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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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2009
»Top 25 Consultants, 2009: Laurie Oppel
 Laurie Oppel
Managing Director
Navigant Consulting
Excellence in Energy
What does an energy company have in common with a consulting firm? Success in both industries is intrinsically linked to a company’s ability to attract, train and maintain the next generation of leaders.
“It’s always much more difficult to attract good people than it is to keep good people,” explains Laurie Oppel, managing director of Navigant’s Energy- Power Systems, Markets & Pricing practice. While few would disagree with that adage, few consultants have the ability to translate it into working solutions for clients and their firm.
Across the energy space, linemen and power plant workers are retiring faster than they can be replaced, leading to a severe shortage of experience. Oppel is leading client engagements aimed at recording the knowledge of the soon-to-retire and capturing it in searchable computer systems. “Currently, a lot of the crucial information is kept in paper form, in notebooks whose pages fall apart because they are so old,” Oppel says. “We’re spending a lot of time training people to use the new technology and creating training tools to get junior staff up to speed.”
What really makes Oppel stand out to her peers is her ability to use her “knowledge transfer” skills internally. About five years ago, voluntary attrition in Navigant’s energy practice was about on par with the rest of the firm. But after a series of changes she designed to encourage greater collaboration among the team’s consultants, “attrition rates have decreased dramatically,” says Oppel.
Part of the slowdown in attrition can be attributed to her informal process of taking junior staff “to sales meetings, to learn how we budget and forecast how we price projects. They don’t just watch; they are involved in those discussions.”
She adds, “We learn from each other. The team is made up of individuals with different backgrounds. We’ve developed the kind of environment in which everyone can ask questions, seek help, and be peer reviewed. Anyone can learn from anyone, even managing directors can learn from senior consultants.”
—Jess Scheer
>> Full list of Top 25 Consultants 2009
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