Deborah Kops

Archive Careers Latest Talent

“Call me anything but late for dinner.”

The misplaced obsession with title in Global Business Services
Deborah Kops
May 5, 2021
Archive Latest Models Organization Viewpoints

Is your GBS organization truly resilient?

Or will it go the way of the woolly mammoth?   By Deborah Kops Okay, a few global business services (GBS) models bit the dust last year, but as Mark Twain said when a newspaper printed his obituary, ‘the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’ Some pundits are saying that GBS is on a […]
Deborah Kops
April 21, 2021
Latest Models Organization Viewpoints

Making Change: Implementing GBS in Professional Services Firms

When a company’s intrinsic value rests on the ability to attract, satisfy and retain very smart people whose production is intellect, the implementation of global business shared services presents a special change challenge.
Deborah Kops
April 14, 2021
Archive Latest News Talent

2021, a Pivotal Year for GBS Talent?

Ten Predictions That May Surprise You. Is your crystal ball as clear as ours?
Deborah Kops
January 11, 2021
Archive Resourcing Talent

Going Hunting: The Current State of the GBS Talent Market

Don’t despair, GBS professionals. While the jobs market is certainly been impacted by lower volumes and cost cutting initiatives, there remains a market for good talent with certain capabilities to deliver the GBS promise.
Deborah Kops
October 21, 2020
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All Things To All People

In many sourcing endeavors, stakeholders are an afterthought, obviously a customer but more often a source of noise to tamp down.
Deborah Kops
March 24, 2014
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Is Finance Function Technology Delivering on Its Promise?

Is technology fulfilling its promise for finance service delivery? And is finance service delivery ready to harness its benefits?
Deborah Kops
February 19, 2014
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Global Business Services: A Game Changer for the Finance Organisation?

For those of you wondering whether GBS is good for the finance function, please peruse my latest research for ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). GBS models, if fully implemented, have the potential to turn the finance function upside down, either taking finance transformation to the next level, or taking the CFO’s eye off […]
Deborah Kops
November 7, 2013
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Is GBS Good for Sourcing Leaders?

There’s a sea change in the market for global services talent. Few sourcing leaders without operating experience will make it to shortlist.
Deborah Kops
October 19, 2013
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Will shared services leaders take the GBS helm?

By Deborah Kops The current common wisdom assumes that GBS leadership will be the pinnacle of career progression for shared services leaders. After all, who’s the logical inheritor of the mega-services platform mantle but the guys and gals who slogged it out early on, establishing the first consolidated, standardized service delivery models.  But should the […]
Deborah Kops
September 3, 2013
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Outsourcing’s like an all inclusive vacation package

By Deborah Kops Outsourcing and Club Med in the same breadth—you’ve got to be kidding! Somehow sandy beaches, pina coladas and surfing don’t equate to 3000 man delivery centers, quarterly business reviews and dashboards. But hear me out. When you enter into an outsourcing contract, the provider’s offering is not much different from an all-inclusive […]
Deborah Kops
July 2, 2013
Archive

Why outsourcing providers are selling the wrong thing

  I’ll admit that I pick on outsourcing providers’ websites and PowerPoint decks. It’s a guilty pleasure—reading ridiculous superlatives, looking for those same-y redundancies one to the other that tell me that all cats (read: outsourcers) are black in the night, and counting the typos and the instances of awkward English (even in the sites […]
Deborah Kops
June 27, 2013
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The Future of Finance Talent

This report suggests a number of trends that could affect finance talent management in the future. It focuses particularly on the implications of further growth in shared services, outsourcing, the rise of global business services and their relationships with the retained finance organisation. These trends are intended to stimulate the debate on the future of […]
Deborah Kops
May 6, 2013
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What’s the future for finance shared services and outsourcing talent?

When I’m not obsessing about the lack of investment in change management when companies outsource, I worry about talent. Luckily, ACCA (www.accaglobal.com), the global accountancy body, is worried about talent of the finance variety, especially in light of the adoption of shared services and outsourcing models….and gives me the opportunity to put some of my […]
Deborah Kops
Archive

What kind of a shared services leader are you?

Not too long I sat through a panel comprised of very experienced shared services leaders. And it hit me like a ton of bricks; although each was accomplished in his or her own way, every panelist’s path to leadership was very different. So I came up with a typology of career paths which represent the […]
Deborah Kops
April 17, 2013
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Outsourcing Executives: What’s your career narrative?

If you missed this, blame it on the post Easter chocolate egg euphoria. Posted on HfS Research earlier this month by my friend Phil Fersht, I didn’t get much of a backlash. Now that tax time is over, perhaps you’ll have a swing at me. I’m obsessed by careers. I spend time trying to make sense of […]
Deborah Kops
Archive

What kind of a shared services leader are you?

What is the path that takes someone to become a leader in shared services, and how does a certain path have an effect on the level and type of change experiences by the shared services organization? To find out, Sourcing Change and sharedserviceslink.com collaborated this year and surveryed the shareserviceslink.com community. [gravityform id=”10″ name=”Download the […]
Deborah Kops
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Picking on outsourcing execs AGAIN?

If you are so inclined, check out my latest contribution on HfS Research’s Blog. Since it’s April, and too cold in Virginia for my thoughts to turn to love, I substituted an examination of the careers of outsourcing executives. Seems to me that you can predict career narratives of many of our good provider friends. […]
Deborah Kops
April 4, 2013
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Do retained teams screw up outsourcing?

  Heaps of blame is placed on the outsourcing provider when a relationship goes south. You’ve heard the complaints.”Their salesmen oversell.” “The staff has no contextual knowledge.” “No one’s taking responsibility for following up.” “There’s none of that innovation they promised.” And while some of these complaints are valid, in many cases the client is […]
Deborah Kops
April 3, 2013
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The Joys of Sourcing Intercourse

If you think the titillating title will transport you beyond the bounds of propriety, don’t bother to read on. I’m merely referring to the rush one gets from the standard definition of intercourse (according to Merriam-Webster): 1), connection or dealings between persons or groups; or 2), exchange, particularly of thoughts or feelings. Having just come […]
Deborah Kops
April 2, 2013
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Luck o’ the Irish Outsourcing Leaders

Not too long ago I met an Irishman named Coleman O’Flynn at an outsourcing transformation conference. And as he was charming the dickens out me with his soft brogue, it hit me like a ton of bricks—look around at some of the leading business services transformation initiatives, and you’ll find more than your fair share of Irish […]
Deborah Kops
March 15, 2013
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Making an outsourcing relationship better: that’s above my pay grade

  There seems to be a trend going on amongst outsourcing client types. It’s called the kick-the-can upward approach to fixing a flailing relationship. The game goes like this: client relationship manager and account manager agree that there are problems with the relationship. The client gripes, while his or her provider account executive expresses all […]
Deborah Kops
March 12, 2013
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Outsourcing industry—where’s your voice post Delhi?

It’s been over two months since the brutal rape that left a 23 year old woman dead. Yet when it comes to the outcry that magnified the treatment of women in India, I cannot recall one article or blog posted in a Western outsourcing mag or rag, one outsourcing client or advisor raising their voice, […]
Deborah Kops
March 5, 2013
Archive

The Religion of Outsourcing

  “Outsourcing is a religious decision. You either believe in it or you don’t.” So sayeth Alex Jablonowski, one of those client types who was an early adopter of outsourcing as chief executive of International Banking at Barclays. Alex has a point; some of us embrace the concept whole heartedly (often leaving in some room for […]
Deborah Kops
February 28, 2013