Sunday 13th Mar, 2016
By Fiona Czerniawska.
Today’s oil industry was born in the second half of the 19th century, after a Scottish chemist, James Young, discovered that he could distil a clear, light oil that could be used in lamps from the dark, viscous stuff that seeped out of coal seams. As the process of refining was itself refined, oil production took off – from just 2,000 barrels a day in 1859 to more than 12 million just after the turn of the 20th century. Oil was important because it powered things, and because its supply was abundant yet controllable. It made, and continues to make, fortunes for those who control its production.
Tuesday 5th Jan, 2016
By Fiona Czerniawska Clients love a specialist. In a previous article on this blog I’ve discussed how the extent to which clients’ rating of the quality of consulting work is very influenced by whether they see the firm concerned as a specialist. The more specialised a firm is seen to be, the higher the quality of its work is rated.
Monday 23rd Nov, 2015
By Fiona Czerniawska Clients want to have their cake and eat it. They regularly tell us that they’d like to use specialised firms, but in practice they tend to stick with larger ones (and the bigger organisation, the more likely this is). That’s because larger consulting firms can pull together the type of flexible, multidisciplinary teams needed for transformation projects; they’ve also got the global coverage big clients ask for – though don’t necessarily need in practice.
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