Idea 36 - Outsourcing In 2003, Procter &: Gamble caused a few jaws to drop by outsourcing its IT functions to Hewlett-Packard, its human resources department to IBM and its facilities management to Jones Lang LaSalle. It reasoned that specialists in each process would be able to beef up efficiency and service. Not only has it not been disappointed, but it has been pleasantly surprised at the scale of the improvement. So far, the exercise has been a classic example of why management reaches for outsourcing. Not all outsourcing fits that description, by any means. Many who have tried it say it is very difficult to pull off, and the failure rate remains high - anything from 40-70%, depending on whom you ask. A series of very visible outsourcing calamities at big companies like Dell and Lehman Brothers (which re-insourced helpdesks) and JP Morgan (which clawed back its IT functions) raised doubts over whether the practice had a future at all. Certain British government ...