When McKinsey Comes to Town

An explosive, deeply reported exposé of McKinsey & Company, the international consulting firm that advises corporations and governments, that highlights the often drastic impact of its work on employees and citizens around the world.

Informationen zum Autor WALT BOGDANICH is an investigative reporter for The New York Times . He has been awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for his investigative journalism and four George Polk Awards. He previously produced stories for 60 Minutes, ABC News and The Wall Street Journal in New York and Washington. He has a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and a master's degree in journalism from Ohio State University. He lives in Port Washington, NY. MICHAEL FORSYTHE is an investigative reporter for The New York Times . At Bloomberg was part of a team that won the George Polk Award in 2013. Mr. Forsythe is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He has a B.A. in international economics from Georgetown University, a Master's degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University, and studied Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He lives in New York City. Klappentext NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST's 50 NOTABLE WORKS OF NONFICTION An explosive, deeply reported exposé of McKinsey & Company, the international consulting firm that advises corporations and governments, that highlights the often drastic impact of its work on employees and citizens around the world McKinsey & Company is the most prestigious consulting company in the world, earning billions of dollars in fees from major corporations and governments who turn to it to maximize their profits and enhance efficiency. In When McKinsey Comes to Town, two prizewinning investigative journalists have written a portrait of the company sharply at odds with its public image. Often McKinsey's advice boils down to major cost-cutting, including layoffs and maintenance reductions, to drive up short-term profits, thereby boosting a company's stock price and the wealth of its executives who hire it, at the expense of workers and safety measures. McKinsey collects millions of dollars advising government agencies that also regulate McKinsey's corporate clients. Shielded by NDAs, McKinsey has escaped public scrutiny despite its role in advising tobacco and vaping companies, purveyors of opioids, repressive governments, and oil companies. McKinsey helped insurance companies' boost their profits by making it incredibly difficult for accident victims to get payments; worked its U.S. government contacts to let Wall Street firms evade scrutiny. And much more. When McKinsey Comes to Town is a landmark work of investigative reporting that amounts to a devastating portrait of a firm whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt, and more dangerous. Leseprobe Chapter 1 Wealth Without Guilt McKinsey's Values For the smartest, most accomplished college students, a job at McKinsey & Company can seem like a path to wealth and prestige as well as an opportunity to prove themselves by solving the business world's toughest problems. As a management consultancy, McKinsey has no peer, and acts like it. When it recruits each year, the firm might attract 200,000 applicants, hiring as little as 1 to 2 percent. A stint at McKinsey, even for a short time, is a lifelong passport to industry and government, thanks to the firm's vast alumni network reaching around the world. Other top companies dangle promises of riches and the status that comes with them. McKinsey offers that, but also something morethe opportunity for young recruits to use their talents for a higher purpose, to make the world a better place. Change that matters, McKinsey tells job candidates, a sales pitch of wealth without guilt. We are a values-driven organization, McKinsey insists. By portraying itself as a company with a heart, not just a lust for profits, McKinsey appeals to younger, idealistic students concerned about issues like global warming, inequality, ...

Autorentext
WALT BOGDANICH is an investigative reporter for The New York
Times. He has been awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for his investigative
journalism and four George Polk Awards. He previously produced stories for “60 Minutes,” ABC News and The Wall Street Journal in New York and Washington. He has a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in journalism from Ohio State University. He lives in Port Washington, NY.

MICHAEL FORSYTHE is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. At Bloomberg was part of a team that won the George Polk Award in 2013. Mr. Forsythe is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He has a B.A. in international economics from Georgetown University, a
Master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University, and studied Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He lives in New York City.

Klappentext

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST's 50 NOTABLE WORKS OF NONFICTION

An explosive, deeply reported exposé of McKinsey & Company, the international consulting firm that advises corporations and governments, that highlights the often drastic impact of its work on employees and citizens around the world

McKinsey & Company is the most prestigious consulting company in the world, earning billions of dollars in fees from major corporations and governments who turn to it to maximize their profits and enhance efficiency. In When McKinsey Comes to Town, two prizewinning investigative journalists have written a portrait of the company sharply at odds with its public image. Often McKinsey's advice boils down to major cost-cutting, including layoffs and maintenance reductions, to drive up short-term profits, thereby boosting a company's stock price and the wealth of its executives who hire it, at the expense of workers and safety measures. McKinsey collects millions of dollars advising government agencies that also regulate McKinsey's corporate clients.

Shielded by NDAs, McKinsey has escaped public scrutiny despite its role in advising tobacco and vaping companies, purveyors of opioids, repressive governments, and oil companies. McKinsey helped insurance companies' boost their profits by making it incredibly difficult for accident victims to get payments; worked its U.S. government contacts to let Wall Street firms evade scrutiny. And much more. When McKinsey Comes to Town is a landmark work of investigative reporting that amounts to a devastating portrait of a firm whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt, and more dangerous.

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

Wealth Without Guilt

McKinsey’s Values

For the smartest, most accomplished college students, a job at McKinsey & Company can seem like a path to wealth and prestige as well as an opportunity to prove themselves by solving the business world’s toughest problems.

As a management consultancy, McKinsey has no peer, and acts like it. When it recruits each year, the firm might attract 200,000 applicants, hiring as little as 1 to 2 percent. A stint at McKinsey, even for a short time, is a lifelong passport to industry and government, thanks to the firm’s vast alumni network reaching around the world.

Other top companies dangle promises of riches and the status that comes with them. McKinsey offers that, but also something more—the opportunity for young recruits to use their talents for a higher purpose, to make the world a better place. “Change that matters,” McKinsey tells job candidates, a sales pitch of wealth without guilt. “We are a values-driven organization,” McKinsey insists.

By portraying itself as a company with a heart, not just a lust for profits, McKinse…