Smarter Outsourcing: An executive guide to understanding, planning and exploiting successful outsourcing relationships

Preparing for the exit before the start

A further key element of risk mitigation for the CEO is preparing for the exit before the contract starts. While it may seem a little overblown, the analogy between outsourcing and marriage does have a lot of mileage in it. Like a marriage, an outsourcing agreement is about intent, mutual commitment and respect as well as a shared vision. There is also – in most marriages and all outsourcing arrangements – an express intention and a process designed to produce progeny that are inherently smarter and/or stronger than their parents. So the company and its supplier are passing on their blended genes to the next generation of ‘hybrid’ company, which will in turn need to be fitter and more adaptable to the rigours ...