a.T. Kearney — Wikipedia

Kearney is an American strategy consulting firm, specialized in general management management issues. Kearney has offices in more than 40 countries and employs more than 5,300 people around the world ^{[ first ]} .

In January 2020, the company changed its name, and passes from A.T. Kearney to Kearney. ^{[ 2 ]}

Birth: 1926-1946 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

James McKinsey  (in) Founded by consulting firm McKinsey & Company in 1926 in Chicago. Andrew Thomas Kearney (in) Joined McKinsey and became a associate partner in 1930 then a senior partner in 1935. In 1937, when James McKinsey died, Andrew Thomas Kearney became the main partner and the consulting firm changes appellation to become MC Kinsey, Kearney and Company. The consulting firm then has two offices: Chicago and New York. In 1946, MC Kinsey, Kearney and Company split into two MC Kinsey kept the New York office and directed its activity to the strategic council. And Andrew Thomas Kearney takes the lead of the Chicago office which takes the name of A.T. Kearney and directs his activity towards the audit ^{[ note 1 ]} .

The beginnings: 1946-1964 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

A.T. Kearney will only work until the death of its creator in 1962 with a single location in Chicago ^{[ note 1 ]} .

L’internationalisation : 1964-1995 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

It was not until 1964, that A.T. Kearney decided to set up a new office; It will also be outside the territory of the United States, in Düsseldorf in RFA. This destination, Germany, is not innocent: Andrew Kearney had an important role in the organization of the Marshall Plan in the immediate post-war period. In addition, the FRG hosts at the time of the American contingents of military occupation which require significant means in organization, in particular logistics.

Then, the new installations will continue at a sustained pace around the world.

EDS era: 1995-2006 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The repurchase [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In 1995, EDS bought the A.T. Kearney strategic consulting firm for the sum of US $ 596 million. It is the first time in the world that a giant of IT services buys a consulting firm. The motivations that have argued in favor of this takeover from EDS are the desire to create an integrated value chain that goes from the IT services. The advisory activity is then conceived – in the mind of Eds – like the commercial spearhead which will make it possible to draw the whole group towards more growth ^{[ 3 ]} .

At A.T. Kearney, the proponents of integration into the Eds group were above all motivated by personal considerations: the partners wanted to be able to make their participation in a group of advice that had been able to make a very strong. profitability. Others underlined the means of EDS, which would allow the council group to develop even more in the world ^{[ 3 ]} .

The challenge is high for EDS: it is a question of making two very different cultures coexist. The culture of the computer giant is based on a bureaucratic approach, at the limit of Taylorism (EDS was in 1995 a subsidiary of the American automaker General Motors), linked to its giant status (more than 100,000 employees in the world ) which combines in a global management of wages and a premium policy with a very moderate result. While the culture of the consulting firm is based on the culture of personal performance strongly rewarded by premiums for the performance. The differences are also felt in the status of employees of the two entities. At the IT group EDS, employees are employees who accounts for their hierarchy. The consulting firm is managed in a very decentralized manner by partners, shareholders of A.T. Kearney; each partner with direct management of a consulting firm in all its aspects, including operational ^{[ 3 ]} .

The forced integration of A.T. Kearney [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The arrival in 1999 of a new CEO at the head of Eds, Richard H. Brown (in) , will change the situation in terms of integration rhythm: it will be carried out at forced march. This integration will initially be considered a success: A.T’s turnover. Kearney will reach the figure never more affected by US $ 1.3 billion in 2000. Unfortunately the group as a whole will take the consequences of the 2001 crisis from the Internet bubble in the 1990s ^{[ 3 ]} .

Kearney Interactive [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In 2000, Internet activity dominated the business world: e-business is on all mouths. In addition, Eds as at Kearney records record profits. Eds and At Kearney decide to create Kearney Interactive in France in 2000; France plays the role of testing countries. This company is created in order to meet the specific needs of companies in terms of Internet, electronic and technology consulting services ^{[ 4 ]} . Located halfway between the Council and the technical services, Kearney Interactive is a more reactive structure-on the border of the Web Agency-composed of teams mixing the two trades. The CEO of A.T. Kearney France set the objective of Kearney Interactive in France at 12% of the Internet E-Business market by 2003 ^{[ 5 ]} .

The initial objective is very ambitious: if the French operation operates, EDS plans to extend the operation to other countries with the 15,000 people around the world on the horizon at the end of 2001 ^{[ 6 ]} . This beautiful enthusiasm will be swept away by the bursting of the Internet bubble in 2001 and Kearney Interactive only existed in the pilot operating state in France.

During the at Kearney/Eds split in 2005, Kearney Interactive remains in the EDS fold in the form of an integrated division, EDS Consulting Service. This was sold to Sia Conseil in 2008 ^{[ 7 ]} .

The divorce [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The separation between the IT giant EDS and the consulting firm A.T. Kearney is both the logical result of a forced marriage which has not borne fruit and a very unfavorable situation. The Internet bubble that brought the 2001-2002 stock market crash hit EDS: two important EDS customers go bankrupt: Worldcom and US Airways ^{[ 8 ]} . Economic reality then leads many companies to refocus on their core business.

The counterperformances [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The fall in revenues from the consulting firm is 42% between 2000 and 2005. Even if the bursting of the Internet bubble has been there, it does not explain everything. This drop in turnover was accompanied by a negative result for 2003 and 2004 years. A shame for a strategy consulting firm accustomed to giving management advice at the top management of the largest companies in the world. Malaise very well felt among the consultants themselves: “Given the prices of the profession, it is really necessary to do a lot of nonsense to lose money in this profession” entrusted a Parisian consultant to the Express under the cover of anonymity ^{[ 9 ]} .

The current crisis in 2001-2002 led EDS management to make two social plans. In 2002 (under the leadership of Dick Brown, CEO of EDS), A.T. Kearney lost 1,000 employees out of a workforce of 5,000. In 2003, despite the change of CEO at the head of EDS (Michael Jordan has just been Appointed at the head of Eds), at Kearney is again affected by clear cuts in its workforce ^{[ 3 ]} .

A difference in cultures [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Symbolic image but which clearly demonstrates the desire to mark its independence from At Kearney: the refusal to leave the siege of Chicago to reach the EDS campus in Plano (Texas). This refusal will be sanctioned by the referral of Frédérick Steingraber in 2000 which will be replaced by Dietmar Ostermann as president of At Kearney; In 2000 at Kearney’s headquarters therefore joined the Eds campus in Plano.

The culture difference appeared in the open when Dick Brown, CEO of EDS decides to remove the bonuses of Vice-Presidents of At Kearney in 2003. Their lifting of shields was interpreted in EDS as a Caprice of Diva. At At Kearney the Bonus is the necessary counterpart that rewards performance.

A minor event occurred in August 2002 : The emeritus flesh, Frederick Steingraber is summoned before EDS lawyers for a 6 -hour meeting. During this meeting, acts of corruption and unjustified expenses in the amount of $ 100,000 are accused. Subsequently Frederick Steingraber will reveal to the American sec the way in which EDS makes up his accounts. Indeed, the management of EDS is under a SEC investigation, among other things for initiate offense. This type of exchange at the top of the hierarchy between the parent company and its subsidiary sets the tone of the atmosphere between the leaders of the two companies ^{[ ten ]} .

Aware of the difference in culture existing between parent society (EDS) and its subsidiary ^{[ 9 ]} , Michael Jordan, CEO of Eds will restore from 2003 a certain independence in the consulting firm and recognize his management ^{[ note 3 ]} .

The separation [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In 2005, Eds Tente de Venre SA subsidiary A.T. Kearney Au Group Monitor ^{[ 11 ] , [ twelfth ]} . Reunited September 2005 , the 200 partners of the AT Kearney Group pronounced 89% for a separation from D’EDS. In 2006, for the 80 ^{It is} Anniversary of the company, 176 partners of the consulting firm decide to buy A.T. Kearney to Eds through an MBO (management buy out: buyout of a company by its management) ^{[ 13 ] , [ 14 ] , [ 9 ]} .

This split operation is done after 10 years of common life with EDS. The operation will cause departures to the consulting firm in the year that will follow. Indeed, many consultants only knew at Kearney only as a subsidiary of the Eds group, with a hierarchical and very corporate . The return to independence leads to a change of course and rhythm: there are a lot of personal investment, many initiative in return for very strong awards related to the results ^{[ 15 ]} .

Some figures over the period [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Financial data 1995-2005 (at December 31st )

	2001 [ note 4 ]	2004 [ 16 ]
Turnover In millions of dollars you	1,340	806
Number of employees	4 600	2 500

The Renaissance: 2006- [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In 2008, A.T. Kearney was in the world ranking of the first 25 strategic consulting firms ^{[ note 5 ]} .

2006-2013 financial data (at December 31st )
in millions of dollars you

	two thousand and thirteen [ note 6 ]	2012	2011 [ 17 ]	2010	2009 [ 18 ]	2008 [ 18 ]	2007	2006 [ note 3 ]
Turnover	1 000		969		900	786		750
Number of employees	3 500				2 700			2 500

In the world in 2013 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• 60 offices
• 40 pays
• 3,500 employees
• Turnover: 1 billion US $ ^{[ note 6 ]}

In France in 2013 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• An office in Paris 7 ^{It is}
• Estimated turnover: € 45 million
• Estimated number of employees: 120 ^{[ note 6 ]}

Originally, A.T. Kearney is a firm that supports budgetary management and budget control. The initial impulse was given by James O. McKinsey (also a teacher of accounting at the University of Chicago) who wrote several books recognized by the profession. During the interwar period, the establishment of a budget, its analysis and its control are accounting exercises that are still unknown to companies ^{[ note 1 ]} .

The main competitors in the world [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The principles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Fleshman is elected for a 3 -year term by the partners of the consulting firm.

A partner cannot hold more than 3% of the group’s capital; This is a statutory rule in order to avoid internal struggles for power ^{[ 19 ]} .

List of fleshman [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• (in) Barry Curnow et Jonathan Reuvid, The international guide to management consultancy : The evolution, practice and structure of management consultancy worldwide , Kogan Page, 2003 , 537 p. (ISBN  0-7494-4079-1 , read online )

• (of) Markus Reihlen you are not giving Rohde, Internationalization of professional service companies , Cologne science publisher, 2006 , 331 p. (ISBN  3-937404-07-4 , read online )

• Jean-Baptiste Hugot, The guide to management consulting firms , Paris, Management and Society, two thousand and thirteen , 589 p. (ISBN  978-2-910987-50-3 )

Notes [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

References [ modifier | Modifier and code ]