Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Why would you hire McKinsey? McKinsey and Failing Airlines. McKinsey was the central "consultant" at Swissair during the several years that led to the destruction of the Swiss airline. Their "work" cost Swissair about $60 million dollars — while it lost all profits, revenues, and assets. McKinsey is also well-known for having preached at Enron, and presented that company as a success to emulate, until the fall. Business Week: Many of the intellectual underpinnings of Enron came from McKinsey... NYT: Now that United Airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection, the critical challenge facing the airline... is to find a business strategy that works. To that end, United has hired McKinsey... Why McKinsey? While Andersen helped cook the books at Enron, didn't McKinsey also play a key role in that massive failure? [Jinn of Quality and Risk] Note:  the article also lists some recommendations from McKinsey on how United can improve performance.  Unfortunately, these improvements will barely offset the monthly fees McKinsey is charging the airline. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 11:37:45 AM    comment []

Tom Tomorrow's take on Dick Cheney's mysterious explosions Like living down the street from Dr. Evil. From CNN.com: Neighbors of Vice President Dick Cheney are being shaken and rattled at least once a day by mysterious... [This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow] 10:59:45 AM    comment []

Don't try this at home The moral of the story (the story is boring and very short, so I'm skipping straight to the moral): don't put in a load of whites and then go straight into the shower expecting to get any hot water. 10:46:58 AM    comment []