Managing outsourcing and shared services projects in accounting and finance sector

Islam, R

Abstract

Enterprise project in outsourcing and shared services have been gaining prominence in
different sectors globally. Outsourcing and shared services projects in accounting and
finance has been gaining momentum in the UK and most of the developed world. With
the growth in information technology, and availability of platforms for remote
collaboration, outsourcing and shared services are going to grow further in the future.
However, outsourcing and shared services projects in accounting and finance come with
its own unique sets of drivers, challenges, benefits and skills requirements. The aim of
this thesis is to develop a better understanding of outsourcing and shared services
projects in the accounting and finance sector in the UK.
The thesis has taken a mixed method approach. Through an extensive review of
literature initial issues were documented and this led to development of a semistructured
interview questionnaire for 41 respondents which included: a) Academics b)
Professional Bodies c) Clients, and d) Vendors e) Shared Services. The findings from
this stage were presented to six experts who validated the findings and provided further
insights through a brainstorming session. The data collected from the brainstorming
session was used to conduct Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) of project drivers,
and Interpretive Ranking Process (IRP) of drivers to benefits, skills to benefits and skills
to management levels.
The major conclusions from the ISM and IRP are: 1) Compliance and legal issues is the
most important driver which initiates an outsourcing project and is followed by access
to specialist knowledge, advanced technology, management support, efficiency
aspiration, need to focus on core business, pressure to improve customer experience
leading to expansion of the business. One important finding is that proximity has
become less important due to availability of advanced information and communication
technology and the recent developments in remote collaborative technological platforms
mean that one can pursue outsourcing projects anywhere irrespective of location of
client or vendor; 2) When it comes to harnessing benefits, the ability to be able to access
specialist knowledge without having to invest in your own workforce is the most
important driver. This is followed by advanced technology, management support,
efficiency improvements, compliance, focus on core business, business expansion,
proximity and customer experience; 3) In order to facilitate a successful implementation
the order of importance of skills that leads to most benefits are: Interpersonal skills,
technical skills, management skills, IT skills, intellectual skills and personal skills; and
4) Interpersonal skills, intellectual skills, IT skills and personal skills are needed at all
levels of management in a client organisation, management skills are needed at middle
and higher levels of management, technical skills become very important for lower and
middle level managers who have to communicate effectively with outsourcing and
shared services vendors on a daily basis.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 10, 2025