Focus: Client Industries

	Healthcare »Case Study: TCS Advances Medical Research For Mount Sinai To advance medical research and decision support, New York’s Mount Sinai MedicalCenter needed a solution to integrate large volumes of patient data. So, Mount Sinai approached Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
	Manufacturing »Celerant: Economic Crisis Can Be Catalyst for Change You can count effective organizational change as one of the positives to come from the economic turmoil of the last 18 months. More than two-thirds of senior executives say the current global economic crisis was a catalyst for driving change across organizations, according to a recent global survey released by Celerant Consulting and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
	Financial Services »Capco Sets Major Expansion Plan It seems an odd time for a small financial services firm to be rolling out a major expansion in North America. Not so, says Tom McKelvey, global COO and leader of the North American practice at Capco. The firm plans to add some 40 partners and 500 consultants over the next year, and its recently added several ex-BearingPoint employees.
	High Tech »New Marketplace Model Emerges for Solo Consultants Here’s a question: Would you be willing to share a piece of your consulting fee in ex-change for Fortune 500-1000 client leads and help handling timekeeping, billing and other administrative headaches?

Focus: Service Lines

	Strategy »KIA Corner: What Flies, What Doesn’t Our KIA Corner articles about consulting in tough times seem to have hit a nerve in the consulting profession. The feedback was a total surprise to us. Here’s what you’re saying.
	HR »Data Watch: Compensation Satisfaction Not Tied to the Size of the Paycheck You might think that the best way to improve consultants’ compensation satisfaction—and thereby, improve staff retention—would be to raise salaries. But you’d be wrong.

Travel Advisory

• »2010 Business Travel Forecast: A Mixed Bag The 2010 travel forecasts are out. No matter how you slice it, it doesn’t look good. Or does it? To give a consultant-friendly answer: It depends.
• »Road Warrior: High Tech Keyboards Most consultants spend hours a day tapping away on their computer or PDA keyboard—never giving its form or function a second thought. If you ever need to replace it, you can find a simple, utilitarian keyboard online for under $6. But if you’re willing to pay a little more (or, in some cases, a lot more), you can find keyboards with all kinds of cool features.
• »You Can’t Get There From Here In light of the economic slump and high fuel costs, airlines are reducing, and, in some cases, eliminating all together, service to hundreds of “second-tier” cities around the country in an effort to tighten their belts.

Book It!

• »Excerpt: Winning in Turbulence The following is an excerpt from Winning in Turbulence, the latest book from Darrell Rigby, a downturn expert and head of the Global Retail and Global Innovation Practices at Bain & Company. In the book, Rigby highlights the strategic opportunities in the downturn and offers ways companies can emerge stronger in the new economy.
• »Book Review: In Pursuit of Elegance As the economic downturn has given way to a fiercely competitive business climate, the need for innovative solutions and creative ideas is at an all-time high.
• »Book Review: The Shift There is a marketing revolution underway. A shift is occurring from cost center to revenue driver.
• »Book Review: The 21st Century Economy Are you versed on the acronyms for the government programs to revitalize the economy? The 21st Century Economy is a primer for the new terminology that comes with a new economy.
• »Book Review: Leaders Make the Future There are many leadership skills that withstand the test of time, but not all skills that are useful today will remain in demand.

Consultants on Consulting

• »Finding World Class Diversity Management Capability Effectively managed, diversity becomes a strategic force that both results from and contributes to organizational success in the global arena. Ignored or mismanaged, diversity can stymie the most ambitious of global aspirations.
• »Corporate Social Networking for Consulting Firms How can we use LinkedIn for our firm? It’s a question you may have heard from the managing partner, or you may have even thought yourself. It is a smart question with a not-so-obvious answer.
  
• »Solving Your Identity Crisis In tough economic times, many consulting firms revert to two tactics that appear essential, but actually dig them deeper in the hole both during and after the downturn. The first is selling work at which they cannot be truly great, and the second is pursuing clients that do not share their values.
  Both tactics can help fill the short-term revenue void, but the consequences can be severe: unhappy clients who will not come back; a damaged reputation in the marketplace; and disaffected staff who will leave at the first opportunity. All of these chickens will come home to roost when the upturn comes, as it will.
• »Innovation’s Triple Play: Curiosity, Networking & Fun Innovate or die! How many times have you cringed to hear that ominous business mantra? It seems to position the opportunity to modernize your operations as a dreaded ultimatum. We feel our clients and colleagues will be more inclined to leave the status quo behind if they recognize the cornerstones of innovation: curiosity, networking and fun.