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News round-up: January 26

Published: Jan 26, 2011

 Consulting       

It's Wednesday, and today's consulting news will be beamed out amidst heavy snow in New York City. Shame it'll turn to black sludge by morning (the snow, not the consulting news; that cannot be destroyed).

Today, research consultants at the Hay Group released the results of the firm's sixth annual Best Companies for Leadership Study. The results were featured via a Top 20 list that names some of the world's leading corporations among the honorees. Chief among them was General Electric, a regular atop the Group's leadership rankings. Hay Group, a respected global management consultancy, said that GE "maintained its top-notch reputation for leadership excellence." À la , only one consulting firm made the Top 20; that lucky winner was Accenture, which repeated last year's top-10 showing with an eighth place finish. Rick Lash, Hay Group's head leadership guru, explained the rankings. "The Top 20 Best Companies for Leadership are at the forefront of a significant shift away from hierarchical organizational operating models," he said. An interesting finding from this year's leadership study: "90% of the Best Companies expect employees to lead, regardless if they have a formal position of authority."

Yesterday, Point B, a classic strategy/management consultancy based in Portland, Ore., unveiled a pair of organizational changes that aims to both "diversify its client base" and "position itself for accelerated growth." In one move, the firm officially welcomed its brand new investment arm—Point B Capital—to the organization. "Point B Capital builds value for both its portfolio companies and Point B's broader client base by bringing expertise and capital together for mutual business benefit," the firm said in a press release. So, basically, they'll be financing much of their growth and normal operations through a dependent investment/equity unit. Cool. Next up is the installation of Mike Pongon, formerly Point B's COO, as CEO. Pongon brings 11 years of Point B experience to the job, a role formerly shared by the firm's founders and co-CEO's Tim Jenkins and Darran Littlefield. Pongon is immediately tasked with overseeing harmonious cooperation between the Capital group and the consulting group.

Now, the best of the rest, in classic round-up fashion: HP introduced its new Government Cloud Consulting Services portfolio today in a bid to oust IBM and other competitors from a public sector IT consulting domain of the (very near) future; Campbell Alliance, the family-led healthcare consultancy that was recently purchased by inVentiV Health, has lost its major financier (Baird Capital Partners) as a result of the deal; and TPI, a global IT consulting/outsourcing firm announced today that it has been selected by the government of North Carolina to overhaul the state's outdated IT infrastructure.

For more information:
Hay Group: Best Companies For Leadership 2011
Point B Adds Investment Arm, Transitions Top Leadership
HP Expands Cloud Offerings With Government Consulting Services
Baird Capital Partners Exits Campbell Alliance
TPI Wins Major IT Consulting Job With State of North Carolina

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