Rate how well the two firms maintain a single shared view of the risks that agent work introduces

The mean rating was 3.6 and the median 4.0 (n = 793 respondents). Ratings of 3 or below, the distressed range, made up 48.30% of the answers. The rating was associated with all four study measures. Higher ratings came with less cancellation (r = −0.62, 95% CI −0.71 to −0.51, p < 0.001, n = 150 engagements), higher customer satisfaction among active engagements (r = 0.62, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.73, p < 0.001, n = 94 engagements), a higher engagement indicator mean computed without the indicator (r = 0.85, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.89, p < 0.001, n = 150 engagements) and lower intent to leave (r = −0.67, cluster bootstrap 95% CI −0.73 to −0.61, p < 0.001 with standard errors clustered by engagement, n = 744 respondents). After Holm correction, ratings differed by engagement status and lifecycle stage (Welch F 41.99, Holm p < 0.001, omega squared 0.385) and respondent role (Welch F 9.69, Holm p = 0.001, omega squared 0.021).

Few written responses addressed the indicator: 26, all from C156, the comment field on joint management, of which 19 were negative and 7 positive. Most described two risk lists, one kept by each firm, that were never merged, so the same issue was raised in two meetings and resolved in neither. The positive responses described a single shared log reviewed together and placed the remaining gap elsewhere. On engagements where the written responses were more negative, cancellation was more common, and respondents whose written responses were more negative reported higher intent to leave.

Ratings of 3 or below, the distressed range, accounted for 383 of the 793 answers (48.30%). The engagement mean fell in the distressed range in 65 of 150 engagements.

The primary responses numbered 26, all written in answer to C156, “Add any comments on the joint management of this engagement that the ratings in this section do not capture.” No response from any other question addressed the indicator, so every response was primary.

Of the 26 responses, 16 stated that each firm kept its own risk list or register, or that no shared list existed. Respondents described what followed: the same issue discussed twice and fixed in neither forum, a latency exposure that sat on one side alone until the monthly forum, a team that learned what the institution already knew only when a document bounced back, and two registers that did not say the same thing when read side by side. Five asked for one list that both firms could see and write into, in one case alongside a single named person with authority to sign.

The seven positive responses described a single risk log, reviewed together weekly or fortnightly, and said it worked. They placed the remaining gap elsewhere: a review reduced to a signature, a stop button that took three people and nearly two hours, or agent behaviour that drifted between releases faster than any forum could rule on it.

Of the 26 responses, 19 (73.08%, 95% CI 55.56% to 88.46%) were negative and 12 (46.15%) carried the strongest negative score of −10. Positive responses numbered 7 (26.92%), and no response was neutral. The mean written score was −4.6 (95% CI −6.9 to −2.2, n = 26 responses), and the median was −5.0.

Of the 26 responses, 26 came from respondents who also rated the indicator. Among them, the written score rose with the rating (Spearman rho 0.70, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.90, p < 0.001, n = 26 responses). The written responses corroborated the rating. Of the 19 negative responses with a rating, 11 (57.89%) came from respondents whose rating was in the distressed range.

Respondents who wrote about the indicator and gave a rating numbered 26, with a mean rating of 4.1. The 767 respondents who rated the indicator without writing about it had a mean of 3.6. The difference, 0.5 (95% CI −0.6 to 1.5), included zero. Ratings in the distressed range made up 42.31% of the ratings from respondents who wrote (11 of 26) and 48.50% of the ratings from respondents who did not (372 of 767).

Every figure in the segment tables is at respondent level. Segments with fewer than 30 respondents carry no interval. Segments with fewer than 10 report counts only.

Segment families recorded at engagement level were tested on engagement means. Respondent role and vendor type were tested on respondents. Where an expected count fell below 5, the test of the distressed share used Fisher's exact test for a two-by-two table, marked exact, or a Monte Carlo test, marked simulated. After Holm correction, ratings differed by engagement status and lifecycle stage (Welch F 41.99, Holm p < 0.001, omega squared 0.385). Active engagements in Build-Out rated highest (mean 4.6, n = 164 respondents) and canceled engagements lowest (mean 2.2, n = 297 respondents). Ratings also differed by respondent role (Welch F 9.69, Holm p = 0.001, omega squared 0.021). Portfolio directors rated highest (mean 5.0, n = 29 respondents) and individual contributors lowest (mean 3.5, n = 612 respondents). Outsourcing model, institution type, process family, class of work and vendor type showed no difference.

Written sentiment did not differ by engagement status and lifecycle stage across the 24 engagements with a written response (Kruskal-Wallis H 7.69, df 3, p = 0.053). Fewer than two groups held 10 or more responses, so the groups are reported as counts only: active engagements in Build-Out (8), active engagements in Transition/Cut-Over (6), active engagements in Production (4) and canceled engagements (8).

No test across respondent roles was run, because fewer than two roles had 30 or more written responses. Individual contributors wrote 17, engagement managers wrote 6 and portfolio directors wrote 3 responses, reported as counts only.

Cancellation rate is the share of engagements canceled by the study date, measured at engagement level (150 engagements, 56 canceled). Canceled engagements were rated after cancellation. The association is therefore a descriptive contrast and not a forecast of cancellation.

Across the study set, higher ratings came with less cancellation (r = −0.62, 95% CI −0.71 to −0.51, Holm p < 0.001, n = 150 engagements). The association held after Holm correction in fifteen of the 20 segment levels tested.

Customer satisfaction is the percentage recorded against each engagement. The primary estimate uses the 94 active engagements. A descriptive contrast uses all 150 engagements.

Across the active engagements, higher ratings came with higher customer satisfaction (r = 0.62, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.73, Holm p < 0.001, n = 94 engagements). The association held after Holm correction in twelve of the 16 segment levels tested.

The engagement indicator mean is the mean of an engagement's ratings across the rated indicators, measured at engagement level (150 engagements). The indicator is one of the rated indicators. Each comparison therefore uses the mean recomputed without it.

Higher ratings came with a higher engagement indicator mean (r = 0.85, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.89, Holm p < 0.001, n = 150 engagements). The association held after Holm correction in twenty-four of the 24 segment levels tested.

Intent to leave is the answer to C019, “How likely are you to leave your current job in the next 12 months?”, rated 1 to 10. It is measured at respondent level on up to 798 respondents, with the engagement-level form reported alongside.

Respondents who gave higher ratings reported lower intent to leave (r = −0.67, 95% CI −0.71 to −0.63, Holm p < 0.001, n = 744 respondents). The association held after Holm correction in thirty-seven of the 37 segment levels tested.

Two comparisons set the engagements with at least one negative response against all other engagements. Of the 132 other engagements, 126 had no written response addressing the indicator. These two comparisons therefore do not isolate written sentiment. Of the 18 engagements with a negative response, 7 (38.89%) were canceled, against 49 of the 132 other engagements (37.12%). The difference did not reach significance (Fisher exact p = 1.000). Customer satisfaction among active engagements did not differ between the two groups (mean 66.64% on 11 engagements against 63.76% on 83, Welch t 0.80, p = 0.440).

Two correlations test written sentiment directly. Across the 24 engagements with a written response, a more negative engagement mean written score came with cancellation (point-biserial r −0.52, p = 0.009). Across 25 respondents, a more negative respondent mean written score came with higher intent to leave (Spearman rho −0.62, p < 0.001). Of the four comparisons, two reached significance at 0.05.

The four associations were compared in pairs on their engagement-level forms, each oriented so that a higher value is the better outcome, across the 150 engagements with all four measures. After Holm correction, five of the six pairs differed. The association with the engagement indicator mean was the strongest and the association with cancellation the weakest. The associations with customer satisfaction and intent to leave did not differ (Holm p = 0.541).

Answers clustered within engagements (ICC 0.67). Clustering reduced the 793 respondent answers to the equivalent of about 204 independent answers. Respondent-level intervals therefore used the cluster bootstrap. Respondent-level tests of intent to leave used standard errors that allow for clustering by engagement.

No association was equivalent to zero. Each of the four differed from zero. The detection floor shown is the study floor at 150 engagements. Intent to leave was tested on its effective sample size.

Each change was computed before rounding and may differ by 0.01 from the difference between the two printed values.

All 22 checks held. A check holds when its test falls on the same side of 0.05 as the primary test. Where the primary test falls below 0.05, the check must also keep the sign of the primary correlation. The thin-base check removes the engagements in any level of outsourcing model or process family with fewer than 30 engagements. Institution type is not used for that check, because every one of its levels has fewer than 30 engagements.

Each of the four measures was computed from data the indicator does not contain. Each result is therefore a finding and not an arithmetic consequence. The indicator is one of the rated indicators, and the engagement indicator mean was recomputed without it. The correction changed r by 0.00, from 0.85 to 0.85.

Each deviation was computed before rounding and may differ by 0.01 from the difference between the two printed values.

The comparison covered 150 engagements. The indicator followed the study's typical pattern on all four measures, and no deviation held after Holm correction.

Among the 71 Part 2 indicators with 30 or more written responses, the indicator's share of negative responses, 73.08%, ranked 53rd from the highest, against a median of 80.82%. Its mean written score, −4.6, ranked 40th from the most negative, against a median of −4.7.

The indicator most often present in the same responses was C136, “Rate how effectively the customer and vendor jointly manage this engagement now that agents perform part of the work.”, in 8 of the 26 responses (30.77%). C144, “Rate how well the joint change control process keeps pace with the speed of agent behavior changes.” (5 responses), C141, “Rate how effectively the two firms manage issues arising from agent work as one team rather than through two separate processes.” (4 responses), C143, “Rate how quickly the two firms together can stop an agent that is behaving badly in live operations.” (4 responses) and C147, “Rate how well human review points are placed across the two firms at the moments where agent errors would matter most.” (4 responses) followed.

The most frequent theme was “Respondent proposes a remedy”, in 6 responses (23.08%). The second was “Comparison to a prior engagement”, in 4 responses.

Nearly half of all ratings of how well the two firms maintain a single shared view of the risks of agent work fell in the distressed range (383 of 793 answers, 48.30%). The rating was associated with all four study measures, and every association held under each of the 22 robustness checks. Canceled engagements rated far below the three active stages (mean 2.2, n = 297 respondents).

The written evidence is small and consistent. The shared view of risk the rating describes was, for most respondents who wrote, a concrete artefact: one list or two. Where there were two, risks known to one firm stayed unknown to the other until something failed.

The evidence is the reported experience of the vendor's delivery teams, collected in a single cross-section. The associations reported here are not causal.

Tests by respondent role and by vendor type treated respondents as independent. The section on clustering reports how far clustering within engagements reduced the information in respondent-level figures.

Customer management executives gave 2 answers, a base of anecdote strength.

Shares of written sentiment are shares of responses and not of the study set of respondents. The written score takes five fixed values, so its mean and median are coarse. Responses clustered within engagements (26 responses on 24 engagements). Intervals for written sentiment therefore used a bootstrap by engagement.

The written responses number fewer than 30, so their shares and the written-sentiment tests rest on a small base.