1. The decision factory

Kahneman says that you can think of an organisation as a factory for producing decisions. The organisation might produce other things, but it produces decisions at all levels. Thinking about decisions as a product is a useful way to think about it, because it immediately raises the issue of quality control. As an organisation, whenever you have a product you take measures to ensure that your product meets certain standards.

2. Improving the quality of decisions

What can be done to improve the quality of decisions that are produced?

Kahneman indicates that quality control of decisions will be organised, in part, by bearing in mind those mistakes that are common and recurrent, and by making a deliberate effort to check whether those mistakes are happening.

Are there ways of eliciting the best information that is available in an organisation? Are the talents of the people that surround the decision maker utilised effectively? In many cases the answer is no. One could do a great deal better in utilising the human resources and information that are available in the process of decision making.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of hostility to the idea of improving decision making processes. Kahneman argues that as there is convergence to a decision, dissent becomes progressively more difficult and costly. Some changes, even though they may be desirable, are not adopted because they threaten the leadership of the organisation too much.  As such, people warning of potential disaster are increasingly set aside, shunned and treated as basically disloyal to the organisation that is committing itself to do something.

3. Pre-Mortem

Given that improving the decision making process is a difficult task, Kahneman presents the idea of the “Pre-Mortem”, an idea that he borrowed from one of his contemporaries, Gary Klein.

The Pre-Mortem is a simple idea, and involves a very straightforward procedure that benefits an organisation by helping to improve the decision making process. When you have a plan that is being formulated, convene your group for a short meeting. The meeting might be led by the person in charge or facilitated by someone else. Either way, the group should be presented with the following scenario: “it is a year from now. We have implemented the plan. It was total a disaster. You have a sheet of paper in front of you, write down a history of the disaster.” After giving everyone some time to write down their ideas you collect the pieces of paper and read them out. The process does not have to involve an extensive discussion.

The beauty of the Pre-Mortem is that it legitimises dissent. In fact, it does more than legitimise dissent. In organisations where the members are competitive, you expect people to think quite hard about the flaws in the idea and what could go wrong. In a room of twenty people you might expect three or four new ideas that can be used to readjust and improve the proposed plan of action.

4. Anchoring

Kahneman identifies anchoring as one of the big sources of mistakes in the process of decision making.

When you think about some quantity, like the amount of time it will take to finish a project, the first number that gets mentioned has an enormous impact on the way that people think.

Kahneman states that the psychology of anchoring is simple and happens automatically. There is nothing we can do about it. You retrieve a biased sample of information and then you evaluate that sample, and then it is already too late.

Kahneman provides a simple explanation of anchoring. Imagine you have a group of people. You ask them to write down the last four digits of their social security number, and then to consider a question, is the number of physicians in Manhattan higher or lower than the number you just wrote down? Now you ask the group, what is your best guess about the number of physicians in Manhattan? Kahneman suggests that what you are going to find is a difference of roughly 30% in the size of the estimates between the people with high social security numbers and the people with lower social security numbers.

When there is a particular number that is critical to a decision, try to trace down where the number came from, who brought it up first, and what information was used to support that number initially. Tracing down the history of a number is an example of something that is not too hard to do and, Kahneman believes, is almost guaranteed to improve things.

One implication of anchoring is that, if you are the leader and want to have an honest discussion about a number, you shouldn’t start with a number.

5. Opinions on paper, pre-discussion

Making discussions more fruitful and productive is something that we should think about. Kahneman provides one suggestion of how this might be done.

Before initiating a discussion solicit the opinions from each member of the group on paper. If you are going to generate an estimate of a number, for example what price is to be offered for a particular project, then getting opinions from the group on a slip of paper is going to improve the quality of the discussion.

This approach will help to draw out dissenting points of view. Once the discussion has begun, some group members may choose not to voice their dissenting opinion or may silently acquiesce to the prevailing view. Obtaining everyone’s starting position before the discussion ensues avoids this from happening.

In some cases, soliciting individual opinions before you discuss can make the discussion unnecessary. Kahneman gives an example of his involvement in an academic committee where he implemented this idea. In deciding whether to fund particular grants, the academics discovered that they loved to discuss, at great length, grants on which they all agreed. Soliciting individual opinions prior to discussion resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of time wasted on discussion.

The list of consulting firms is long, so I divided the firms into 5 categories. I have only listed each firm once, but some firms could easily have been placed under more than one heading. The breakdown is a pretty ad hoc, but hopefully it makes the list a little easier to digest. Within each category, the firms are ordered as they appear in the Vault Guide to the Top 50 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms (2008 edition). Let me know if you find this list helpful.

Without further ado, the 5 categories of consulting firms are as follows:

1. General business and strategy consulting
2. IT consulting
3. HR consulting
4. Economic advisory and executive education
5. Litigation support services

The list of general business and strategy consulting firms forms part of the full list of consulting firms in America:

1. McKinsey & Company
2. Boston Consulting Group
3. Bain & Company
4. Booz & Company
5. Booz Allen Hamilton
6. Monitor Group
7. Oliver Wyman
8. The Parthenon Group
9. Deloitte Consulting LLP
10. L.E.K. Consulting
11. Marakon Associates
12. A.T. Kearney
13. Accenture
14. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
15. Katzenbach Partners LLC
16. Cambridge Associates LLC
17. CRA International
18. Mars & Co
19. ZS Associates
20. Arthur D. Little
21. Navigant Consulting, Inc
22. BearingPoint
23. First Manhattan Consulting Group
24. Kurt Salmon Associates
25. Stern Stewart & Co.
26. Analysis Group, Inc.
27. Dean & Company
28. Giuliani Partners LLC
29. PRTM
30. Strategic Decisions Group
31. OC&C Strategy Consultants
32. Putnam Associates
33. Mitchell Madison Group
34. FTI Consulting

1. McKinsey & Company

Founded in Chicago in 1926, McKinsey is the world’s most prestigious consulting firm and operates in 90 locations across 51 countries. In America McKinsey operates out of Seattle, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Boston, Stamford, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.

McKinsey works internationally in a broad range of industries with large private sector institutions, governments and other non-profit institutions.

2. Boston Consulting Group

Founded in 1963 by Bruce Henderson, BCG operates in 66 offices across 38 countries. In America, BCG operates out of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

BCG specialises in business strategy and draws most of its clients from the 500 largest corporations worldwide, as well as working with smaller companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies.

3. Bain & Company

Founded in 1973 when Bill Bain and others left BCG to form Bain & Company. Bain operates in 38 offices across 25 countries. In America BCG operates out of San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, New York and Atlanta.

Bain is well-known for offering services like due diligence, IPO preparation, portfolio profit improvement and revenue enhancement geared toward leveraged buyout and venture capital firms.

4. Booz & Company

Founded in Chicago in 1914 by Edwin G. Booz, Booz & Co broke away from Booz Allen Hamilton in 2008. The company operates in 55 offices across six continents. In America Booz & Co operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, McLean, Florham Park, Parsippany, and New York.

Booz & Co has its main area of expertise in strategy and technology consulting, working in the commercial sector.

5. Booz Allen Hamilton

Founded in Chicago in 1914 by Edwin G. Booz, the company was split in two in 2008. The company operates in 68 offices globally, 64 of which are in America.

Booz Allen Hamilton’s clients are government agencies and institutions that want to change their organizations.

6. Monitor Group

Founded in 1983, one of its co-founders was Michael Porter creator of the Five Forces analysis framework. Monitor operates in 29 offices across 18 countries. Monitor has its head office in Cambridge and also operates out of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

Monitor works with corporations to help them grow, governments to help them improve economic development, and non-profits to help them grow their social impact.

7. Oliver Wyman

Founded in 1970, the company operates in more than 40 cities across 16 countries. In America, Oliver Wyman has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Lisle, Los Angeles, Melville, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Princeton, Reston, San Francisco, Troy, and Washington D.C.

Oliver Wyman has expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, organizational transformation, and leadership development.

8. The Parthenon Group

Founded in Boston in 1991, the Parthenon Group operates out of Boston, San Francisco, London and Mumbai.

The Parthenon Group are strategic advisors with a boutique philosophy. The majority of its business revolves around corporate advisory to global 1000 corporations and high-potential growth companies, private equity, education and health.

9. Deloitte Consulting LLP

Founded as an accountancy office in London in 1845, Deloitte has member firms in nearly 140 countries worldwide. In America Deloitte has offices in more than 80 cities.

“Deloitte” is the brand under which a collection of independent firms collaborate globally to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services.

10. L.E.K. Consulting

Founded in 1983, LEK has 20 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. In America, LEK has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

LEK advises FTSE 100, Eurotop 300, Fortune 500 and the largest Asia-Pacific firms in business strategy, finance, marketing and sales, operations, organization, and transaction services.

11. Marakon Associates

Founded in 1978, Marakon operates out of Chicago, London and New York.

Marakon’s advice stems from the point of view that a company should be managed to create the most long-term value possible for its owners. In particular, Marakon helps clients in the areas of strategy, execution, organic growth, growth through acquisition, producivity, risk management, leadership & organisation, and managing for value.

12. A.T. Kearney

Founded in 1926, A.T. Kearney has offices in 34 countries around the world. In America A.T. Kearney operates out of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

As one of the largest high-value management consulting firms in the world, A.T. Kearney has a broad range of capabilities and expertise ranging from strategy to operations, business technology, enterprise services transformation and executive search.

13. Accenture

Founded in 1989, Accenture has offices and operations in more than 150 cities across the world. In America Accenture operates out of Phoenix, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Denver, Hartford, Wilmington, Washington D.C., Miami, Tallahassee, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Florham Park, Murray Hill, Albany, New York, Charlotte, Raleigh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Reston, Seattle, and Milwaukee.

Accenture has expertise in a broad range of industries and provides a range of services including: customer relationship management, finance management, marketing, service management, strategy, supply chain management, and talent management.

14. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Founded in 1967 in Munich, Roland Berger has 36 offices worldwide and is very well represented in Europe. In America Roland Berger operates out of Chicago, Detroit, and New York.

Roland Berger is committed to three core values: excellence, entrepreneurship and partnership. Its expertise includes branding, corporate finance, corporate responsibility, financial & risk effectiveness, IT, manufacturing, marketing, organization, real estate management, research and development, restructuring, sales, strategy, and supply chain management.

15. Katzenbach Partners LLC

Founded in 1998, the firm has grown dramatically and now has offices in New York, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco.

Katzenbach provides a range of services aimed at bringing an organization to peak performance, including: business strategy, informal & formal organization, leadership & capability development, motivation & pride, performance improvement initiatives, and change management.

16. Cambridge Associates LLC

Cambridge Associates was founded in 1973 by Jim Bailey and Hunter Lewis after they conducted a comprehensive review of Harvard University’s investment approach. Cambridge Associates has 7 offices worldwide. In America it has offices in Arlington, Boston, Dallas, and San Francisco. Overseas it has offices in London, Singapore and Sydney.

Cambridge Associates began serving private clients in 1982, however nonprofits remain its core client base. Cambridge Associates selectively works with large institutional investors beyond the nonprofit world including pension, agency, and government funds.

17. CRA International

Founded in 1965, CRA has headquarters in Boston and 26 offices across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. In America CRA has offices in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Cambridge, Chicago, College Station, Dallas, Houston, New York, Oakland, Pasadena, Philadelphia, Pleasanton, Salt Lake City, Tallahassee, and Washington D.C.

CRA offers economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, industries, accounting firms, and governments around the world. It claims particular strength in analytics and offers litigation and regulatory support, business strategy and planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis, and risk management consulting.

18. Mars & Co

Founded in 1979, Mars & Co has offices in Greenwich(Connecticut), San Francisco, London, Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai.

Dominique Mars formed Mars & Co because he felt it was essential for a strategy consulting firm to guarantee the exclusivity of its services to each client. Its major “raison d’être” remains to bring competitive leverage to a very limited number of clients and serve them worldwide on an exclusive basis. That is, Mars is the only consulting firm of any consequence to guarantee “fidelity”.

19. ZS Associates

Founded in 1983 by Andris A. Zoltners and Prabhakant Sinha, two marketing professors from the Kellogg School of Management, ZS Associates operates out of 17 offices in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific. In the America ZS Associates has offices in Boston, Chicago, Evanston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Princeton and San Francisco.

ZS Associates is a global management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing consulting, capability building, and outsourcing. A large portion of its work is with Global 500 companies, although it also has a substantial number of client relationships with mid-market, small, and start-up companies.

20. Arthur D. Little

Founded in 1886, Arthur D. Little was the world’s first management consultancy. ADL has 29 offices across 20 countries. In America it has offices in Boston, Houston and New York.

Arthur D. Little offers information management, operations management, strategy & organization, sustainability & risk, and technology & innovation management.

21. Navigant Consulting, Inc

Navigant has offices in over 40 cities in North America, Europe and Asia. In America it has offices in Chicago, Seattle, Rancho Cordova, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Irvine, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, Coral Gables, Reston, Vienna, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Lawrenceville, New York, Westbury, Fairfield, Burlington, Boston, and Troy.

Navigant provides independent consulting services across industries undergoing substantial regulatory or business-model change. Representative industries include: construction, energy, financial services, healthcare, insurance, legal, and government services.

22. BearingPoint

BearingPoint has 170 offices across 36 countries and has its headquarters are in McLean, Virginia. In America BearingPoint has offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

BearingPoint describe themselves as management and technology consultants and provides various services including: Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise Agility, Enterprise Solutions, Finance Solutions, Managed Services, Management Consulting, Outsourcing, Search Solutions, Strategy, Process & Transformation, Supply Chain Management, Technology Infrastructure & Integration.

23. First Manhattan Consulting Group

Founded in 1980, FMCG has office in New York (HQ), Seattle, Boston, and Taos.

FMCG’s mission is to be the consulting firm of choice for managers of financial services firms.

24. Kurt Salmon Associates

KSA has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Princeton and San Francisco.

KSA is a global leader in supply chain management and technology solutions, and is the premier solutions provider to the retail, consumer products, and health care industries.

25. Stern Stewart & Co.

Founded in 1982 in New York by Joel M. Stern and G. Bennett Stewart III, Stern Stewart has offices in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa.

Stern Stewart is a global consulting firm that specializes in helping companies in the measurement and creation of shareholder wealth through the application of tools based on modern financial theory. The company pioneered the development of its proprietary EVA® (Economic Value Added) framework, which offers a consistent approach to setting goals and measuring performance. In addition, Stern Stewart provides consulting services in the area of corporate financial policy with an emphasis on restructurings and recapitalizations, share repurchases, acquisitions and divestitures, and financial strategy.

26. Analysis Group, Inc.

Founded in 1981, Analysis Group has offices in Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Montreal, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Menlo Park, New York, and Washington D.C.

Analysis Group provides economic, financial, and business strategy consulting to law firms, corporations, and government agencies.

27. Dean & Company

Dean operates out of Washington D.C.

Dean is a strategy consulting firm. Dean assists Fortune 500 companies on strategic issues and involves itself in various industries including: financial services, life sciences, private equity, manufacturing, and telecommunications.

28. Giuliani Partners LLC

Founded in 2002, Giuliani operates out of New York.

Giuliani is dedicated to helping leaders solve critical strategic issues, accelerate growth, and enhance the reputation and brand of their organizations in the context of strongly held values. Giuliani’s professional guidance to leaders is based on 6 fundamental principles: integrity, optimism, courage, preparedness, communication, and accountability.

29. PRTM

Founded in 1976, PRTM has 19 offices worldwide. In America PRTM has offices in Boston, Chicago, Silicon Valley, Orange Country, Dallas, Detroit, New York, and Washington D.C.

PRTM has expertise in operational strategy, supply chain management, product development, customer value management, and business technology innovation.

30. Strategic Decisions Group

Founded in 1981, SDC operates in the US out of its Californian Palo Alto office.

SDC is a strategy consulting firm renowned for applying leading-edge decision theory to uncover opportunities for creating shareholder value.

31. OC&C Strategy Consultants

Founded in 1987, OC&C has 15 offices across 10 countries, namely: Abu Dhabi, Boston, Brussels, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New Delhi, New York, Paris, Rotterdam, San Francisco, and Shanghai.

OC&C is a strategy consulting firm.

32. Putnam Associates

Founded in 1988, Putnam has offices in London and Burlington, Massachusetts.

Putnam is a strategy consultancy to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

33. Mitchell Madison Group

Founded in 1991, MMG has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Manila, Paris and Munich.

MMG’s work combines global perspectives and economic insight with deep expertise ranging from corporate and business unit strategy to cost optimization.

34. FTI Consulting

Founded in 1982, FTI has offices in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific. In America FTI has offices in Annapolis, Atlanta, Bethesda, Boston, Brentwood, Cambridge, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Rockville, Saddle Brook, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson, and Washington D.C.

FTI is in the business of assisting organizations with important legal, financial and reputational matters. FTI offers highly specialized expertise in the areas of compliance, risk, reputation, liability, performance, finance and information.

The list of IT consulting firms forms part of the full list of consulting firms in America:

1. Gartner, Inc
2. Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc.
3. Capgemini
4. PA Consulting Group

1. Gartner, Inc

Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and advises executives in 80 countries. Gartner also has offices in Sydney, Tokyo, London, and São Paulo.

Gartner is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company.

2. Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc.

Diamond is headquartered in Chicago, with locations in Hartford, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Mumbai. The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq.

Diamond is a management and technology consulting firm working across a broad range of industries.

3. Capgemini

Founded by Serge Kampf in Grenoble in 1967, Capgemini is headquartered in Paris and operates in more than 36 countries. In America Capgemini has offices in New York, Rosemont, Atlanta, Bloomfield, Burbank, Chicago, Cleveland, Cupertino, Dallas, Detroit, Freehold, Herndon, Houston, Irvine, Jersey City, Junction City, Lee’s Summit, Marlborough, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Southfield.

Capgemini is one of the top five IT services and consulting companies worldwide. Capgemini’s mission is to enable its clients to transform and perform through technologies. The firm is grouped into four major disciplines: consulting services, technology services, outsourcing services, and local professional services.

4. PA Consulting Group

PA has its corporate headquarters in London and operates in 32 offices across 14 countries. In America PA has offices in Cambridge, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Madison, New York, Princeton, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

PA has technology development capability, expertise across key industries and government, and a unique breadth of skills from strategy to IT to HR to applied technology.

The list of HR consulting firms forms part of the full list of consulting firms in America:

1. Hewitt Associates
2. Towers Perrin
3. Watson Wyatt

1. Hewitt Associates

Founded in 1940 as an insurance brokerage firm, it now has offices in 33 countries. In America Hewitt Associates has offices in Newport Beach, Pleasanton, San Francisco, Norwalk, Washington, DC, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Atlanta, Lincolnshire, Chicago, Hunt Valley, Waltham, Kalamazoo, Troy, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Bridgewater, New York, Charlotte, Independence, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Irving, The Woodlands, Falls Church, and Milwaukee.

Hewitt Associates is the world’s largest provider of multi-service HR business process outsourcing (BPO), and the only firm fully integrating HR outsourcing and consulting.

2. Towers Perrin

Founded in 1934 in Philadelphia, Towers operates in 75 offices across 22 countries (excluding its alliance partner offices in South Africa, India, Austria, and Poland). In America Towers operates out of Atlanta, Austin, Bloomington, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Parsippany, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Stamford, Tampa, Valhalla, and Washington, D.C.

Towers is a global professional services firm that helps organizations improve performance through effective people, risk and financial management.

3. Watson Wyatt

Formed in 1878 in the UK as an actuarial firm, Watson Wyatt operates in 103 offices across 33 countries. In America it operates out of Atlanta, Berwyn, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Honolulu, Houston, Irvine, Los Angeles, Madison, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Paramus, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Rochelle Park, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle, St. Louis, Stamford, Tampa, and Washinton D.C.

Watson Wyatt is a global consulting firm focused on human capital and financial management. They specialize in four areas: employee benefits, human capital strategies, technology solutions and insurance and financial services.