Business decisions to outsource often focus on the need to improve service performance and drive innovation. At the outset of an outsource process, most service providers enthusiastically promote their “transformational” outsourcing services and the resulting improvements and innovation. But companies mostly find that, once a contract is signed, much-promised performance improvements

and innovation rarely materialise. So, how can an outsourcing relationship be structured to drive the

desired service provider behaviour and deliver service improvements or innovation?