26/09/16 Knowledge management Prof.

Klobas

Case analysis worksheet McKinsey & Co

G.I.M. GROUP :

Abd El Hamid Terence

Desjonqueres Thomas

Firouzyar Sepideh

Krieger Jonas

Lara Zamorano Andrea

Nardella Fanny

1- Define the problem: Describe the type of case and what problem(S) or
issue(s) should be the focus for your analysis.

It is an evaluation case.
How did different McKinsey managers manage to face and solve issues over
different decades?
This case provides many issues that McKinsey has been facing over the years. The
main issues mentioned here are:

Competitors threats : the entrance of Boston Consulting Group on the

market
Knowledge management : the main problem was internally how to manage
the information that existed in the company and let the company benefit
from it (e.g : skills were badly dispatched among different buildings;
knowledge development had to be a core, not a peripheral firm activity). This
was reached during the years for instance by means of consultant training,
the creation of centers of competence and practice areas, databases and
new information systems.
Employees management : employees management has changed over the
years and this has lead to frequent shifts of position; the latest changes
implemented an healthy balance between cooperation and competition
Client relationship: Creating a true client relationship is one of the main
objective of McKinsey. Also considering that the expectations of the clients
have increased more and more.
Develop consultant skills
26/09/16 Knowledge management Prof.Klobas

2- List any outside concepts that can be applied: Write down any
principles, frameworks or theories that can be applied to this case.

Mapping knowledge assets model could be interestingly adopted to analyze how

McKinsey company have evolved his knowledge management. A sentence by Hall
could be representative of the change along the right side of the horizontal axis of
the map: Knowledge is only valuable when it is between the ears of consultants
and applied to clientsproblem and it is less effectively developed through the
disciplined work of a few than through the spontaneous interaction of many. An
even more stronger knowledge management commitment added to the growing
importance of technology has recently led the company towards an easier diffusion
and transfer of knowledge. We could affirm that in the ways they are trying to store
and manage the knowledge, they have moved towards a codification strategy.

The model of the 5 forces of Porter can be applied here, especially the internal
competition and the bargaining power of buyers. On the consulting markets
clients have a huge power among companies. Therefore this strong power creates
also an important internal competition.
We can also mention the competitive advantage and innovation theory as the
other theoretical principals that may be applied in McKinseys case.

3- List relevant qualitative data: evidence related to or based on the quality

or character of something.

As it is mentioned in the exhibit 2 of the case, Mckinseys Guiding principles

(1996), are:

- Serving clients
- Building the firm
- Being a member of the professional staff

The mission of the company is to help clients make positive, lasting, and
substantial improvements in their performance and to build a great firm that is
able to attract, develop, excite and retain exceptional people.

We should also consider as qualitative data all the comments made by the
companys managers which witness the situation of the company in a certain
period.

4- List relevant quantitative data: evidence relate to or based on the

amount or number of something.

Exhibit 1 provide us a view on 20 year growth indicators which consist of: Number of
Office Locations, Number of Active Engagement, Number of Client Service Staff and
Number of Management Group Member (Through 1975-1995).
26/09/16 Knowledge management Prof.Klobas

5- Describe the results of your analysis: What evidence have you

accumulated that supports one interpretation over another

McKinsey and company did right action to improve competences in building

institutional skills, business management units, change management corporate
leadership, corporate finance, and also to enlarge client sectors such as
automotive, banking, communication, information and so on. The mission has
evolved from the top level management perspective to a customer centered one
also through the improvement of consultant capability. In our opinion McKinsey and
company has done well in improving and growing their business especially in the
field of knowledge management, starting from the work of Daniel and Gluck up to
nowadays. We should in fact mention that these days we have seen an ongoing
interest in knowledge management.

By these strategies they can also improve the company prestige.

6- Describe alternative actions: List and prioritize possible recommendations

or actions that come out of the analysis.

In our opinion they should implement these following methods:

- Face-to-face communication in order to develop and improve personal

relationship and to motivate employees.
- Create the marketing department to get to know even better their customers,
their needs and have a stronger relationship with them.
- It is also important for the company to decrease the operational cost and use
key performance indicators to have an efficient business.

7- Describe your preferred action plan: Write a clear statement of what you
would recommend including short, medium and long-term steps to be carried
out.

In our opinion it is useful to have brainstorming sessions in order to enable

employees innovation and also to enforce policies allowing them to buy shares of
the company in order to let them be a part of the company. It should be effective in
short and long term. Creating balance between corporation and competition might
be useful. Employees need to know that their job is hard to get and hard to keep
however they also need to realize that they are part of an organization. They can
also use key performance indicators that let them measuring progress toward goals
and objectives. Codification provides -high quality, reliable and fast- information
systems implementation by reusing codified knowledge. Personalization provides
26/09/16 Knowledge management Prof.Klobas

creative, analytically rigorous advice on high level strategic problems by channeling

individual expertise, strategies to develop their performance.