| Call for Papers
The 2008 European Outsourcing Summit, part of IAOP’s world-renowned Outsourcing World Summit® Conference Series, is designed to specifically meet the educational and business development needs of outsourcing professionals in Europe by connecting the best in global insights to the very real differences in how companies across Europe approach outsourcing. Papers should provide specific actionable solutions to current challenges faced by experienced professionals. Sessions should not simply demonstrate the idea of outsourcing, its overall implementation, or merely provide a list of potential problems to be avoided.
The theme of The 2008 European Outsourcing Summit is Outsourcing 2008: Universal Truths – Regional Realities with major emphasis on outsourcing’s emergence as a global profession; how exceptional results demand exceptional execution; the critical connection between cultural ties and global sourcing decisions; and how the most successful firms simultaneously think globally but act locally.
The Summit is designed to create a forum where the topic of outsourcing is discussed from both global and regional points of view. There are some significant differences in creating and implementing outsourcing strategy in the European marketplace. We want to explore and highlight them and learn from those that have experience in the arena and create customer-provider interaction through joint presentations on topics as well as participating in panels. The emphasis is on case studies and lessons learned. Following is a high level breakdown of types of topics we want to explore at the event.
Outsourcing European 360 View
a. Outsourcing as a strategy for businesses
Traditionally, outsourcing has taken a back seat to shared services in Europe. In this strategy session, we want to explore European views on outsourcing and whether and how it competes or complements shared services. Case studies and lessons learned can be excellent for this session. We also want to learn about what European “c” levels think about when considering outsourcing as a strategy.
b. Service providers’ view of Europe as a market
In this session, we want to learn from service providers their view of the European market for outsourcing and what it takes to be successful there. There are some very well known Europe-based service providers and examples, case studies would be quite interesting to the audience.
The second topic in this session would cover Europe as an “offshore” destination for service providers. Eastern Europe, Russia are considered emerging destinations and we would like to understand their attractiveness, success and whether non-European service providers are considering them as their “offshore” locations
c. Academic/Political view of outsourcing direction / opportunities / challenges
There are many topics that are very Euro-centric; such as policy and business practice issues surrounding privacy of information, employment laws, treatment/application of tax (VAT) in outsourced situations. An academic or political view will describe current state common throughout Europe and look to anticipated changes coming through new legislation or economic realities
The second topic in this session can address the issue of impact of strong Euro on the outsourcing market (both as a receiver of services who may benefit from this and provider who may suffer in relation to other currencies). An interesting dimension of that may be a discussion whether strong Euro (and Pound) against U.S. Dollar will drive some outsourcing to U.S. (especially in the manufacturing sector).
d. Key Areas and industry focus for outsourcing – presentations and panel discussions
There are certain processes and industries that have done well in outsourcing (as a customer and as a provider) in the European setting. This session will cover various examples, lessons learned, case studies of the experiences as well as what makes them unique in the European setting. We are interested in Intra-Europe outsourcing opportunities in these dimensions.
Implementation of outsourcing
a. Outsourcing destinations for European companies
A discussion of “popular” destinations of choice for European companies – near shore (intra-EU, European continent), far shore (India, China), emerging areas (South Africa, South America) where Europe has a stronger economic ties. What are the challenges and opportunities to be gained from these destinations in context of European work?
b. Issues and opportunities in governance
We will explore unique issues in governance for the European companies. This can include a discussion on managing in a cross-cultural arena that Europe is (in addition to other offshore locations). What are compliance and control issues that drive concerns for European “C” levels that must be included in outsourcing governance.
What are risks in outsourcing that are unique to European customers and/or providers and how are they being addressed.
c. Single sourcing versus multiple sourcing
We want to learn European views on sourcing strategies – multi-sourcing versus single-sourcing (both from processes and numbers of providers managing those processes). Are there unique issues, especially when considering the fact that shared services is a more common business strategy and hence lends to outsourcing multi-processes to a vendor
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