Mitigating Outsourcing Risks: I

When we outsource internal processes, we create risk. It's no surprise that the risk created varies with the kind of services outsourced. For instance, outsourcing cubicle maintenance creates risks that differ from those created by outsourcing IT, software testing, or product development. When the risks of outsourcing create threats to the enterprise, we mitigate them — if we fully appreciate the risks.

Since some risks associated with outsourcing are inherent to outsourcing, many decision makers haven't encountered them before. Some of these risks are intuitively clear, or have been widely discussed. For example, outsourcing a customer relationship software maintenance task entails some risk of exposure of proprietary information.

But there are other outsourcing risks that are a little less obvious. In the descriptions below, "customer" refers to the organization that decided to outsource some activity, and "vendor" refers to the organization that carries out the outsourced activity.

Part II explores risks associated with the evolution of the processes that are outsourced. In this Part I, I describe risks related to the migration of knowledge to the customers' competitors.

Knowledge of the outsourcing process

Knowledge of and experience with the process of outsourcing itself is a customer asset. An example of valuable knowledge: contractual artifacts for managing outsourcing risk. As the customer engages with a vendor, it inevitably transfers that knowledge to the vendor, and from there, the knowledge can migrate to competitors of either party.

Customers can mitigate this risk by taking care not to reveal intentions during the initial negotiation. Vendors who understand this customer concern can gain trust and loyalty by promising to treat — and then actually treating — contractual terms as if they were the intellectual property of the customer. Often, in effect, they are.

Improving competitors' processes

Outsourcing elements Outsourcing elements of internal
processes inevitably transfers
internal knowledge to the vendorof internal processes inevitably transfers internal knowledge to the vendor. When the customer outsources, the vendor necessarily acquires knowledge that previously had been internal to the customer. For instance, the customer might have developed an automated tool for transferring data from one commercial customer relationship management system to another — a tool that isn't available commercially. That knowledge might then propagate to arrangements between the vendor and other customers. Nor is such propagation limited to that one vendor, because its employees carry that knowledge with them when they move to other vendors.

Vendors who accept business only from selected customers who do not compete with each other provide some mitigation of this risk. Customers can mitigate this risk by favoring vendors who don't serve competitors.

The significance of any risk related to outsourcing depends upon the importance of the outsourced process in differentiating the customers' offerings from the offerings of competitors. The more significant a differentiator the outsourced process is, the greater the risk incurred by outsourcing it.   Next issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Virtual Communications: I

Participating in or managing a virtual team presents special communications challenges. Here are some guidelines for communicating with members of virtual teams.

What Makes a Good Question?

In group discussion or group problem solving, many of us focus on being the first one to provide the answer. The right answer can be good; but often, the right question can be better.

Ten Reasons Why You Don't Always Get What You Measure: III

The phrase "You get what you measure," has acquired the status of "truism." Yet many measurement-based initiatives have produced disappointing results. Here's Part III of an examination of the idea — a look at management's role in these surprises.

Some Limits of Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis uses powerful tools for finding the sources of process problems. The approach has been so successful that it has become a way of thinking about organizational patterns. Yet, resolving organizational problems this way sometimes works — and sometimes fails. Why?

Paradoxical Policies: I

Although most organizational policies are constructive, many are outdated or nonsensical, and some are actually counterproductive. Here's a collection of policies that would be funny if they weren't real.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming May 14: Working with the Overconfident

A cognitive bias known as the Overconfidence Effect causes us to overestimate the reliability of our judgments. Decisions we make based on those judgments are therefore suspect. But there are steps we can take to make our confidence levels more realistic, and thus make our decisions more reliable. Available here and by RSS on May 14.

And on May 21: Mismanaging Project Managers

Most organizations hold project managers accountable for project performance. But they don't grant those project managers control of needed resources. Nor do they hold project sponsors or other senior managers accountable for the consequences of their actions when they interfere with project work. Here's a catalog of behaviors worth looking at. Available here and by RSS on May 21.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenDJpmhgyaDTwBQXkhner@ChacmGoYuzfZpOvDQdRkoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info