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Book part
Publication date: 13 August 2014

J. Strikwerda

The reason of this chapter is to clarify at a conceptual level the phenomenon of shared service centers. The aim of the chapter is to enable managers make better decisions when…

Abstract

Purpose

The reason of this chapter is to clarify at a conceptual level the phenomenon of shared service centers. The aim of the chapter is to enable managers make better decisions when applying the concept of shared service centers.

Design/method/approach

This is a conceptual chapter, in which the phenomenon of shared service centers is being rewritten, from an initial cost efficiency level, into a constituting building block in the new nature of the firm.

Findings

The findings of this chapter are that especially the combination of financial shared service centers and IT shared service centers are an instrument to organize information outside the structure of the internal organization of the firm, as implied by the changing nature of the firm. Also shared service centers are enablers for new business models, especially those based on human capital.

Practical implications

Executives and managers that have a better conceptual understanding of the application of shared service centers will create more benefits beyond costs savings.

Originality/value

This is the first chapter in which shared service center is reconceptualized in terms of the changing nature of the firm. With that it is also one of the first chapter describing the changing nature of the firm in operational terms. The value of the chapter is that it will help executives to define more efficient change processes. A second value of the chapter is that it opens new avenues of empirical and conceptual research for academia.

Book part
Publication date: 13 August 2014

Peter Reilly

This chapter seeks to optimize HR shared services performance by highlighting the potential for service fragmentation that can arise out of in the so-called Ulrich (structure or…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter seeks to optimize HR shared services performance by highlighting the potential for service fragmentation that can arise out of in the so-called Ulrich (structure or service delivery) model.

Design/methodology/approach

The evidence used in this chapter principally comes from the author’s own work, especially research for the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and draws upon academic literature where possible.

Findings

This chapter argues that HR directors should guard against three sets of fragmentation risks. Firstly, HR shared services should be properly connected to the rest of HR to offer customers an integrated service to avoid the structure’s division of labor inducing incoherence. Second, to guard against this risk, HR directors should exercise care in outsourcing/offshoring beyond individual, discrete services because contractually or spatially separating services risks exacerbating this tendency to fragmentation. Outsourcing/offshoring may focus too much on cost savings and insufficiently on quality. So, third, HR should argue for the distinctiveness of its activities and fight commoditization that is also implied in the creation of cross-functional shared service centers.

Research limitations/implications

The arguments in this chapter could be better supported by academic research. In-depth case studies of management decision making and shared services operation would help support or challenge the chapter’s conclusion, as could quantitative evidence on the benefits/disbenefits of outsourcing/offshoring/cross-functional shared services centers.

Practical implications

We have highlighted a number of reported problems with HR shared services operation, besides the three principal risks noted above, but we have suggested possible solutions that could be adopted by practitioners.

Originality/value

HR managers may find this chapter helpful in designing new HR structures or in assessing the effectiveness of shared services that goes beyond the typical key performance indicator measures.

Details

Shared Services as a New Organizational Form
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-536-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 August 2014

Tanya Bondarouk and Christina-Maria Friebe

The purpose of this study is to offer an integrated literature review of shared services’ organizational structures by specifically focusing on centralization, specialization…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to offer an integrated literature review of shared services’ organizational structures by specifically focusing on centralization, specialization, control, and formalization mechanisms.

Methodology/approach

A sample consisting of 103 empirical and conceptual articles, identified in a structured literature search in Science Direct and Scopus, was analyzed. The focus was on exploring the structural dimensions of shared services in various fields: Supply Chains, Finance, Human Resource Management, and Information Technologies. Findings from the selected articles were codified alongside the structural dimensions drawn from contingency theory.

Findings

Most of the papers identified were concerned with the Human Resource function or with Accounting and Finance in the private sector. Purchasing was only mentioned in a few general articles and Marketing not represented at all, even though the literature suggests that shared services do exist in this field. This uneven distribution across fields, as well as the reality that many articles fail to make clear divisions between disciplines, is hardly conducive to identifying trends for individual disciplines, and only general trends for each dimension could be identified. Although centralization was one of the most discussed dimensions, there was no consensus as to whether shared services should be centralized or decentralized. Standardization and formalization were both found to be highly important, although a need for customization was also emphasized.

Implications

Future research should be oriented toward the structural dimensions of shared services in a broader range of fields as current findings are dominated by the Human Resource function. Another implication of our findings is that scholars could usefully test empirically the dimensions, especially those where opinions differed the most: centralization and specialization.

Originality/value

Earlier conceptualizations noted that the mixed shared service outcomes stem from the diversity in governance and several contingency factors. This work continues the exploration of the contingency factors and mechanisms that, through integration, allow shared services to respond to the environmental uncertainty. The value of this chapter is in examining the structures of different functional types of shared services that are reported as successful in the literature, thus offering an overview of best practices in organizing shared services.

Details

Shared Services as a New Organizational Form
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-536-4

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Purpose-driven Innovation: Lessons from Managing Change in the United Nations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-143-6

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2010

Frank Ulbrich

The purpose of this paper is to combine translation theory with aspects of socio‐technology and systems theory to study the adoption of shared services in a public‐sector…

1958

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to combine translation theory with aspects of socio‐technology and systems theory to study the adoption of shared services in a public‐sector organization. The paper aims to involve the process of translating the sharedservices idea in concert with people and policies, both in terms of inputs and outputs.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretive case‐study strategy was applied.

Findings

The mutual impact of process, people, and policies shed light on what influences the adoption of the sharedservices idea. The translation process considers different people and policy aspects, transforming the idea into a specific configuration that reflects the organization's individual conditions.

Research limitations/implications

The in‐depth case study enables better understanding of the adoption of shared services at an organizational level. The paper enriches previous research on the translation of management ideas. It is limited to the extent that it focuses on one particular case, which restricts the possibilities for a wider generalization.

Practical implications

The paper indicates a lack of national policies to embrace the sharedservices idea fully at the studied organization. The paper can aid governments in paving the way for the adoption of management ideas in public‐sector organizations.

Originality/value

The paper extends previous research on the adoption of management ideas and, especially, how the idea of shared services is adopted. It illustrates the translation process, how this process shapes personal and factual outcomes, and what this means for the adoption of the shared services idea at an organizational level.

Details

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6166

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 August 2020

Paweł Modrzyéski

Abstract

Details

Local Government Shared Services Centers: Management and Organizations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-258-2

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2018

Lauri Lepistö, Justyna Dobroszek, Sinikka Moilanen and Ewelina Zarzycka

The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of the work of management accountants in the context of a shared services centre.

1077

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of the work of management accountants in the context of a shared services centre.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case study method is used and data are collected via semi-structured interviews and internal documents. The empirical materials are analysed from the theoretical perspective of dirty work, incorporating aspects from practice theory.

Findings

Findings suggest that management accountants working in a shared services centre develop their occupational esteem by refocusing and reframing strategies. Through these strategies, management accountants can decrease the perceived “dirtiness” associated with their work.

Originality/value

The study sheds light on the under-researched topic of management accountants’ work within a shared services centre. Moreover, it offers the metaphor of liminal work to characterise how management accountants develop their occupational esteem in circumstances where gaining efficiency is the main objective.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 June 2011

Tanya Bondarouk

While there is a growing body of research demonstrating that HR Shared Services can offer a value-creating structure for HRM within organizations, there remains considerable room…

Abstract

While there is a growing body of research demonstrating that HR Shared Services can offer a value-creating structure for HRM within organizations, there remains considerable room for improving our understanding of it. The premise of this chapter is that the mixture of HR Shared Services outcomes leans on the diversity of the governance structures, which rest in turn on several contingency factors. This means that every HRM Shared Services Model (SSM) is unique in its structure, and thus the value proposition of every HRM SSM is unique. Therefore, instead of promoting a standard package of values expected from HR shared services, organizations should develop unique value propositions that are contingent on their unique governance structures.

Details

Electronic HRM in Theory and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-974-6

Abstract

Details

Local Government Shared Services Centers: Management and Organizations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-258-2

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2008

Marijn Janssen and Anton Joha

Service‐orientation enables new organizational forms and organization initiate shared service centers (SSCs) to become shared service organizations (SSOs) or service‐oriented…

4113

Abstract

Purpose

Service‐orientation enables new organizational forms and organization initiate shared service centers (SSCs) to become shared service organizations (SSOs) or service‐oriented enterprises (SOEs). Services can be performed in‐house, shared or outsourced. However, this form of organization faces significant challenges and to date not much research has focused on capturing experiences in this domain. The aim of this paper is to identify critical management issues in the development of service‐oriented arrangements.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used a combination of literature and case study research, whereby literature provided the theoretical foundations and the case study is used to identify the critical research challenges.

Findings

Technological developments enable a service‐oriented approach, leading to new organizational forms and a shift towards a more market‐oriented type of control. The SOE is an enterprise that is modularized in business domains and organized around SSCs. New products can be created by orchestrating the services provided by the service centers, and this orchestration is expected to become a core capability. Service centers display varying levels of modularity, which influences the sourcing options. In our case study, the SSO and SOE emerged and evolved out of SSCs, and as a result an incremental, staged approach should be adopted with regard to its implementation. The main critical management issues are a carefully executed strategy, the redesign and reorganization of activities and roles, the standardization of processes, applications and the underlying IT architecture, and management of the transformation by involving all stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

The SOE is explored using a single case study, which although it provides in‐depth insight, limits statistical generalization. Further research should focus on the benefits, drawbacks and risks of these concepts. In addition, the bundling and orchestration of services need to be investigated.

Practical implications

This type of change is often technology driven. Companies should address the critical management issues when they adopt a more service‐oriented approach at a business level.

Originality/value

To date, there are very few empirical studies that look at SSO and the SOE. This paper offers a contribution by investigating a real‐life case study, analyzing the kind of organization involved, and identifying the challenges and issues.

Details

Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8297

Keywords

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