Global professional services conglomerate Marsh & McLennan Companies this fall took a major step in the consolidation of a previously disparate travel management structure by moving operations to BCD Travel in three countries representing 80 percent of MMC's travel and entertainment expenses.
The organization's five operating companies had been using a total of 41 agencies "with no consolidation," said global corporate travel head Judy Bauer. MMC previously used American Express Business Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Egencia and Hogg Robinson Group, as well as "smaller and local agencies," in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, said Bauer. MMC in August 2007 put the request for proposals "in play," but Bauer and her colleagues took a deliberate approach because of the five operating firms' independence.
New York-based MMC--parent to professional services companies Guy Carpenter, Kroll, Marsh, Mercer and Oliver Wyman Group--employs about 55,000 people and in 2007 generated about $11.4 billion in revenue.
"Five operating companies is not like five divisions; this was really autonomous," said Bauer, a travel management veteran who also has worked for JPMorgan Chase and Lucent Technologies. "I presented the value proposition of consolidation and took it one step at a time. We operated with a council of representatives from the operating companies. Clearly, we [in procurement] own the relationship with BCD, but in the past all the companies had hands in the travel management company relationships without a subject matter expert leading the initiative."
The process involved extensive collaboration, in which representatives from all the operating companies examined "tools, reporting and organizational structure," said Bauer. "They got to meet people from the TMCs. With the financial negotiations, we then backed them out. That was the second part of the process. Then, they all voted on the technology and the reporting capability. Pricing was not the driving consideration. All the vendors came in very close."
MMC in April selected BCD, awarded the business for the three key nations in June and implemented in late September. Dedicated agents are servicing MMC in the United States out of BCD's Cleveland office. A Mississauga, Ontario, office handles Canada and there is a mix of configurations "for the moment" in the United Kingdom, said Bauer.
As for what won it for BCD, Bauer said, "One nice thing is they handle online fulfillment and offline together."
For online booking, MMC uses KDS in the United Kingdom, GetThere in the United States and Cliqbook in Canada, all "based on the regional needs in those areas," said Bauer. "We have an opportunity to increase adoption."
Bauer also named BCD's TripSourceTM: Portal as "one of the other driving things. We can provide the content and update it, and it is becoming our major communication and information vehicle [with travelers]. You want everyone to get their own information. We have single-sign on in the U.S. and Canada."
Next up for Bauer and her "lean and mean" team, including Janet Lasten, Lynne Lawrence and Greg Wilczek, is further global consolidation.
"We now have one TMC for the U.S., U.K. and Canada, and in the first quarter, we're bringing on the remaining European countries," said Bauer. "They had reached out to me--Poland, Greece and Germany (which was the only place where BCD was a current supplier, covering all five operating companies there). So we have Spain, Greece and France on the hook, plus three or four more, and we also have Brazil coming."
Other goals include meetings management, car service and corporate card, where "we have an enormous consolidation opportunity," she said.