|
| Implementation |
 |
A recent issue of the Consultant's Tip of the Day, published by IMC USA, contained this observation:
"The dominant value of management consulting services is in diagnosis, not necessarily in implementation services."
Given that most of us begin projects with some form of diagnosis, that perspective sounds reasonable. Regardless of the kind of assignment, it's unlikely that you would launch a project without uncovering the underlying reasons for the initiative.
But it's tough to create insightful diagnoses without a deep understanding of the problem, which we usually gain from implementation experience. That experience sharpens our ability to diagnose problems, and I think the two must go hand in hand.
I've met strategy-focused consultants who have only an intellectual grasp of the complexities of implementing a strategic plan. Often, the result is strategic plans that take longer to create than anticipated and are more difficult to implement.
I find it troubling that some clients don't demand proof that their consultants' diagnostic skills reflect current knowledge about how things work--in the real world.
Anyone can put together a presentation deck and make recommendations. But we must ask two questions: Will those recommendations really work? And, how do we know?
The answers to those questions come from our depth of implementation experience.
P.S. You can sign up for the Consultant's Tip of the Day by visiting http://www.imcusa.org.
Enjoy this month's issue.
And send me an email if you have comments.
Mike
McLaughlin
Editor
Management Consulting News is a publication of MindShare
Consulting.
|
| MCNews 12 Index of Professional Services |
 |
Bold Moves
Two mega deals surfaced this month, leaving thousands pondering their fates. Hewlett-Packard plunked down $13.9 billion to grab tech services giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS).
HP Execs covet EDS' giant outsourcing business because it has a large number of customers producing predictable, continuous revenues. HP CEO Mark Hurd is no stranger to making deep cuts in the name of better productivity. He is likely to look at labor costs as one area for pruning. Don't be surprised to see substantial layoffs.
Also this month, Booz Allen Hamilton announced a well-known "secret": that it will separate its US government and global commercial businesses, and sell a majority stake in the US government business to The Carlyle Group for $2.54 billion. We've written more about that development elsewhere in this issue of the newsletter.
In the shadow of these transactions, the MCNews 12 Index firms continued to pick up steam, pulling a 2.25 percent monthly return while the S+P 500 Index went down by 1.56 percent.
Not surprisingly, EDS led the charge as investors snapped up its shares in anticipation of the HP buyout.
Except BearingPoint, every firm we track recorded solid gains last month. So far in 2008, the MCNews 12 Index is up more than 13 percent, compared to a 2.8 percent rise for the S+P 500.
|
MCNews 12 Index |
Monthly
Change |
S+P 500
Change |
| May 2008 |
1,012.90 |
2.25% |
-1.56% |
| April 2008 |
990.59 |
11.51% |
5.13% |
| March 2008 |
888.27 |
-4.87% |
-1.74% |
The MCNews 12 Index reflects general investor sentiment about the state of the global professional services industry.
The twelve publicly-traded companies included in the MCNews 12 Index account for roughly $80 billion in combined annual revenue, and serve clients around the world.
Learn more about the MCNews 12 Index 
|
| Interview:
James Champy |
 |
 "When I see the strategies that many companies produce, I have a hard time finding the call to action that a good strategy should evoke."
James Champy has been stirring the management pot for decades. The Chairman of Perot Systems consulting is widely known for coauthoring Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution with Michael Hammer.
Champy's latest book, Outsmart!: How to Do What Your Competitors Can't, breaks new ground by showing executives how to apply the lessons of "smart" organizations to achieve dramatic growth in the toughest markets.
Read
our interview with James Champy
|
| Flying Solo, by Alan Weiss |
 |
 When Is a Buyer Not a Buyer?
We are all better off with honest resistance rather than dishonest embrace. Resistance and objection are signs of interest.
But false acceptance and dissembling are signs of lack of respect and an attempt to move us along and out without having sufficient regard for us to deal with unpleasant candor.
Read
the article
|
| If Marketing Met Sales |
 |
Researchers at The Bloom Group found that less than one-third of the professional service providers surveyed had high or very high success creating awareness about their services and expertise.
Most reported only moderate traction in creating market awareness among their targeted clients.
When asked about their efforts to generate new relationships with prospective clients, survey respondents indicated equally disappointing results.
Bloom's researchers found something that most everyone understands, but consistently ignores: Effective coordination of firm marketing and business development leads to more client awareness, more opportunities for relationship building, and more sales leads.
Too often, firm leaders let marketers and business development managers pursue independent paths to the same targeted clients. The predictable result is overlapping efforts and a poor use of funds.
If, for example, you have boxes of unused article reprints or special reports stacked in a closet, that's not a good sign.
The easiest way to get your marketing and business development teams pulling in the same directions is to get them together to discuss the matter.
After all, both teams have similar objectives, and the power of integration is a no-brainer.
Imagine if you could boost your success in establishing new relationships, even just a little.
Source: The Bloom Group
|
| Goodbye Booz Allen Hamilton |
|
After months of anticipation, Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) announced that it would sell its US government consulting practice to The Carlyle Group for $2.54 billion, which is roughly two times the revenue for that BAH practice.
BAH retains its commercial consulting practice. According to Paul Collins, consulting sector M&A expert from Equiteq, the firm will rebrand itself as Booz and Company.
Collins says that the transaction demonstrates "the difficulty that Management Consulting firms have managing pure consulting and general business services under the same roof."
It took BAH a number of years to build a profitable business services practice to serve the US government. That practice, Collins points out, has a very different "staff profile, culture, and competitive market than the original BAH firm."
Only time will tell if this transaction is good for BAH clients, partners, and employees. Collins estimates that the 3,300 professionals remaining in the new Booz and Company must produce conservatively at least $1 billion in revenue to keep pace with past performance.
Practitioners in the government practice face an even greater revenue challenge. But they can look forward to a potential IPO in the future.
As Booz and Company reinvents itself, the consulting industry's future is morphing before our eyes.
Every person who helped build that storied firm to its place of prominence will mourn the loss. Then, they can move on to the next chapter in building two new firms.
Goodbye Booz Allen Hamilton.
|
| Stop Airline Colds |
|
If you think you caught your last cold on an airplane, it turns out you could be right.
According to a study in the Journal of Environmental Health Research, you may be 100 times more likely to catch a cold on a plane than you are in your everyday activities.
Among the many ways that people get colds while flying, the study zeroed in on the extremely low cabin humidity of most airplanes. Low humidity compromises the body's first line of defense against harmful germs and bacteria.
You can protect yourself against an airline cold by staying hydrated, keeping your hands clean, gargling with a disinfectant mouthwash during the flight, and taking a multivitamin on a regular basis.
It all sounds like advice you'd get from your mother. But it just may help fight off a vicious head cold.
|
| Coming
Attractions |
|
 "The idea that leaders are models of morality is so widespread in corporate life as to amount to a cult."
Next month, we'll talk with James Hoopes, professor of Business Ethics at Babson College. Hoopes' new book, Hail to the CEO, challenges the conventional wisdom that Hoopes believes causes so many leaders to fail miserably.
Look for the next issue of Management Consulting News on July 1, 2008.
|
