In August, Jim Roth replaced Gary Holdren as the CEO of Huron Consulting Group. Roth took over under less than ideal circumstances as Holdren and two other executives were forced to resign over an accounting scandal. Even amid the turmoil, Huron grew revenues 2.1 percent year over year and reported $172.2 million in revenue in the third quarter. Roth talked with Consulting about the firm's future.
Consulting: As CEO, what are your plans?
Roth: My initial plans are to continue to build upon our core strengths. We have a very strong position in a number of our core practices, and my goal is be to continue to build out our competencies and our market presence where we are strongest right now. I'm very comfortable with the portfolio we have right now, and we'll continue to look to make investments and expand in those key markets.
Consulting: Where do you see market opportunities in 2010?
Roth: I'm not one of those people who think we've turned the corner as far as the economy goes. Our core businesses—health and education, legal consulting, legal services, restructuring, disputes and investigations—are in markets that are likely to need increased services over the next several years. Restructur-ing, in particular, will be strong if the economy continues the way it is right now. The healthcare market is likely to go through lots of change whether healthcare reform passes or not.
Consulting: Even with recent financial troubles, the firm has maintained solid growth. Will you maintain that in 2010?
Roth: We're just in the process of doing our 2010 planning, and we haven't focused in on our growth expectations just yet. However, like I said, we do see plenty of opportunities out there.
Consulting: Given all that the firm's been through, how would you describe morale?
Roth: I think the morale is quite good. This is very feisty firm. I think the feistiness is best demonstrated by looking at our third-quarter results. Despite the financial restating, we had the highest revenues that we've ever had in a quarter. So, something went right. This group knew we would be challenged by the financial restatement, and they decided the best thing we can do is get back into the marketplace and serve our clients well—and that's exactly what we've done.
That wasn't an event we wished for, but it happened, and we've dealt with it and we've moved on. We're looking to a bright future, and I think that's reflective of the company's morale right now.
Consulting: Was there any crisis of confidence among your key clients?
Roth: We had a number of clients that wanted to know if the firm was going to be OK, and if the people would be OK. Those are very appropriate questions in light of what had occurred. We met with clients and answered their questions. We reassured them that it did not affect the stability of the company, and it would not impact the quality of our work. In the end, I don't think it had a material impact on our company at all.
Consulting: That being said, what's the biggest challenges you face?
Roth: The biggest challenge for us is the external market conditions. That will have a bigger impact than anything that's happened internally. That we can control, but we can't control the economy.
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