Investor vigilance extends from M&A to outsourcing

To date, shareholder activism in the west has tended to focus on allegedly poor M&A deals. But it is only a matter of time before investors turn their attention to today’s – and tomorrow’s – major outsourcing deals, which have far more in common with strategic M&A than with traditional customer–contractor relationships.

For CEOs and boards, the message is clear. As outsourcing matures to the level of M&A, so the degree of public and shareholder scrutiny of these deals will rise to a similar level. Get strategic outsourcing right, and you can transform your business and be lauded by shareholders. Get it wrong, and you will be judged – and treated – every bit as harshly as Carly Fiorina in the wake of HP’s acquisition of Compaq.