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Managers often have a bad reputation. What should we make of the people who tell managers how to manage?

Managers often have a bad reputation. What should we make of the people who tell managers how to manage? That question has often been raised over the years, with a sceptical tone. The management consultancy industry battles a stereotype of charging exhorbitant fees for advice that, on close inspection, turns out to be either meaningless or common sense. Managers who bring in consultants are often accused of being blinded by jargon, implicitly admitting their own incompetence, or seeking someone else to blame for unpopular decisions. Still, it鈥檚 lucrative. Globally, consulting firms charge their clients a total of about $125bn. Voting for the 51st Thing has now closed. The winning 鈥渢hing鈥 will be revealed on Saturday 28 October 2017.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: Business team present, Credit: Shutterstock)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Mon 18 Sep 2017 03:50GMT

Sources and related

Hal Higdon - The Business Healers, Random House, New York, 1969

Duff McDonald - The Firm, Simon and Schuster, London, 2013

Nicholas Lemann - The kids in the conference room, The New Yorker, 18th October 1999

Chris McKenna - The world's newest profession, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2006

Broadcasts

  • Sat 16 Sep 2017 02:50GMT
  • Sat 16 Sep 2017 19:50GMT
  • Mon 18 Sep 2017 03:50GMT

Podcast