{"id":8985,"date":"2022-11-16T08:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T06:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/escp.eu\/thechoice\/?p=8985"},"modified":"2023-02-17T17:16:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T15:16:59","slug":"the-usefulness-of-consultancies-an-old-issue-in-need-of-new-answers-and-new-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/escp.eu\/thechoice\/tl-dr\/the-usefulness-of-consultancies-an-old-issue-in-need-of-new-answers-and-new-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"The usefulness of consultancies: An old issue in need of new answers\u2026 and new questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Do McKinsey and other consultants do anything useful?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is the ostensibly provocative question posed by The Economist <\/em>in a recent article<\/a>. It (re)surfaces in the context of scandals in South Africa<\/a> and France<\/a> among others, and the polemical release of a book written by two journalists from the New York Times:<\/mark> When McKinsey Comes to Town<\/a><\/em> constitutes a new cornerstone in the somewhat complicated relationship between the prestigious newspaper, which regularly delivers critical insights into the world’s best-known consulting firm, and McKinsey\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is provocative only in appearance. Business as usual, really: as The Economist<\/em> rightly points out, media criticism is growing but the consulting sector is doing well.<\/strong> The \u201cBig Three\u201d or \u201cMBB\u201d (the three most prestigious consulting firms: McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company) has seen its turnover triple since 2010 to around 30 billion dollars, and employs 70,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To provide an answer, The Economist<\/em> cites some of the traditional functions of consulting services such as increasing the credibility of a decision, obtaining solid analyses in an (apparent) scientific manner or providing access to specialist knowledge. Let us try to answer the initial question more exhaustively before explaining how we could rejuvenate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing businesses<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, consultants could be perceived as technical experts, focused on diagnosis and problem-solving, able to heal the organizations in which they intervene (functionalist approach). But where does the value of this intervention come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgar Schein posed this structuring question in 1978:<\/a> is the consultant a content expert, or a facilitator who masters a better problem-solving process? In other words, do consultants tell clients what to do or facilitate a better process for them to discover solutions? The study he conducted led to different models:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n