This is a guest post by the daughter of Steve Denning, Stephanie Denning, who writes about leadership issues from a Millennial perspective. The views expressed here are her own.
Consulting recruiting season is upon us.
I have had the pleasure (or the pain) of having interviewed for many consulting firms, both as an undergrad and as an MBA. Anyone who has decided to give consulting a shot, knows the interview process is a grueling one. The process can feel like one long stress test.
During one of my final round interviews, I was making my way through a very quant-heavy portion of the case. Right before I was about to reveal my recommendation, my interviewer stood up and did a drum roll in preparation for me unveiling my answer. At the time, my only thought was to pray to the powers-that-be that my answer be right.
During another interview, my entire interview was conducted in the dark. With no windows. The interviewer claimed the lights went out and there wasn’t a single other room available…To this day, I still wonder whether this was some mysterious mind trick.
In retrospect, these make for entertaining stories, but at the time the only thing I felt was stress. Having gone through a number of interviews, I’ll share the few things I’ve learned along the way.
read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2015/09/29/how-to-crush-your-consulting-interview/
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Accenture Adds Distinctive Electronic Health Record Consulting Capabilities with Acquisition of Sagacious Consultants
EW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accenture (NYSE:ACN) today announced that it has finalized its agreement to acquire Sagacious Consultants, a leading electronic health record (EHR) consulting practice, to expand capabilities for helping clients to better manage healthcare quality, efficiency and costs. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Sagacious will enhance our capabilities, expertise and ability to drive transformational outcomes for our clients.”
Approximately 250 employees from Sagacious Consultants will bring to Accenture their specialized skills in implementation, systems integration, upgrades and optimization of EHR solutions from Epic Systems Corporation. The acquisition will expand the capabilities of Accenture to help clients realize the benefits of EHR systems, thereby improving clinical and business outcomes.
Sagacious Consultants, recognized as the 2013 Best in KLAS for Clinical Implementation Services, brings extensive expertise in healthcare IT, information solutions, optimization, data analytics and data warehousing for Epic-related systems.
“As the global EHR market continues on a trajectory that will surpass $22 billion this year, there is a critical need for medical IT specialists who can help healthcare systems maximize the utility and impact of digital health records,” said Kaveh Safavi, managing director for Accenture's global healthcare business. “Sagacious will enhance our capabilities, expertise and ability to drive transformational outcomes for our clients.”
Accenture’s global healthcare business continues to serve providers, payers and public health systems in more than 20 countries.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the company and Sagacious Consultants will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; the company’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company’s reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company’s information systems are breached; the company’s results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; the company’s results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company does not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing its work or if the third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company’s contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable
read more: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150923005133/en/Accenture%C2%A0Adds-Distinctive-Electronic-Health-Record-Consulting-Capabilities#.VgKlA6JQib8
“Sagacious will enhance our capabilities, expertise and ability to drive transformational outcomes for our clients.”
Approximately 250 employees from Sagacious Consultants will bring to Accenture their specialized skills in implementation, systems integration, upgrades and optimization of EHR solutions from Epic Systems Corporation. The acquisition will expand the capabilities of Accenture to help clients realize the benefits of EHR systems, thereby improving clinical and business outcomes.
Sagacious Consultants, recognized as the 2013 Best in KLAS for Clinical Implementation Services, brings extensive expertise in healthcare IT, information solutions, optimization, data analytics and data warehousing for Epic-related systems.
“As the global EHR market continues on a trajectory that will surpass $22 billion this year, there is a critical need for medical IT specialists who can help healthcare systems maximize the utility and impact of digital health records,” said Kaveh Safavi, managing director for Accenture's global healthcare business. “Sagacious will enhance our capabilities, expertise and ability to drive transformational outcomes for our clients.”
Accenture’s global healthcare business continues to serve providers, payers and public health systems in more than 20 countries.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the company and Sagacious Consultants will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; the company’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company’s reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company’s information systems are breached; the company’s results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; the company’s results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company does not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing its work or if the third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company’s contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable
read more: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150923005133/en/Accenture%C2%A0Adds-Distinctive-Electronic-Health-Record-Consulting-Capabilities#.VgKlA6JQib8
Monday, September 21, 2015
Weisermazars LLP Adds Consulting Principals Jonathan Stomberger and Todd Heckman
WeiserMazars LLP, a leading accounting, tax and advisory services firm, announced the addition of Todd A. Heckman and Jonathan Stomberger as Principals in the Management Consulting and Health Care Consulting Practices, respectively. Both new Principals will be based out of the Pennsylvania office, significantly growing the firm's local presence as well as its overall healthcare and management consulting capabilities.
Todd has more than 20 years of management consulting and business transformation experience in a wide range of industries, with particular focus on healthcare, higher education and not-for-profit organizations. He has also served a number of clients in the insurance, media, consumer products, government, pharmaceutical and financial services industries sectors.
Alex Unterkoefler, WeiserMazars Consulting Practice Leader said, "Today's business climate is volatile and undergoing substantial regulatory change at the national and international levels. We are seeing a great demand from clients for real-world expertise that can help them overcome obstacles and improve their companies' performance. We know that Todd will be a significant asset to both our practice and the firm as a whole."
Jonathan, a Certified Change Manager, has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare consulting with a concentration in Enterprise Transformation.
"The healthcare sector is seeing an unprecedented level of change," commented Debra Bornstein, WeiserMazars Health Care Practice Leader. "As transformation leaders, we are committed to continually enhancing our capabilities by adding experienced, insightful professionals. Jonathan's track record of delivering effective organizational change makes him exactly right for both our practice and our clients. I very much look forward to working with him."
"Healthcare organizations need access to comprehensive professional resources to successfully navigate their current challenges. I know that WeiserMazars can deliver exceptional value to my existing and future clients," commented Jonathan.
Todd added, "Businesses in all industries need to be prepared for their own regulatory obstacles as the global economy changes. By joining WeiserMazars, I'm able to present my clients with seamless international capabilities and local expertise. I am glad to be part of such a knowledgeable, service-oriented community.
see more: http://healthcare-executive-insight.advanceweb.com/News/Daily-News-Watch/Weisermazars-LLP-Adds-Consulting-Principals-Jonathan-Stomberger-and-Todd-Heckman.aspx
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Huron Consulting Group Recognized as a Best Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine
CHICAGO, Sep 17, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Huron Consulting Group HURN, -0.58% a leading provider of business consulting services, today announced that it has been named one of the 2015 Best Firms to Work For by Consulting magazine for the fifth consecutive year.
“We are honored to receive Consulting magazine’s Best Firms to Work For recognition for the fifth year in a row,” said James H. Roth, president and chief executive officer, Huron Consulting Group. “Our success in the marketplace is a direct result of the team’s ongoing efforts to ensure that Huron remains a well-respected and vibrant organization. Our focus on collaboration, respect, and community involvement has created an environment that supports our most important assets - our employees. The ongoing investments we make in training, career development, and work/life balance support the professional and personal growth of our people, which in turn allows them to provide the highest quality service to our clients.”
The recognition was awarded based on six aspects of employee satisfaction: work/life balance, career development, client engagement, culture, leadership, and compensation and benefits. Huron is a values-driven organization with a strong emphasis on its culture. Offering many competitive benefits including employee wellness and work/life balance programs, Huron’s unwavering commitment to corporate social responsibility is supported through civic sponsorship, community service projects, pro bono activities, and an employee matching gifts program. Huron’s Diversity & Inclusion council supports the needs of its growing employee population through employee resource groups and corporate-wide educational efforts to ensure it is fostering a welcoming and nurturing environment for all employees.
Consulting magazine’s 2015 Best Firms to Work For survey drew detailed employee engagement insights from over 9,000 consultants, representing more than 300 consulting firms. For full editorial coverage - including the final rankings and associated charts found in the September issue - visit www.consultingmag.com.
Headquartered in Chicago, Huron has a worldwide workforce of nearly 3,000 professionals. In addition to the recognition by Consulting magazine,Huron has been named one of Forbes America’s Best Employers 2015 and one of the top consulting firms to work for in the Vault Consulting 50 for 2016. For more information about working at Huron, visit www.huroncareers.com.
read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/huron-consulting-group-recognized-as-a-best-firm-to-work-for-by-consulting-magazine-2015-09-17
“We are honored to receive Consulting magazine’s Best Firms to Work For recognition for the fifth year in a row,” said James H. Roth, president and chief executive officer, Huron Consulting Group. “Our success in the marketplace is a direct result of the team’s ongoing efforts to ensure that Huron remains a well-respected and vibrant organization. Our focus on collaboration, respect, and community involvement has created an environment that supports our most important assets - our employees. The ongoing investments we make in training, career development, and work/life balance support the professional and personal growth of our people, which in turn allows them to provide the highest quality service to our clients.”
The recognition was awarded based on six aspects of employee satisfaction: work/life balance, career development, client engagement, culture, leadership, and compensation and benefits. Huron is a values-driven organization with a strong emphasis on its culture. Offering many competitive benefits including employee wellness and work/life balance programs, Huron’s unwavering commitment to corporate social responsibility is supported through civic sponsorship, community service projects, pro bono activities, and an employee matching gifts program. Huron’s Diversity & Inclusion council supports the needs of its growing employee population through employee resource groups and corporate-wide educational efforts to ensure it is fostering a welcoming and nurturing environment for all employees.
Consulting magazine’s 2015 Best Firms to Work For survey drew detailed employee engagement insights from over 9,000 consultants, representing more than 300 consulting firms. For full editorial coverage - including the final rankings and associated charts found in the September issue - visit www.consultingmag.com.
Headquartered in Chicago, Huron has a worldwide workforce of nearly 3,000 professionals. In addition to the recognition by Consulting magazine,Huron has been named one of Forbes America’s Best Employers 2015 and one of the top consulting firms to work for in the Vault Consulting 50 for 2016. For more information about working at Huron, visit www.huroncareers.com.
read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/huron-consulting-group-recognized-as-a-best-firm-to-work-for-by-consulting-magazine-2015-09-17
Monday, September 14, 2015
Why and How to Build an In-House Consulting Team
In-house strategy and consulting groups are growing in popularity, supplementing and increasingly winning business from traditional consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company. Today, many high-profile companies—Cisco, Google, IBM, Samsung, Siemens, Disney, Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank, to name a few—contain such roving consulting groups to help solve the most critical strategy and operations problems throughout the business. Internal consulting groups have a number of advantages over external firms, including a company-wide perspective, continuity into implementation, attraction of top talent to the company, higher levels of confidentiality, and greater cost-effectiveness. But building an internal consulting group is an unprecedented endeavor for many companies, and because best practices have yet to spread widely, internal consulting groups vary greatly in how they operate and the business impacts they are able to achieve.
Over the past six years, we have put in place a 30-person consulting team at EMC Information Infrastructure (EMC II) using a model we have found to be successful, winning projects away from external management consulting firms at a fraction of the cost, and with great “client” (that is to say, EMC) satisfaction. Here’s what we’ve learned about how to establish a successful internal consulting group.
Set objectives and size. Having clear objectives helps prioritize the group’s efforts and also measure success. The primary objectives in creating our team were to rein in spending on external strategy firms and to attract, train, and retain top talent in the company. Typically for an internal consulting group, we had to grow gradually as we demonstrated the quality of our work. But the key was knowing when to stop growing. We decided to cap the group’s size at 30 consultants. For a company our size, with reported revenue of $24.4 billion in 2014 and approximately 70,000 employees worldwide, this number allows us to deliver six to eight projects per quarter. Though the demand for projects often exceeds this capacity, we prefer to be able to prioritize the engagements with the highest business impact.
see more from the source: https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-and-how-to-build-an-in-house-consulting-team
Over the past six years, we have put in place a 30-person consulting team at EMC Information Infrastructure (EMC II) using a model we have found to be successful, winning projects away from external management consulting firms at a fraction of the cost, and with great “client” (that is to say, EMC) satisfaction. Here’s what we’ve learned about how to establish a successful internal consulting group.
Set objectives and size. Having clear objectives helps prioritize the group’s efforts and also measure success. The primary objectives in creating our team were to rein in spending on external strategy firms and to attract, train, and retain top talent in the company. Typically for an internal consulting group, we had to grow gradually as we demonstrated the quality of our work. But the key was knowing when to stop growing. We decided to cap the group’s size at 30 consultants. For a company our size, with reported revenue of $24.4 billion in 2014 and approximately 70,000 employees worldwide, this number allows us to deliver six to eight projects per quarter. Though the demand for projects often exceeds this capacity, we prefer to be able to prioritize the engagements with the highest business impact.
see more from the source: https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-and-how-to-build-an-in-house-consulting-team
Friday, September 4, 2015
ScottMadden Named as Top Ranked Firm by Vault
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ScottMadden, Inc., is ranked 22nd among the top 50 best consulting firms and one of the top 20 best consulting firms for energy consulting by Vault.com, a career website that ranks the top 50 consulting firms annually. Rankings are compiled from a broad survey of consultants who are asked to rank their own firm, peers, and competitors. This ranking combines a firm’s overall prestige score with several factors, such as job satisfaction, culture, training, promotions, diversity, and pay.
“The Vault survey certainly confirms what I feel about ScottMadden”
This year’s rankings highlight the best firms to work for in the industry, as well as the top firms across various quality of life categories, practice areas, and diversity. This year ScottMadden ranked third for firm culture, fifth for firm leadership, and fifth for best consulting firms for military veterans.
The Boutique Consulting Firm ranking, now in its second year, provides insight into life at a smaller firm—a better work-life balance and quality of life. Each of the firms are generally considered specialists in their practice areas and all had fewer than 750 employees at the time of publication. This year ScottMadden ranked seventh among the best boutique consulting firms.
“The Vault survey certainly confirms what I feel about ScottMadden,” says Brad Kitchens, president and CEO at ScottMadden. “From somebody who has been in the management consulting industry for more than 25 years, to see us score in the top 10 nationally in culture, diversity, military veterans, and compensation, I couldn’t be more proud.”
According to Vault, “ScottMadden is growing quickly in a field—energy—that underpins the future of the entire economy. As such, any commentary on its future prospects seems almost unnecessary: for as long as there’s demand for energy, there will be a market for ScottMadden’s expertise. In addition, further growth is supported by a continued need for the firm’s corporate and shared services work that spans industries and increasing interest in the areas of clean tech and sustainability. And, with growing recognition of the firm’s abilities, there’s little reason to doubt that it will continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead. As an employer, that makes ScottMadden an attractive proposition—as does the fact that existing employees seem to be satisfied with life at the firm. Insiders cite a small-firm feel and friendly culture as major plus points, but stress that the firm is a place where only the self-motivated will thrive; there’s no hiding place in an outfit where every colleague from the CEO on down knows your name!”
see more at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150903006552/en/ScottMadden-Named-Top-Ranked-Firm-Vault#.VemLALSdJFI
“The Vault survey certainly confirms what I feel about ScottMadden”
This year’s rankings highlight the best firms to work for in the industry, as well as the top firms across various quality of life categories, practice areas, and diversity. This year ScottMadden ranked third for firm culture, fifth for firm leadership, and fifth for best consulting firms for military veterans.
The Boutique Consulting Firm ranking, now in its second year, provides insight into life at a smaller firm—a better work-life balance and quality of life. Each of the firms are generally considered specialists in their practice areas and all had fewer than 750 employees at the time of publication. This year ScottMadden ranked seventh among the best boutique consulting firms.
“The Vault survey certainly confirms what I feel about ScottMadden,” says Brad Kitchens, president and CEO at ScottMadden. “From somebody who has been in the management consulting industry for more than 25 years, to see us score in the top 10 nationally in culture, diversity, military veterans, and compensation, I couldn’t be more proud.”
According to Vault, “ScottMadden is growing quickly in a field—energy—that underpins the future of the entire economy. As such, any commentary on its future prospects seems almost unnecessary: for as long as there’s demand for energy, there will be a market for ScottMadden’s expertise. In addition, further growth is supported by a continued need for the firm’s corporate and shared services work that spans industries and increasing interest in the areas of clean tech and sustainability. And, with growing recognition of the firm’s abilities, there’s little reason to doubt that it will continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead. As an employer, that makes ScottMadden an attractive proposition—as does the fact that existing employees seem to be satisfied with life at the firm. Insiders cite a small-firm feel and friendly culture as major plus points, but stress that the firm is a place where only the self-motivated will thrive; there’s no hiding place in an outfit where every colleague from the CEO on down knows your name!”
see more at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150903006552/en/ScottMadden-Named-Top-Ranked-Firm-Vault#.VemLALSdJFI
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