CM: What cultural differences do you believe distinguish A.T. Kearney from other consulting firms?
Klein: The A.T. Kearney culture is really a unique blend of, on one hand, the expected analytical vigor that you just want to see when you hire a classical management consulting firm and, on the other hand, a down-to-earth pragmatism that allows us to be accepted on the shop floor as well as the top floor or boardroom floor. I think that this combination, this blend, of vigor and analytical brilliance with a good shot of pragmatism is exactly what makes up the culture of A.T. Kearney.
CM: We have been told that traditional partnerships have an advantage over more commercialized consulting organizations such as Accenture or IBM BCS — in that partnerships are better at encouraging collaboration between partners. Is ATK now looking to foster greater collaboration among its partners in light of new competitors?
Klein: We were forced to open our P&L and become less country-focused earlier than some of our competitors were, so this is less of an issue for us. … While I agree that collaboration is always an issue, this is something that does not currently need to be addressed at A.T. Kearney. It's a pendulum that we always need to keep in balance. But our governance system at the office level has always shared bookings to facilitate teaming, and in this regard we are always more interested in the effort behind those things than in looking at the ultimate numbers that somebody creates.
CM: Was the original thinking behind the EDS and A.T. Kearney marriage flawed?
Klein: One of the strategic reasons behind Kearney joining forces with EDS was to get access to the IT competencies, which at that point in time — and you could argue even today — none of our traditional competitors had access to. … That was the driving governance at that time from our standpoint, and in the booming times of the '90s, when IT was the particular driver of the whole consulting business. … But it was a driver, it was a driver when the Big Five were growing steadily. And as such I think it was valid.
CM: We understand that joint selling opportunities are no longer a primary measure of success for the ATK/EDS marriage. What does this mean, exactly?
Klein: We had to learn that there are limitations and that these businesses have very specific dynamics. For example, we had a very different governance model from EDS and we had some very specific internal processes. And while a market is booming, these types of differences are easy to overcome — but integrating these businesses in a tough market is not doable. The decision was to focus each business, which does not mean that we will not work with EDS. It means that we need to work more selectively. We will go after a single pursuit together when it makes sense, and I have recently been part of just such a pursuit that we actually did win against major competitors. But for us, it's more about listening to what a client wants and responding to a client's needs rather than trying to combine a high-value management consulting proposition with an outsourcing proposition.
CM: Both BCG and McKinsey & Company recently elected leaders who reside in Europe. Does this fact, along with the fact that you too reside in Europe, underscore a shift of some kind for the consulting marketplace?
Klein: I think that this is not the case. Consulting, in its professional sense, was developed in the U.S. and came over to Europe. We entered Germany in 1964, and I think that McKinsey was there in nearly the same year. Now what you see is that the child has grown up, and the simple fact for McKinsey, BCG, and A.T. Kearney is that the European part of the business in the 1990s was as powerful a part of the business as was the U.S. part. Europe overall is today an economy of similar size, and is growing more together.
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