Delivering Services Effectively
This briefing deals with the effective delivery of HR services, particularly through outsourcing and shared services centres.  Their role in enabling companies to focus on core processes and reduce the cost of delivering services and improving service quality. The cost and other advantages gained by early adopters such as Shell and GE. (3323 words)

Siemens KWU case study
In transforming its power-plant building business, Siemens KWU had to learn to work in an open, global market-place rather than the closed German market. THe cultural shift involved building employee awareness of the importance of price issues and continuous improvement within a competitive market-place. (4278 words)

Measuring, Comparing and Improving HR Process Efficiency
Drawing on practitioner and adviser input, this briefing looks at how the HR function can measure the 'efficiency' of its performance. It shows how a balanced scorecard can blend efficiency and effectiveness measures to provide a comprehensive view of the function's performance. The briefing includes reviews of  a performance measurement matrix devised by leading HR thinkers Jac Fitz-enz and Jack Phillips. (7314 words)

US Office of Personnel Management case study
The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is working to ensure that human resources management (HRM) is aligned to strategic goals within Federal Agencies. Central to this has been the development of an HRM accountability system that links HRM goals to Agency goals. Also key had been the promotion of the concept of 'shared accountability', which calls on managers and HR staff to work as partners in driving forward HRM performance. This case study explains why HRM accountability has become a key focus in Federal Agencies and how OPM is helping to develop good 'accountability' practices. (3569 words)

Evaluating and Re-engineering Processes
Why it is essential to start with processes - companies reporting the worst results with shared services installed new systems without first solving the problem of how they would redesign their processes. (4686 words)

Sun Microsystems case study
Sun Microsystems has redesigned HR according to a four-quadrant model, of which shared services is an intrinsic element. This case study explains that for Sun Microsystems shared services means more than just a transactional operation and describes how the evolving global shared services model builds on the organization's hugely successful US-based SunDial operation. (2655 words)

Scotiabank case study
In this case study HR senior vice-president shared services, Shirley Fudge explains how customer-centricity was installed into shared services and why it opted for a partly virtual functional configuration. (2064 words)