Research and Analytics Services Outsourcing

In September 2011, the stocks in the United States were pounded due to rising fears of another recession. This was fueled by new worries on the health of European banks and a rather dismal report on regional manufacturing in the United States. The same report stated that the NASDAQ ended more than five percent lower, the Standard & Poor’s 500 more than four percent, and the blue-chip Dow was off more than three percent. Losses were spread throughout the market and companies seemed to have resigned themselves to the downward market trend. Economists at Morgan Stanley have lowered the outlook for global growth and have said that the United States and the Euro Zone are ‘dangerously close to recession’. For companies the world over, it meant resumption of efforts to optimize business processes. The moot question, therefore, is: Is my business doing all that it can to stay ahead of competition? Given the competitive nature of the business environment that companies currently operate in, time is of the essence. Business consultancy services can come to the rescue at this stage and help build an intelligent organization. Business diagnostic tools today can analyze the overall business health of an organization and even conduct a detailed study of its business processes or financial state. While many organizations seek the expertise of top-of-the-line consultants, often the solution recommended to companies is that of outsourcing. Thus, for companies to utilize the services of an organization such as WNS to conduct a detailed business diagnostic report is a logical move and becomes an automatic appropriate choice.

Analytics has gone into improving the effectiveness of marketing efforts, designing of financial products and raising the bar for customer satisfaction. The relevance for analytics has grown significantly across industries in recent times because of a highly dynamic market. However, not all industries are making the most of it. A 2010 study showed that top-performing organizations use analytics five times more than lower performers. Manufacturing is one industry that has shied away from employing analytics to improve its business. This article shows how analytics can play an integral role in the manufacturing operations of an organization. It allows for accurate forecasting, identifying customer needs, efficient supply chain management and inventory planning.

Contrary to the traditional paradigm of maximizing revenue by driving energy consumption, more and more energy companies are trying to help their customers consume less through energy efficiency measures. A few measures in case of residential customers include better insulation, use of high-efficiency boilers, smart meters and micro-generation. The annual report of a leading energy company in the UK states that homes in the UK are responsible for a quarter of U.K.’s carbon dioxide emissions, and energy efficiency measures have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in this sector by 20 percent over the next 10 years. When coupled with the fact that the household electricity consumed will become lower carbon, the overall saving for households could amount to 35 percent. Companies are now trying to cut down on carbon dioxide emission due to constant pressure from environmental regulatory bodies, cutthroat competition, increased customer choices and demanding customers. The measures adopted by companies play an important role in cost savings, and this article discusses how data analytics on CRM, billing systems and customer information can be leveraged for achieving cost savings.

In today’s fast-paced new economy, companies compete on the basis of business insights. Business insights are driven by how a firm collects data, and how it analyzes that data before converting it into information and knowledge. Therefore, the quality of the analytical support system available at the disposal of business managers is a key ingredient. A robust analytical support system could be created with the help of a partner who has the experience in providing end-to-end analytical support to business managers across different initiatives. WNS has pan-industry expertise in developing sophisticated analytics-based solutions that enable key business processes for our clients. Read how WNS has been an effective analytical partner to a major studio’s home video division, providing support across a wide range of initiatives across multiple business functions.

In the current business environment, law firms face heightened pressure from a perfect storm of market forces: Deregulation, globalization, smarter client procurement, strategies, diminished customer loyalty, commoditization and increasingly aggressive competition. To counter these looming threats to their survival and prosperity, law firms are searching for more innovative methods to raise their level of strategic and tactical engagement with clients. Read on to find out what these innovative methods could entail.

Outsourcing investment research activities to multi-skilled professionals, capable of generating insights on all elements at play in the market, has emerged as a smart alternative to meeting the challenges faced by investment management firms. Highly educated teams of desktop researchers help monitor trends, opportunities, threats, market-shifts and competitive moves. More importantly, they draw out implications for an investment management firm's strategic direction, product portfolio, brand and evolution. Read on to find out what this trend can entail.

Market size estimation is integral to the expansion strategy of every growing organization, whether it is in terms of entering new markets or identifying opportunities to grow in existing markets. However, over-reliance on the reports that help evaluate and analyze the market size could be risky in terms of accuracy and detail. Read on to find out market size estimation can be addressed effectively with robust analytics.

The downturn has taught businesses across the globe one key lesson, and that is to do business efficiently. Today’s managers are seeking efficiency in multiple areas: from pursuing growth strategies in a cost-efficient manner; to tapping the emerging economies with the right product at the right time; and making more informed choices. Creating an analytical Center of Excellence or CoE, with its ability to offer custom solutions is emerging as a key differentiator for an organization.

The advantages of implementing knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) vary according to the aspiration of the organization. If a company already drives its decisions with knowledge, KPO can help more efficiently and cost effectively retain competitive advantage. If the organization wants to move up the knowledge competition scale, KPO can help more rapidly achieve the end-state. KPO has a role to play in every company – knowledge-novice or knowledge-savvy, regardless of the industry. But how an organization engages KPO depends on where it falls in the five levels of the knowledge competition scale....

Organization, culture, skills, talent, tools, standardization – together all these challenge a company's ability to become a true knowledge competitor. But organizations that seek to make rapid, substantive change are increasingly leveraging knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) providers for higher value, complex, specialized skill and knowledge-based work such as research and analytics.

Winning companies know that the right research and analytics enable them to gather, synthesize and extract data-based insights about their customers and their rivals, with the resulting insights provide them with monumental, actionable competitive advantage. While these successful examples intuitively make sense as they are highly transactional in nature, the fact is that every corporate function in just about every industry benefits from the insights research and analytics yields. Here are a few examples of how almost every corporate function can benefit from applying research and analytics.

Organizations that use knowledge to drive business decisions within all functions and at all levels achieve knowledge centricity which enables highly sustainable competitive advantage. The concept that knowledge is king becomes ingrained in the culture, the CEO's vision, and in every aspect of the company's business. But the goal of besting peer companies by competing with knowledge is an elusive struggle for many organizations.

According to research conducted by Harvard University management professor Thomas H. Davenport and consultant Jeanne G. Harris, the first step in becoming a knowledge competitor is assessing the current state of knowledge processes within the organization.

No two companies execute knowledge processes – or research and analytics-based support for all aspects of corporate decision making – in quite the same way. Rather, in various shapes, flavors and forms, they execute them via three methods: internal roles, technology, and the use of third parties.

Understanding every aspect of customer behavior. Getting the most out of marketing spend. Driving sales force productivity to the next level. Optimizing logistics to gain supply chain efficiency. Reducing risk. Entering new markets with a targeted strategy. If accomplished, these goals quickly differentiate a company from its competitors.

But how does a company achieve those goals? By competing with knowledge, driving decisions with actionable insight.

The quake that hit the global financial markets last year left shoppers and retailers bracing for a cold and lackluster Christmas. As anticipated, post-holiday consumer surveys reported holiday sales far below expectations as a result of record low spending. The only winners in the face of the economic downturn were value retail outlets such as Walmart which experienced increased consumer traffic (69% shoppers in 2008 as compared 33% in 2007; source: ARG), as a direct result of aggressive value-for-money promotions and discounts.