Dangerous Company: Management Consultants and the Businesses They Save and Ruin

This is an interesting book that provides a critique on the powerful consulting firms. The authors reveal some major failures by the powerful consulting houses. The enormous power and influence that some of the major consulting firms exercise is revealed and some staggering sums of money going into hundreds of millions that some companies paid to the major consultants and at the end of it all, the companies went into liquidation. The debacles are balanced by some remarkable turnarounds spearheaded by the same consultants. This is a must read for organizations that wish to engage consultants. Top managers would benefit from the various tips on how to effectively manage the relationship with consultants, and how they can protect their companies from consultants who keep running the clock with no tangible work being accomplished. It gives the client useful tips on how they can demand value from the consultants. It is also very useful reading for consultants as they have the opportunity to read critical voices on some shortcomings of their profession. This should assist them in coming up with better solutions to clients' problems. Students who wish to enter the profession will benefit a lot from learning about both successful and failed consulting engagements that would prepare them for the challenges of the profession. The authors raise some questions and concerns that are often expressed that indeed consultants are people hired by companies to justify some drastic and unpopular measures rather than being agents of change, which they prefer to consider themselves. On the other hand, when criticizing consultants, we may forget that the role of consultants includes giving advice to change or improve a situation but they do not have direct control over the implementation. The book is an insightful and interesting read for all the stakeholders of the consultancy business that is recommended.

James O'Shea and Charles Madigan have written an exceptionally informative text. Not only is it packed with well researched material, its gripping narrative style makes it very exciting to read as well.This book contains material that should be regarded as essential reading for all serious-minded professional managers. It is the ultimate thinking manager's book, filled with compelling case evidence of managerial indecision (and how to avoid it). It is arguably the best business book to be published between 1980 and 2000.Most negative reviews of this book suggest that it is either unbalanced, biased, or too superficial in its coverage of the management consultancy industry. Such claims should be accepted with caution, predominantly because they appear to be written by the very consultants whose feathers the book has obviously ruffled. Several of the chapters contain case studies that are anything but superficial. Ultimately the book shouldn't be taken as a modern-day Spanish Inquisition targeting consultants and their methods (although it is, in parts, a damaging exposure of management consulting's darker side). Instead, Dangerous Company's most salient message is really directed towards inept managers (at all organisational levels) who all too readily seek to mask their own ineptitude by relying on expert advice that they are often incapable of comprehending. The gripping Chapter 2 on "Figgie International" is the best example of this. It can be read as a stand-alone case analysis of strategic confusion, and is perhaps the book's most revealing segment. It's narrative style is particularly compelling.The book's underlying message (which is perhaps being missed by those who are quick to criticise the text) is that highly paid senior executives who readily abrogate their managerial responsibilities by blindly placing faith in the advice of external experts, are the "real dangers" to their companies. The authors make this clear in the final pages of their book, where they provide a checklist of 10 rules to follow when engaging management consultants. Rule 5 is "never give up control."The concluding lines of "Dangerous Company" are perhaps the most revealing of all: "Good advice depends upon the shrewdness of the person who seeks it." In the final analysis, the authors are not suggesting that managers shouldn't use consultants. They're merely suggesting that managers seek advice wisely rather than blindly.

James O'Shea and Charles Madigan have written an exceptionally informative text. Not only is it packed with well researched material, it is very exciting to read as well. This book contains material that should be regarded as essential reading for all serious-minded professional managers. It is the ultimate thinking manager's book, filled with compelling case evidence of managerial indecision (and how to avoid it). It is arguably the best business book to be published between 1980 and 2000.Most negative reviews of this book suggest that it is either unbalanced, biased, or too superficial in its coverage of the management consultancy industry. Such claims should be accepted with caution, predominantly because they appear to be written by the very consultants whose feathers the book has obviously ruffled.Ultimately this book shouldn't be taken as a modern-day Spanish Inquisition targeting consultants and their methods (although it is, in parts, a damaging exposure of management consulting's darker side). Instead, Dangerous Company's most salient message is really directed towards inept managers (at all organisational levels) who seek to mask their own ineptitude by relying on expert advice that they are often incapable of comprehending. Chapter 2 on "Figgie International" is the best example of this. This chapter can be read as a stand-alone case-analysis of strategic confusion, and is perhaps the book's most revealing segment. The book's underlying message (and this is obviously being missed by those who all too readily criticise the text) is that highly paid senior executives who readily abrogate their managerial responsibilities by blindly placing faith in the advice of external experts, are the "real dangers" to their companies. O'Shea & Madigan make this clear in the final pages of their book, where they provide a checklist of 10 rules to follow when engaging management consultants. Rule 5 is "never give up control". The concluding lines of "Dangerous Company" are perhaps the most revealing of all: "Good advice depends upon the shrewdness of the (person) who seeks it." In the final analysis, the authors are not suggesting that managers shouldn't use consultants, they're merely suggesting that managers seek advice wisely rather than blindly.

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?

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). I thought some of the authors' recommendations when dealing with consultants were on the money. The two biggest take-aways from this book are: 1. If you need consultants, keep them focused on YOUR agendas and 2. Don't underestimate the knowledge of your company's own employees. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the consulting industry.