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		<title>Sourcingmag.com Blogosphere</title>
		<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/</link>
		<description>Outsourcing Blogs at the Sourcingmag.com Blogosphere</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
		<copyright>Copyright 2004-2013Sourcingmag.com, CTQ Media</copyright>
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    	<ttl>60</ttl>

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			<title><![CDATA[Demystifying Cloud Computing]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1528</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Open any respectable publication or market report today and you cannot escape the mention of “Cloud Computing” (See you got it here too !).   The media all around us is so full of this buzz word on the Gartner hype cycle, “Cloud Computing”. With so many different messages ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[ADM / IT&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1528</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Outlier Instances and KPIs Measurement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1522</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I was reading an article about how measuring Average Handle Time (AHT) in a Financial Services company, did not allow a very eager Financial Services Agent to provide the best service she could have provided a customer.The customer wanted to do something on the Financial Services company online website, but ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;F&amp;A&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Jobs]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1522</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Pricing as a Solution for Process Improvements?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1521</link>
			<description><![CDATA[A simplification of Pricing your product or service could simplify a lot of your business processes and save you money in the long run! Hard to believe, but I can give you an example from my own recent experiences!Recently I was in both New York City and Washington D.C. In ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1521</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Process Design/Redesign With a Clean Sheet]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1520</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Quite often, Process Design or Redesign are burdened with a lot of Legacy Thought! Sometimes, it may be better to start a Design or a Redesign of a Business Process with a clean sheet rather than make marginal improvements!Many processes just evolve from nothing, or have a lot of outdated ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Blogger Bios&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1520</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Digitization - First Step in Process Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1518</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Even as we speak, the global corporate world is embarked on a silent, huge, effort in letting paper go not much beyond the mailroom!Digitization of all paper, whether coming in from customers as orders, or invoices from vendors is being undertaken on a huge scale. All documents coming into the ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1518</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Services and Handoffs]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1517</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Handoffs are encountered in Business Processes, whether they are In-house or Outsourced. Many are artifacts of the division of the different functions within a company. Like the Finance Department is responsible for the payment of a vendor on an Invoice even if the user has the budget and has approved ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Blogger Bios&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1517</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Information Availability and Business Process Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1516</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Information Availability is half the battle in Business Process Improvement!First, it is the availability of information itself, in a central, easily accessible way, that can speed up Business Processes by an order of maginitude!Measurement and reporting of Performance Measures or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) themselves help Business Process Improvement. In ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1516</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Ease of Implementation Vs Payoffs in Lean Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1515</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The funny thing about Process Improvement, whether Six Sigma or Lean, is that not all Process Improvement efforts are equal to others.Some are "More Equal" than others!Efforts needed for different Process Improvement ideas may not be linearly proportional to their payoffs. Before jumping into Kaizen activities, it may be worthwhile ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1515</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Eliminating Time Wasted Looking for Things]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1514</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Whether it is the Factory Floor, or a Customer Service or Support Center, helping customers with their orders or help regarding anything, the amount of time wasted looking for things is amazing! Any lean improvement project has to look at this waste and come up with ways to eliminate them. ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1514</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Process Improvement in Tough Times]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1513</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Process Improvement has never been more important or more needed during tough times. The kicker may be the lack of funds to take up new efforts at this time when budgets are pared to the bone. However, surveys of Fortune 500 CIOs the past few years have shown Business Process ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1513</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Measuring The Unmeasurable in Business Processes]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1512</link>
			<description><![CDATA[There are many Unmeasurables in Business Processes such as Customer Support Effectiveness, Customer Satisfaction, Service Excellence, etc. However, State of the Art in Business Process Measurement and Analysis is that many of these Subjective Factors are converted into some sort of Objective Scores.For example, Customer Satisfaction Index (CSAT) may be ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1512</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Data Quality more Important than Process Improvement Efforts]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1509</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Continuous Process Improvement, Lean Improvement or Six Sigma efforts can only be as successful or as reliable as the quality of data they use!Data Quality is a pernicious, persistent and widespread problem in every organization. On the surface, reports look neat, wrapped up, and reliable but quite often the data ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1509</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Systematic Process Improvement Vs Process Improvement Leaps]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1508</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Continuous Process Improvement is somewhat funny when it is actually applied. Sometimes it is highly discontinuous with leaps of insight, waste reduction and order of magnitude improvements in Efficiency and Effectiveness. Sometimes accidental improvements in technology makes these kinds of process improvement possible!Take the simple example of how Digital Photography ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1508</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Barcodes are Your Best Friend for Process Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1507</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I was pleasantly surprised by my recent visit to a Target Store here in California. I wanted to return something.I have never seen product returns go faster and easier than how they do it here. They scanned the barcode on the receipt, scanned the barcode on the product and the ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1507</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Automate or Eliminate?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1506</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Automating Process Steps with many different IT technologies is always a big temptation. Document digitization, workflow, business rules engines are all very tempting Information Technologies that can execute business process steps much more efficiently,and make processes run faster, cutting time, resources needed to execute them.But is it always a good ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1506</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Recessions - Best Time for Business Process Improvement!]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1505</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Recessions are a great time to think about Business Process Improvement! In any case, you are already trying to cut costs, and you might as well take on larger efforts in cutting waste out of business processes. Of course, you can throw all kinds of new technologies like Document Management, ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1505</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Potential of 5S in Services]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1503</link>
			<description><![CDATA[5S methodology is a Japanese set of methods to keep the workplace tidy - everything having its place and everything in its place.  In Japanese these terms are:1. Seire - Sorting. 2. Seiton - Get in Order. 3. Seiso - Sweeping or Shining 4. Seiketsu  - Standardizing 5. ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1503</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Process Modeling In Times of Great Change]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1500</link>
			<description><![CDATA[These are very turbulent times in the Banking, Financial and Insurance Services sectors the world over! Many banks are being restructured, some banks are being bought by other banks. Many Insurance companies like AIG are in deep trouble and may face a lot of changes in their internal operations.Wells Fargo ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1500</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Performance Scorecarding]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1498</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Measuring performance of one business process and comparing it to another, has always been a problem whether processes are in-house, or outsourced! How do you compare an Order Processing process to a Warehouse Shipping process? This is particularly interesting to Business Process Outsourcing service providers. They have the problem of ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1498</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Want to Make Your Customer Happy? Consolidate and Eliminate Customer Touchpoints]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1496</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Everyone of us has been frustrated at one time or another paying for a service and getting it done from a service provider. The most ridiculous one was the provisioning of a T1 Internet line in San Francisco that I had to do as the CTO of a startup company ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1496</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Honda' s Flexible Plants - Lessons for Business Processes]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1495</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Here’s a fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal - Honda’s Flexible Plants Provide Edge  - Company Can Rejigger Vehicle Output to Match Consumer Demand Faster Than Its Rivals.Honda plants in the U.S use what are called Gray Robots that can be set up to manufacture Honda Civics, on ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1495</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Mining Process Intelligence For Gold!]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1489</link>
			<description><![CDATA[When it comes to Business Intelligence and what it means within organizations, these days it is primarily Sales Intelligence - Slicing and Dicing data to get insights into which products are selling in which regions/areas/cities, which salespeople are selling which products, etc. They are all possibly different views of the ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1489</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[California DMV - Stellar Example of Process Improvement Efforts]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1487</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Departments of Motor Vehicles around the globe are nightmares for people in every country. They will tell you horror stories about how they had to wait interminably for hours, how the DMV gave them the runaround while trying to get a new license or a driving license renewed. Getting your ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1487</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Notion of Value in a Service]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1484</link>
			<description><![CDATA[When applying the notion of Value and Value-Adding steps in a Service, the idea is not as clear-cut as in a product. For example, if you were to buy a car, fastening the door on to the car when it is manufactured is clearly a Value-Adding step for the end ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1484</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Manufacturing Vs. Services - Value Stream Mapping Differences]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1483</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Value Stream Mapping, very simply put, tries to eliminate Non-Value Adding activities while speeding up Value-Adding Activities. For example, in Manufacturing a Toy, attaching two pieces of the toy together is Value Adding while filling out a Production Floor Log is Non-Value adding. This is from the point of view ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1483</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Approach to BPM Adoption - Europe Vs The U.S]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1482</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Paul Harmon of Business Process Trends writes a very interesting column - BPM in Europe -  about the differences he sees between Europe and the US, when it comes to adoption and use of Business Process Management approaches, tools, and techniques.Paul observes that Europe is probably more advanced in ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1482</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Number 1 Enemy of  Process Improvement - Current Organizational Reality!]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1481</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The Number 1 enemy of most Business Process Improvement efforts within organizations is current organizational reality! Ironically, those companies in the developed countries that have been the most avid technology adopters are the most cursed!. We have run into many such organizations that have a long history of adoption of ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1481</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Collaboration 2.0 - A book review]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1480</link>
			<description><![CDATA[While not news for many of us, much of what is driving the developments in Collaboration and the developments in collaboration tools is the necessity to create a Virtual Team space (VTS).  Early in the book the authors define 10 trends in collaboration, the most interesting to me is ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1480</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Business Process Improvement is #1 Priority for CIOs in 2008!]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1479</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Gartner surveyed 1500 CIOs and published their results about their business priorities in their companies and the technologies that they were planning to spend money on in 2008. The #1 business priority is Business Process Improvement and the #1 Technology that they will be spending money on is Business Intelligence ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[ADM / IT&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;F&amp;A&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1479</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Business Intelligence Always Precedes Process Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1478</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Before you can effect any Process Improvement you need to have a clear, accurate and reliable picture of the AS-IS condition of a Business Process in terms of its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These KPIs can be measured against SLAs if it is outsourced, or in the Shared Services context. ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Blogger Bios&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1478</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Value Innovation in Process Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1477</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Value Innovations are a very useful concept pioneered by people in Competitive Product and Services Positioning. Analyzing the various of dimensions of Value of products or services as perceived by customers leads to competitive positioning that can lead to success.McDonalds restaurants always sold very inexpensive coffee. However they wanted to ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;F&amp;A&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1477</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Mizen Boushi - Prevention of Mistakes in Business Processes]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1476</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Mizen Boushi is a Japanese term (Used in Toyota Product Development Systems and others in Japan) for Mistake Prevention or "designing in quality". It seems to be a cousin of Poke Yoke which is on a smaller scale, "mistake proofing",  on physical things. The notch in your Mobile Telephone ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Blogger Bios&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1476</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Traffic Jams and Capacity Planning for Processes]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1474</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Accidents and Traffic Jams have a lot to teach about Capacity Planning for Business Processes!Whether it is Claims Processing or Home Loans or Help Desks, processes invariably deal with traffic jams.Usually, there could be long, serene periods, when things are flowing smoothly; no customer is waiting on the phone long ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1474</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Lean Improvement Is Green Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1465</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Green Enterprise is on the agenda of most corporations and organizations these days. Even the usually conservative Wall Street Journal published a whole section on Green Energies and Green Enterprise iniatives (Subscription may be required to see all the articles).In one of the interviews featured here, there is a very ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1465</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Lessons in Process Improvement from the Government?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1464</link>
			<description><![CDATA[From the Government? That too from the Judicial Branch!!!Judge Jon Tigar must be one of the coolest, most efficient judges in California and he taught me some lessons on how business processes can be improved on the fly, even in Government!Usually we complain about Governments not working for us properly, ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1464</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Internal Controls May Contribute to Runaway Processes]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1461</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Last Sunday’s Dilbert comic strip shows a very funny situation at the office but is all the more common than funny in real-life!Dilbert wants to make a change to an approval system. However he needs to undergo a course in making changes to the approval system before he can do ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1461</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Process Improvement meets Performance Management]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1460</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Recently there has been a spate of articles that hit the same theme: In order to improve business processes, you need to look at Operational Inteligence or Performance Management Information. Small surprise! Slicing and Dicing of Sales Data to understand which of your products are selling in which regions or ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1460</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[BPO Collaborations – There is a pressing need for them, but are they possible?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1458</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Dynamics of doing business in the BPO world are fast changing. Clients are increasingly seeking –  ·         Global delivery with emphasis on near, mid and offshore locations comprising both established and new geographies, ·        ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Blogger Bios&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1458</guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Free vendor selection application]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1457</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Outsourcing Mentor has just released a new free application that can assist in the vendor selection process. This application poses a series of questions in 4 main pillars of vendor selection. ·         Quality – How much does quality matter when thinking about ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Funhouse]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1457</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Lean Before Six Sigma]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1456</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I have seen many Six Sigma Projects that collect data at a very minute level (at a sub process level) and try to effect improvements at that level. In many cases, these may not account for much in the overall scheme of things. This happens more in the context of ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1456</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Creative Shortcuts in Lean Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1447</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Lean Improvement need not have to do ONLY with improving business processes as they are currently. True Lean Improvement may come from some creative shortcuts also, sometimes.Lean Improvement may not just have to do with doing something more efficiently. Instead of asking the question, "How can I do this faster ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Ploys and Tactics&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1447</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Process Improvement?  Dont Throw People at the Problem!]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1443</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The Associated Press reported that over 2007 summer, there was a huge surge in applications for U.S. Citizenship. Rep. Charles Schumer of New York pushed for hiring retirees from the Homeland Security Department’s Immigration Services Division back to reduce the backlog.This is a classic case of throwing people at the ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1443</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Illicit Process Improvement]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1433</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Nothing lightens up the Holiday Season like a funny story about Process Improvement!While most Process Improvement articles may be staid and boring, once in while you run across a funny story about Process Improvement and what is stranger than fiction? A True Story.This story on Illicit Process Improvement is something ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1433</guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Guinea Pig for 80/20 Rule - Passport Applications Processing?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1432</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The U.S Government around Jan 2007, required citizens travelling to Mexico, Canada and the Carribean have a U.S Passport.This brought in a huge record number of passport applications and the passport application backlog grew and grew! During the middle of the year, the wait times were sometimes 8 weeks to ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1432</guid>
		</item>

		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[The True Cost Of Business Processes]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1431</link>
			<description><![CDATA[What percentage of a company’s revenues are spent in Business Processes - 5%, 10%, 15%? Guess again. It may be more like 30% to 60%. I did a little study about two years ago and wrote about it also here.The traditional knee jerk approaches to increasing a company’s profitability are ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1431</guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Lazy Evaluation as a Business Process Improvement Method]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1430</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Lazy Evaluation is a very useful and innovative method in Computational Science. It involves delaying computing certain things till you are absolutely sure you need the value of that computation to proceed further. Programming Languages, applications and even system software like screen display painting algorithms in User Interfaces have used ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research&nbsp;,&nbsp;The Buzz]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1430</guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Optimization in Services Management]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1428</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I ran across an interesting paper  - Multidisciplinary Optimization in Services Management  by George Moldaveanu and Octavia Thor Pleter of The University Polytechnica of Bucharest. This paper gets into the use of Genetic Algorithms to manage the Costs, Quality and Speed of Services Management.However, companies are dealing with ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1428</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Don't look at TAT, look at Waiting Time]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1424</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Most Process Improvement efforts start usually looking at Turn-around Time (TAT) for each step in a process. This is useful but not as useful as looking time that is wasted in between process steps. This article shows how a hospital in Dallas reduced the waiting time to be admitted into ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[ADM / IT&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1424</guid>
		</item>

		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Performance Constraints and Services]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1423</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Performance Guarantees are offerred routinely in services. Fedex and UPS give you an expected date of delivery for normal ground shipping. Next day air and 2-day deliveries have their own implicit performance guarantees. Ordering computers online always includes an expected date of shipping that changes dynamically, if you change configurations ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[ADM / IT&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1423</guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[What constitutes Good Performance in Services?]]></title>
			<link>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1422</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Following up on my previous blog entry on Performance Constraints here, I would like to follow up on some more ideas on how to do better Performance Optimization in Services.Usually in Services, a number of Key Performance Indicators like Efficiency Metrics (Average Handle Time, Average Speed of Answer, Average Hold ...]]></description>
			
			<category>
			<![CDATA[ADM / IT&nbsp;,&nbsp;BPO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Call Centers&nbsp;,&nbsp;Companies&nbsp;,&nbsp;Cool Tools&nbsp;,&nbsp;General&nbsp;,&nbsp;Globalization&nbsp;,&nbsp;HRO&nbsp;,&nbsp;Offshoring&nbsp;,&nbsp;Research]]>
			</category>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Dec 1899 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blog.asp?bi=1422</guid>
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