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CRUCIAL OUTSOURCING INGREDIENTS-------------------------------Why farm out a business function? The answer to this is in why you eat outSucceed with John Bittlestonsucceed@newstoday.com.sgOutsourcing vermin control is sensible. They are experts; you are not.It's not something you have to do a lot of, and a regular, disciplinedapproach will keep the potential problem under control.What about outsourcing other things, though? It's become very fashionable.Is it a good idea?What exactly is outsourcing? It's giving a job you had previously done toanother supplier. Why? Because he has more specialised staff andexperience and will do a better job; because it will be cheaper for you.Maybe because you won't have to take on the payroll people you might laterhave to let go and pay redundancy money to.We need to be very clear what it is we are going to outsource and why.Physical functions are relatively easy to outsource. You don't try togenerate your electricity or process your water. It would clearly befoolish to do so - unless, of course, you are a huge power-hungry industryor a massive brewery needing a lot of fluid throughput.Let's look at something we regularly outsource and keep under our owncontrol: Food preparation. We buy semi-prepared food for the house; wesend out for pre-prepared food (take-away); we eat out at restaurants andhawker stalls.We do this for convenience, sometimes (though seldom) for the low prices,for a break from the drudge of fixing a meal, for a chance to meettogether for fun. Each reason has its own rewards. But in our heart ofhearts we know Mama's homemade is always the best, the most nourishing andprovides the greatest family cohesion.I've used the analogy of the home because I think that, even though homeis not a business, it provides lessons about outsourcing. Certainly, thepopiah skins from the master are likely to be best, but, generally,homemade food is tops. Why? Because it has the care, love, attention,devotion and skill of someone to whom the production of a great meal meansso much.When we "outsource" feeding the family, we lose a little of theget-together feeling, some of the cohesion of home, a small part of thefabric of our filial-based society. No, of course I'm not suggesting weshouldn't eat out or bring home a take-away. Both are a wonderful part ofour exciting society. I do a lot of both myself. I am suggesting abalance, at home and in business.How would I define the line between what is sensible and what is not?Easy. I ask one question: Will what I am about to outsource - when addedto what has already been outsourced - result in my losing just a bit toomuch of the culture, style and cohesion of the business? When it is placedelsewhere, will my company still be seen as the business I want it to be?Or will it become a catalogue-holder, a promoter, an agent rather than aprovider, producer and carer?Will the money I make or save from outsourcing contribute more to thebusiness?The big car companies learnt a long time ago that when teams on theproduction line saw the assembly of each car all the way through tocompletion rather than just repetitively dealing with one small stage ofit, they became more efficient, took more pride in their work, werehappier at it, and ended up with much more reliable cars. They could pointto what they had achieved.A great banquet is made up partly of the cook's skill, mind, passion andsoul. A great business has the same ingredients.John Bittleston mentors people in business, career and personal matters.For more information, visit www.TerrificMentor.comBRAINFOOD---------Services Marketing: People, Technology, StrategyJochen Wirtz and Christopher LovelockJust what are the key challenges that face service managers in today'scompetitive business world?That's one question that two prominent academics address in this sixthedition of the best-selling Services Marketing series, restructured tocater to the Asian market.The pair - National University of Singapore Business School's ProfessorJochen Wirtz and Professor Christopher Lovelock from the Yale School ofManagement in the United States - have put together a revised edition ofServices Marketing that offers plenty of up-to-date insights into thereality of today's service economy. Used by many renowned universitiesworldwide, this book is also suitable for anyone who wants a uniquemanagerial perspective of the service sector. Extensive research went intothe collection so that nearly every possible aspect - from customerbehaviour and good business models to building relationships to usingtechnology - is covered.Wirtz and Lovelock wrote a majority of the cases and most others are drawnfrom the case collections of institutions such as Harvard, Insead andYale.Those who will benefit the most from this text are professionals inmarketing, service-oriented industries, corporate communications,advertising and public relations. See for yourself why, with more than250,000 copies sold in six different continents, the book has been laudedby critics as the world's most successful and effective services marketingtext. - LEE U-WENServices Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy is on sale at majorbookstores at $230.50