The big con: how the consulting industry weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments, and warps our economies

Table of contents

Introduction: The Big Con: A Confidence Trick
What is the Consulting Industry?
Where Consulting Came From: A Brief History
The Outsourcing Turn: Government by Consultancy and the Third Way
The Big Confidence Trick: Consultology and Economic Rents
Evading the Risks, Reaping the Rewards: The Business Model
Infantilizing Organizations: When Learning Is Undermined Across Government and Business
Colliding Interests: Consultancies and Democracy
Climate Consulting: An Existential Threat?
Conclusion: A Government That Rows So It Can Steer

A vital and timely investigation into how the consulting industry has made its way to the heart of our economies and governments - and what to do about it.
There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry and hollowed-out, risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington show that our economies' reliance on companies such as McKinsey, 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' is possible in today's economies because of the unique power that consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks - as advisors, legitimators and outsourcers - and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity. The Big Con weakens our businesses, infantilizes our governments and warps our economies.
Mazzucato and Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. With a wealth of original research, they argue brilliantly for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good. We must recalibrate the role of consultants and rebuild economies and governments that are fit for purpose.


http://www.greenpenguin.co.uk/