A Great Summer – and Back to London With a Bang!
I hope all members had a good summer season! The weather was very good for us on the whole – just a few wet days, and plenty of warmth.
The return to the desk and/or one’s IT device of choice is always a bang after the summer holidays!
Appreciation from the Dean
Before I went on holiday I, with IPM Geoff Llewellyn, were invited to lunch with the Dean and the COO of Cass Business School. Geoff had recently arranged for Honorary Freeman Jon Moulton to fund a scholarship at the School.
I am delighted to report that the Dean made a special point to express his appreciation of the long and very supportive relationship of our Company with the School. He was delighted to have our support now for the major ETHOS initiative at the School, and hoped our strong engagement with the School would continue.
Our Past Master’s University on Show – High Drama!
I went to the Edinburgh Fringe. There is no shortage of productions driven with lots of enthusiasm, but the production that will stay longest in the memory was by the Warwick University Dramatic Society.. It was a modern and thought-provoking piece with sensitive acting and excellent staging. It was a moment of proxy pleasure to reflect that one of our Past Masters, Sir George Cox, is Pro Chancellor of Warwick – he and his colleagues could be very proud of what their Society performed.
Consultancy – Quo Vadis?
Did anyone else see the Lucy Kellaway article in the FT this Monday? * She ranged her guns on management consulting firms. She was provoked by a report by McKinsey on management challenges looking fifty years ahead. More importantly for us, she went on to challenge whether the present business model of management consulting firms is sustainable.
For example, clients are getting smarter in dealing with this complex world and will be more able to solve their own problems. They know the models, methods and approaches we know.
The digital revolution will change the cost effectiveness of the sorts of engine rooms of analysts, process designers, and report writers we are accustomed to in consulting firms.
Does this mean consultants actually become just a flexible manpower resource for clients? Apart from highly technical areas such as IT systems design and implementation, Health and Safety, or engineering services, what will be the source of client demand in the future?
Do not misunderstand me – there will be a market for consultancy – but how do we position ourselves for it? Will some famous names fade, like Univac, DEC, Dell, Palm, etc? IBM and Apple however show that renewal is possible in that field. Does our future lie in small, high level, high profile personality-driven advisory firms?
And Finally…….
Many of us know about the Sir John C ass Foundation – the largest City-based charity. As well as its well known schools in the City – including the Cass Business School whose modern building in Bunhill Row is due to the Foundation - it gives a lot of support elsewhere. Interestingly this includes helping prisoners prepare for release and getting a secure foothold in society again. They fund for example prisoner education and training courses. They reduce the recidivist rate by 25%. That has got to be one of the best returns on investment going for society.
Interesting because we have members ourselves who are working with Working Chance, a charity focused on helping women prisoners have much improved chances of obtaining a job on release.
Edward
16/9/14
* http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9dbce952-38d7-11e4-9526-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F9dbce952-38d7-11e4-9526-00144feabdc0.html%3Fsiteedition%3Duk&siteedition=uk&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ft.com%2Fsearch%3FftsearchType%3Dtype_news%26queryText%3DLucy%2520Kellaway#axzz3DTW1kVYa If you missed it. I could provide a scanned copy of the paper. Let me know.