2005-04-10 08:15:01marco
企業與顧問公司愛恨交織
企業與顧問公司愛恨交織
作者：Economist Newspaper These market conditions pushed IT spec ialists up the consultants league table. Andersen Consulting, which in 2001 chan ged its name to Accenture, became the wo rld largest management consulting firm, with annual revenue of around $10 billio n. It gets at least 50％ of its revenue from consulting on information systems a nd well under 5％ from pure corporate-st rategy work, although this distinction i s becoming increasingly blurred. There i s scarcely any strategy work today that does not have some IT implications.
市場上的這些狀況將資訊事業推上顧問業的首席位置。安盛企管顧問公司（2001年改名為埃森哲）成為全球最大的管理顧問公司，年營收大約在一百億美元，其中至少有一半以上來自資訊系統方面的顧問工作，而純粹的企業策略顧問部分則占不到5％。不過這兩者間的界限已日益模糊，因為當今的策略顧問工作已經很難不牽扯到資訊科技。
The more famous strategy consultants, such as McKinsey and the Boston Consulti ng Group, have fallen down the league ta ble. But even they have not been able to afford to ignore the IT business entire ly, although they make it clear that the y do not consider it to be the high grou nd of consultancy work.
較有名氣的策略顧問公司，如麥肯錫企管顧問公司與波士頓顧問集團，在業界內的排名已經下跌。但是就連他們也無法全然漠視資訊科技，雖然他們把話說得很明白，他們並不認為資訊科技業屬於高層次顧問工作的服務對象。
The relationship between industry and consulting firms is a mixture of love an d hate. Industry sometimes wonders aloud why people who profess to know so much about running their business are not act ually doing so. In a significant number of cases, however, this is what has happ ened. A consultant has been called back by a client and asked to take over as CE O. But managers often use consultants to lend support to the tough decisions tha t they have to take; and sometimes they are used as scapegoats when those decisi ons go wrong.
產業與顧問公司之間的關係可說是愛恨交織。產業有時會大聲質疑，既然這些顧問號稱這麼懂得經營管理，為何自己不下海來實際操作呢？事實上的確有不少這樣的個案：客戶回頭找顧問來當執行長。不過管理階層經常會找顧問來為困難的決策背書，而一旦決策錯誤，顧問有時候會被拿來當作代罪羔羊。
The way that companies return to consu ltants time and again, and frequently to the same firm, suggests that there is s omething of continuing value about bring ing in an outsider. If the consultant is experienced, he or she can sniff out pr oblems like a pig after a truffle. A wid e knowledge of the way that other compan ies have coped with similar problems can often help to provide solutions that th e company by itself would never have stu mbled across.
企業會一再找顧問解決問題，而且經常是找同一家，這意味著尋求外援有其延續性的價值。如果顧問經驗老到，就可以像專門嗅出麥蕈生長位置的豬，迅速找出癥結所在。顧問的廣博見聞可以提供客戶其他企業面對同樣問題時的解決方式以作為借鏡，若該客戶只想閉門造車，可能永遠不會發現解決之道。
The role of the United States as a con duit for academic ideas helps to explain why American firms dominate the consult ing business. Of the top 20 firms outsid e the United States (where Accenture, fo r example, earns almost one-third of its revenue), only two or three can in any way be described as non-American. Most i nteresting ideas and fashions in corpora te strategy and management thinking stil l emerge from American universities, and nobody is keener to hear them and adopt them than American business. No consult ing firm that is not strongly based in t he American market can fairly claim to b e at the cutting edge of its business.
美國扮演了傳遞學術觀念的要角，這可以解釋為何美國顧問公司得以稱霸業界。位於美國境外的二十大顧問公司（舉例來說，埃森哲在美國境外的營收便幾乎占全公司歲入的三分之一），真正算不上是美國公司的只有2、3家。最具吸引力的企業策略與管理理念與潮流還是源自美國的學府，而美國企業比任何人都更熱中於傾聽並採納這些點子。若在美國市場無強大的營運據點，沒有任何顧問公司敢自稱走在業界的尖端。
The seeming domination of American fir ms outside the United States is deceptiv e. An American firm's consultants in Fra nce are far more likely to be French (an d in Brazil, Brazilian) than American. C oncerns about the industry lie elsewhere , particularly in the increasing conglom eration of the big multi-service firms t hat dominate the business. All of them l ike to think that they can do almost any thing. Firms such as KPMG or Pricewaterh ouse Coopers can be advising a firm on i ts software systems, its acquisition str ategy and its logistics; at the same tim e they can be auditing its books, provid ing merchant-banking services and giving legal advice.
不過美國公司在美國境外的霸主地位其實只是表象。位於法國的美國公司的顧問極可能是法國人（在巴西的話，就是巴西人）而不是美國人。業界擔憂的是別的議題，特別是稱霸業界的大型多方位服務業正逐漸聚合。他們都認為自己幾乎什麼都做得來。例如安侯建業或是資誠公司這種大型會計師事務所，居然可以對客戶的軟體系統、購併策略與營運枝節提出建言，並同時幫該客戶處理會計稽核的工作，提供商業銀行服務以及法律諮詢。
Consultancies are only as good as thei r consultants; and good consultants are increasingly hard to find. The big firms are busily advising their clients of th e importance of recruiting and retaining talented individuals, but their advice applies to no one so much as to themselv es. They too are dependent on recruiting and retaining exceptionally talented pe ople.
顧問公司的好壞取決於顧問人員的素質，而好的顧問人才愈來愈難找。大型顧問公司一再告誡客戶設法網羅並留住人才的重要性，其實他們的告誡對自身而言是最適用不過的了，因為他們同樣非常仰賴能否網羅、留住好的人才。
As the big firms have merged and grown more unwieldy, they have faced the risk of losing their best consultants to sma ller teams that can provide a more stimu lating environment and incentive package . To some extent, these big firms have m ade up for the shortfall by spreading th eir wings geographically. More and more high-level consultants come from outside the traditional recruiting grounds of A nglo-Saxon economies. Firms, too, are in creasingly recruiting from outside their favourite source: the MBA output of the leading business schools. They are seek ing to recruit people with wide experien ce inside industry. They are also recrui ting people who come from other (relevan t) walks of life. They are even returnin g to that old post-war favourite stampin g ground: retired military personnel.
在大顧問公司彼此購併、組織愈來愈龐大之際，它們面對的危機是，頂尖的顧問人員有可能會遭能提供更令人振奮的工作環境與更優渥的報酬配套措施的小公司挖角。在某種程度上，大公司已經彌補了這種短缺現象，方法是將求才範圍延伸到海外。有愈來愈多的高階顧問來自傳統英美經濟圈之外，而企業界也愈來愈普遍將徵才的眼界擴展到它們的最愛─畢業於商學院名校的企管碩士─以外，以尋找業界中經驗豐富的老鳥。他們也會到其他（相關）行業中求才，甚至像先前戰後期間一樣，到人才濟濟的退役軍職人員中尋覓高手。
作者：Economist Newspaper These market conditions pushed IT spec ialists up the consultants league table. Andersen Consulting, which in 2001 chan ged its name to Accenture, became the wo rld largest management consulting firm, with annual revenue of around $10 billio n. It gets at least 50％ of its revenue from consulting on information systems a nd well under 5％ from pure corporate-st rategy work, although this distinction i s becoming increasingly blurred. There i s scarcely any strategy work today that does not have some IT implications.
市場上的這些狀況將資訊事業推上顧問業的首席位置。安盛企管顧問公司（2001年改名為埃森哲）成為全球最大的管理顧問公司，年營收大約在一百億美元，其中至少有一半以上來自資訊系統方面的顧問工作，而純粹的企業策略顧問部分則占不到5％。不過這兩者間的界限已日益模糊，因為當今的策略顧問工作已經很難不牽扯到資訊科技。
The more famous strategy consultants, such as McKinsey and the Boston Consulti ng Group, have fallen down the league ta ble. But even they have not been able to afford to ignore the IT business entire ly, although they make it clear that the y do not consider it to be the high grou nd of consultancy work.
較有名氣的策略顧問公司，如麥肯錫企管顧問公司與波士頓顧問集團，在業界內的排名已經下跌。但是就連他們也無法全然漠視資訊科技，雖然他們把話說得很明白，他們並不認為資訊科技業屬於高層次顧問工作的服務對象。
The relationship between industry and consulting firms is a mixture of love an d hate. Industry sometimes wonders aloud why people who profess to know so much about running their business are not act ually doing so. In a significant number of cases, however, this is what has happ ened. A consultant has been called back by a client and asked to take over as CE O. But managers often use consultants to lend support to the tough decisions tha t they have to take; and sometimes they are used as scapegoats when those decisi ons go wrong.
產業與顧問公司之間的關係可說是愛恨交織。產業有時會大聲質疑，既然這些顧問號稱這麼懂得經營管理，為何自己不下海來實際操作呢？事實上的確有不少這樣的個案：客戶回頭找顧問來當執行長。不過管理階層經常會找顧問來為困難的決策背書，而一旦決策錯誤，顧問有時候會被拿來當作代罪羔羊。
The way that companies return to consu ltants time and again, and frequently to the same firm, suggests that there is s omething of continuing value about bring ing in an outsider. If the consultant is experienced, he or she can sniff out pr oblems like a pig after a truffle. A wid e knowledge of the way that other compan ies have coped with similar problems can often help to provide solutions that th e company by itself would never have stu mbled across.
企業會一再找顧問解決問題，而且經常是找同一家，這意味著尋求外援有其延續性的價值。如果顧問經驗老到，就可以像專門嗅出麥蕈生長位置的豬，迅速找出癥結所在。顧問的廣博見聞可以提供客戶其他企業面對同樣問題時的解決方式以作為借鏡，若該客戶只想閉門造車，可能永遠不會發現解決之道。
The role of the United States as a con duit for academic ideas helps to explain why American firms dominate the consult ing business. Of the top 20 firms outsid e the United States (where Accenture, fo r example, earns almost one-third of its revenue), only two or three can in any way be described as non-American. Most i nteresting ideas and fashions in corpora te strategy and management thinking stil l emerge from American universities, and nobody is keener to hear them and adopt them than American business. No consult ing firm that is not strongly based in t he American market can fairly claim to b e at the cutting edge of its business.
美國扮演了傳遞學術觀念的要角，這可以解釋為何美國顧問公司得以稱霸業界。位於美國境外的二十大顧問公司（舉例來說，埃森哲在美國境外的營收便幾乎占全公司歲入的三分之一），真正算不上是美國公司的只有2、3家。最具吸引力的企業策略與管理理念與潮流還是源自美國的學府，而美國企業比任何人都更熱中於傾聽並採納這些點子。若在美國市場無強大的營運據點，沒有任何顧問公司敢自稱走在業界的尖端。
The seeming domination of American fir ms outside the United States is deceptiv e. An American firm's consultants in Fra nce are far more likely to be French (an d in Brazil, Brazilian) than American. C oncerns about the industry lie elsewhere , particularly in the increasing conglom eration of the big multi-service firms t hat dominate the business. All of them l ike to think that they can do almost any thing. Firms such as KPMG or Pricewaterh ouse Coopers can be advising a firm on i ts software systems, its acquisition str ategy and its logistics; at the same tim e they can be auditing its books, provid ing merchant-banking services and giving legal advice.
不過美國公司在美國境外的霸主地位其實只是表象。位於法國的美國公司的顧問極可能是法國人（在巴西的話，就是巴西人）而不是美國人。業界擔憂的是別的議題，特別是稱霸業界的大型多方位服務業正逐漸聚合。他們都認為自己幾乎什麼都做得來。例如安侯建業或是資誠公司這種大型會計師事務所，居然可以對客戶的軟體系統、購併策略與營運枝節提出建言，並同時幫該客戶處理會計稽核的工作，提供商業銀行服務以及法律諮詢。
Consultancies are only as good as thei r consultants; and good consultants are increasingly hard to find. The big firms are busily advising their clients of th e importance of recruiting and retaining talented individuals, but their advice applies to no one so much as to themselv es. They too are dependent on recruiting and retaining exceptionally talented pe ople.
顧問公司的好壞取決於顧問人員的素質，而好的顧問人才愈來愈難找。大型顧問公司一再告誡客戶設法網羅並留住人才的重要性，其實他們的告誡對自身而言是最適用不過的了，因為他們同樣非常仰賴能否網羅、留住好的人才。
As the big firms have merged and grown more unwieldy, they have faced the risk of losing their best consultants to sma ller teams that can provide a more stimu lating environment and incentive package . To some extent, these big firms have m ade up for the shortfall by spreading th eir wings geographically. More and more high-level consultants come from outside the traditional recruiting grounds of A nglo-Saxon economies. Firms, too, are in creasingly recruiting from outside their favourite source: the MBA output of the leading business schools. They are seek ing to recruit people with wide experien ce inside industry. They are also recrui ting people who come from other (relevan t) walks of life. They are even returnin g to that old post-war favourite stampin g ground: retired military personnel.
在大顧問公司彼此購併、組織愈來愈龐大之際，它們面對的危機是，頂尖的顧問人員有可能會遭能提供更令人振奮的工作環境與更優渥的報酬配套措施的小公司挖角。在某種程度上，大公司已經彌補了這種短缺現象，方法是將求才範圍延伸到海外。有愈來愈多的高階顧問來自傳統英美經濟圈之外，而企業界也愈來愈普遍將徵才的眼界擴展到它們的最愛─畢業於商學院名校的企管碩士─以外，以尋找業界中經驗豐富的老鳥。他們也會到其他（相關）行業中求才，甚至像先前戰後期間一樣，到人才濟濟的退役軍職人員中尋覓高手。