Kennedy Corner
»The New War For Talent
When a meteorite blazed through the morning skies of central Russia in mid-February and exploded, the news media described it as a rare event. And it was. Fast forward one month and just about every government in the world is looking at the potential for a "rare event" to visit their borders, and wringing their hands over how to prepare for it.
»Here Comes Patient-Centric Health
U.S consumers are accustomed to choices. We often take for granted our ability to select products, price points and preferred channels. Why, then, do we as patients expect anything less from our healthcare providers?
»The Market Always Finds a Way
In the 1993 Steven Spielberg film Jurassic Park, the protagonists discovered at one point (to their horror) that the island’s dinosaurs, which had all been created the same gender, had somehow managed to reproduce. “Life always finds a way,” muttered Sam Neill’s character Dr. Alan Grant.
»2012 in Review, and a Look Ahead
Looking back, several market forces propelled global consulting demand, causing firms and clients to undertake larger and more ambitious engagements than in recent years. The rapidly changing nature of client needs and the continued evolution of provider capabilities converged around some key themes.
»Change and Collaboration—The Rx For a Healthy Life Sciences Industry
For many of us in the U.S., it’s time to update healthcare benefit selections and learn of new or revised healthcare insurance plan offerings, options, and features. In many ways, the change and complexity we face as end users reflects the upstream challenges facing the healthcare industry at large.
»Kennedy Corner: Change Management; Easier Said Than Done
Business leaders have an arsenal of management tools at their disposal ready to deploy for almost any business need, from boosting revenues to increasing efficiencies and managing risk.
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Travel Advisory
»Hilton’s Building Boom
Coming off a whirlwind 2012, Hilton Worldwide is the fastest growing global hospitality company by number of rooms.
»Extended Stay America Serves Up Free Breakfasts With ‘Grab and Go’
Extended Stay America launched a new Grab and Go Breakfast program, which is available seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at all of its more than 600 locations.
»Homewood Suites Survey: Comfort is King
A new survey of frequent business travelers found that they want more room to spread out, the ability to maintain a normal routine and opportunities to interact with business associates and fellow travelers.
»Furnished Quarters Wins CARTUS Award
Furnished Quarters was awarded the CARTUS Global Network’s Commitment to Excellence Award for the third consecutive year.
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Book It!
»Excerpt: Finding Your Firm’s Growth Engine
The following is an excerpt from Leading Firms: How Great Professional Service Firms Succeed & How Your Firm Can Too by David C. Kuhlman. In the book, Kuhlman distills 25 years of
experience advising senior management at some of the world’s most prominent consulting firms. This excerpt from Chapter Six: “The Growth Engine” explores two of the key factors driving growth in the most successful firms.
»Excerpt: The Online Marketing Revolution
The following is an excerpt from Online Marketing for Professional Services, a thought-provoking and practical approach to online marketing by authors Aaron E. Taylor, Sylvia Montgomery, Sean T. McVey and Lee W. Frederiksen.
»Review: Tipping Sacred Cows
We all have those sacred cows at work, but these nuggets of advice, in practice, can lead to career-limiting unintended consequences.
»Review: Playing to Win
If strategy is about creating a competitive advantage that allows a firm to win, then pinpointing your strategy to just a few choices will dramatically increase your chances of success.
»Review: Seeing the Big Picture
According to Kevin Cope, founder of Acumen Learning and author of Seeing the Big Picture, all companies are driven to success or failure by the same five simple drivers—cash, profit, assets, growth and people
»Review: Get Lucky
As the pace of change accelerates and the volume of information explodes, everyone is under great pressure to connect with the people and ideas we need to thrive.
» View all
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Home
Client Industry
Financial Services
6
1
2009
»Top 25 Consultants, 2009: Michael Conover
Michael Conover
Partner
KPMG
Excellence in Financial Services
Like just about everybody who has worked on Wall Street or in the financial
services sector, Michael Conover still has trouble putting what just happened
to the sector in perspective. “You just can’t prepare for the
whole market going away the way it did,” Conover says. “That is
not on anyone’s stress test scenarios or anyone’s list of
possible outcomes. I certainly didn’t see this coming, and neither did
my clients.”
Conover, a partner and the founding leader of KPMG’s Financial Risk
Management practice in New York, says that the sector is still struggling to
make sense of it. “Everyone has sort of put things on hold,” he
says. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
And as a 27-year financial services veteran and former Wall Street banker,
Conover’s seen plenty in his time. He basically built KPMG’s
Financial Risk Management practice from scratch, and today it has 200
professionals.“ This is an industry in transformation right now.
It’s difficult because there’s so much uncertainty in the
marketplace, and there are not a lot of details out there right now,”
Conover says. “And we had a change of in Washington. I think people are
just sort of waiting for the rules to be written.” In the meantime, he
says, the clients that are spending are asking for more senior-level
brainstorming and strategy work, and risk management is back on the front
burner.
“Risk management was probably viewed more of a compliance function and
the business units saw it as a back office or middle office kind of
role,” he says. “But not any more.”
Meanwhile, Conover is feeling the effects of the recession firsthand.
Recently, Conover and his wife took up golf and put in an application to join
a country club near their home. “Usually, there’s a several year
waiting list, but we got in right away because they had so many people either
leave the club or drop off the waiting list,” Conover says. “Now,
I really need to learn how to play.”
—Joseph Kornik
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