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01 Practice Area

GBS Design & Build

We design and build GBS organisations from first principles — CFO rigour, operational experience, measurable results.

GBS organisations built from scratch (Bekaert, Bayer China)
20–25%
Cost reductions delivered across GBS programmes
€3.1M
Overhead savings from Dalian onshore transition
264
Maximum FTEs led directly across GBS operations

About this practice

Most organisations that attempt to build a GBS organisation fail not because they lack ambition, but because they lack the right kind of experience in the room. Frameworks are not enough. What is required is the judgment of someone who has held P&L accountability for a cross-continental shared services function — who knows where the playbooks break down, what the CFO actually needs to see in a business case, and what it takes to bring 200 people through an organisational transition without losing the best of them.

Talvoren Advisory brings exactly this. Peter Gent built two GBS organisations from scratch — at Bekaert and Bayer China — delivering 20–25% cost reductions with measurable governance improvements. Mikhail Konovalov designed and executed the IT and digital architecture that underpins GBS operations, including the Dalian onshore transition that captured €3.1M in overhead savings.

Together, we cover the full GBS lifecycle: from the initial business case through operating model design, location selection, vendor strategy, governance framework, technology architecture, and operational go-live. We do not hand over a strategy deck and leave. We stay until the organisation works.

What you get

  1. CFO-ready business case with hard NPV, IRR, and payback targets — not indicative ranges

  2. Operating model design covering onshore, nearshore, and offshore mix based on your cost, talent, and regulatory profile

  3. Location strategy grounded in real operational experience: Poland, Romania, Philippines, India, and APAC markets

  4. Governance framework design: SLA architecture, chargeback models, global process ownership, and performance dashboards

  5. Technology architecture aligned to your ERP landscape (SAP S/4HANA, Veeva) and cloud strategy

  6. Change management and talent acquisition support through the transition — not an afterthought

  7. Transfer pricing structure integrated into the GBS entity design from day one

Built for
organizations like yours

This practice area is designed for organizations facing the challenges listed here. If your situation matches, we should talk.

  • Mid-size multinationals outgrowing country-by-country operating models

  • Manufacturing, and chemicals companies building their first GBS organisation

  • Pharma and life sciences needing GxP-compliant shared services

  • PE-backed businesses needing rapid GBS build or consolidation pre-exit

  • Companies entering APAC markets who need a shared services model that works

Start a conversation

Tell us about your challenge. We'll share our perspective — no obligation, no boilerplate proposal.