Bianca WrightHeredia, Costa Rica and Guadalajara, Mexico will be the location of two new sites for global professional services firm Genpact — a move designed to cater to customer Walmart. In November last year, Genpact announced a strategic partnership with Walmart to manage the company’s North American finance and accounting (F&A) operations.
“We’re building on that relationship now and will manage most of Walmart’s Latin American F&A services,” said spokesperson Danielle D’Angelo. “As result of this expanded partnership with Walmart, Genpact will open a new delivery center in Heredia, Costa Rica and a digital innovation hub focused on advanced analytics in Guadalajara, Mexico.”
Walmart is known for running a tight ship, despite its size, and its increasing focus on e-commerce has meant an even greater tightening of operations. The greater investment in outsourcing seems to be part of this.
Clay Johnson, executive vice president and enterprise chief information officer at Walmart, said in a statement: “Since we started working together last fall, our co-innovation has seen immediate progress in transforming our finance and accounting operations in Bentonville, Arkansas, improving quality of service and experience, and reducing cycle times. We look forward to expanding these results now in Latin America and delivering value that is in the best interest of our associates and customers.”
The site in Costa Rica is still pending government approval, but Jorge Sequeira, managing director of CINDE, the economic development agency in Costa Rica, welcomed Genpact in a statement and noted: “We are confident that Costa Rica’s talent, our quick learning skills, and adaptability will contribute to the success of Genpact as a leader in digital transformation to best serve its global clients.”
Genpact said it would capitalize on its expertise in digital transformation to help manage Walmart’s Global Business Services’ F&A operations in Latin America. “We will co-innovate with Walmart to help Walmart continue to accelerate its digital transformation, fuel its long-term growth, and unlock savings for reinvestment in innovation and growth,” D’Angelo added.
The choice of sites was influenced by the fact that Walmart already has facilities in Heredia, Costa Rica and Guadalajara, Mexico so these were optimal locations for Genpact to assume management of Walmart’s Latin America F&A operations.
“Genpact is excited to open a delivery center in Costa Rica, a new market to us, and expand our presence in Mexico. Guadalajara is our third location in Mexico, building on our existing deliver centers in Juarez and Monterrey,” she said. The deal will use a managed services delivery model.
Although Genpact does not disclose details of confidential client engagements, D’Angelo said that Genpact will manage Walmart’s Latin America F&A operations at this site, leveraging its expertise in digital technologies and analytics, and domain and process depth in retail and consumer goods.
She added that Walmart’s Global Business Services F&A associates in Costa Rica and Mexico who are affected by this engagement will transition to Genpact. When Walmart outsourced its North America F&A to Genpact last year, close to 600 employees were laid off at a corporate office in Charlotte, North Carolina. The layoffs are due to begin in September.
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