Abstract
This paper is based on a study of nine business units in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa focusing on their governance relationship with the Shared Services department(s). The focus of the paper is an extension on the unpublished Master degree research thesis conducted by Simon Maabe with the University of Johannesburg, on determining the extent to which collaboration through governance practices involving partnering with customers influences three separate aspects of Shared Services performance: structure, amplitude and delays. This paper proposes a conceptual model: Shared Services – Customer Integrated System (SSCIS) with hybrid top-down strategy. The SSCIS conceptual model intends to provide managerial insights to Shared Services departments to achieve their objectives as well as to improve customer relationship. Through an appropriate governance design, it is envisaged that the CSIR might be able to control critical factors, performance indices to maintain flexibility and robustness, and improve planning their governance based on the characteristic of the business units.
This paper concurs with previous studies that Shared Services departments are most effective when they are serious about governance and incorporate critical elements such as service level agreements, customer service liaisons, and governance committees or boards. The paper concludes that getting governance right is an essential tool for Shared Services survival and growth.