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      GLOBAL TELEMATICS
   
   
. Travel Value Management

US corporations spend over $155 billion each year on travel and travel related expenses, roughly $600 million each business day. At any given time, thousands of business travelers are on the road doing company business.

Despite the enormity of the expenditures, there is surprisingly little information available to answer a basic questions -- What is the value of business travel? Companies regularly examine the expected return on capital investments, expenditures for advertising and marketing programs and a host of other business activities and processes. But few if any companies even attempt to determine their return on the huge investment in business travel.

Without an understanding of the value of business travel to the company, strategic management of this important expenditure is impossible. In the absence of a strategic perspective, travel is managed as though it was simply another purchase made by companies. Travel management programs often reflect this purchasing orientation.

In this purchasing approach, there is little or no systematic differentiation of trips based on expected outcomes. There is also little systematic consideration of key trip characteristics that are likely to produce those returns. Cost becomes the primary consideration. Value becomes synonymous with lower cost.

The Travel Value Assessment is a process facilitated by  Global Telematics and Lehman Associates that is the first step in changing the assessment and management of business travel from a focus solely on cost to a focus on the value that business travel brings to a company. As a result of our work, companies will be better able to manage this key business activity to maximize returns to the company.

We call our approach Travel Value Management ™.

Along the way, we:

Blue_DiamondF022.gif (591 bytes) Fundamentally alter the view of business travel from one of a cost to be controlled, to one of a managed expenditure to be leveraged to provide maximum return to the company.

Blue_DiamondF022.gif (591 bytes) Develop the necessary tools and procedures to enable companies to assess the contribution travel makes to the company by understanding its value contribution in specific business processes.

Blue_DiamondF022.gif (591 bytes) Differentiate business travel by key characteristics such as trip purpose and expected outcomes to enable companies to make strategic decisions about travel expenditures.

Blue_DiamondF022.gif (591 bytes) Encourage greater collaboration between corporate travel managers and travel suppliers where the emphasis is on developing travel services that produce maximum returns to the company at a least cost.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this new approach to travel management, call 1-206-781-4475 or email tvm@globaltelematics.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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See our magazine article on this topic in Business Travel Executive (pdf)
Lehman Associates
 is the lead partner in this consulting and research
Differences between teleworking to a place and traveling there.
Teleworking Guidelines
Media Choice research bears on Travel Value Management
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Last modified March 20, 2017