Frankensourcing

Some not-so-fond childhood memories motivate this week's guest blogger, Shawn McCray. Shawn is a partner and leader in TPI's service management and governance advisory practice.

Halloween is just around the corner here in the States, and that reminds me of how much the Frankenstein monster used to scare me when I was a kid. Something about disinterred body parts.

I'm a big boy now, but I'm still frightened by a beast built from a hodgepodge of parts. I call it "Frankenstein Sourcing".  I see it all too often:  Companies using a little bit of that sourcing solution, a bit of another, and so on. What's missing is a real strategy that runs through and pulls together all the activities. Not only do I see this across companies, but it also occurs within business units.

Why so terrifying? The same adjectives one might apply to the Frankenstein monster's movements are apt words to describe such sourcing, like: herky-jerky, uncoordinated and mismatched. This is the kind of sourcing that leaves a lot of money on the table, and it's a recurring feature, with 40% of companies in TPI's governance benchmark failing to have a corporate-wide body to guide and coordinate outsourced activities.

Given the scope, scale, overall spend, and similarities in pursuing and managing sourcing solutions through all parts of your business, our advice to clients is simple: Get coordinated.  It doesn't require massive overhead or cost. It's mainly about communication and teamwork. Better to tackle your sourcing issues now than to wait for when the bosses or stakeholders come for you with lit torches.