Interviews
- »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: John Kaltenmark
 John Kaltenmark
Director
Accenture Technology Consulting
Excellence in Technology
John Kaltenmark, director of Accenture Technology Consulting (ATC), sees the big picture. Kaltenmark, a former hockey player, likes to remind young consultants to pass the puck to where their teammate is going to be, not where they are now. He also practices what he preaches: when he and his
team sat down about six years ago to assess what clients would need in the years ahead, they saw that the best way to assist clients was to address the CIO’s agenda rather than exclusively performing discreet technology projects.
“We thought, ‘How could Accenture have the biggest impact, not just to make it through the dot-com bust, but more important, to emerge even stronger?’” recalls Kaltenmark. “The concept we developed was to address the whole of the CIO’s agenda. That meant we would not just bundle our technology skills for systems integration or outsourcing work.”
About a year ago, this vision officially birthed Accenture Technology Services, a 6,000-person strong organization that provides a complete portfolio of IT services. The staff was culled from Accenture’s best and brightest technology consultants who were previously scattered across different industry groups, an IT strategy practice in the management consulting organization, systems integration, outsourcing and other areas of the firm.
A leading telecommunications infrastructure provider recently hired Accenture to help repatriate some IT functions it previously outsourced. Pre-ATC, the small project would have concluded once the transition was completed. Instead, ATC’s experts looked at the big picture via a comprehensive diagnosis of the client’s other IT functions. As a result, a $300,000 project grew into a $30 million project. More important, says Kaltenmark, “the company was delighted with the outcome, and so were we.”
Kaltenmark reports that ATC has won hundreds of millions in work that may have otherwise passed on. “Prior to ATC, the different parts [of the firm’s technology service expertise] used to essentially support sales and delivery of outsourcing and systems integration,” says Kaltenmark. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but we were missing opportunities. Not any longer.”
—Eric Krell
>> Full list of Top 25 Consultants 2009
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