- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing; 2nd Revised edition edition (18 Feb 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857881788
- ISBN-13: 978-1857881783
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 244,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It sounds like a thriller, it even reads like one, but Dangerous Company is actually the paperback version of a 1997 bestseller focusing on some of the most famous consulting firms in the world and some of their most famous faux pas. Written by two Chicago Tribune journalists, this fascinating book blows apart the powerful and secretive world of the likes of McKinsey & Co, Andersen Consulting and Deloitte Touche.
Based on sources within the consulting elite as well as their key clients, chapter after chapter reveals mind-blowing accounts of some of the worst disasters in consulting history, but also some of the greatest turnarounds. Read how one Fortune 500 company spent over $75 million on consultants only to find itself facing bankruptcy, while Sears' clever, and limited, use of consultants saved itself from the jaws of financial ruin. James O'Shea and Charles Madigan have revealed a side of management consultancy the consultants would rather you didn't know. For anyone hiring, or thinking of hiring, consultants, buy this book now. Even if you only read the 10-point checklist at the end, the few pounds outlay could save your company considerably more. For the rest, this book is an unmissable business handbook, revealing compelling insights into management-thinking at the end of the twentieth century. --Carey Green
Product Description
Investment bankers were known as the "masters of the universe" during the 1980s. In the 1990s, that title has been usurped by the major consulting firms: McKinsey, the Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, CSC Index, Gemini, Deloitte Touche and Andersen Consulting. All exercise enormous power and influence in international business and increasingly in the public sector. Many companies do not undertake a major initiative - from the launch of a new product to a merger, to downsizing - without the assistance, advice and hefty fees of the consultants. AT&T during one recent year, for example, paid $347 million to consulting firms. This study chronicles the successes, failures and practices of the biggest and most influential firms in the consulting industry. It takes a thorough look at their impact on a world entering into the complexities of the information age. Some of the questions looked at include: are consultants the agents of change they profess to be or are they merely hired guns willing to do the dirty work for a price?; are consultants an isolated elite with an abstract view of the consequences their advice has for the real world of people who depend on corporations to earn their living? ; and will the globalization of business which they earnestly promote result in a bigger pie for all to share or a greater concentration of wealth among the elites of the world? The authors spoke to sources within the firms themselves, gaining access to clients, finding court cases which reveal inside industry practices (for instance, the Guinness Affair). James O'Shea is the author of "The Daisy Chain".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In negotiations with a number of consulting firms, there is a ticklish area between getting the first deliverable and evaluating whether the contract should be renewed. Was the information valuable, useful, and acquired at a competitive price, and does it yield a competitive advantage?
I have found it useful to challenge consulting paradigms, because the way they think is a function of the universe as they see it. When the response to the challenge is, "Oh, I hold a patent," or, "This is how McKinsey did it," flags go up. This book helped validate some of my concerns about how consultants work, and, as an ex-consultant, I do note that the only employees who get trained CONSTANTLY--by experience--are consultants. Their knowledge is their bread-and-butter. I began refusing to deal with "green" consultants and account representatives from suppliers because I hate training their new employees. It's enough to train the people who make the commitment to show up, rain or shine, without needing overtime.
The best use of a consultant is when you have to make yourself and others comfortable with a bet-the-ranch recommendation. What's the cost of "not" doing something? If you manage the relationship well enough to get the consultant to say other than what you want to hear, you may get the kind of analysis that helps you to think "out of the box."
Otherwise, you should check your accounting practices: what's your ROI on consultants vs. employees?
Format:Paperback
Over some 15 years, I must have given away the same number of copies of this book to my clients as well as to consultants who have worked with me on projects - and there is still a wealth of insight for both.
For the client, there are real life examples on how external consultants can help you build your business - or destroy what you already have. You cannot abdicate management responsibility, and you need to ensure that the consultant's objectives, authority, roles, deliverables and spend are clearly defined and regularly monitored. You also need to get the key people in your organisation fully briefed and engaged.
For the consultant, it is a good reminder that on the one hand you can help bring valuable insight because the people on the ground can be just too close to the problem, but on the other hand, there are likely to be employees (perhaps not always in senior positions, and perhaps not always listened to enough) who know what the real issues and possible resolutions are - so seek them out. It is also a good reminder that you are not infallible and what is simply a fee-earning project for you, could be a matter of survival for the client.
For both, the client is not always right - nor is the consultant. So work in partnership, listen, solicit honest debate, and once you have agreed on a course of action, act decisively.
For the client, there are real life examples on how external consultants can help you build your business - or destroy what you already have. You cannot abdicate management responsibility, and you need to ensure that the consultant's objectives, authority, roles, deliverables and spend are clearly defined and regularly monitored. You also need to get the key people in your organisation fully briefed and engaged.
For the consultant, it is a good reminder that on the one hand you can help bring valuable insight because the people on the ground can be just too close to the problem, but on the other hand, there are likely to be employees (perhaps not always in senior positions, and perhaps not always listened to enough) who know what the real issues and possible resolutions are - so seek them out. It is also a good reminder that you are not infallible and what is simply a fee-earning project for you, could be a matter of survival for the client.
For both, the client is not always right - nor is the consultant. So work in partnership, listen, solicit honest debate, and once you have agreed on a course of action, act decisively.
Format:Hardcover
Reading this book, the question in your mind, so often, is "Why don't they see what's happening?" - Sadly, that they don't is self evident from looking around many businesses and this book explains what went wrong (and sometimes right) in the case studies covered.
It claims to lift the cover on the secretive world of the consultancies and does, but probably only a little. This is undoubtedly a tip of an iceberg and many of the cases described are 'in court', so left a little unresolved.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
You MUST read this before you employee ANY consultants
This book reads like a thriller, the first half is better than the second. Good for management consulting stories, have it on your desk when you haggle over the fees.
Published on 9 April 2000
A bit long in the middle, but probably worth the read
This book was recommended to me by one of my peers as we were finishing up our IT-grad job search process - if only I had read it a semester earlier! Read more
Published on 3 July 1999
very informative & interesting
A very interesting, entertaining and, at times, frightening book. Definitely turned me OFF of a career in management consulting!!
Published on 11 May 1999
A very interesting book for consultants
I think this book provides an interesting and ironic overview on the bigest consulting firms worlwide. Read more
Published on 14 April 1998
A interesting but ultimately superficial industry overview.
The authors present what is an unoriginal conclusion, but one that I have to agree with. However, the stories that are told are just anecdotal, with very little real proof of... Read more
Published on 12 April 1998
Fun but frustrating
Dangerous Company made me laugh - not quite what I had expected but a reaction that most who have dealt with consultants will have. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 1998
Enjoyed this book thoroughly!
I thought the authors did a great job looking at what consulting firms can do/not do for businesses. I enjoyed reading about how some of the firms started (e.g. McKinsey/BCG). Read more
Published on 9 Nov 1997
Career in consulting? Must read!!
For a new graduate from The University of Texas at Austin looking at consulting as a career path this book was a must-read. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 1997
A beat up
The book is written in such perjorative language that the authors bias is clear from the start. They hold consultants responsible for all of the "bad" that has ever... Read more
Published on 22 Sep 1997
Superficial and naive.
O'Shea and Madigan have tried to take a few "war stories", court documents, and interviews with consulting PR-types to generalize about how clients should deal with... Read more
Published on 22 Aug 1997
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