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Companies outsource back-office business processes mainly to boost efficiency and reduce costs. Payroll, HR and accounting processes – the most common to be outsourced – are heavily transactional, and many companies determine that external specialists can execute these far more cost-effectively than they can themselves. It might therefore be expected that providers’ mastery of the relevant technical skills is the critical success factor in any relationship. The intangible aspects of these relationships – a partner’s reliability, trust and other 'non-technical' skills – count as much as (or even more than) harder factors, such as their specialist capabilities, in making outsourcing relationships work.

It’s helpful to start by clarifying the definitions of terms that are widely used but often confused. Simply put, outsourcing is the provision of specialist skills by a specialist third party service provider who focuses solely in this area. Insourcing is the provision of those services by an in-house team. Offshoring relates to the provision of those services by an outsourcing provider based in a different country (or continent) to that of the purchaser or user.

F&B companies are using international expansion to chase profits globally.

Private equity has always focused on creating value and helping promote growth in portfolio companies. Since the industry began, private equity firms have tried many ways to meet this ultimate objective – and with varying success. Now, post the global financial crisis, the question being asked more than ever is: how can private equity deliver its value-added promises?

Dynamic businesses at the forefront of M&A activity highlights an increasing importance for M&A in driving growth. There is a clear acknowledgment from the 12,500 businesses surveyed that acquisitions will be needed to supplement existing operations.

The appetite for cross-border deals has rocketed by 18% during the past 12 months. This is the key finding from our latest research that looks at attitudes to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among business leaders worldwide.

Through our International Business Report we’ve been keeping track of global figures on the appetites for both domestic and cross-border transactions since 2008.