The crisis – ethics or competence?

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See http://www.strategydynamics.com/strategy-lessons. Background follows … I have been watching a long debate on the Academy of Management’s discussion list re Management Development about the role of ethics and values [or lack of] in bringing about the current crisis. That debate and many similar comments in the media seem to make a big assumption – that unethical behaviour was the main reason for the crisis, so with more ethical standards the crisis would have been avoided or substantially reduced. But apart from ...

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Seize Advantage in a Downturn

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More (mostly) helpful advice re the downturn from HBR is Seize the advantage in a downturn in which David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter of BCG offer thoughts to stabilize your business and find opportunities … but beware!

Good to see the Boston Consulting Group encourage us to focus on the core business (as we should have been doing in the first place), protect product development, look at competitors’ weaknesses etc. – and ...

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Losers from the down-turn

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Whilst business schools are seeing more applications by analysts and execs being down-sized from banks and other sectors, I see from the Economist [Giving advice in adversity] consulting firms are not faring so well. I hope they were expecting this and prepared their staffing plans for it over the last couple of years, as it’s exactly what happened after the dot-com bubble. Last time round some messed up so badly they withdrew MBA job offers within weeks of making them, and ...

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Losers in consulting from the down-turn

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After seeing that business school applications are up, following the release of professional staff from banking etc, I see the consulting sector is suffering a down-turn [Economist, 20-26 Sep]. They should have anticipated this, and planned accordingly e.g. with their hiring from a couple of years ago, because it’s exactly what happened after the dot-com bust.  Back then, there were horrendous stories of consulting firms withdrawing job offers to MBAs before they even got to the door. One firm I hear treated ...

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