Happy Christmas

How to manage the snake-oil salesmen

From the Economist 06/09/23

Dear robin, I was delighted when you commissioned me to prepare this report for you after our discussion at the club. As a newly appointed chief executive at a Fortune 500 company, a thrilling yet perilous adventure awaits you. I commend your wisdom in choosing to hire a management consultant to guide you on your way.

I, naturally, would have been ideally positioned, given my many years of experience serving your company’s principal rival. Alas, the time comes in every man’s life when he must hang up his hat and retire to his home in the Bahamas. As my swan song, I have thrown together, as requested, a few thoughts on how to handle my kind. I hope you find the attached 120-page PowerPoint presentation useful. Below you will find a brief summary

Be ready for the “bait and switch”: Do not be fooled by the eloquent veterans who will turn up to your office to plead for your business. The work will mostly be done by clever but pimply 20-somethings, armed with two-by-two matrix frameworks recycled from client to client. What they lack in wisdom will be made up for in long hours. You need not feel sorry for them. They are cocooned in a shell of fancy meals, lavish hotels and private drivers—at your expense.

At first you will find them to be of no use at all—detrimental, even—as they harry your management team with endless questions and urgent requests for data. Eventually, they will win you over with their brains and gumption—or be quietly replaced. Meanwhile, those grey-haired senior partners will pop by from time to time. Beware.

Watch out for “land and expand”: We consultants are masters of the clandestine sale. If you hire us for a two-month project, it will assuredly take 12. By the time it ends, our tentacles will have spread. Ask for a new company strategy, blink, and we will be cutting your costs, fixing your it systems and tinkering with your supply chain.

Like many other bosses, you may one day tire of our eye-watering rates and decide to poach the cleverest consultants for yourself. We will happily oblige. The most reliable missionary for the merits of consulting is one of our own. The more senior, the better. Hire them, but do not give them the cheque book.

Question everything: Every self-respecting consultant knows that big recommendations demand big numbers. As a rule, divide everything you see by two. Never trust a benchmark; I made up most of mine. And carefully read those endless notes at the bottom of charts. That is often where the dirtiest secrets are buried. Be doubly dubious of any consulting reports your underlings happen to commission, especially when they recommend a bigger budget for said underling.

Take none of the blame: As a freshly minted chief executive, you are undoubtedly brimming with ideas. Many of them are terrible. Some may prove catastrophic. Among the valuable services offered by management consultants is the human shield. Make sure your board knows it was they who recommended the disastrous new product line or the overpriced acquisition. You always had your doubts, but trusted their illustrious reputations. Equally, your consultants may, from time to time, stumble upon a good idea. You thought of it first.

Experiment with polygamy: Your consultants will do their utmost to woo you into exclusivity. There will be much talk of “long-term partnership”. Yet it is a one-sided monogamy they seek. Fidelity is not in a consultant’s nature. Chances are they are already advising your competitors, with only the thinnest of Chinese walls between teams.

Follow their example and hire their rivals, too. Ideally, sit them in adjacent rooms at your offices. Consultants are fiercely competitive, and nothing will better spur them on to even longer reports than seeing their nemeses wandering the halls of your company. If bored, invite representatives of two warring firms to a meeting and watch them tussle for your favour.

As I look back on my career, I am not too proud to admit that I have occasionally fleeced the odd firm. But I maintain that my profession is a noble one. “Impact”, after all, is our industry’s watchword. (Admittedly, I never was quite clear what it meant, but you cannot deny it sounds lofty.)

One final thought to conclude: there is never a problem too big or small for a consultant. That I can confirm from experience. Your bill, including expenses, is attached. Good luck. ■

Read more from Bartleby, our columnist on management and work:

Alexa Toomey

Irish Independent

We have developed a new Green Transition Webinar focusing on decarbonisation’s opportunities, challenges and benefits.

This eight-part series starts on September 6 and will focus on several aspects of the sustainability journey – from initial planning and capability building – to investment, research and innovation, and developing new products and processes.

The first webinar will focus on ‘What does a climate action journey look like?’, and attendees will hear from Paul Murphy of Climeaction, an industry expert with extensive experience in industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation of manufacturing organisations. This discussion will offer advice and insights from his work with some of the world’s largest companies across the food and dairy, beverages, manufacturing and life science sectors.

The second instalment will focus on SMEs, particularly those at the beginning of their sustainability journey, and participants will learn about the SME Climate Hub, a one-stop shop where they can get free tools to measure emissions, take climate action and report progress.

The series will focus on other important topics, including green finance, green skills, sustainability reporting ESG, becoming a B Corp and the circular economy. We will look specifically at the policy, regulatory and business focus on net zero emissions by 2050.

Each webinar will hear from industry experts such as Brian O’Kennedy from Clearstream Solutions and Ingrid de Doncker of Future Planet and will also feature an Enterprise Ireland client company, such as Urban Volt and Strong Roots.

Enterprise Ireland is ready to support client companies in developing innovative responses to meet the demands and opportunities that sustainable business offers. For more information about the Green Transition webinar series, visit globalambition.ie/client-solutions-hub/green-transition-webinar-series/

Alexa Toomey, head of Sustainability, Renewable Energy & Agtech at Enterprise Ireland

The Supplier Development Programme, in partnership with Scottish Government and the Commercial & Procurement Shared Services (CPSS) representing Aberdeen City, Shire and Highland Councils, are hosting Meet the Buyer North 2023 at the Music Hall in Aberdeen on 12.9.2023.

Get your questions ready!

This year’s event will be on a larger scale and higher profile than ever, with an opening address by Richard Lochhead MSP, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade. He will also be participating in a panel discussion, alongside Nikki Archer, Deputy Director, Head of Procurement and Commercial Policy & Strategy at Scottish Government, Fiona Conti, Strategic Procurement Manager (Interim) at the Shared Procurement Services – Aberdeen City, Shire and Highland and Gillian Cameron from SDP, focusing on connecting SME with opportunities.

Bringing together buyers from the public sector, including Scottish local authorities, NHS Scotland, Universities and Colleges, Construction, emergency services and many more, the event offers businesses and social enterprises in the North of Scotland an unparalleled opportunity to speak directly to a wide range of purchasers and decision-makers. In addition, there will be large private contractors exhibiting at this event that are keen to engage with new suppliers and promote their sub-contract opportunities

-Check out our list of exhibitors https://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/events-mtbn-2023/ to plan which buyers you want to meet.

-Hear from a fantastic range of speakers, talking about contract opportunities, the hydrogen hub project , Tendering with NHS Grampian , how to sell your food into the market and many more, so be sure to check out the action-packed agenda:

https://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/events-mtbn2023-agenda/

– And don’t miss the Supplier Development Programme’s Top Tips for Tendering workshop.

You must pre-book your free place https://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/events-mtbn-2023/

A proud member

I am delighted to have attended the recent Business Summit-a great lineup of speakers and great networking opportunities-thank you IntertradeIreland!

Join us at the InterTradeIreland Business Summit ‘23, to find out about the real opportunities and innovations that will shape the future of doing business on the island of Ireland. From digitisation to drone delivery, this free to attend event will give you a front row seat to the cutting-edge technologies and global trends that will impact firms of all sizes.

It will include a keynote address by economist and broadcaster, David McWilliams, case studies, and contributions and insights from successful entrepreneurs from Ireland and Northern Ireland on future growth opportunities, including Bobby Healy the CEO of Manna.

Brian O’Driscoll, former Leinster and Ireland rugby player and entrepreneur will share how vision, ambition and drive fuelled his phenomenal sporting career and how you can tap into those skills to deliver business excellence and success.

This is your opportunity to hear from expert speakers and large and small businesses about their experiences of innovation, collaboration and ambition and how it allowed them to gain competitive advantage.

Rules of competition

Outline

What is the TED Ambassador award?

The ‘TED Ambassador award’ is a competition that aims to identify and reward research in the field of public procurement.

High-quality research is crucial for fostering innovation, sustainability and transparency in public procurement.

Applicants are invited to submit essays they have published in this field. The winning essays will receive prize money and will be advertised on the official website for public procurement of the EU, TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). They will also be included in an online catalogue of high-quality studies aimed at fostering knowledge sharing and innovation in public procurement, making it more efficient, greener and more transparent.

The contest is promoted by the Publications Office of the European Union under the Preparatory Action on ‘Transparency in public procurement’.

The Publications Office is the official publisher of EU law, public procurement, publications, open data and research results. It brings together data on public contracts from all EU countries and beyond and publishes them on the TED website.

TED is the online version of the ‘Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union’, dedicated to public procurement. It publishes 676,000 procurement notices a year, including 258,000 calls for tender, which are worth some € 670 billion. TED brings buyers and bidders together. It is the official gateway to business opportunities in the European Union, the European Economic Area and countries that are members of the Agreement on Government Procurement.

Who can participate?

The competition rules are based on Articles 206 and 207 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Union. The competition respects the principles of transparency and equal treatment.

The competition is open to applications from public procurement specialists worldwide.

• You can submit an article, paper or chapter of a volume. These essays must have been published online. Monographs and theses are excluded from the competition. Maximum length of the essay: 10,000 words. This includes all text. For example, the abstract, footnotes, references and all text in tables, figures and appendices.
• Language: English.
• We accept both individual and joint essays (co-authored). If you choose to submit a joint essay, please make sure that all authors agree and give their permission to enter the competition.
• Each individual author can submit only one essay.
• Your essay must have been published between 01/01/2018 and 31/12/2022 in peer-reviewed online journals or in edited volumes with an ISSN and/or ISBN.
• Essays that have not yet been published will not be accepted.
• Any submitted essay hosted in a publication of which a member of the selection panel is an ‘editor’ or a ‘co-author’ will be excluded.
• The competition is not open to staff working in the EU institutions, agencies, bodies, offices or to contractors of the Publications Office.

What are the research topics?

1. Topic 1: ‘Transparency in public procurement’

   Promoting transparency, efficiency and accountability. For example, tools to monitor transparency in public procurement; public procurement statistics in Member States about the quantity/quality of public procurement above/below the threshold; non-compliance of EU Member States with EU legislation on public procurement, etc.

2. Topic 2: ‘Green procurement’

   Analysing current gaps, future challenges and best practice. For example: current context; current policies; tools to identify and monitor green public procurement, etc.

3. Topic 3: ‘Emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in public procurement’

   Increasing efficiency, transparency, sustainability and gender equality in public procurement through AI. For example: how AI can facilitate better decisions, lower costs and increased transparency; mapping public entities that use AI technologies for procurement; integrating AI and good public procurement governance, etc.

4. Topic 4: ‘Stimulating innovation through public procurement’Bringing innovative solutions to the market. For example: the extent to which EU legislation stimulates innovation through public procurement; how pre-commercial procurement could foster innovation in the EU; markets where public authorities have a potential to encourage demand for new technologies; converting new inventions into new products and jobs; promoting globally accepted solutions instead of locally tailored ones, etc.
   

   Competition timeline

   Milestones		Deadlines
   	Submit your application You must submit your application by filling in the online form. Please include a short bio (max. 250 words), the title of your essay, a valid link to your essay and an electronic copy of your essay published in an online journal or edited volume. Please make sure the URL you provide works properly and that the copy of your essay is accessible. Your application will be rejected if the URL is broken or the content is not accessible.	28 April 2023 23:59 CEST
   	Selection phase The selection phase ends and all candidates are notified via email. Only the first 120 essays to be submitted will be evaluated – 30 per research topic. The top three winners per research topic will be announced on the TED website.	May/June 2023
   2023	Winners 12 winners will receive prize money (€1,500 per prize).

   Evaluation process

   Selection

   The selection process takes place after the deadline to submit applications for the competition (28 April 2023). During this phase, a selection panel appointed by the Publications Office assesses each application.

   Applications are assessed and graded against the selection criteria (table below). For each research topic, the 12 applications that score the highest number of points (i.e. the top 3 per research topic) are selected as the winners.

   Selection criteria	Maximum number of points
   Relevance to the chosen research topic	10
   Clear explanation of concepts for a non-specialist audience (e.g. writing clearly; absence of technical jargon)	10
   Relevance of the essay in contemporary debate	10
   Innovation and development perspectives (e.g. predicting future trends; promoting further research)	10
   Impact on policymaking and/or possible application in technological systems	10
   The essay is open access, i.e. fully available for anyone to read at no cost	4

    

   All applicants will be notified via email about the selection results. On request, applicants may also need to provide further information or clarifications about their submitted application for the evaluation.

   Prizes

   Each of the 12 winning applications will be awarded prize money of €1,500 under the TED Ambassador award.

   The winning essays will be promoted and referenced on the TED website, together with the authors’ biographies, and will form part of an online catalogue of high-quality studies in public procurement. The 12 winners will also benefit from online publicity via social media.

   To receive the prize money, the winners are required to submit a feedback report by filling in a survey about the competition.

   Place	Award
   Top three per research topic	• 12 winner essays will be advertised on the TED website, via a link to the online journal/volume’s page hosting the essay. • Author biographies will be published on the TED website. • Publicity via social media. • Prize money: €1,500 per winning application.
   Applicants outside the top 12	Some essays that did not make the top 12 may still be advertised on the TED website (at the discretion of the Publications Office).

   Additional information

   Questions

   If you have any questions about this competition, you can ask us, in writing only, up until 14 April 2023. Email your questions to OP-TED-AMBASSADOR-AWARD@ec.europa.eu.

   Awards payments

   Awards payments are subject to winners registering their details on the legal entity form and the European Commission’s bank account database. We therefore ask winners to provide all the necessary supporting documents – duly signed and stamped – at the latest three weeks after being selected.

   Winners must also decide to whom the prize money should be transferred. You can find additional information and links to download templates for the legal entity and bank account forms here. The Publications Office takes no responsibility regarding the distribution of awards among the winners.

   Cancellation of the competition
   The Publications Office reserves the right to cancel the competition, or to abstain from awarding one or more prizes without any obligation to compensate the teams.
   Intellectual property and copyright 
   The submitted essay will remain the property of the rights holders. The EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies will be allowed to mention, describe and promote any essays submitted to the competition with due reference to the author or authors on their channels (websites, social media, press releases, etc.).
   Publicity
   The winning applicants will be advertised on the TED website and promoted via social media channels. The biographies and copyright of the authors will be mentioned.
   At the discretion of the Publications Office, some essays that do not make the top 12 may also be advertised on the TED website. In such cases, no prize money is granted, nor will there be any publicity coverage through social media.
   Processing of personal data 
   If you participate in the competition, your personal data will be processed by us according to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the processing of personal data by the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. We will process your data only as needed in connection with organising and following up the competition, although we may send it to certain bodies responsible for monitoring or inspection, as laid down in European Union legislation.
   You may at any time ask us to view your personal data, or ask us to correct it or remove it from our systems. Please note that removing your data will cancel your participation in the competition. For more information about the processing of your personal data, please check the TED privacy policy and terms of use.
   Sole liability of the teams
   If there are any claims relating to the activities carried out as part of the competition, applicants are solely liable. The Publications Office cannot be held responsible for any claim relating to the activities carried out by applicants as part of the competition.
   The Publications Office cannot be held liable for any damages caused or sustained by any of the applicants, including any damages caused to third parties because of or during the implementation of activities related to the competition.
   Applicable law and competent jurisdiction
   The competition is governed by the applicable EU law. The General Court or, on appeal, the Court of Justice of the European Union, will have sole jurisdiction to hear any dispute between the EU and any applicant in relation to the competition, if such a dispute cannot be settled amicably.
   Applicants can refer to the European Ombudsman if they consider that any of the EU institutions:
   • fail to act according to the law or the principles of good administration;
   • violate human rights.
   Exclusion criteria and administrative sanctions
   By submitting their essays, candidates declare that they are not in one of the situations mentioned in Article 136(1) of the Financial Regulation. Candidates who are in any of those situations or fall into other categories indicated in Article 141 of the Financial Regulation will be rejected from participating and from being awarded a prize in the competition.
   The rejection does not affect any decision to exclude candidates from participating in award procedures governed by the Financial Regulation, or the application of financial penalties (Articles 136-140 of the Financial Regulation).
   Early detection and exclusion system
   If participants are in one of the exclusion situations stated above, their personal data may be registered in the early detection and exclusion system (EDES) in line with Articles 135, 142, 143 and 144 of the Financial Regulation. For more information, see the privacy statement for EDES.
   Suspension of the competition, cancellation of the award and reduction of the prize
   If the award procedure is found to have been subject to irregularities or fraud, the Publications Office will apply the measures referred to in Article 131 of the Financial Regulation.
   Checks, audits and investigations
   The winners accept that the European Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Court of Auditors and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office are allowed to perform any required checks, audits or investigations in relation to the competition and the prize received.