CONVERGYS in France Alexandre Phung Fabrizio Signorin Laure Sureau Nitin Govila Xueyi Hu Best in...
-
date post
18-Dec-2015 -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
Transcript of CONVERGYS in France Alexandre Phung Fabrizio Signorin Laure Sureau Nitin Govila Xueyi Hu Best in...
CONVERGYS in France
Alexandre PhungFabrizio SignorinLaure SureauNitin GovilaXueyi Hu
Best in France Case StudyJanuary 2004 – May 2004
Best in France case study 2
Purpose
The Best in France case study aims at :
Identifying what adaptations firms must make when opening business units in France,
Assisting students, companies and government ministries by identifying and benchmarking managerial strategies that add value to the French economy and to firms operating in France,
Creating a database of the detailed studies, available to the participating firms.
Best in France case study 3
Executive Overview
What is Convergys? Company Products and Clients Why did Convergys come to France? Company Values Constraints in France Adaptation to France Key Constraint Costs Key Benefits Takeaways
Best in France case study 4
Convergys Corporation provides (NYSE: CVG) provides integrated billing, customer care, employee care and transaction management software and services to create valuable customer and employee relationships for its clients (government entities and top companies in telecommunications, Internet, cable and broadband services, technology, financial services, etc.).
What is Convergys?
Best in France case study 5
Key Figures/Data More than 45,000 employees in 49 customer contact centers,
two state-of-the-art data centers and other offices in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, India, Israel and Asia.
Market standing 40% of the wireless billing market in the U.S. 1.5 million individual invoices daily for 120 million subscribers
worldwide
Recognition S&P 500, Forbes’ Platinum 400, Fortune’s Most Admired
Companies Best Overall Product at TeleStrategies’ Billing World 2002
Financial highlights Double-digit growth in annual revenue, operating income, earnings
per share and free cash flow from 1998-2002 $2.3 billion in revenues for 2003, Net Result / Sales = 7.5%
Best in France case study 7
Worldwide Presence
North AmericaWorld Headquarters in Cincinnati
United States Canada
Arizona Illinois Oklahoma Virginia AlbertaTucson Chicago Oklahoma City McLean EdmontonCalifornia Kansas Pennsylvania Reston LethbridgeSan Francisco Kansas City Media Vienna Red DeerSan Ramon Louisiana Philadelphia Washington British ColumbiaColorado Baton Rouge Tennessee Seattle KamloopsDenver Mississippi Chattanooga Wisconsin ManitobaPueblo Hattiesburg Clarksville Appleton WinnipegConnecticut Missouri Texas Nova ScotiaWoodbury St. Louis Brownsville HalifaxFlorida Nebraska Dallas New GlasgowFt. Lauderdale Lincoln Houston TruroFt. Pierce Omaha Killeen NewfoundlandJacksonville New Jersey Lubbock St. JohnsOrlando Morristown Pharr OntarioTallahassee North Carolina Utah OttawaGeorgia Greenville Cedar City WellandAtlanta Ohio LoganValdosta Cincinnati OgdenIdaho Toledo OremPocatello Salt Lake City
Best in France case study 8
Worldwide PresenceAsia PacificRegional Office in Singapore
Australia India Philippines ThailandMelbourne Bangalore Manila BangkokSydney Chennai Singapore RestonChina Hyderabad South KoreaBeijing New Delhi SeoulHong Kong Japan Taiwan
Tokyo Taipei
Europe, Middle East, AfricaRegional Office in Cambridge, UK
Belgium Fareham Germany The Netherlands ScotlandEvere Guildford Frankfurt Utrecht EdinburghEngland London Israel Portugal SpainBristol Newcastle upon Tyne Herzlia Lisbon MadridCambridge France Tel Aviv Russia Switzerland
Paris Italy Moscow GenevaMilano
Latin AmericaRegional Office in São Paulo, Brazil
Brazil Rio de JaneiroBrasilia São Paulo
Best in France case study 9
History
1990: Matrix, company owned by , specialized in call centersAcquisition of two French companies:- Phone Market Systems (outbound calls)- Syscall (inbound calls)=> 1 structure in France, 2 activities
1998: Spin off from Cincinnati Bell=> Convergys
Strategy of European expansion:- France (first choice)- United Kingdom (starting)- Sweden (acquisition)
2001: Sale of call center activities in Europe (France, Sweden) Big contract with Orange France in billing
Best in France case study 10
Products/Services
Customer Management (CMG) Customer service Customer acquisition Technical support Sales support Marketing research
Information Management (IMG) Service activation and
provisioning Mediation Rating and Billing Customer Care
Employee Care Payroll administration and processing Health and welfare administration Benefit plan administration Job posting and applicant support Learning management HR data management
2/3 of turnover from IMG1/3 of turnover from CMG/Employee
Care
Best in France case study 11
Clients Who are the company’s clients?
Big multinational groups- 7 of the top diversified financial firms, 6 of the top 10 credit card issuers, 3 of the top 5 commercial banks- 8 of the top 10 cable operators in the U.S.- 3 of the top 5 mobile operators in the U.S. as well as the largest mobile operators in South America and Europe
What are their expectations? Innovative solutions that optimize their customer relationships for a
competitive advantage Delivery of superior service, technology and productivity
How does a French presence help the company’s ability to satisfy client demands?
High level of education, competencies and services to clients
Best in France case study 13
Why it came to France
Expansion of Convergys international operations = a means to grow faster and to capture more of the international billing, customer care and employee care markets
Strategy of European expansion:Target countries = 7 big countries in Europe: France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Benelux
France represented an important market.
Proximity to clients (Orange France = biggest contract in the EMEA zone)
Best in France case study 14
Corporate Values
Seven core values within Convergys: Unparalleled client satisfaction Integrity Shareowner’s trust Teamwork Respect for the individual Diversity Corporate citizenship
Good fit between the first 5 core values and the French culture
Cultural shock about diversity because Diversity is not a major issue in France whereas it is prevalent in
the U.S. Few discrimination cases in Europe and France A considerable number of languages and cultures in Europe
Best in France case study 15
Corporate Values
Cultural shock about the role of the company Clear distinction between corporate life and private life in France
=> employees are not inclined to community citizenship within their companies
Some experiences have been tried (e.g. food drives, charitable works) but unsuccessfully in France, and were not repeated.
France was the most reluctant country (contrary to U.K., Spain, Germany).
Some measures taken to fill cultural gaps A French general manager was sent to the U.S. for 5 years. Two American finance directors were sent to France as well for a
period of 4 years in total. An American IT director was sent to France for 1,5 years. 40 US expatriates for knowledge transfer during the Orange
France project.
Best in France case study 16
Constraints in France
Two main constraints in France: Labor costs Lack of flexibility due to the social infrastructure
Labor costs Wage costs: tax rate of 35% in France (vs. 12% in UK for
example) 50% of overheads in France
=> a lot of groups settle their headquarters in UK despite the currency exchange rate (and benefit from the language, more social flexibility and free-market economies)
35 hours/week 217 workdays/year in France vs. 240 in most of European
countries
Best in France case study 17
Constraints in France
Lack of flexibility due to labor legislation and social environment Rigidity of working hours, salaries Layoffs Daily management of relationships with unions and works councils Application of the labor legislation to the letter
Convergys faced strikes with call center activities
However, the expansion of Europe and the will of EC to standardize labor legislations should soften these differences in the long run.
Other constraints Poor foreign language skills of French employees at the beginning
=> need for internal trainings and evolution of recruitment criteria
Best in France case study 18
Adaptation to France
Recruitment/Selection Requirement of English-speaking stated Use of the global corporate system of competencies Same hierarchical structure worldwide
Compensation Adjustment to wage scales in France Stock Purchase Plan not implemented in France (too expensive)
Workforce planning Performed at the Business Unit level
Performance Appraisal Use of the global corporate performance appraisal system Problem at the beginning with the language …
Best in France case study 19
Adaptation to France
Motivation Each employee is required to define his/her personal
development through the “Personal Development Center” for training.
Some U.S. motivation methods were not adapted to France (seniority anniversary cards, thank-you motivational cards).
Worldwide compensation scheme
Training Training sessions, CBTs, e-learning, etc. The annual budget represents 2% of the wage bill and 10% of
the working time.
Job Design, Job Assignment Everyone has a visibility to all jobs available. Performing corporate tool to match competencies with jobs But equivalence defaults between some U.S. job titles and
French job titles (e.g. secretary trilingual “assistante de direction”)
Best in France case study 20
Adaptation to France
International Transfers, Use of Expatriates About 40 expatriates from Cincinnati & Orlando brought their
expertise to the Orange France project for a limited duration of 2 years.
The Paris IMG BU is now in consulting mode: numerous French employees sent abroad on international projects (UK, Belgium, Slovakia, Sri Lanka).
Matrix reporting to the U.S. and to Europe for support functions
Delegation from the U.S. headquarters at the HR level Flexibility and high level of confidence from the U.S.
Data privacy/safe harbor legislation
Communication Policies External: Public Relations agency Internal: most internal communications are in English
Best in France case study 21
Key Constraint Costs
HR type costs Hiring Paying Training Dismissing
Structure costs Real estate Travel Taxes
Communication constraints Poor foreign language skills (employees and clients)
Best in France case study 22
Key Benefits
Product/Service quality Very high productivity (high level of education, professionalism)
Location benefits High concentration of clients in Paris Quality of life Employee satisfaction with France
Government assistance Assistance from the government for call center activities
Market potential Cultural adaptation of products and services
Best in France case study 23
Future in France
Today, only one project in France: Bouygues Télécom (IMG) No production in France for CMG and Employee Care Employee Care is the best potential market in France for the
future. But there is no intention to develop production activities in
France at the moment.
The corporate strategy is to centralize EMEA activities in one country with low production costs.
Serving French clients from outside vs. from France Eventuality to centralize EMEA activities in the UK
Best in France case study 24
Takeaways
4 major lessons learned from the French experience:
Difficult to instill some typical U.S. values in France
Rigidity of the French social legislation
High labor costs
Language/cultural issues
Best in France case study 25
We thank
Isabelle BRISARD, Vice President Implementation EMEA ASPAC, Convergys Employee Care [email protected]
Gérard FARMER, Finance Director, Convergys France SAS [email protected]
Convergys France1, quai de Grenelle75015 ParisTel: +33 (0)1 56 77 36 00http://www.convergys.comhttp://www.convergys.fr
Best in France case study 26
Bibliography
References: Convergys Web Sitehttp://www.convergys.com
Convergys Annual Report 2003http://www.convergys.com/pdf/investor/annual_report_2003.pdf
Convergys Enterprise Profilehttp://www.convergys.com/pdf/brochures/
cvg_enterprise_profile.pdf
Appendix Questionnaire
Best in France case study 27
Our Team
Alexandre PHUNG, [email protected]
Fabrizio SIGNORIN, [email protected]
Laure SUREAU, [email protected] Nitin GOVILA, [email protected] Xueyi HU, [email protected]
HEC School of Management1, rue de la Libération78351 – Jouy en Josas CédexTel: +33 (0)1 39 67 70 00http://www.mba.hec.frhttp://www.hec.fr