Divide to multiply
Jerônimo Leiria
In the 1980s, the practice of outsourcing was a very controversial topic, although its principle is disconcertingly simple: anything that is not a company’s distinguishing feature, or that is not its focus, or that it does not know how to do well –– can be contracted to third parties.
In the beginning, in the 1980s, outsourcing was practiced only in peripheral areas, the so-called merely intermediary activities. In other words, outsourcing occurred in areas such as cleaning, food, surveillance, among others. No one dreamed that the business landscape in the future would be so changed, and for the better –– of course.
Since we have short memories, we forget that in the 1990s, companies were created to provide services in previously unimaginable activities –– the so-called semi-strategic activities, such as reception, customer service, telemarketing, organization and storage of documents, intra-company cargo handling, packaging, logistics, among others.
In the 1990s, Brazil opened itself to the foreign market. The aim was to change the game –– to no longer import much and only export raw materials, without added value. The objective became to import the minimum necessary and export everything: fabrics, shoes, software, literature, services and much more.
However, in order to do so, in addition to producing the product, it is necessary to learn how to export it.
The activity of exporting requires specialized knowledge, including knowing the language, habits and legislation of the foreign consumer.
The practice of outsourcing requires the selection of suitable and specialist partners so that, in the end, the institutional image of the contracting company is not tarnished. To apply it, the entire business process must be divided into activities. Then, each segment must be analyzed and it is decided which ones will be carried out in-house or out-of-house.
This begins a virtuous cycle of multiplying results, as the business intelligence that was consumed in an activity that did not add value is redirected to segments that generate greater results. The transferred activities are now carried out by specialists who already do so for many clients, and therefore carry out their activities with greater quality, less waste and at a lower cost.
In the 1980s, the practice of outsourcing was a very controversial topic, although its principle is disconcertingly simple: anything that is not a company’s distinguishing feature, or that is not its focus, or that it does not know how to do well –– can be contracted to third parties.
In the beginning, in the 1980s, outsourcing was practiced only in peripheral areas, the so-called merely intermediary activities. In other words, outsourcing occurred in areas such as cleaning, food, surveillance, among others. No one dreamed that the business landscape in the future would be so changed, and for the better –– of course.
Since we have short memories, we forget that in the 1990s, companies were created to provide services in previously unimaginable activities –– the so-called semi-strategic activities, such as reception, customer service, telemarketing, organization and storage of documents, intra-company cargo handling, packaging, logistics, among others.
In the 1990s, Brazil opened itself to the foreign market. The aim was to change the game –– to no longer import much and only export raw materials, without added value. The objective became to import the minimum necessary and export everything: fabrics, shoes, software, literature, services and much more.
However, in order to do so, in addition to producing the product, it is necessary to learn how to export it.
The activity of exporting requires specialized knowledge, including knowing the language, habits and legislation of the foreign consumer.
The practice of outsourcing requires the selection of suitable and specialist partners so that, in the end, the institutional image of the contracting company is not tarnished. To apply it, the entire business process must be divided into activities. Then, each segment must be analyzed and it is decided which ones will be carried out in-house or out-of-house.
This begins a virtuous cycle of multiplying results, as the business intelligence that was consumed in an activity that did not add value is redirected to segments that generate greater results. The transferred activities are now carried out by specialists who already do so for many clients, and therefore carry out their activities with greater quality, less waste and at a lower cost.