You won’t find Sapient Senior Vice President Alan Wexler on a conference call or in an airport at 6 a.m. When he’s not on the road, there’s a good chance you will find him trail-running in the Santa Monica mountains with an eclectic mix of colleagues as well as a client or two. Despite playing a central role in helping his firm record its highest annual revenue last year, Wexler prefers to talk with his clients and colleagues about his firm’s long-term prospects for growth and continued success. The discussion centers on balance, which is not surprising for someone who each day blocks out his 6 to 7 a.m. schedule slot for exercise, despite working in the Pacific time zone.
If the pragmatic side of Miles Everson’s personality could conduct a self-inventory, it would heartily approve of the PricewaterhouseCoopers partner’s primary consulting characteristics: Conceptual prowess? Check. Real-world expertise? Check. Passion? Check. A sense of higher calling? Check.
Oliver Wyman Director Adrian Slywotzky’s nomination form for “Top 25” recognition easily could have been four words long: He did it again. Slywotzky, the author of several groundbreaking business books, including Value Migration and The Profit Zone, published another must-read last year in The Upside: The 7 Strategies for Turning Big Threats into Growth Breakthroughs (Crown, 2007). The book asks a daunting question from the perspective of executives at the world’s leading companies: “What are the biggest risks that can kill all or part of our business?” By answering that question, Slywotzky discovers, companies can also identify the “upside”—opportunities for growth nestled in the same disturbances threatening to wreak havoc on their business.
The colleague who nominated CSC partner John Sarnese as a Top 25 Consultant describes his purview as “overall responsibility for technology excellence for all Philadelphia projects.” Sarnese might shrug off the first part of that description—he prefers framing his expertise in the context of his clients’ business needs—however, as a native son, he takes pleasure in his geographic domain.
The competitive analyses Harlem Lanes co-founder and CEO Sharon Joseph churned out as a consultant in Booz Allen Hamilton’s financial services practice helped get a community-oriented entrepreneurial venture rolling. Joseph and her aunt, Gail Richards, were struck by the same thought as they walked through Harlem in late 2001: Why is there so little interactive, family entertainment in rapidly revitalizing Harlem?
In an industry where consistency and standardization reign supreme, confusion sparked by a rapidly tilting playing field has thrown a wrench into North American manufacturers' game plans. And now companies – and consultants – are adjusting their thinking for manufacturing's new global reality.
Customers who stroll into a Portland, Ore.-based Umpqua Bank branch can hoist a mug of gourmet coffee and then relax in the comfy lobby while checking their e-mail (via free Wi-Fi) before attending an evening yoga class. The vibe is so relaxing that visitors might easily forget that a nasty sub-prime mortgage crisis is roiling most retail banks and the financial services industry as a whole.
You won’t find Sapient Senior Vice President Alan Wexler on a conference call or in an airport at 6 a.m. When he’s not on the road, there’s a good chance you will find him trail-running in the Santa Monica mountains with an eclectic mix of colleagues as well as a client or two. Despite playing a central role in helping his firm record its highest annual revenue last year, Wexler prefers to talk with his clients and colleagues about his firm’s long-term prospects for growth and continued success. The discussion centers on balance, which is not surprising for someone who each day blocks out his 6 to 7 a.m. schedule slot for exercise, despite working in the Pacific time zone.
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If the pragmatic side of Miles Everson’s personality could conduct a self-inventory, it would heartily approve of the PricewaterhouseCoopers partner’s primary consulting characteristics: Conceptual prowess? Check. Real-world expertise? Check. Passion? Check. A sense of higher calling? Check.
Oliver Wyman Director Adrian Slywotzky’s nomination form for “Top 25” recognition easily could have been four words long: He did it again.
Raj Joshi’s instinctual curiosity drove him to a valuable realization four years ago during a discussion with the CIO of a top technology company.
The colleague who nominated CSC partner John Sarnese as a Top 25 Consultant describes his purview as “overall responsibility for technology excellence for all Philadelphia projects.” Sarnese might shrug off the first part of that description—he prefers framing his expertise in the context of his clients’ business needs—however, as a native son, he takes pleasure in his geographic domain.
