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| Congrats to the Winners |
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Thanks to everyone who entered our book giveaway last
month for The
Change Management Pocket Guide, by
Kate Nelson and Stacy Aaron. And the winners are…
Blakely
Atherton – Oakland, CA
Denise Deverell Crown – Austin, TX
Tim Johnson – Denver, CO
Patrick McEvoy – Brantford, Ontario
Kevin Paulsen – Hiawatha, IA
Enjoy this month’s issue and, if you have any
comments, please send me an email.
Mike
McLaughlin
Editor, Management Consulting News
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| Interview:
Daniel Pink |
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Daniel Pink, author of the bestseller, Free
Agent Nation, is back with another
unique take on what’s happening in the world of
work—and life. His latest book, A
Whole New Mind, is equal parts history,
philosophy, and “how-to.”
Pink
believes that the era of left-brain dominance, which
gave rise to the Information Age, is losing ground to
a new, Conceptual Age. And right-brain skills like inventiveness,
empathy, and design will help us thrive in this flattened,
digitized, and outsourced world.
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| Consulting Firms in the News |
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Infosys
on a Hiring Spree
Infosys
Technologies plans to invest $20 million and more
than quadruple headcount to 500 people in its US-based
consulting practice. Infosys Consulting, which currently
operates only out of the US, will also expand globally
in the next few years. The newly formed consulting practice
is looking to break even this year. The plan is for
every Infosys consultant to generate projects for four
workers, creating work for 2,000 more people.
The
company also plans to hire 1,000 people over the next
several quarters for its Chinese subsidiary.
Accenture
to Invest $100 Million in Information Management Services
Consulting
giant Accenture
announced that it will invest $100 million over the
next three years to build out its information management
services practice. The firm believes that services to
help clients store, view, analyze, and manage information
will be a $27 billion market within two years.
CapGemini
Shrinks Again
IT
services vendor Capgemini
SA is to sell a 95% stake in its Japanese operation
to NTT Data, the network and IT services arm of telecom
giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. The sale, which
is expected to close in a few months, is valued at roughly
$32 million. CapGemini employs about 150 people in Japan.
The deal is Capgemini's second transaction in recent
months. It follows the sale, announced in April, of
its North American healthcare operation to Accenture
for $175 million in cash.
Last
year, Capgemini sold 19 of its outsourcing contracts
to the pan-Asian IT services company, Frontline Technologies,
for $9.6 million, and raised $83 million through the
sale of its remaining 14.6% stake in the call center
company, Vertex Data Science, to United Utilities.
The
company also dumped its infrastructure management units
in Sweden and Norway last November to EDB Business Partner
for $30 million.
BearingPoint
to Spend $90 million to Prepare 2004 Results
BearingPoint
chief executive Harry L. You said that the company will
be ready to report its 2004 financial results in September.
The company believes it will spend $90 million to get
its accounting house in order.
The
company has yet to report its financial results for
the first two quarters of 2005, though unofficial reports
suggest that bookings are strong. That would represent
quite a turnaround from public comments made in April
by the company’s CEO suggesting that a cash crunch
threatened the solvency of BearingPoint.
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| The BIG Picture on Consulting |
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According
to a
study by the market intelligence firm, IDC, the
global consulting market is expected to increase from
nearly $48 billion in 2004 to $57.5 billion by 2009,
at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 3.7%.
The
study found that, in 2004, overall spending on consulting
fluctuated between a flat trend and a slight increase.
But the market had areas of growth, including emerging
technologies, regulatory compliance, infrastructure,
and IT.
Although
consulting spending is fairly stable, the number of
consulting projects signed and delivered is increasing,
which suggests a trend towards smaller projects and
more aggressively priced services.
From
a regional perspective, the Americas represent the largest
market for business consulting services, while Europe,
the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) host the fastest-growing
IT and business consulting opportunities.
By
2007, the EMEA region is expected to surpass the Americas
in spending on IT consulting services, though the Americas
will experience significantly higher spending on business
consulting services.
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| CEO:
Career Ending Opportunity? |
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“The giant sucking sound heard in the business
world during 2004 was the extraction of chief executives
from seats of power,” states a recent study on
CEO succession authored by Booz Allen Hamilton consultants.
According to the study, of the world’s 2,500
largest companies, more than 14% of CEOs abandoned their
corner offices in 2004. Almost one-third of the CEOs
heading out the door were forced out by cranky investors
and board members. The study’s authors report
that, “This is the highest level of forced resignations
we have seen. It represents a 300% increase over 1995,
the earliest year we’ve benchmarked.”
The primary reason for the firings: poor performance.
Shady ethics and political power struggles took a back
seat to lackluster results. In the year before they
were fired, dismissed CEOs generated returns that were
almost 8% lower than did the CEOs who left on their
own terms.
The news is worse in Asia (excluding Japan) and Europe.
These regions have the highest overall turnover, the
most firings, the shortest tenures, and the most rapidly
increasing rates of turnover. CEOs in Europe, for example,
were twice as likely to be axed as their US colleagues.
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| Upcoming
Events |
|
Top-Consultant/Management
Consultancies Association Careers Fair,
Friday, October 7, 2005, in London. 350 recruiters and
company representatives will participate in the Fair.
Institute
of Management Consultants Confab 2005:
“Be Ready for What’s Next” October
23-25, 2005, Reno, Nevada. Join Michael McLaughlin on
Monday, October 24, as he leads a session on “The
Art of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants.”
International
Quality & Productivity Center: 7th Annual Corporate
University Week, October 31-November 4,
2005, Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The event will present
a dynamic forum for the exchange of ideas and formation
of new business partnerships for those involved in the
creation and development of corporate universities.
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| Coming
Attractions |
|
 Next
month, Jeff Thull, author of Mastering
the Complex Sale and The
Prime Solution, will be our guest.
Thull will talk about how consultants can close the
value gap, which is the high-cost disconnect between
the value promised to clients and the value
achieved.
Look
for the next issue of Management Consulting
News on September 6, 2005
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