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A vital and timely investigation into the opaque and powerful consulting industry—and what to do about it There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today that must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies’ reliance on companies such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability, and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown. The “Big Con” describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks—as advisors, legitimators, and outsourcers—and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. In the end, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies. In The Big Con, Mazzucato and Collington throw back the curtain on the consulting industry. They dive deep into important case studies of consultants taking the reins with disastrous results, such as the debacle of the roll out of HealthCare.gov and the tragic failures of governments to respond adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is an important and exhilarating intellectual journey into the modern economy’s beating heart. With peerless scholarship, and a wealth of original research, Mazzucato and Collington argue brilliantly for building a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good.
A vital and timely investigation into the opaque and powerful consulting industry—and what to do about it There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and the way business and government are managed today that must change. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies’ reliance on companies such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY stunts innovation, obfuscates corporate and political accountability, and impedes our collective mission of halting climate breakdown. The “Big Con” describes the confidence trick the consulting industry performs in contracts with hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. It grew from the 1980s and 1990s in the wake of reforms by the neoliberal right and Third Way progressives, and it thrives on the ills of modern capitalism, from financialization and privatization to the climate crisis. It is possible because of the unique power that big consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks—as advisors, legitimators, and outsourcers—and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. In the end, the Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies. In The Big Con, Mazzucato and Collington throw back the curtain on the consulting industry. They dive deep into important case studies of consultants taking the reins with disastrous results, such as the debacle of the roll out of HealthCare.gov and the tragic failures of governments to respond adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is an important and exhilarating intellectual journey into the modern economy’s beating heart. With peerless scholarship, and a wealth of original research, Mazzucato and Collington argue brilliantly for building a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the cover1. Introduction: The Big Con-A Confidence Trick
To overcome the great challenges of our time-from pandemics to the climate crisis-requires ambition and prowess. All types of organizations in our economies must be guided by experience and technical knowledge, and people with project management skills. Businesses, governments and organizations from civil society with these capabilities can then work together to meet our collective social, economic and environmental needs.
And yet this does not describe the world we live in. Many governments have stopped investing in their own capacity and capabilities, and because they fear failure they do not take risks. Many businesses have shirked responsibility for change, and are focused on earning short-term profits through easy, unproductive strategies, such as buying back their own shares to boost stock prices, or not paying workers their fair share. Bad governance in both business and the state has over the last half century caused short-termism to overshadow investments needed for progress. These trends have depleted organizations of knowledge, skills and vision.
And one group of actors has ridden the wave of this form of capitalism, and the underlying depletion of capabilities, earning huge sums of money in the process: the consulting industry. Consulting companies, such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Bain & Company (often referred to as the "Big Three" strategy firms) and PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY (the "Big Four" accountancies), are hired by governments, businesses and other organizations to perform different types of tasks on their behalf. When consultancies are hired by businesses, the tasks they are given sometimes relate to corporate strategy, sometimes to the management and execution of a specific project and sometimes to a particular capacity such as IT or financial planning. Governments often contract consultancies to help deliver critical functions, from the development of climate adaptation strategies to the rollout of vaccination programs and the commissioning of welfare services.
Today, the size of the consulting industry and the contracts it receives have become eye-wateringly large. Their growth shows no sign of slowing down. In 2021, estimates of the global consulting services market ranged from between almost $700 billion to over $900 billion-though these figures do not give the full picture of consultancies' activity.
In every room
The omnipresence of consultants across the economy is striking. Indeed, during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-21), governments spent unprecedented figures on contracts with the big consultancies. By July 2020, McKinsey had already secured over $100 million from the federal government in the United States for pandemic-related tasks. In the United Kingdom, Deloitte received at least $372.9 million from the central government in 2021. One estimate suggests that in the UK over $3.34 billion worth of consultancy contracts were awarded by public bodies in 2021. In Italy, McKinsey was contracted to help organize the country's $191.5 billion share of the EU pandemic recovery fund. Consultants have also been at the highest tables of decision-making during many of the past decade's global economic upheavals, from the eurozone debt crisis to the recovery of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. During that time, the Big Three and the Big Four have also been hired to help design smart cities, develop national net zero carbon strategies, propose education reforms, counsel armies, manage the construction of hospitals, draft medical ethics codes, write tax legislation, oversee the privatization...
Reviews-
Starred review from January 2, 2023 Multinational consultancies, including McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group, and PwC, have co-opted government operations to suit their own business models, according to this immersive and exhaustive study by economists Mazzucato (Mission Economy) and Collington. Noting that the neoliberal “Third Way” embraced by leaders including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair held that governments should “steer more, row less,” Mazzucato and Collington show how public services came to be outsourced to private firms. Consultants and contractors won governments’ confidence by placing experienced public sector veterans in management roles and recruiting eager Ivy League grads to do the legwork. Dazzling PowerPoint presentations and quasi-academic in-house studies enhanced consulting firms’ credibility, despite such failures as the disastrous launch of the Affordable Care Act’s enrollment website, HealthCare.gov. Even more disturbing are studies suggesting that consultancies are actively working against the public interest by simultaneously serving fossil fuel companies while advising governments and corporations on their climate change policies. Among other direct and persuasive solutions, the authors suggest the enhancement of conflict of interest disclosure requirements and empowering public sector organizations “to take risks.” Doggedly researched and elegantly written, this is a fascinating entry point into a critical yet underreported issue.
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