Posts Tagged ‘Consulting’

HP Expands Telecom Offerings through New Consulting Services and Management Software

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Information technology major HP Enterprise Services has expanded its telecom offerings to assist customers in the planning and execution of transformation strategies.

Aimed at strengthening its consulting services and management software businesses, HP has expanded two portfolios that support communications service providers (CSPs).

The new businesses include HP Solutions Consulting Services (HP SCS) and HP Operations Support Systems Transformation solutions for network and service management.

Telecom service providers can gain as these two portfolios offer expertise and tools for business transformation, including strategic and financial advisory, operational analysis, transformation management, and a full portfolio of operations support systems (OSS) software and integration services.

“CSPs can plan and execute transformation strategies with HP Solutions Consulting Services and HP OSS Transformation solutions,” said David Sliter, vice president and general manager, Communications and Media Solutions, HP Enterprise Services.

“To grow, CSPs need to enhance the customer experience, and that means fact-based transformation strategies, tight governance and automated solutions,” Sliter added. (more…)

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Study: Hospital budgets expanding due to IT reform

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Hospital executives are planning for budget increases during the next five years and are prioritizing strategic initiatives that had previously been on hold due to economic constraints. Healthcare insurance reform is also causing hospital management to re-evaluate how they select and purchase medical devices and other services, according to a survey from L.E.K. Consulting.

Nearly 60 percent of 196 surveyed hospital executives expected budget increases in 2011. During the next five years, 70 percent of respondents predicted larger budgets and are planning to increase purchasing in multiple areas, including IT (58 percent), facilities (38 percent), large medical devices (37 percent), small medical devices (21 percent) and disposables (28 percent), according to the Boston-based consulting firm’s survey.

Supplier negotiations will be central to controlling costs, which has hospitals increasingly turning to group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to help negotiate the best rates possible, L.E.K. stated. According to the L.E.K. survey, more than half of respondents expect to use GPOs more by 2015. Some hospitals have also started to approach GPOs to procure high-priced capital equipment in addition to low-price, high-volume items. (more…)

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Huron Consulting Group Strengthens Wellspring+Stockamp, Huron Healthcare with Addition of Patient Flow Expert

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ: HURN), a leading provider of business consulting services, today announced that Patricia K. Cooper has joined the Company’s Wellspring+Stockamp, Huron Healthcare practice as a managing director focused on helping clients improve patient flow.

“Many hospitals are struggling with how to cope with the increased patient flow in an environment that is demanding higher quality and performance in the delivery of care,” said James H. Roth, chief executive officer, Huron Consulting Group. “Pat has a vast clinical and operations background helping hospitals manage patient flow while still maintaining and improving quality. We are pleased to welcome her to the Huron Healthcare team.”

Cooper has more than 30 years of experience in hospital operations. Cooper comes to Huron Healthcare from Quorum Health Resources, where she served as vice president, patient services. In her consulting experience, she led reengineering projects, productivity enhancement projects, operations improvements and strategic planning within most product lines. Additionally, Cooper has deep knowledge of nursing unit management and has worked as both a senior nursing executive and a nurse practitioner.

At Huron Healthcare, Cooper will assist hospital and healthcare clients address increased patient demand while continuing to balance quality of care. Specifically, she will be responsible for helping clients maximize patient flow in the hospital inpatient, perioperative and emergency department settings and enhance financial performance. Cooper holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) from the University of Tennessee and is a Registered Nurse (RN). (more…)

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Spar Group to form new joint venture with Shanghai Wedone Marketing Consulting

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Spar Group, a supplier of retail merchandising and other marketing services, has announced the structuring of a new joint venture in China with its new partner Shanghai Wedone Marketing Consulting.
Shanghai Wedone Marketing Consulting is a comprehensive marketing management company that provides brand communication and retail marketing management service in China.

The new joint venture will provide merchandising and marketing services and have national market presence in the country.

The new joint venture will be called SPAR (Shanghai) Marketing Management Company. Spar will own 51% of the joint venture while Shanghai Wedone Marketing Consulting will own 49% in accordance with the laws of China. The new company will provide merchandising and related marketing services to manufacturers and retailers throughout China. (more…)

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Profit Growth Poses New Challenges for Asset Managers

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Cutting costs can be quick and easy, but it isn’t a guarantee that you can grow profitability, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group. Asset managers that BCG tracked in 34 major markets around the world for its study, “In Search of Stable Growth: Global Asset Management 2010,” were able to reduce expenses last year by an average of 7 percent. Yet operating margins were off by 19 percent and net revenues fell by 11 percent. In tough times, the gap between top performers and those further down the scale widens, Boston Consulting Senior Partner Monish Kumar said today at a press program in New York City to discuss the results. The top 20 percent of managers produced 88 percent of net sales last year, while holding just 23 percent of AUM, the report said.

The good news: “As an industry overall, asset management remains an incredibly attractive space,” said Brent S. Beardsley, BCG partner and managing director. Operating margins, boosted by better product mix and higher AUM, were forecast for 31 to 35 percent for this year; it’s not as good as the historic peak of 40 percent back in 2006 but far better than many other businesses.

There’s still plenty of work ahead for asset managers. The report measured the value of professionally managed assets in 2009 at $52.6 trillion, up 12 percent, but only about 1 percent resulted from new net inflows. The playing field is changing. (more…)

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Hewitt to buy consulting company EnnisKnupp

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Lincolnshire-based Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, Tuesday said it entered into an agreement to acquire EnnisKnupp, a provider of investment advisory services to large institutional investors.

This acquisition will boost Hewitt’s existing investment consulting capabilities in the United States and support its global growth plans. EnnisKnupp provides investment consulting services to corporations, public funds, endowments, foundations and non-for-profits.

Once this transaction is complete, Hewitt will be one of the largest providers of investment consulting services globally with nearly $3 trillion in assets under advisement.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close later this year.

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Aon To Buy Hewitt For $4.9 Billion To Expand Consulting Business

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Insurance broker Aon Corp. announced its acquisition of human-resources consulting and outsourcing company Hewitt Associates Inc. for $4.9 billion in cash and stock to expand its consulting business.

Aon will pay $50 per Hewitt share, representing a 41 percent premium to Hewitt’s closing stock price of $35.40 on Friday.

Aon plans to integrate Hewitt with its existing consulting and outsourcing operations and operate the segment under the newly created Aon Hewitt brand, the company said.

“This merger will give us a broader portfolio of innovative products and services focused on what we believe are two of the most important topics in the global economy today – risk and people,” Aon chief executive Greg Case said on Monday. (more…)

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Top 50 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

The 2009 prestige rankings of the top management and strategy consulting firms have arrived! This year’s survey is based on surveys of more than 4,000 consultants.

Rankings methodology:For the 2008 Vault consulting survey, we selected a list of top consulting firms to include. These consulting firms were chosen because of their prominence in the consulting industry and their interest to consulting job seekers. This year, over 4,000 consultants responded to our survey.
The Vault survey was distributed to the firms on Vault’s list in spring 2008. In some cases, Vault contacted practicing consultants directly. Survey respondents were asked to rate each consulting firm on the survey on a scale of 1 to 10 based on prestige, with 10 being the most prestigious. Consultants were unable to rate their own firm, and they were asked to rate only those firms with which they were familiar.

Vault collected the survey results and averaged the score for each firm. The firms were then ranked, with the highest score being No. 1, down to No. 50.

We also asked survey respondents to give their perceptions of other consulting firms besides their own. A selection of those comments is featured on each firm profile as The Buzz.

Remember that Vault’s top-50 strategy consulting firms are chosen by practicing consultants at top consulting firms. Vault does not choose or influence the rankings. The rankings measure perceived prestige (as determined by consulting professionals) and not revenue, size or lifestyle.

2009
RANK

FIRM

SCORE

2008
RANK

HEADQUARTERS/
LARGEST OFFICE

1

McKinsey & Company

8.430

1

New York, NY

2

The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

8.089

2

Boston, MA

3

Bain & Company

7.966

3

Boston, MA

4

Booz & Company

6.535

4

New York, NY

5

Monitor Group

6.296

5

Cambridge, MA

6

Mercer LLC

6.160

9

New York, NY

7

Deloitte

5.844

8

New York, NY

8

Oliver Wyman

5.755

6

New York, NY

9

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

5.572

NR

New York, NY

10

L.E.K. Consulting

5.426

13

Boston, MA
London

11

Ernst & Young LLP

5.388

NR

New York, NY
London

12

A.T. Kearney

5.373

15

Chicago, IL

13

IBM Global Business Services

5.352

11

Armonk, NY

14

Accenture

5.314

14

New York, NY

15

The Parthenon Group

5.306

10

Boston, MA

16

KPMG LLP

5.246

NR

New York, NY

17

Katzenbach Partners LLC

5.146

16

New York, NY

18

Towers Perrin

4.848

18

Stamford, CT

19

Capgemini

4.752

22

New York, NY
Paris

20

Gartner, Inc.

4.728

12

Stamford, CT

21

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

4.684

20

New York, NY
Munich

22

ZS Associates

4.645

24

Evanston, IL

23

Cambridge Associates LLC

4.588

21

Boston, MA

24

Hewitt Associates

4.541

23

Lincolnshire, IL

25

NERA Economic Consulting

4.540

27

White Plains, NY

26

Navigant Consulting, Inc.

4.539

29

Chicago, IL

27

AlixPartners, LLP

4.457

26

Southfield, MI

28

BearingPoint, Inc.

4.433

28

McLean, VA

29

Watson Wyatt Worldwide

4.355

25

Arlington, VA

30

Kurt Salmon Associates

4.276

36

Atlanta, GA

31

CRA International, Inc.

4.275

30

Boston, MA

32

Huron Consulting Group

4.261

39

Chicago, IL

33

Arthur D. Little

4.186

40

Boston, MA
Paris

34

Diamond Inc.

4.149

45

Chicago, IL

35

PRTM

4.131

33

Mountain View, CA
Waltham, MA

36

Gallup Consulting

4.055

31

Washington, DC

37

The Advisory Board Company

4.020

38

Washington, DC

38

FTI Consulting, Inc.

3.925

46

Baltimore, MD

39

First Manhattan Consulting Group

3.859

42

New York, NY

40

Corporate Executive Board

3.844

41

Washington, DC

41

Cornerstone Research

3.838

37

New York, NY
San Francisco, CA

42

Mitchell Madison Group LLC

3.790

NR

New York, NY

43

LECG

3.782

35

Emeryville, CA

44

Alvarez & Marsal

3.758

43

New York, NY

45

Mars & Co

3.737

48

Greenwich, CT

46

Aon Consulting Worldwide

3.624

49

Chicago, IL

47

Analysis Group, Inc.

3.519

47

Boston, MA

48

Archstone Consulting

3.512

NR

Stamford, CT

49

Hay Group

3.415

44

Philadelphia, PA

50

IMS Health Incorporated

3.370

NR

Norwalk, CT

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