Carlson Wagonlit Travel announced
a travel management governance consulting service, offered through its CWT Solutions
Group consulting arm. The travel management company recently issued a paper on the
topic to help travel managers "assess existing governance approaches, such
as the extent to which travel teams should be involved in corporate initiatives
indirectly related to travel, such as social media, mobile and corporate social
responsibility."
Based on "in-depth interviews"
with 22 predominantly global companies, CWT highlighted four travel management governance
structures. A "procurement orientation with regional teams," used by some
of the "very large" global organizations CWT examined, has such characteristics
as "a high degree of cost orientation, a culture that favors centralization
and a travel management team that is empowered and allowed to mandate travel policy."
Organizations favoring a "procurement orientation with a global team,"
according to CWT, "typically take a neutral stance on centralization, globalization
and outsourcing, but do exhibit a strong orientation toward cost containment."
Challenges include obtaining local buy-in for the global travel program and "a
culture that typically tends not to mandate, limiting the travel team's ability
to improve compliance and increase cost savings for the organization."
For "separated services
with hierarchical reporting line," procurement and travel management teams
share travel program responsibilities. Organizations adopting this approach disfavor
outsourcing and are "generally opposed to mandating travel policy." Because
"a large number" of employees typically are involved across all
regions and functions, CWT determined this model creates "duplication of efforts
and other efficiency reductions such as long decision times."
Those organizations favoring
a travel management outsourcing model typically align within the procurement department
a small number of internal, dedicated personnel. They typically benefit from strong
executive support, but can be constrained by their minimal internal resources,
which "can limit the TMC's ability to communicate within the client organization."
CWT wrote that it recently has "observed heightened sensitivity toward cost
containment in uncertain economic times, which has generated additional interest
in outsourcing various travel management functions previously handled internally."