Shared Service Center Research Articles

Research on the Internal Control Problems Faced by the Financial Sharing Center in the Digital Economy Era1 — An example of Financial Sharing Center of H Co. Ltd.

In recent years, the digital economy has posed new challenges to the financial management mode of modern enterprises. This article is based on the research data of the Financial Shared Service Center of H Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as H Center), analyzes its internal control status, and identifies risk points from five aspects: control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and internal supervision, and then explore the key links of its internal control. This article puts forward suggestions for improvement in the corporate culture construction, human resource management and information management of the H center.

Conceptual approach to creating shared service centers

Conceptual approach to creating shared service centers

Robotizing shared service centres: key challenges and outcomes

PurposeThe introduction of robotic process automation (RPA) in shared service centres (SSCs) can hardly be overlooked. This article, therefore, draws on the institutional theory to widen the understanding of its implementation and outcomes regarding people management. Drawing on the lens of the institutional theory and the literature on SSCs and RPA, this study addresses the key challenges and outcomes of robotization.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a qualitative approach and a purposeful sampling design that collected data from six major SSCs) introducing robotization. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with service representatives, including RPA project managers. A thematic content analysis was used.FindingsThe introduction of robotics follows mechanisms of coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism and is effectively replacing workers. So far, this process has been managed through a few reactive people management practices, such as earlier retirements, internal mobility and outsourcing reduction, which warns of future tensions. The findings also show the emergence of new jobs, such as robot developers and robot managers.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the limited empirical body of research in RPA in SSCs. The study is novel as it is one of the first offering an implementation roadmap for other SSCs and illustrates the positive impact on processes redesign. It also provides empirical evidence on the debate about the potential for service workers' replacement versus tasks augmentation. In the longer term, this study opens new research avenues related to the tensions and contradictions from the progressive institutionalization of robotization in service organizations.

Analysis of Shared Services Center Deployment at a University Hospital (CENTROMED) in Natal, Brazil: A Study on Availability and Capacity.

PurposeThe hospital is an organization that has its own characteristics that differentiate it from other institutions. It is characterized as a company providing services of social purpose, with a great operational complexity, due to the diversity of services provided. These organizations are dependent on technology to play the role of assisting society. Technology is onerous: it is up to the aforementioned institutions to adopt management tools to control these costs. The present study explains the process of implementing a shared service centre (CENTROMED) for the management of hospital medical equipment (HME) at the Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes (HUOL) in the city of Natal, RN.Patients and MethodsIn order to achieve a successful implementation, four key steps were taken: process modelling; determination of key performance indicators, organization of physical arrangement; and adequate training and development of human resources. The work followed an action research approach focusing on three main methodological steps: identification of HUOL clinical engineering team’s demands, definition of the process for providing the equipment service, and definition of the supply items that will be managed.ResultsThe preliminary results of this research indicate that the centralization of the management of the HME contributed to the optimization of the processes, the reduction of the costs and the availability of the equipment, thus providing a powerful management tool to support the hospital operational management.ConclusionThe utilization of the shared service center for the management of hospital medical equipment is ultimately linked to the patient’s well-being as it contributes to the agility in hospital procedures and provides support in maintaining the capacity of attendance of the assistance teams.

Competencies of Managers of Deep Organizational Changes

Purpose: The main purpose of the article was to present the results of research on the competencies of managers (TMs) in the process of creating shared service centers (SSC). Design/Methodology/Approach: The first stage of the research was literature review. Then, an analysis of the data collected in the previous study was performed, special focus was on data on deep lesions. The obtained results were confronted with the opinions of TMs. These opinions were collected using the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) and in-depth interviews. Findings: Based on the theoretical analysis, a definition of was developed and classified into the thematic group of management sciences dealing with project management and change management. It was not found necessary to separate the transition as a new profession. However, differences between the scope of competences of the project manager and the TMs were noticed, especially in the field of substantive knowledge of the processes taken over. It is also important to list the components of the competence referred to as leadership, important in the process, namely, solution-oriented attitude, ability to cope with stress, the ability to flexibly operate under various conditions, accurate prediction of problems that may occur during the implementation of changes, mental resilience, building positive cooperation within the team. Originality/Value: The subject of research is very interesting, namely the growing professional group of managers. If their distinctiveness in terms of competencies is noticed, and they will be properly lead through the development path, these people may be a key resource of global enterprises reporting a constant need for specialists in change management, multiculturalism and projects. Practical implications: The conclusions formulated in the article can therefore improve the management of competencies of TMs, facilitate the development of competency profiles for the recruitment and selection of project team members, or the creation of training strategies for project managers to prevent professional burnout.

Application of Biometric Technology in Financial Shared Service Center

With the development of the times, financial shared service center has become more and more diversified and complex and the traditional financial system cannot meet the needs of enterprises. Only by providing services anytime and anywhere can we be invincible. In order to reduce costs and improve efficiency, financial institutions deploy biometric technology in various service channels to ensure user authentication and improve the security and timeliness of business processing. Therefore, this article puts forward the application of biometrics in financial shared service center. In order to verify the advantages of biometric technology, this paper analyzes the efficiency and management cost of biometric technology after it is put into use, and tests the cost change of an enterprise for four consecutive years and the change of personnel age for three consecutive years. Through this analysis, it is concluded that the input of biometric technology is conducive to the control of enterprise cost and the adjustment of personnel structure. In order to further the feasibility of biometric technology, this paper compares the data before and after the reform of enterprise financial system. The results show that the efficiency of financial business processing has increased from 5.8 days to 0.41 days, and the efficiency has increased by 14.15 times, which is in the international high level, and the financial shared service center is more intelligent and efficient. Through the analysis, the research in this paper has achieved ideal results and made a contribution to the application of biometric technology in financial shared service center.

Application of Financial Sharing in Financial Management of Group Enterprises

<p>Financial shared service is a new management mode established on the basis of financial system reform. Under this mode, independent financial organizations are stripped off and financial information of company’s branches is merged into financial shared service center. The center is responsible for simple and repetitive, common and standardized operations for each branch in order to realize the centralized management and accounting. It greatly improves the efficiency of enterprise management, reduces management costs, and improves customer satisfaction and the service quality. As a new emerging thing in financial management, financial shared service center has turned into reality rather than a concept, and there are more and more enterprises benefit from it. This new financial management model is emerging and being adopted by many multinational companies and large domestic enterprises.</p>

Architecture Design and Key Technologies Study of Omnichannel Business Platform for Electric Power Marketing

Building the omnichannel business platform for the electric power marketing and integrating all online service resources, with the features of customer aggregation, business integration and data sharing, are an inevitable pathway for the power grid enterprise to establish the customer-centric modern service system and realize its digital transformation strategy. The overall architecture of the omnichannel business platform is proposed and the detailed design for the eight shared service centres are given respectively for user centre, ticket centre, electronic bill centre, payment centre, order centre, points centre, online customer service centre, and messaging centre. Some typical application scenarios are described to illustrate the internal working mechanism of the shared service centres and the cooperation mechanism among them, such as management of comprehensive energy business, online interaction service for the electric power customer, and instant messaging delivery. The key technology applications and practices are discussed for the implementation of the business platform, such as improving data processing capabilities, building integrated services with fast response, and developing digital operational capabilities. The development prospects of the business platform are concluded finally, whose service centres would be gradually be evolved into an important component of the strategic business platform for the power grid enterprise by continuously precipitating the business capabilities and establishing the competent service centres.

For Ease of HQ Control? A Study of the Motives for Location Choice of HR Shared Services in MNEs

Shared service centres (SSCs) have become an important mechanism for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to deliver HRM services to their dispersed operations. Location choice may be critical to understanding the motives behind utilising HR SSCs in MNEs, but few studies have explored this issue. We examine the factors and underlying motives for selecting a location for an SSC, drawing on a case study of six large MNEs from North America, Europe and Asia. Our study reveals that the concern of headquarters (HQ) for control over SSCs is an important motive in relation to location choices alongside cost efficiency and service quality. We also identify specific factors for SSC location decisions, associated with the HQ control motive, namely: home-country language capabilities, geographical proximity to the home country and time zone. Our findings offer a novel insight into the nature of an SSC by highlighting the significance of governance issues in managing SSCs within an MNE.

What should be centralized and what should not: that is the question within a school of business context

Learning outcomes The case’s learning objectives to work on can vary according to the topic selected by the teacher. This case has been put forward with a particular interest in corporate strategy issues, specifically, on the joint management of businesses (in this case, academic programs). Therefore, students are expected to be able to understand the managerial dilemma on centralization and decentralization; recognize the peculiarities of a shared services center (SSC); and decide on which services to centralize in an SSC. Case overview/synopsis Centralizing or not centralizing is a frequent managerial dilemma. This is a challenge faced not only by business managers but also by corporate level areas responsible for jointly managing various businesses. Resources and capabilities allocation is an essential process for strategy execution, specifically in corporate strategy that must answer the question: How to jointly manage businesses? Sharing services is a collaborative strategy which aims to increase efficiency by centralizing some processes related to this joint business management. Mario, Dean of the Escuela de Administración in Medellín, Colombia, intends to optimize the school resource allocation processes so that there is more equitable support between the different academic programs. For this, he has thought of creating an SSC as it is a practice that he has seen in prominent companies in the city. His idea is to start operating the SSC in early 2018; however, the particular character of a management school leads him to ask himself: What to centralize and what not to centralize? Complexity academic level This case of decision (Ellet, 2007; Sánchez et al., 2013) can be used to promote student learning of strategy courses both at advanced undergraduate levels and in graduate programs. Likewise, it can be used in workshops with executives and administrative personnel of companies that face the centralize–decentralize dilemma. These types of topics are the subject of study by both corporate strategy theorists who address the question of how to jointly manage business (Menz et al., 2015; Michael Porter, 1987) and consultants (Deloitte, 2012). It is desirable, although not mandatory, that students have some knowledge or experience in strategic issues and challenges associated with the administration of companies made up of various businesses (multi-business firms). Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Factors with impact on the knowledge management practices within shared service centers

Abstract Nowadays it has become easier and easier to reach and achieve information and a great reason for that is the fast evolution of technology. Along with these less complicated opportunities to access information there is an increasing consciousness of recognizing the ways to use it in different moments in time especially within the business environment. Successful organizations empower employees to share knowledge by rewarding them for such actions. And the organization’s leaders must be role models of sharing knowledge regularly with their teams, and they should discuss openly about successes and failures. Taking all these aspects into account, in this paper various processes of knowledge management (KM) are presented from theoretical approaches to practical ones. Successful examples of KM within multiple Shared Service Centers of two multinational companies based in Bucharest, Romania are displayed in order to uncover best practices. A qualitative and in the same time a quantitative investigation were expanded and tested in these Shared Service Centers with the objective to detect the current most suitable patterns and procedures of KM in 2019 and, simultaneously, the difficulties in applying the KM methods within an organization. Information from different employees in the companies was gathered regarding the key success factors of implementing Knowledge Management in organizations (organizational culture, leadership, efficient and systematic processes, technology and strategy). The results certified that communication, along with an open professional behavior, sharing experiences and teamwork as the most important factors for boosting Knowledge Management within the organization.

The impact of knowledge transfer on the Organizational performance

Abstract While the importance of knowledge creation and management has been widely recognized as critical to the continued competitiveness and success of an organization since the 1990s, few systematic studies have been conducted on the processes of creation and knowledge management transfer in organizations. Much of what has been reported in the literature has an anecdotal nature. The development of knowledge management as a distinct domain has historically been influenced by research undertaken in a wide range of disciplines. These disciplines include sociology, psychology and philosophy. Since the early 1990s, research in the area of knowledge management has expanded into contiguous areas such as change management, systems theory, organizational theory, organizational learning &development and artificial intelligence. During the past years, there has been a great deal of interest in knowledge as an organizational and commercial variable, with the need to better understand the processes of knowledge transfer in organizations. In this paper, I present and develop the following questions: What kind of knowledge should we transfer? How should we transfer knowledge between entities? What is the impact of knowledge transfer on organizational performance? To develop the previously mentioned questions, a quantitative research based on a questionnaire has been applied on a sample of 100 people who are working in a certain shared services centre. The main purpose of the research is to identify the impact of knowledge sharing on organizational performance and to analyze the importance of having a solid base of information in order to achieve excellent organizational performance. The result is that knowledge transfer has an impact on the company’s vision, continuous learning and business performance. The way knowledge is managed in a company is crucial to gain a competitive advantage, this being recognized by the respondents as important for achieving the following goals: project success and self-improvement.

Design of Port Enterprise Financial Shared Service Center Based on Nested Logit Model

Liu, Y., 2020. Design of port enterprise financial Shared service center based on nested logit model. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 29–32. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The port enterprise financial Shared service center under the traditional design, has the characteristics of centralized management, but with the rapid improvement of the economic level, the service center cannot meet the diversified business model, so according to the hierarchical characteristics of the nested Logit model, the design of a new port enterprise financial Shared service center. This design USES elastic analysis method to obtain the working behavior characteristics of enterprise employees. Based on the nested Logit model, the multi-polarization comprehensive service model of financial Shared service center is designed. By changing the strategic positioning, the optimization design of the port enterprise financial Shared service center is realized. Experimental test results: taking 6 conditions in the four business modes as the test target, the financial center designed fails to meet only 3 test conditions, while the financial center designed by the traditional method fails to meet more than 50% of test conditions. It can be seen that the financial sharing service center designed this time meets the diversified development requirements of enterprises.

A SHARED SERVICE CENTRE (SSC) FOR CONSOLIDATION AND OUTSOURCING OF SMEs INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS IN MALAYSIA

The shared service center (SSC) is a service rendered by the third party company to ease the operation of the organization. It is a cost-efficient service that functioning to eliminates the transactional process which is a significant barrier for SME to grow and sustain in the business. The importance of shared service in improving the business process is undoubtedly in the case of big companies. However, it is almost none for the case of SMEs as far as the research is concerned. The objectives of this research are to analyze the readiness, risk, challenges and evaluate the influence factor of SMEs in implementing SSC in their organization. The qualitative research method was adopted to provide a roadmap to guide the researcher throughout the research project. Five SMEs have been selected and interviewed based on the saturated principle in the data collection process. The finding shows that adaptability, cost, experience management, and strong change management are the main factors that contribute to the adoption of shared service at the SMEs. This study serves as a guideline for SMEs that interested to implement the SSC and furnishes information for the government in developing a policy to support SMEs in the implementation of SSC. Other than that, this study also contributes as a reference guide for the other nations that have a common interest to improve the competitiveness of SMEs through the implementation of SSC.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICING UNITS AS A CENTRAL CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

The scope of tasks entrusted to the servicing units, the so-called shared services centres, as part of the joint service results from the resolution of the decision-making body of the local government unit or from an agreement concluded between units, with restrictions resulting from the local government laws. By means of a special provision of the public procurement law, the legislator granted the competence to indicate or appoint an entity performing central contracting tasks or to specify the method of appointing such entities to the decision-making body of the local government unit. The competences of the commune council also include determining the scope of activities of these entities in accordance with Art. 15c of the Public Procurement Law. The perspective of providing by the commune of the joint service of the commune’s organisational units may therefore include joint activities in the scope of the procurement procedures, but then it is necessary to apply both the provisions of the law on commune government and the public procurement law. The indication or appointment of a central contracting authority by the decision-making body of the local government unit must be the activity preceding the transfer of specific tasks in the field of public procurement to this entity.

Competing for capitals: the great fragmentation of the firm and varieties of FDI attraction profiles in the European Union

Economic globalization has pressured countries to compete with one another for firms’ investment capital. Analyses of such competition draw heavily on foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics. In and of themselves, however, FDI statistics are merely a quantification of the value of firms’ investment projects and tell us little about the heterogeneity of these projects and the distinct patterns of competitive dynamics between countries they generate. Here, we create a more sophisticated understanding of international competition for FDI by pointing out its variegated nature. To do so, we trace the ‘great fragmentation of the firm’ to distinguish between five categories of FDI: manufacturing affiliates, shared service centers, R&D facilities, intermediate holding companies, and top holding companies. Using a novel combination of firm-level and country-level data, we identify for each of these different categories which European Union member states are most successful in attracting it, what macro-institutional and tax arrangements are present in them, and what benefits they receive from it in terms of tax revenues and employment creation. In this way, we are able to identify five distinct ‘FDI attraction profiles’ and show that competition increasingly appears to take place amongst subsets of countries that compete for similar categories of FDI.

Practice and thinking of the informationized cabin hospitals during the novel coronavirus pneumonia period

Novel coronavirus pneumonia, which has emerged in Wuhan since the end of 2019, has posed a huge challenge for medical institutions in the city. Rapid completion of a number of cabin hospitals plays a vital role in preventing further spreading of the epidemic, by means of collecting and treating mild patients of the disease. This paper presents the key process of Tongji Hospital in its rapid informatization since it took over a cabin hospital. Based on the network architecture of the Tongji cloud platform, the shared service center is used to share data and integrate services between the cabin hospital and Tongji hospital. This practice can prevent cross-infection and improve service efficiency as well, hence offering a reference for future information infrastructure development of cabin hospitals. Key words: Novel coronavirus pneumonia; Cabin hospital; Informatization; Information sharing

ARE ACCOUNTING SERVICES THREATENED BY MOVING TO SHARED SERVICE CENTERS? - AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF CZECH COMPANIES

The article assesses key aspects of shared service center concept within the accounting area from perspective of user unit. Based on the analysis of theoretical concepts related to types of financial services suitable for moving to shared service centers, the hypotheses are formulated. Hypotheses are verified by empirical research and tested by appropriate statistical methods as odds ratio (OR) and Fisher's exact test. The results show that companies prefer to move codify-able and routine activities to shared service centers. The most common activity transferred to shared service centers is receivables management. The results of analysis enable to get an opinion on the usefulness of shared service centers used by Czech companies.

Problems and Solutions of Financial Management Transformation under the Establishment of Financial Shared Service Center

This paper starts from elaborating the importance of Financial Shared Services, and then analyzes financial management-related risks faced by enterprises in establishing financial sharing centers. Also, it puts forward the advice of improving Financial Shared Services in application. This paper aims to improve enterprise’s effectiveness and efficiency of financial management work during and after the establishment of Finance Shared Service Center (FSSC).

Specific Business Models for Romanian Companies – Shared Services

Shared service centres have emerged since the 1990s and refer to a variety of functions: information technology, SAP support, accounting, payroll, management reporting, purchasing, call centres, helplines, market surveys via phone or the internet. Shared service units can be organized in several forms but are in each case, a particular value pattern distinct from the standard market price/ shareholder profit pattern. The purpose of this article is to analyze value patterns, and this article is part of broader research on value-based management. Shared service units can be organized according to the organizational design of the matrix organization, or according to the multidimensional organization. Shared service units may be charged via a transfer price system to the receiving corporate-related company. These are iterative activities, organized according to the activity-based costing logic. Alternatively, shared services can refer to more complex functions that provide service to corporate functions. They can be organized according to the multidimensional organization logic as allocations to the operating units. The value proposition of shared service units differs from market price and profit-driven financial statements. Shared service units require low personnel cost and stability, both of which indicate to Romania as a favourable location. These are the two arguments in favour of shared services as a specific model for Romanian companies, a country in which we find evidence shared services have been set up in the past ten years as parts of corporations.