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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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Retail
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2009
»Top 25 Consultants, 2009: Brooks Kitchel
 Brooks Kitchel
Partner
Kurt Salmon Associates
Excellence in Retail
Kurt Salmon Associates partner Brooks Kitchel imagines he would work as an architect or a teacher if he were not consulting retail clients. It’s not surprising: Kitchel flexes the skills both of these professions require in his consulting work. The conceptual assortment planning (CAP) methodology he introduced to many KSA clients has transformed merchandising strategy in the retail industry. Like any great teacher, Kitchel derives great pleasure from helping younger consultants and his clients exceed their goals.
“One of the more enjoyable aspects of my job is working with younger consultants and seeing them do things they did not believe they could do,” says Kitchel. “I think a good consultant is someone who gets the most pleasure out of seeing the results happen. It’s not about starting a project or getting approval for a project, but it’s the reward of seeing a client do well or gain value from your team delivering benefits beyond what you said you could do.”
The retail industry is hungry for those benefits right now as it seeks to navigate unprecedented changes and pressure. The economic downturn, Kitchel notes, has “almost created a new reality in consumer behavior. … Helping companies adapt to this new reality is an incredibly challenging and rewarding exercise.”
Fortunately, KSA’s CAP process can help. Kitchel and his colleagues developed CAP in response to what flaws they saw in traditional methods of assembling a merchandise assortment: retailers traditionally reviewed what they carried last year and then looked at what the vendors selling them merchandise were promoting. The problem with that approach is that retailers were, A) bound to repeat mistakes; and, B) relying too much on vendors
to tell them about their own customers.
“If you go to the grocery store without a plan and all of the seafood looks good but nothing else does, then you’ll come home with a whole bunch of fish and not be able to put together a dinner,” says Kitchel. Today, more retailers are equipped with a better shopping list, thanks to Kitchel.
—Eric Krell
>> Full list of Top 25 Consultants 2009
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