For consulting firms that focus on turning around and restructuring businesses, 2009 was a banner year. With so many companies needing help in 2009, it's not wonder Alvarez & Marsal finished No. 12 on our annual list. In fact, Alvarez & Marsal took over a very high profile case when the firm was asked to oversee the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Not all client engagements are so high profile, of course. But the type of work the firm is doing certainly plays a role in the overall morale of the firm. "Our professionals are motivated by opportunities to do purposeful work and make a real difference to clients," says Tom Elsenbrook, managing director and head of Alvarez & Marsal business consulting. "We thrive on helping clients solve important problems, and hold ourselves accountable to delivering sustainable results."
Elsenbrook says Alvarez & Marsal is the right firm at the right time for this economy, and says the majority of the firm's work right now is with distressed companies. But, he says, the firm is well positioned for the turnaround. "We are well hedged to succeed when the cycle changes again, as it surely will," he says.
"Our crisis management heritage has earned us the right to be considered for and hired by some of the most high profile cases today, including Lehman Brothers, but our collective DNA is wired to get results quickly. Our business consultants also apply this same sense of urgency and accountability to healthy companies seeking positive change with restructuring speed."
Elsenbrook says the Best Firms to Work For recognition is a great validation of the firm's primary goals: to hire the best people and deliver the best value to clients.
"Our firm's heritage and culture stem from bringing a bias toward action and results to clients," Elsenbrook says. "This has been a hallmark of A&M since 1983 when Tony Alvarez II and Bryan Marsal saw a need in the market to serve stressed and distressed companies with a combination of speed and operating know-how for bottom line results. We have stayed true to our heritage even as we have diversified our offerings and geographic reach. We now also apply restructuring speed and problem solving capabilities to a greater range of healthy as well as underperforming businesses."
And, according to the survey results, the leadership of the two co-founders is one of the strengths of the firm. "If our heritage and values have taught us anything since A&M's founding, it is that leadership that makes all the difference in any situation," Elsenbrook says. "We believe leaders are born and they are also bred. We are fortunate that our [founders and co-CEOs] have always believed in betting on talent and nurturing leaders."
Betting on talent—particularly the younger talent—is a key focus for the firm. "Our commitment to them is that we will help them grow at a faster pace than they could anywhere else by giving them unique access to senior professionals and our clients."
—Joe Kornik
| PRACTICE SPOTLIGHT Manufacturing While the majority of the Alvarez & Marsal consultants who completed the Best Firms survey told us they did the majority of their client work in manufacturing, Alvarez & Marsal doesn't go to market by specific industry practice area, but rather with a focus on operational performance improvement. "We hire a diverse mixture of people with functional consulting skills, operational expertise, strong cash management and working capital management focus and hands-on industry management experience," says Jeff Stegenga, managing director and chairman of Alvarez & Marsal's North America restructuring division. "This allows us to maintain our bias for action, so we can solve problems and achieve results more quickly than traditional consulting firms do. This is the composition of our talent in the manufacturing sector as well as in other sectors, too." And Stegenga says he believes all Alvarez & Marsal consultants get a buzz from making a difference, regardless of which industry it's in. "Time and again, our people let us know how much satisfaction they get from interacting with respected and talented colleagues in service of a client," he says. "It's gratifying that our professionals noted the manufacturing sector as one such industry in which they derive job satisfaction." |
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