A. T. Kearney

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A.T. Kearney
Type Private
Founded 1926
Headquarters Chicago, United States
Key people Paul A. Laudicina, Managing Officer and Chairman of the Board
Industry Management consulting
Products Management consulting services
Revenue $910 million in 2008
Employees 2700 Consultants
Website www.atkearney.com

A.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm, focusing on strategic and operational CEO-agenda concerns. The stated mission of A.T. Kearney is to help the world’s leading corporations gain and sustain competitive advantage, and achieve profound, tangible results. Its slogan is: Ideas that last. Kearney was ranked in top 10 "best place to work for" in consulting magazines 2008 rankings[1].

The firm operated within the United States until 1964 when it opened its first international office in Düsseldorf. A.T. Kearney now has 51 offices in 34 countries.

According to its founder, Andrew Thomas Kearney, "Our success as consultants will depend upon the ESSENTIAL RIGHTNESS of the advice we give and our capacity for convincing those in authority that it is good."

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1926-1987

A.T. Kearney began as a branch of McKinsey & Company. Andrew Thomas Kearney joined James O. McKinsey's firm 3 years after it was founded in 1926. Tom Kearney was McKinsey's first partner and head of its first office in Chicago. At the time, McKinsey & Company was one of the only firms that focused on management consulting for top level executives rather than specialized consulting in areas such as accounting or law.

In 1937 James O. McKinsey died unexpectedly at the age of 48 due to pneumonia. While the company continued to operate as before, Tom Kearney and the remaining partners disagreed over how to run the firm. In 1939, the company was split. A.T. Kearney continued to operate the Chicago office, renaming the firm McKinsey and Kearney. Marvin Bower, the head of the New York office, continued the practice in New York and retained the rights to the name McKinsey & Company in all areas other than the Midwest. In 1947, Bower purchased the exclusive rights to the name McKinsey & Company from Tom Kearney, who renamed his firm A.T. Kearney & Associates.

The firm operated within the United States until 1964 when it opened its first international office in Düsseldorf.

Important Events during this period are:

  • 1926 – McKinsey is established
  • 1929 – Andrew Thomas Kearney joins firm
  • 1934 – Landmark study of wholesale operations of Marshall Field & Co. completed
  • 1935 – Tom Kearney becomes managing partner; James M. Phelan joins firm
  • 1939 – The firm splits in two: McKinsey & Co. moves to New York and Boston, and McKinsey, Kearney & Co. remains in Chicago
  • 1945 – Tom Kearney asked by President Franklin Roosevelt to head mission to help the Chinese improve their defense readiness efforts. Kearney received a U.S. Medal of Freedom and a Victory Medal from the Chinese government
  • 1946 – Firm adopts the name A.T. Kearney & Company
  • 1961 – Tom Kearney retires and James Phelan becomes managing partner
  • 1962 – Tom Kearney dies January 11
  • 1963 – A.T. Kearney & Company, Inc., incorporated in April; A.T. Kearney International, Inc., incorporated in July as a subsidiary
  • 1964 – James Phelan elected president of A.T. Kearney & Company, Inc.; A.T. Kearney, G.m.b.H., established as first non-U.S. office in Düsseldorf, led by Art Kelly
  • 1968 – Expansion continues with offices opened in San Francisco, New York, Milan, Paris and London
  • 1969 – James Phelan becomes chairman of the board and Kenneth L. Block becomes president of A.T. Kearney & Company, Inc.
  • 1972 – Firm’s name changed to A.T. Kearney, Inc.; First Asian office opens in Tokyo; Kenneth Block becomes chairman of the board; Donald E. Ramlow becomes president
  • 1980 – Offices open in Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Atlanta,Boston and Dallas
  • 1983 – Fred G. Steingraber becomes chief executive officer
  • 1985 – Fred Steingraber becomes fourth chairman in 60 years; A.T. Kearney begins consulting work in China
  • 1986 – Joint ventures in China, Taiwan and Tunisia signed

[edit] 1987-1994

  • 1988 – Biggest expansion in the history of the firm peaks with 20 of 26 offices enlarged, relocated or opened since late 1985; Offices open in Madrid and Munich
  • 1988 - Named fifth-largest broad-based multidisciplined management consultancy in the United States; Firm surpasses $100 million in revenue
  • 1989 – A.T. Kearney’s operation in West Germany celebrates 25th anniversary
  • 1989 - A.T. Kearney staff worldwide reaches 1,000 employees
  • 1990 – Office opens in Singapore
  • 1991 – Berlin office opens
  • 1992 – Three Nordic offices acquired in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm; Offices open in Hong Kong and Prague
  • 1992 - Global Business Policy Council formed to provide a global strategic forum for corporate executives and policy leaders; New world headquarters completed in Chicago
  • 1993 – Firm marks 10th straight year of double-digit growth
  • 1994 – Wins two five-year contracts from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, largest in firm’s history
  • 1994 - Offices open in Helsinki, Mexico City, São Paulo, Sydney,Melbourne and Silicon Valley

[edit] 1995-2005

In 1995 A. T. Kearny joined hands with EDS, a large technology consulting firm[2]. Around the same time, several A.T. Kearney partners and consultants, led by Tom Steiner, left the firm to start the Mitchell Madison Group.[3]

  • 1995 – A.T. Kearney hires its 2,000th employee
  • 1995 - A.T. Kearney becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of EDS in September, nearly doubling in size and vastly expanding its industry expertise and information technology capabilities
  • 1995 - Offices open in Beijing, Warsaw and Seoul
  • 1996 – Moscow office expansion makes A.T. Kearney the multinational consultancy with the largest on-site capability in Russia
  • 1996 - Offices open in Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon and Rome
  • 1997 – First Global Prize, an annual business school case study competition for potential recruits, awarded
  • 1997 - Offices open in New Delhi, Shanghai and Jakarta; Revenues top $1 billion
  • 1998 – Premiere issue of Executive Agenda, the firm’s thought-leadership journal, published; Offices open in Vienna and Frankfurt
  • 2000 - Dietmar Ostermann named chief executive officer
  • 2003 – Winning the Merger Endgame, by Fritz Kroeger and Graeme Deans, selected by Executive Book Summaries as one of the best business books of 2003; Officers elect Henner Klein as chief executive officer
  • 2004 – Consulting Magazine names Fritz Kroeger to its list of Top 25 Most Influential Consultants; Fritz and co-author Graeme Deans publish Stretch! How Great Companies Grow in Good Times and Bad
  • 2005 – A.T. Kearney officers elect a new board of directors
  • 2005 - Paul A. Laudicina, director of A.T. Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council, named to Consulting Magazine’s list of Top 25 Most Influential Consultants
  • 2005 - World Out of Balance, by Paul Laudicina, selected by Executive Book Summaries as one of the best business books of 2005

[edit] 2006-2007

In 2005, EDS CEO, Michael Jordan, confirmed rumors that EDS was seeking to sell A.T. Kearney back to its management team. The transaction was completed in January 2006.[4]. More than 170 A.T. Kearney officers from 26 countries participated in the transaction as investors (90% of those invited to participate did so).

  • 2006 – A.T. Kearney completes management buyout from EDS and becomes an independent, privately owned firm
  • 2006 - A.T. Kearney celebrates its 80th anniversary
  • 2006 – Officers elect Paul Laudicina as managing officer and chairman of the board
  • 2006 – A.T. Kearney South Korea LLC becomes largest consulting presence in the country
  • 2006 – Offices open in Dubai and Ljubljana
  • 2007 – Office opens in Bucharest
  • 2007 – Firm signs a cooperation agreement with South African-based FeverTree Consulting to jointly develop and execute business in sub-Saharan Africa
  • 2007 - A.T. Kearney launches its new strategic direction, Vision 20/15: Connect, Lead, Sustain

[edit] Practice Areas

A.T. Kearney's industry specialties include Automotive, Communications, Consumer & Retail, Financial Institutions, Government, High Tech & Electronics, Pharma & Health Care, and Energy & Utilities. Major competency teams include Supply Chain Management, Growth Strategies, Mergers, Innovation & Complexity, IT Strategies, and Transformation.

To meet the increasing demand from environmentally conscious and socially responsible clients, A.T. Kearney has introduced a sustainability service, which consists of an expert group focused on developing corporate sustainability strategies and optimizing green product portfolios, to assist clients in developing sustainable value chains and networks.

With a strong practice in procurements, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions accelerates and streamlines the sourcing and supply management process through spend reduction and category procurement solutions, leading-edge eBreviate sourcing technology, product lifecycle sourcing capabilities and market-driven templates and insights. [5]

[edit] Offices

Currently, the firm runs 51 offices in 34 countries.

[edit] Americas [11 offices]

  • Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Mexico City, New York, San Francisco, São Paulo, Toronto, Washington D.C.

[edit] Asia Pacific [13 offices]

  • Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Mumbai, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo.

[edit] Europe [24 offices]

  • Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Vienna, Warsaw, Zurich.

[edit] Middle East [3 offices]

  • Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Manama.


[edit] Competitors

A.T. Kearney's top competitors include white shoe firms McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Booz & Company, Monitor Group, and the Boston Consulting Group.

[edit] Global Business Policy Council

A.T. Kearney founded in 1993 a private think tank, the Global Business Policy Council, which publishes the Globalisation Index, the Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, the Offshore Services Locations Index, and a number of essays on strategic issues which appear in the Wilson Quarterly, World Policy Journal, Foreign Policy and elsewhere. Formerly led by Paul Laudicina, author of 'World out of Balance,' the Council is now run by senior director Martin Walker, who coined the term CHIMEA to define the new trading hub on China, India, Middle East and Africa. Walker, author of 'The Cold War; a History' and 'Makers of the American Century,' also wrote 'Globalization 3.0,' published in the Wilson Quarterly, which argued that future historians would mark as more significant not the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but the date of 12/11 in that same year of 2001, the day on which China joined the World Trade Organization. The Council organizes annual meetings of its members, CEOs of major corporations from around the world, regional conferences, and conducts bespoke strategic consultancies on strategic issues for corporate bodies and governments.

[edit] Publications

[edit] Research Reports

  • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index: The Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index provides a unique look at the present and future prospects for international investment flows.
  • Globalization Index (GI): A.T. Kearney, along with Foreign Policy magazine, publishes the annual Globalization Index. The Globalization Index is an annual study that assesses the extent to which the world's most populated nations are becoming more or less globally connected.
  • Global Retail Development Index (GRDI): The Global Retail Development Index measures the development of retail and nations presenting themselves as attractive destinations for retail investment.
  • Global Services Location Index (GSLI): The Global Services Location Index evaluates 40 countries as potential locations for the most common remote services, including IT services and support, contact centers, back-office support.
  • Real Estate Oppurtunity Index: The A.T. Kearney Real Estate Opportunity Index 2008 examines 50 developing countries.[6]
  • Global Cities Index: Foreign Policy magazine, A.T. Kearney and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs published the inaugural Global Cities Index in October 2008. The index is a comprehensive ranking of the ways in which cities are integrating with the rest of the world. Specifically, the Global Cities Index ranks cities’ metro areas according to 24 metrics across five dimensions - business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement[7]

[edit] Executive Agenda

A.T. Kearney also publishes Executive Agenda, a print and online journal which offers articles on current leadership, management, market and research issues written by A.T. Kearney consultants.

[edit] Books

A.T. Kearney consultants have published several business books, including the recent World Out of Balance written by the Chairman of the Board and Managing Officer, Paul A. Laudicina. Other publications include:

  • After the Merger, which provides a blueprint on how to effect post merger integration, introducing Seven Rules for Successful Post-Merger Integration. Max M. Habeck, Fritz Kröger and Michael R. Tram have reflected on their merger lessons learned over the years as A.T. Kearney consultants.
  • Winning the Profit Game, where the authors Michael R. Reopel, Jeanne-May Sun, Robert G. Docters and Stephen M. Tanny make a case for the link between price and brand and their role as the fundamental tools for growing the top line.
  • Stretch! How Great Companies Grow In Good Times and Bad. Based on in-depth case studies of some 29 000 companies, combining data, ideas and practical guidance, the authors, Graeme K. Deans and Fritz Kröger, argue that extraordinary growth is possible by all companies, in any industry and phase of the market cycle.
  • Rebuilding the Corporate Genome: Unlocking the Real Value of Your Business, where Johan C. Aurik, Gillis J. Jonk and Robert E. Willen talk about how the plummeting interaction costs makes it easier for individual parts of companies to break, possibly causing the breakdown of the corporation.
  • Business Wargaming: Securing Corporate Value. Industry consolidation, mergers, changes to business models, and the emergence of new threats all require managers to understand highly complex situations, assess risk and opportunity, and make informed decisions. One of the emerging solutions is business wargaming.
  • Strategic IT-Management - CIOs and company leaders responsible for IT are in a paradox situation these days. After years of significant growth, IT spending has been reduced to a minimum, as companies look for bottom-line value delivered from IT.
  • Winning the Merger Endgame is the result of a worldwide study of mergers encompassing 25,000 listed companies in 24 major industries from 53 countries. The authors describe the four discrete stages that industries go through on their way to global consolidation, what strategies executives need to consider based on what stage they are in, and what operational changes must be made to win the game of consolidation.
  • The Partnering Imperative: Making Business Partnerships Work - An important advancement in the field of partnering is emerging. Managers realize that traditional, integrated organization structures, with their hierarchy and functional silos, must be replaced by flatter, process-based architectures extending beyond their corporate boundaries.
  • Alpha Leadership: Tools for Business Leaders Who Want More From Life - How can you be a successful leader, reduce stress and promote happiness at a time when most people are struggling to make sense of the workplace, the changing economy and a changing world? Alpha Leadership is a “how to” book, written from the authors’ extensive experience of leadership development in the US and Europe.

[edit] Other Publications

In addition, the company publishes Business issue papers and A.T Kearney consultants have authored and contributed to articles in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Strategy & Leadership and Supply Chain Management Review.


[edit] Green Initiatives

A.T.Kearney is trying to attain carbon neutrality by the end of 2009, by reducing its own emissions and by investing in climate protection projects. 90 experts are investing their experience in the project as well as in a corresponding offer of consulting services. The firm has already carried out more than 50 projects on sustainability around the world[8].

The firm’s travel department is working to measure and then offset carbon emissions derived from corporate travel, building a sustainability program and setting standards for carbon reporting. The firm measures the entirety of emissions stemming from travel, using UN approved tracking methods. The firm also moved to limit travel when appropriate, shift to more environmentally friendly modes of transport and work with carbonefficient suppliers [9].

[edit] Spin-offs

The following companies have spun-off from A.T. Kearney:

  • Lansdowne Consulting: an independent strategy and management consulting firm with offices in London, Los Angeles, Munich and Tokyo. Lansdowne has deep expertise in a number of sectors and functions including Automotive, Cost & Supply Management, Media & Telecom, Retail & Consumer and Transaction Support[10].
  • Efficio: provides a range of client-tailored services to help organisations get more value from their procurement - whether through identifying and implementing cost savings, introducing new processes or procurement-related technology or identifying ways to manage supplier relationships on a more strategic level[11].
  • [Pacific Strategy Partners:] a boutique firm of senior consulting professionals who have a track record in delivering value to a select group of Australian clients[12]. Currently, all 6 directors in the firm have had management consulting experience in A.T. Kearney.
  • Quartz Strategy Consultants: one of the largest management consulting firms in Scandinavia. Hans Henrik created the foundations of Quartz Strategy Consultants in the beginning of 1999, looking to create a solid alternative to the American management consulting firms. Between 1992 and 1999, Hans Henrik worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co. and Aarsø Nielsen & Partners (now A.T. Kearney)[13].

[edit] Notable Current and Former Employees

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.atkearney.com/res/shared/pdf/Consulting_Best_Firms.pdf
  2. ^ E.D.S. Resumes Purchase Talks With Kearney - New York Times
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ EDS Concludes Sale of A.T. Kearney | eds.com
  5. ^ Procurement Solutions Group
  6. ^ AT Kearney expects real estate boom in Poland | News - GOwarsaw.eu - Warsaw Guide. Plan your trip and stay, find best hotels, events and more
  7. ^ http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509
  8. ^ http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=1,5,1,214
  9. ^ http://www.btnonline.com/businesstravelnews/images/pdf/CT100_08_HANSEN.pdf
  10. ^ http://www.lansdowneconsulting.com/expertise
  11. ^ http://www.efficioconsulting.com/efficio-services/
  12. ^ http://www.pacificstrategy.com.au/index.php
  13. ^ http://www.quartz.dk/en/48725/Hans%20Henrik%20Beck/

[edit] External links

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