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Why Would You Hire These Guys?

Iowa has recently ordered payment to stop for consultants A.T. Kearney after the state auditors found that Kearney was being paid more than the state saved in the project! And that was after the state kept lowering the success metrics to try to make it easier for Kearney. This is what happens when you send masses of people to justify billable hours and large fees. The large consulting firms are not driven by their services, or their markets, or even their technology. They are driven by production capability, no less than the old-time paper plants or steel mills. Get all those bodies working on something, no matter what….

Source: Consultants News, Kennedy Information, Peterborough, NH
603/924-6390 or subscribe@kennedyinfo.com

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Posted by Alan Weiss on August 14th, 2007 filed in Business of Consulting |

3 Responses to “Why Would You Hire These Guys?”

  1. DSA Says:
    August 15th, 2007 at 9:18 am

    Sounds like a good opportunity to send them your booklet on “How to maximize fees”!

  2. richmartin Says:
    August 21st, 2007 at 7:35 pm

    A.T. Kearney was involved in a similar scandal in Canada last year. They were brought in by Treasury Board to find ways of streamlining government, or some other such aphorism. They eventually billed three times more than what had been originally budgeted for and specified in the RFP, and they still hadn’t produced a report. The project was stopped when a parliamentary committee discovered the problem and opposition MPs raised a ruckus in the House.

  3. energizegrowth Says:
    August 23rd, 2007 at 2:25 pm

    Hi Alan,
    And “Why would you hire THESE GUYS,?” Continued…

    I recently went searching in my business community for a technical support person. I contacted the Chamber of Commerce. I got 4 names.

    Now this is where the fun starts.

    Only 2 returned my phone call after 10 days.

    We had a pleasant conversation and I shared my critical requirements. I told them I don’t pay by the hour. I pay retainers and am willing to pay top dollar for the right IT consultant. They sounded excited.

    I requested, prior to hiring them to come here onsite, that they send me 3 references of companies they have helped.

    9 days have passed. Lyle at Connecting Point Computers disappeared and never returned my follow up call. Mark at CMIT Solutions sent me this response (6 days later):

    “I apologize for being so slow getting back to you. You had asked me to send you some customer references and I have been personally stewing about your request ever since.

    We would very much like to be the IT department for your business. Unfortunately, I am not willing to take the time of my established customers to have you check references. I value their time too much. The only other account that has asked me for references was Washington Mutual. I did ask customers to take the time then, but it was for a very large account. I don’t want to ask customers too often.

    If there is anything else I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

    Now, what could I POSSIBLY ask him to do for me? I’m stumped.

    If you think they got it bad in Iowa, then Bend Oregon isn’t too far behind.

    – Lisa Nirell
    http://www.energizegrowth.com

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