How can we become competitive and remain competitive over all our business processes? Is outsourcing still a matter of choice or has it become essential to our survival? Dramatic advances in technology have led to managers seeking methods of ensuring maximum competitiveness across all business processes. There is now the need to consistently evaluate the technology on offer and achieve improvements. Outsourcing has become a strategic decision - but is it really the answer to all our problems? Many outsourced projects fail to meet the client's needs and the decision to outsource is not a simple one. This book presents the arguments for and against outsourcing, enabling the reader to confront the issues that need to be considered before taking a decision to outsource.

Author Biography

Brian Heywood has been involved in the world of commerce for many years, initially with a succession of roles in sales, market research, advertising, and brand management. This experience gained him a position as UK head of an American toiletries company. This was followed by a period of four years with a major management consultancy (now Ernst & Young) in the UK. He then spent four years based in the US, the last three of these as president of an American food company.Since returning to the UK he has worked as an independent consultant and set up a market research company; some of his direct consultancy projects have been through major consultancies and some on an independent basis, which has provided him with valuable experience of a wide range of company sizes. Most of this consultancy work has been in areas related to marketing, business systems and in outsourcing. In recent years, he has made a speciality of helping outsourcing service providers to find and access new markets.He has been successful in technology research work that was used as the basis for futuristic television programmes around the world, and has a marketing award for helping small consultancy clients increase their sales.