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- »One on One with Ed Hess
Grow or Die. It’s probably the most common business axiom, and the least accurate, according to the new book “Smart Growth: Building an Enduring Business by Managing the Risks of Growth” (Columbia Business School Publishing). To better understand the book’s implications for firms, Consulting’s One-on-One sat down with the book’s author, Ed Hess, a former Arthur Andersen strategy consultant and current professor at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business.
- »One on One with Summit's David Litherland
When prospective employees interview for a job, they obsess over making a good, lasting impression. Firms should do the same. To learn how firms can avoid typical pitfalls, Consulting’s One on One sat down with David Litherland, managing partner of Summit Search Group, an executive search firm specializing in placing professionals within professional service firms.
- »One on One with PwC's Tom Craren
Senior executives are becoming immune to traditional marketing. Marketing consultants tell us that to pierce through the white noise of corporate communication, firms should consider “content marketing”. Instead of more traditional marketing, providing valuable insight and perspective in a blog or electronic newsletter can serve as a more effective door opener. One of the best examples is PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “10-Minute” series. For almost three years, PwC has boiled down complex thought leadership into small electronic pieces an executive can read in about ten minutes. To learn more about PwC’s marketing efforts, Consulting’s One-on-One sat down with Tom Craren, the firm’s brand strategy and thought leadership leader. His team of 20 writers produces between two to three 10-minute pieces each month, along with more detailed white papers.
- »One on One with Stanford Hospital's Kate Surman
Transitioning healthcare companies from paper to electronic records presents huge consulting opportunities.
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2009
»Top 25 Consultants, 2009: MaryAnne Faschan
 MaryAnne Faschan
Director
EDS
Excellence in Leadership
Since beginning with EDS in 1980, MaryAnne Faschan has seen her share of change. First, she was in on the ground floor of the Internet and electronic markets division in the 1990s. In 2000, she was asked to run that practice’s consulting division in the U.S., and four years later she was asked to become the director of U.S. consulting services for EDS.
Under her leadership, the consulting services division of EDS became one of the top financial contributing organizations within the company—delivering some 46 percent of the group’s corporate financial contributions even though it only makes up about 11 percent of the services group workforce. But all those changes, however, pale in comparison to the one she’s been dealing with since Hewlett-Packard acquired EDS in May of 2008 for $13.9 billion.
“What I love about this job is it’s always changing,” she says. “It’s those changes that I really enjoy, and they keep me pushing for my personal best, and I push the people around me to do the same. Instead of resisting the change, I look forward to leading it.”
Faschan wouldn’t comment on the size of the combined consulting entity, but reports have put EDS and HP’s combined services revenues at about $40 billion.
“There’s a lot of pressure when you have a merger like this, and I’m confident we’ll do this one well,” Faschan says. “It’s a pretty exciting time for us, and it’s an exciting place to be. When the integration is complete, we will have the most competitive engine in the market, and I view the consulting organization as the fuel for that engine.”
The merger, Faschan says, will bring the best of EDS and HP together. “EDS has a very strong services organization, and now we have the HP side that brings not only professional services, but it also brings an incredible tool set,” Faschan says. “So, we’ve got the services and we’ve got the tools, and that’s a pretty powerful message to bring to the market. There’s one place to come to serve almost every need our clients have, and if we can do that well, I think we’ve got it.”
—Joseph Kornik
>> Full list of Top 25 Consultants 2009
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