The World's Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century PDF
Preview The World's Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century
P1:JZZ 052182463xpre CUNY370B/Weiss 052182463X April30,2006 15:59 This page intentionally left blank ii P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE WORLD’S NEWEST PROFESSION “If you use consultants, or claim to be a consultant, you should read this book.”–CharlesWilson,CEO,BookerLtd. “Thisbookshouldberequiredreadingforeveryonewhoteachesatabusi- ness school, as well as for all MBA students. I recommend it to anyone interestedintheupheavalsaroundcorporategovernanceandprofessional ethicsthatmarkedtheturnofthe21stcentury.”–JoAnneYates,SloanDis- tinguishedProfessorofManagement,MITSloanSchoolofManagement “McKennahasunearthedthedistinctlyAmericanoriginsofmoderncon- sulting in the evolution of financial market regulation – surprisingly and convincingly.”–JohnClarkeson,Co-ChairmanoftheBoard,TheBoston ConsultingGroup “Witch doctors or miracle workers? Whatever your view of management consultants, it pays to understand how the world’s leading consulting firms have become so influential. McKenna’s superb history reveals how one crucial piece of U.S. legislation – the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act – and one vibrant American city – Chicago – spawned an industry that has transformed the face of global business and national government in the 20thcentury.”–MartinGiles,ManagingDirector,TheEconomistGroup, NorthAmerica “Fascinating, frightening, and perfectly timed – McKenna’s sweeping sur- veyshinesabrilliantlightonaprofessionthathasalwayspreferredtokeep outsidersinthedark.”–MartinKihn,authorofHouseofLies:HowMan- agementConsultantsStealYourWatchandThenTellYoutheTime i P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 “McKennaopenstheprivateworldofmanagementconsultingtohiskeen analyticaleye,providingarich,absorbingaccountingoftheriseandexpan- sion of this profession and a sharp critique of consulting’s role in shaping the strategies of the world’s largest corporations. This is a fascinating, revealingbookaboutaprofessionthathasreceivedlittleserious,sustained scholarlyattention.”–WalterW.Powell,ProfessorofEducation&Sociol- ogy,StanfordUniversity “This history of management consulting analyzes an important stream of thehistoryofmodernbusinessitself.Today’smanagerscanputitsinsights topracticalusewhenengaging–ordecidingnottoengage–consultants.” –TonyTyler,ChiefOperatingOfficer,CathayPacificAirways “McKenna’sbookdoesasuperbjobofexploringtherolethatthisindustry playedintransforming(notalwaysforthebetter)avarietyofdifferenttypes of organizations – from businesses to religious and charitable associations togovernmentagencies–andthroughthemmuchofthefabricofmodern life.”–NaomiLamoreaux,ProfessorofEconomics&History,Universityof California,LosAngeles “Historyisnotbunk.WithGlass-Steagallrepealedandtheaftershocksof theEnronscandalbynomeansover,thetimingofTheWorld’sNewestPro- fessioncouldhardlybemorefortuitous.McKenna’sbreadthofscholarship and clarity of argument will undoubtedly sit, like Banquo’s ghost, at the consultingbanquetforyearstocome.”–FionaCzerniawska,Consultingto Management “McKennaoffersalivelylookataprofessionthathasoftenbeenshrouded insecrecyandshowshowithasbecomeenormouslylucrative–although notalwaysasaresultofthequalityofadvicebeingdoledout.Interestingand provocative,McKenna’sbookoffersalenstounderstandthedevelopment ofthemoderncorporation.”–JonHousman,ManagingDirector,TheWall StreetJournalEurope ii P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 THE WORLD’S NEWEST PROFESSION In The World’s Newest Profession, Christopher McKenna offers a history of management consulting in the twentieth century. Although manage- ment consulting may not yet be a recognized profession, the leading con- sulting firms have been advising and reshaping the largest organizations in the world since the 1920s. This groundbreaking study details how the eliteconsultingfirms,includingMcKinsey&CompanyandBoozAllen& Hamilton, expanded after U.S. regulatory changes during the 1930s; how theychangedgiantcorporations,nonprofits,andthestateduringthe1950s; and why consultants became so influential in the global economy after 1960.Astheygrewinnumber,consultantswouldintroduceorganizations to “corporate culture” and “decentralization” but they faced vilification for their role in the Enron crisis and for legitimating corporate blunders. Through detailed case studies based on unprecedented access to internal files and personal interviews, The World’s Newest Profession explores how managementconsultantscametobesoinfluentialwithinourcultureand explainsexactlywhatconsultantsreallydointheglobaleconomy. Christopher D. McKenna is University Lecturer in Strategy at the Saïd Business School, Fellow of Brasenose College, and a founding member of the Clifford Chance Centre for the Management of Professional Service Firms,allwithintheUniversityofOxford. iii P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 iv P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN THE EMERGENCE OF GLOBAL ENTERPRISE Editors LouisGalambos,TheJohnsHopkinsUniversity GeoffreyJones,HarvardBusinessSchool Otherbooksintheseries NationalCulturesandInternationalCompetition:TheExperienceofSchering AG,1851–1950,byChristopherKobrak,ESCP-EAP,EuropeanSchool ofManagement KnowledgeandCompetitiveAdvantage:TheCoevolutionofFirms, Technology,andNationalInstitutions,byJohannPeterMurmann,Australian GraduateSchoolofManagement v P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 vi P1:KAE 0521810396pre CB1054/McKenna 0521810396 June30,2006 11:8 The World’s Newest Profession MANAGEMENT CONSULTING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Christopher D. McKenna SaïdBusinessSchoolandBrasenoseCollege,UniversityofOxford vii Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo Cambridge University Press TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridge,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521810395 © Christopher D. McKenna 2006 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006 - ---- eBook(EBL) - --- eBook(EBL) - ---- hardback - --- hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofs forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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