| As the business world enters a period of | | | | external service company to transfer and/or |
| hyper-competitiveness, every business process | | | | share responsibilities for the successful operation |
| will be subjected to examination and possible | | | | of the learning function: design, development, |
| restructuring. We have already seen outsourcing | | | | delivery, administration, measurement, and |
| and offshoring used to an extent what nobody | | | | reporting."Brakeley went on to talk about the |
| would have dreamed of a few years ago. | | | | range of possibilities for Learning BPO:"The |
| McDonald's is testing the offshoring of its | | | | outsourcing relationship may be as simple as |
| drive-thru process to India. How about, "Do you | | | | outsourcing the learning management system and |
| want fries with that?" with a New Delhi | | | | the learning administration responsibilities |
| accent?Even though McDonald's testing of | | | | (sometimes called out-tasking) or as complex as |
| business process outsourcing (BPO) has caused | | | | arranging for an external company to plan and |
| quite a stir, it's only the beginning. What started as | | | | deliver the entire enterprise learning function, |
| the outsourcing of a few basic business | | | | encompassing an organization's complete value |
| processes, such as payroll or accounts receivable, | | | | chain, from employees to customers to channel |
| has grown into a "movement." No internally | | | | partners."How much of the learning process should |
| performed business process is "safe."IT, finance, | | | | your organization outsource? Are you fully aware |
| supply chain management, and customer | | | | of what outsourcing possibilities are available to |
| relationship management have been outsourced. | | | | your organization? Obviously, you cannot ask your |
| Why not the learning process?Labor costs in | | | | internal providers for an objective evaluation of |
| Western countries are out of control. American, | | | | external resources. Be prepared for strong |
| German, and French workers are overpaid. To | | | | resistance to change when considering Learning |
| compete with the Asian countries, Western | | | | BPO.To read Brakeley's entire article on Learning |
| companies must become more efficient. | | | | BPO see the April 2005 issue of Chief Learning |
| Controlling costs (and remaining competitive) will | | | | Officer.To read more about Overcoming |
| require the outsourcing of inefficient business | | | | Resistance to Change see my special report at |
| processes.So, what is "Learning BPO?" The best | | | | Mike Beitler is the author of "Strategic |
| definition is Hap Brakeley's of Accenture Learning. | | | | Organizational Learning." His book is used at GM, |
| In Chief Learning Officer (April 2005, p.4), | | | | Blue Cross, Ingersol Rand, and others to build |
| Brakeley defined Learning BPO as:"a broad range | | | | organizational learning sytems. |
| of relationships that organizations establish with an | | | | |