Recognizing it does not have subject-matter expertise in travel management operations, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline decided to enlist support from the travel agency community. That decision led to the creation of a jointly managed configuration for the company's worldwide travel, including both a team of outsourced travel management professionals and an internal global program led by GSK procurement.
The outsourced side of the program encompasses individuals from BCD Travel and HRG, the two global travel management companies that emerged from the 2006 breakup of Business Travel International, GSK's previous globally consolidated partner that had helped create the outsourced travel model. "It is not about who they work for," said GSK director of procurement for corporate services Janan Johnson, regarding the BCD and HRG employees assigned to GSK. "It is about the client they work for. They check their egos at the door."
GLAXOSMITHKLINE'S OUTSOURCED TRAVEL PROGRAM | Position | | Responsibilities | | | Global account manager | | Program management | | | Regional business managers | | Develop strategy, lead negotiations, manage supplier relationships, review performance with key stakeholders | | | Performance manager | | Identify savings opportunities, report savings | | | Data manager | | Develop key performance indicators, provide financial, compliance and security reporting | |
Source: GlaxoSmithKline |
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Those individuals--a global account manager based at GSK headquarters in London, four regional business managers, a performance manager and a data manager--are deeply rooted within GSK. "They are actually part of our sourcing group training," Johnson explained during a National Business Travel Association conference in July. "They use the same terminology that we would use as GSK employees. They use the same service delivery models, the same key performance indicators and the same methodology."
Regional business managers are located in Miami for Latin America, the United Kingdom for Europe, Sydney for Asia-Pacific and Philadelphia for the United States. "They develop strategies, lead negotiations and manage supplier relationships," and, therefore, participate in performance reviews with suppliers and internal finance leaders, Johnson said. "The value we have found in that is that they are more connected to the program because they own that relationship, and because they are ultimately speaking to a supplier." Outsourced regional business managers also play a key role in effective communications, which Johnson described as the linchpin to a global travel program.
Regional programs account for local nuances, but maintain a degree of commonality. That allows GSK procurement to own the overall program while regional business managers handle operations on the local level.
The configuration also is supported by a global travel advisory board, including representatives from corporate executive teams. "That has created transparency for the program, so that it does not feel like procurement is driving every initiative,"Johnson explained. "It is not all about money, or all about service, or all about people. It is all about everything."
Other outsourced program members include a performance manager, who handles compliance reporting and data analysis, and a data manager charged with producing reports on key performance indicators, global security and financial information.
"The outsource team is the implementer," Johnson said. "Once we make a decision, we get it out to the regional business managers and it is up to them to implement it." The internal GSK sourcing group manager responsible for travel "doesn't lose any accountability" for the 52-country, $650 million T&E program, Johnson added. "But he has individual team members sitting within the regions who are more culturally identifiable to that region. They have the capability to draw on vast information from around the world from their agency relationships."