BOOK REVIEW

DANGEROUS COMPANY: THE CONSULTING POWERHOUSES & THE BUSINESSES THEY SAVE AND RUIN.

James O'Shea and Charles Madigan (1999) NB Publishing. 303 pages.

The consulting business is now an industry that is ranked in the billions of US dollars, but just how much bang for their buck do firms get when using consultants and what can go wrong. This book, penned by two respected journalists gives many of the answers.

It looks at all the major players in the industry including BCG, McKinsey and Co, Deloitte Touche, Accenture (formerly Anderson), Gemini, Bain, and Monitor (of Michael Porter fame). The book is generally clear and direct, often pulling no punches, it also not critical of the consulting industry per se but strongly suggests that you must know why you wish to use consultants and that they should not be given a free reign, rather, they should work on tightly defined issues and projects.

Some of the interesting case studies include AT&T which purportedly spent some US$50-60 million per year on consultants on a regular basis whilst continuing to destroy shareholder value. Other stories of woe have resulted in a number of these firms facing law suits for poor advice and over billing.

Additionally, there is considerable critical discussion of the large consulting firm's practice of hiring freshly graduated MBA's with no industry experience and passing off much of their clients work to these people. This is a practice which has led many to question the fees and scope of consultants work and what they should and should not be doing inside a client firm.

One of the positive aspects of the book is the balanced view the authors provide of the pros and cons of using consultants and they even offer specific guidelines for hiring consultants.

Overall the book is well worth a read as it is provocative and well researched. The only criticism is that it is written with a totally US perspective which may make some of the case studies a bit abstract for Asian readers.