Report Outline:

In 2002, Philips had c. 6,000 F&A personnel and conducted a benchmark on the efficiency of its financial processes. The benchmark found that performance was good but comparatively expensive. The company then decided to develop a shared service center operating model.

However, an increasing pressure on Philips to reduce the cost for administrative tasks, together with a desire to provide career paths for SSC personnel and to invest further led to Philips considering the sell-off of its SSCs to an external F&A service provider.