and to present a ﬁnished product.” – Aldrich Ames www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk p113 inside source APP .indd 113 ●●● ● 113 22/3/13 12:11:35 http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of outsource issue 31

Upwardly Mobile
Keys to Driving Supply Chain Outsourcing Success
Biography of a Carve-Out
Culture and Values
Redefining the Law Firm Delivery Model
Sharing the Glory
Norn Ironman
Breaking the Outsourcing Conundrum
NOA Round-Up
Back from the Summit
Losing the Race Before You Put On Your Trainers
Innovate to Accelerate
Comparing Clouds
People Power
Making an Impact
Home or Away?
Dead and Buried?
So What Now?
The Legal View
Top Ten
NelsonHall Round-Up
Sourcing Sage
Online Round-Up
The Deal Doctor
Inside Source
The Last Word

outsource issue 31