Comments on: Dangerous Company: Management Consultants and the Businesses They Save and Ruin http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/ Your one stop shopping information center. Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:49:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 By: Anonymous http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/comment-page-1/#comment-1371 Anonymous Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:15:17 +0000 http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/#comment-1371 As an insider for one of the firms highlighted in the book, I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the authors spin their stories to provide the highest possible shock value. Of course selling more books is their goal. Unfortunately, presenting a fair and balanced report often falls short of that goal...so just leave out the contradictory evidence and go to press. In all my years in the industry, I have never seen consultants independently "destroy" a company. However, I have seen many, many poor business decisions that were made by corporate management and blamed on others. Rating: 2 / 5 As an insider for one of the firms highlighted in the book, I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the authors spin their stories to provide the highest possible shock value. Of course selling more books is their goal. Unfortunately, presenting a fair and balanced report often falls short of that goal…so just leave out the contradictory evidence and go to press. In all my years in the industry, I have never seen consultants independently “destroy” a company. However, I have seen many, many poor business decisions that were made by corporate management and blamed on others.
Rating: 2 / 5

]]> By: dseamon@ix.netcom.com http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/comment-page-1/#comment-1370 dseamon@ix.netcom.com Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:02:53 +0000 http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/#comment-1370 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 consultants. It's a 50,000 foot view that may be interesting to someone who's never heard the word "consulting" before. Revealingly, in their litany of consulting horror stories, they somehow missed the biggest consulting disaster of the century: IBM at the FAA. Worse, their simplistic advice for clients considering consulting help is misleading and more dangerous than the company of consultants. Consider: "If it's not broke, don't try to fix it." Goodbye competitive advantage! "Insist on tailor-made consulting engagements." Hello high cost and uncertainty! If you are looking for an "insider" view of big-time consulting, this is not it. Hopefully, we'll someday get a definitive analysis of the multi-billion dollar consulting industry, but it probabaly won't be written by a couple of newspaper guys Rating: 1 / 5 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 consultants. It’s a 50,000 foot view that may be interesting to someone who’s never heard the word “consulting” before. Revealingly, in their litany of consulting horror stories, they somehow missed the biggest consulting disaster of the century: IBM at the FAA. Worse, their simplistic advice for clients considering consulting help is misleading and more dangerous than the company of consultants. Consider: “If it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.” Goodbye competitive advantage! “Insist on tailor-made consulting engagements.” Hello high cost and uncertainty! If you are looking for an “insider” view of big-time consulting, this is not it. Hopefully, we’ll someday get a definitive analysis of the multi-billion dollar consulting industry, but it probabaly won’t be written by a couple of newspaper guys
Rating: 1 / 5

]]> By: Anonymous http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/comment-page-1/#comment-1369 Anonymous Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:00:43 +0000 http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/#comment-1369 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 happened in corporate America for the last 50 years, but none of the good. This is clearly an Outsiders view through a very warped window of the profession, coloured by the opinions of some disgruntled clients who have sued their consultants. Hardly balanced, investigative reporting. Rating: 1 / 5 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 happened in corporate America for the last 50 years, but none of the good.

This is clearly an Outsiders view through a very warped window of the profession, coloured by the opinions of some disgruntled clients who have sued their consultants. Hardly balanced, investigative reporting.
Rating: 1 / 5

]]> By: Anonymous http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/comment-page-1/#comment-1368 Anonymous Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:51:28 +0000 http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/#comment-1368 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. <p>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 without a doubt, probably the best business book to be published between 1980 and 1999. Rating: 5 / 5 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 without a doubt, probably the best business book to be published between 1980 and 1999.
Rating: 5 / 5

]]> By: Anonymous http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/comment-page-1/#comment-1367 Anonymous Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:12:17 +0000 http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/dangerous-company-management-consultants-and-the-businesses-they-save-and-ruin/#comment-1367 A must read for those intending to become a Management Consultant and those who want to hire them. Rating: 5 / 5 A must read for those intending to become a Management Consultant and those who want to hire them.
Rating: 5 / 5

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