Profiles In Travel Management: Taro Tends To Growing Pains

Taro Tends To Growing Pains

Company: Taro Pharmaceuticals

Headquarters: Haifa Bay, Israel

2002 U.S. air spend: $1.2 million



Corporate travel manager Robin Buzzeo is handling a growing number of travelers and a seemingly perpetual augmentation in travel volume as Taro Pharmaceuticals continues down the acquisition path and boosts its quarter-over-quarter sales. Buzzeo—who estimated that Taro's travel has increased 20 percent during the past year, resulting in the addition of another member to her travel team—is bracing for a shift to a larger travel agency and has her hands full rolling out an electronic expense reporting system and trying to keep her Israel-based company's travelers safe.

Although Buzzeo is satisfied with the service from her current agency—a small leisure travel agency based in Brooklyn, N.Y.—Taro's growth spurt has caused the travel program to outgrow the service provider. Buzzeo has narrowed her selection down to four travel management companies, but would not disclose which ones. "If you talk to a bunch of travel managers who are looking for an agency, they'll say they're looking for the bottom line and getting the most for their dollar," Buzzeo said. "I'm not saying I'm not looking at the bottom line, but there's an unknown cost here and that is the quality of service. If you don't feel comfortable with the way they operate their business, the response time or how you feel when you meet with account management, and if you don't get that feeling that it's a good fit, you shouldn't take your business there. Being miserable with an agency is not worth the savings of 50 cents or one dollar a transaction." Unwilling to sacrifice relationships and service for bottom line economics, Buzzeo has looked high and low for travel agencies with a culture that complements that of her company. She said this has been her top priority as she has requested proposals from some of the mega agencies, as well as smaller regional agencies. "Nothing can replace humans," Buzzeo said. "I don't care if you have electronic RFPs. I don't care if you make everything streamlined. If I can't have a conversation with someone, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans." Buzzeo places the highest premium on human interaction in business, but she is not averse to automation. Taro late last year selected Outtask's Vinnet to replace its paper-based expense reporting system. Buzzeo plans to make a strong push this year to get the system rolled out. Before she goes companywide, Buzzeo is beginning implementation with a group of roughly 40 travelers from a recently acquired division. "We think it will be easier for them, since they're new and not on the old system," she said. She added that this would give her team the opportunity to work out the kinks before implementing the system on a grand scale.

With international headquarters in Israel, Taro and its travelers have been subject to the threat of terrorism and international strife since long before Sept. 11, 2001. The attacks on U.S. soil were a catalyst for many travel managers to take a deeper look at the necessary procedures for assuring traveler safety. Buzzeo, however, was among the few who kept intact company guidelines for dealing with potential travel hazards. "There were some people after 9/11 who were reticent to go on the road and, of course, we didn't force anybody," Buzzeo said. "The only thing we did after 9/11 was put out a memo to address the acts and what was going on, but we said we are in no way going to be held hostage, which is exactly what terrorist aims are." Buzzeo has countered the potential panic in travelers through education and communication, which has heightened their safety while overseas. Buzzeo regularly posts applicable travel advisories on the company's intranet and has set guidelines for those going abroad, especially in such volatile areas as Israel. "When our travelers go to Israel, we tell them, 'Don't go on the buses, don't go out to dinner as often you would here, stick close to our plant and the hotel areas and don't go wandering off on your own,' " she said.

Buzzeo also keeps tabs on the whereabouts of employees on the road. "I can't install a GPS system on our travelers," she said, but added that the next best thing is knowing where Taro employees can be located at every point of a business trip through enforcing strict booking policies. "Travelers can't make their own arrangements, and all changes have to be made through the travel office," she said. "That, in itself, is a security blanket."