Recognizing Failure

Three out of the 20 transformational outsourcing examples on which this book is based are counted as failures by their executives. As we noted in Chapter 9, all three were failures of strategy, not failures of execution. (Since failures of execution are common in conventional outsourcing, this success rate highlights the value of sponsorship from the top.) The possibility of failure, even if it is small, raises some serious questions we should answer:

• How do executives know when their initiative is failing?

• When should they pull the plug?

• How can they spot doomed initiatives early so they can quit before they start?

• If the partnership fails, who does the work?

• How is that transition best managed?