Mitchell Madison Group
Encyclopedia
The Mitchell Madison Group (MMG) is a global management consulting
firm that focuses on improving financial and operating performance for major corporations. Originally founded in 1994 and re-founded in 2003, it is today widely recognized as a leader in the areas of Strategic Sourcing
and globalization
. Unlike most traditional management consulting firms, the majority of Mitchell Madison’s revenue is derived from success fees rather than hourly billing.
The firm experienced rapid growth in the 1990s, primarily on the back of its successful Strategic Sourcing
practice, serving many of world’s largest Financial Institutions. With a global footprint of 16 offices and almost 1,000 employees, Fortune magazine named it one of the top 50 firms to work for in 1999. The firm was sold in late 1999 for about $300MM to USWeb
a Web design company which expanded during the dot-com boom into management consulting . Subsequently, USWeb merged with Whitman-Hart, another consulting firm based in Chicago . The combined company, a merger of equals, had over 10,000 employees with annual revenues exceeding $1BN and soon renamed itself to marchFIRST. With the burst of the dot-com bubble, marchFIRST went into bankruptcy in April 2001 and its assets were liquidated .
In 2003, Rolf Thrane and Hans Dau, who were running the successful West Coast offices of the original Mitchell Madison Group, joined forces and decided to re-launch the firm by acquiring the brand name in bankruptcy court. Recognizing a need for new consulting model, where the client and the consulting firm share financially in the success of a project, they were able to build a high-end boutique firm with global capabilities that serves large brand name clients globally. By 2008, the firm had grown to about 150 employees with main offices on New York, Los Angeles and Manila and several satellite offices in Europe and Asia.
The firm is featured, although not by name, in Matthew Stewart
's book "The Management Myth" . Stewart takes care not to state the name of the firm, but he does say that it was bought out by an Internet company whose CEO was named "Joe" and believed in UFOs.
and functions as a partnership in its day-to-day operations. The firm is owned by its partners and has no outside investors. It is the firm’s policy to only serve one client in a specific industry or around a specific issue as to avoid any perception of potential client conflict. Due to the firm’s orientation towards client success delivery and contingency compensation, its senior partners are much more involved in executing consulting work than is typical for other consulting firms. The organizational pyramid tends to be more “hour-glass” shaped with senior partners and consultants working directly with junior staff. Mitchell Madison also leverages its large Manila office heavily for analytical work and most of its offshore consultants work side by side with the firm’s US and European staff on client projects. According to Vault, the culture at MMG is that of a small, entrepreneurial firm: "As such, consultants are given more responsibility and hands-on experience than they would receive at other consultancies. Consultants work in small, high-powered teams and receive direct feedback from managers, partners and clients".
, Boston Consulting Group
, Bain & Company
, Booz & Company
, and other top-tier management consulting
firms.
Mitchell Madison is best known for its capabilities in Strategic Sourcing
and Transformational Outsourcing
where it works with clients to improve their cost structure by restructuring and re-negotiating complex supplier relationships. The firm has accumulated significant intellectual property in a wide range of expense categories and leverages that expertise to accelerate client projects. Consulting Magazine recognized Rolf Thrane, Managing Partner, as one of the Top 25 consultants in 2007 .
Management consulting
Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....
firm that focuses on improving financial and operating performance for major corporations. Originally founded in 1994 and re-founded in 2003, it is today widely recognized as a leader in the areas of Strategic Sourcing
Strategic sourcing
Strategic sourcing is an institutional procurement process that continuously improves and re-evaluates the purchasing activities of a company. In a production environment, it is often considered one component of supply chain management...
and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
. Unlike most traditional management consulting firms, the majority of Mitchell Madison’s revenue is derived from success fees rather than hourly billing.
History
In 1992, a group of McKinsey partners in New York left the firm to start a Financial Services Group at A.T. Kearney, a Chicago-based competitor. The relationship soon soured as A.T. Kearney was in the process of selling itself to EDS , an IT outsourcing conglomerate. As a result, the original Mitchell Madison Group was created in a management buy-out with about 120 professionals in 1994.The firm experienced rapid growth in the 1990s, primarily on the back of its successful Strategic Sourcing
Strategic sourcing
Strategic sourcing is an institutional procurement process that continuously improves and re-evaluates the purchasing activities of a company. In a production environment, it is often considered one component of supply chain management...
practice, serving many of world’s largest Financial Institutions. With a global footprint of 16 offices and almost 1,000 employees, Fortune magazine named it one of the top 50 firms to work for in 1999. The firm was sold in late 1999 for about $300MM to USWeb
USWeb
USWeb is currently an Internet marketing company going by the same name as the original USWeb of the 1990s. The original USWeb was founded as a web design and site engineering company which expanded during the dot-com boom into online strategy consulting and online marketing...
a Web design company which expanded during the dot-com boom into management consulting . Subsequently, USWeb merged with Whitman-Hart, another consulting firm based in Chicago . The combined company, a merger of equals, had over 10,000 employees with annual revenues exceeding $1BN and soon renamed itself to marchFIRST. With the burst of the dot-com bubble, marchFIRST went into bankruptcy in April 2001 and its assets were liquidated .
In 2003, Rolf Thrane and Hans Dau, who were running the successful West Coast offices of the original Mitchell Madison Group, joined forces and decided to re-launch the firm by acquiring the brand name in bankruptcy court. Recognizing a need for new consulting model, where the client and the consulting firm share financially in the success of a project, they were able to build a high-end boutique firm with global capabilities that serves large brand name clients globally. By 2008, the firm had grown to about 150 employees with main offices on New York, Los Angeles and Manila and several satellite offices in Europe and Asia.
The firm is featured, although not by name, in Matthew Stewart
Matthew Stewart (philosopher)
.Matthew Stewart is a philosopher and author currently living in Santa Barbara, California. He is the author of The Truth About Everything, Monturiol's Dream, The Courtier and the Heretic, and The Management Myth . He has a bachelor's degree from Princeton, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Oxford...
's book "The Management Myth" . Stewart takes care not to state the name of the firm, but he does say that it was bought out by an Internet company whose CEO was named "Joe" and believed in UFOs.
Organization
Mitchell Madison Group is formally organized as a Limited Liability CompanyLimited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
and functions as a partnership in its day-to-day operations. The firm is owned by its partners and has no outside investors. It is the firm’s policy to only serve one client in a specific industry or around a specific issue as to avoid any perception of potential client conflict. Due to the firm’s orientation towards client success delivery and contingency compensation, its senior partners are much more involved in executing consulting work than is typical for other consulting firms. The organizational pyramid tends to be more “hour-glass” shaped with senior partners and consultants working directly with junior staff. Mitchell Madison also leverages its large Manila office heavily for analytical work and most of its offshore consultants work side by side with the firm’s US and European staff on client projects. According to Vault, the culture at MMG is that of a small, entrepreneurial firm: "As such, consultants are given more responsibility and hands-on experience than they would receive at other consultancies. Consultants work in small, high-powered teams and receive direct feedback from managers, partners and clients".
Competition
The firm competes for clients primarily with McKinsey, A.T. KearneyA.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm, focusing on strategic and operational CEO-agenda concerns. It was founded in 1926, and its head office is in Chicago, Illinois...
, Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group
The Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm with offices in 42 countries. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. It is one of only three companies to appear in the top 15 of Fortunes "Best Companies to Work For" report for...
, Bain & Company
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
, Booz & Company
Booz & Company
Booz & Company is a global management consulting firm established in the United States in 1914. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world and one of the best consulting firms to work for by Consulting Magazine...
, and other top-tier management consulting
Management consulting
Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....
firms.
Business
Mitchell Madison Group provides Strategy and Performance Improvement consulting services to large corporations (over $1BN in revenue), primarily in the financial services, manufacturing, technology and media/publishing sectors. Since its founding in 1994, the firm has completed well over 1,000 projects, improving their clients’ financials by over $10 billion annually.Mitchell Madison is best known for its capabilities in Strategic Sourcing
Strategic sourcing
Strategic sourcing is an institutional procurement process that continuously improves and re-evaluates the purchasing activities of a company. In a production environment, it is often considered one component of supply chain management...
and Transformational Outsourcing
Transformational Outsourcing
Transformational outsourcing is described as the transformation of business processes, that combines cost reductions with flexibility and value creation.*Focus...
where it works with clients to improve their cost structure by restructuring and re-negotiating complex supplier relationships. The firm has accumulated significant intellectual property in a wide range of expense categories and leverages that expertise to accelerate client projects. Consulting Magazine recognized Rolf Thrane, Managing Partner, as one of the Top 25 consultants in 2007 .
Recruiting
Mitchell Madison Group recruits both experienced consultants and entry-level staff from leading universities. Campus recruiting is a mix of MBAs and exceptional candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. In addition to the top MBA schools, the firm has historically recruited heavily at Caltech and MIT. Vault has recognized Mitchell Madison as an employer with competitive compensation where consultants have “the opportunity to move up and shine”, but cautions that the "Small, entrepreneurial environment does not satisfy everyone with a corporate America background" .See also
- A.T. KearneyA.T. KearneyA.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm, focusing on strategic and operational CEO-agenda concerns. It was founded in 1926, and its head office is in Chicago, Illinois...
- Bain & CompanyBain & CompanyBain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
- Booz & CompanyBooz & CompanyBooz & Company is a global management consulting firm established in the United States in 1914. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world and one of the best consulting firms to work for by Consulting Magazine...
- Boston Consulting GroupBoston Consulting GroupThe Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm with offices in 42 countries. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. It is one of only three companies to appear in the top 15 of Fortunes "Best Companies to Work For" report for...
- McKinsey