Friday, March 10, 2006
Mckinsey & Outsourcing, What a McSurprise!
I don't go to Canary Wharf very often. It's a dirty place in a kind of antiseptic way. All futuristic city no soul. A kind of Bladerunner landscape with out the Philip K. Dick twist. Recently I went there to have lunch with a friend of mine. I got there early. If you're ever there early and have nothing to do, and don't fancy hanging round in a Starbucks, why not grab a hot drink and use the reception area of 25 Cabot Square, otherwise known as Morgan Stanley. It's central , it's free and the chairs are comfy, quite a nice place for a power snooze too. Even better though there is a nice selection of newspapers and magazines for perusal as you await your lunch appointment. The once mighty wall street powerhouse reduced by Mr Purcell (before you laugh-yes, ex-Mckinsey) into a bit of a joke is quite a good place to hang out. The staff restaurant and executive dining rooms were some of the earliest in Canary Wharf and at a push could rival Deutsche. Perhaps not Winchester House but not bad.
So where was I , yes if you want to see the extent of Mckinsey's influence on the outsourcing market I would urge you to read the current piece in Business Week Magazine ( March 6 2006) issue, called 'Spreading the Gospel'. In this rather eulogistic piece by Business Week you will be treated to a two page spread on how Mckinsey pioneered the outsourcing concept and then how their star alumni had the bright ideas of leaving the consultancy to set up outsource providers. It's all very neat, but you do begin to wonder who the winner is from the back office outsourcing model. Well let's see. It's not the average employee ( you get fired) , it's not the customer ( your service level normal stays the same , or gets worse in most cases), it's not the shareholders necessarily ( does the company that increases margin and profit pay out more in dividends or make more buybacks in the short to medium term. Perhaps we need to see some consultancy research on this? There you go boys, try doing a piece on that . That's something for the weekend).Guess who the real winners are in the short term?. Yes that's right - the ex-consultants who suggested the outsourcing now providing the outsourcing. It's perfect. You couldn't invent it. Be careful who your company listens to. It could cost you your job.
So where was I , yes if you want to see the extent of Mckinsey's influence on the outsourcing market I would urge you to read the current piece in Business Week Magazine ( March 6 2006) issue, called 'Spreading the Gospel'. In this rather eulogistic piece by Business Week you will be treated to a two page spread on how Mckinsey pioneered the outsourcing concept and then how their star alumni had the bright ideas of leaving the consultancy to set up outsource providers. It's all very neat, but you do begin to wonder who the winner is from the back office outsourcing model. Well let's see. It's not the average employee ( you get fired) , it's not the customer ( your service level normal stays the same , or gets worse in most cases), it's not the shareholders necessarily ( does the company that increases margin and profit pay out more in dividends or make more buybacks in the short to medium term. Perhaps we need to see some consultancy research on this? There you go boys, try doing a piece on that . That's something for the weekend).Guess who the real winners are in the short term?. Yes that's right - the ex-consultants who suggested the outsourcing now providing the outsourcing. It's perfect. You couldn't invent it. Be careful who your company listens to. It could cost you your job.
