Summary Study Case Mckinsey
Summary Study Case Mckinsey
Background
Mckinsey & Company is a global management conculting firm. “When James O. McKinsey in 1926,
he could not have imagined the reach his small firm would eventually have. Eighty-five years later,
the firm has grown into a global partnership serving two-thirds of the Fortune 1000”
In 1993, the arrival of Marvin Bower provided James O. McKinsey with a strong advocate and a
fellow visionary. Bower adamantly believed that management consulting should be held to the same
high standards for professional conduct and performance as law and medicine.
“After World War II, we had to upgrade the caliber of the people. And we did. And that led to being
the first consulting firm to hire Harvard Business School graduates.”
The McKInsey Quarterly was launched in 1964, to present the company’s most innovative work on
management theory to business leaders worldwide.
McKInsey’s growth in the 1960s had threatened a precious commodity – its client relationships. The
arrival of new technology,i.e. computers and the internet , demanded new investment. Substantial
investment in knowledge development, particularly in key areas of expertise, strategy and
organization. McKinsey invested heavily in codifying its knowledge and making it accessible across
the firm, laying the foundation for the global network used today.
McKinsey grew to over 5.000 consultants and expanding into nearly 20 additional countries by 1999.
It also established the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) to better advise its clients on the global
economy.
Pressure from external environment : Increased competition , Loss of Talent to new firms
Large pool of the top talent opting to work for the competition
Information technology-based systems designed specifically to facilitate the sharing, integration and
utilisation of knowledge.
The systems are often associated with increased organisational flexibility, quicker responses to
changing conditions, greater innovation and improved decision-making.
Knowledge as an OBJECT
Knowledge , equated with information acess, is viewed as a thing to be stored and manipulated (ie,
an object). KMS focuses on gathering, storing and transferring knowledge (information)
Knowledge as a PROCESS
Knowledge is a process of simultaneously knowing and acting (ie, applying expertise).KMS focuses
on links among sources of knowledge to create wider breadth and depth of knowledge flows.
Knowledge as a Capability
Knowledge is a capability with the potetional for influencing future action (ie the capacity to use
information; learning and experience result in an ability to interpret information is necessary in
decision making). KMS focuses on enhancing intellectual capital by supporting development of
individual and organisarional competencies.
4 Types of KMS
1. Fragmented KMS
2. Contect-based KMS
3. Process-based KMS
4. Capability-based KMS
Managing Success
By the late 1980s, the firm was expanding rapidly again. In 1988, the same year Fred Gluck was
elected managing director, new offices were openend in Rome, Helsinki, Sao Paulo and Minneapolis
bringing the total to 41.
After being elected MD, Gluck delegated the practice development role he had played since 1980 to
a newly constituted Clientele and Profesisional Development Committee (CPDC). When Ted Hall
took over leadership of this committee in late 1991, he felt there was a need to adjust the firm’s
knowledge development focus.
Client Impact
With responsibility for knowledge management deleated to the CPDC, Gluck began to focus on a
new theme-client impact. On being elected managing director, he made this a central theme in his
early speeches, memos and his first All partners Conference. He also created a Client it was
developing created positive measurable results in each client engagement.
Despite all these changes, the specialist consultant model continued to struggle. Over the years, the
evaluation criteria for the specialist career path had gradually converged with the mainstream
generalist promotion criteria. For example, the specialist’s old promotion standard of “world-class
expertise” in a particular field had given way to a more pragmatic emphasis on client impact; the
notion of a legitimate role as a consultant to teams had evaluation standard of “grow or go” was
replaced by the normal associate’s more demanding “up or out” reuirement, albeit withi a slightly
more flexible timeframe.
In 1994 : Fred Gluck stepped down as MD. His successor is Rahat Gupta. He wanted to capitalized on
the firm’s long term investment in practice development driven by Clientele Industry Sectors and
Functional Capability Groups and supported by the knowledge infrastructure of PDNet and FPIS.
In 1995 : The new MD initiated six special initiatives-multiyear internal assignments led by senior
partners that focused on emerging issues the were of importance to CEOs.
Finaly, he planned to expand on the midel of the McKinsey Global Institute, a firm sponsored
researched center established in 1991.
Future Directions
Thet McKinsey partnership was engaged in spirited debate about the firm’s future directions and
priorities.
- Concerned that their growth may strectch the fabric of the place.
- Dark side Tech, call Tecnopoly it can dive out communication and people start believing that
emailing someone is the same thing as talking to them.
Thank you