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McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

reuters.com

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Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#11

Post by the8472 »

alexpetralia wrote: post #7
tharne wrote: post #4

Too bad they can't be sued for ruining countless businesses with mindless self-serving "advice" meant to do nothing more than get their contracts re-upped. The whole business is a scam built around sending in some 26 year-old with an Ivy League degree and $100 haircut to regurgitate snippets from articles in HBR.

I know it's fashionable to hate on MBAs, but I am not entirely convinced engineers are any better equipped with skills such as: requirements gathering, scoping, presenting, project management, competitive research, financial modeling, memo writing, and strategic planning. I don't believe these are truly vacuous activities, and - loathe as I am to say - MBAs may be the best trained to do this. (Disclosure: I do not ha…

This is about a specific consulting company, not MBAs in general.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#12

Post by gnu8 »

tharne wrote: post #4

Too bad they can't be sued for ruining countless businesses with mindless self-serving "advice" meant to do nothing more than get their contracts re-upped. The whole business is a scam built around sending in some 26 year-old with an Ivy League degree and $100 haircut to regurgitate snippets from articles in HBR.

It’s Scientology for businesses.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#13

Post by cowanon22 »

alexpetralia wrote: post #7
tharne wrote: post #4

Too bad they can't be sued for ruining countless businesses with mindless self-serving "advice" meant to do nothing more than get their contracts re-upped. The whole business is a scam built around sending in some 26 year-old with an Ivy League degree and $100 haircut to regurgitate snippets from articles in HBR.

I know it's fashionable to hate on MBAs, but I am not entirely convinced engineers are any better equipped with skills such as: requirements gathering, scoping, presenting, project management, competitive research, financial modeling, memo writing, and strategic planning. I don't believe these are truly vacuous activities, and - loathe as I am to say - MBAs may be the best trained to do this. (Disclosure: I do not ha…

I agree with this - young engineers typically do not appreciate the importance of building the right thing vs building it well. However, the OPs point stands. McKinsey and these other companies just regurgitate what is printed in the trade press and charge you top dollars for it. You meet an experienced person once at project kickoff, and then most of your contacts are fresh grads with 2-5 years of experience. They really specialize in attending meetings and conference calls, but are all over the place (from excellent to awful) at actually implementing things.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#14

Post by samizdis »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #3
mathattack wrote: post #2

This is a significant hit for a private company. If McK has 2,000 partners, that’s almost $300k per partner. (Yes - they are very well compensated, and this is probably just a fraction of their pension plan)

Well, considering the damage they caused this is nothing. They advised on /got and got paid for how to "turbocharge" opioid sales and that tuned out to be an illegal and immoral thing.

I'd be keen to see the specifics wrt advice given on how to "turbocharge" said sales. Reuters article doesn't give any examples/detail.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#16

Post by olsonjeffery »

alexpetralia wrote: post #7
tharne wrote: post #4

Too bad they can't be sued for ruining countless businesses with mindless self-serving "advice" meant to do nothing more than get their contracts re-upped. The whole business is a scam built around sending in some 26 year-old with an Ivy League degree and $100 haircut to regurgitate snippets from articles in HBR.

I know it's fashionable to hate on MBAs, but I am not entirely convinced engineers are any better equipped with skills such as: requirements gathering, scoping, presenting, project management, competitive research, financial modeling, memo writing, and strategic planning. I don't believe these are truly vacuous activities, and - loathe as I am to say - MBAs may be the best trained to do this. (Disclosure: I do not ha…

I'm fine stating that engineers from non-elite schools are just as well equipped for the tasks you describe, but that wasn't the GP's contention. The point is that McKinsey make bad recommendations that have demonstrably bad outcomes.

Their fingerprints are all over numerous bad decisions in business and government in the past few decades[0]. These are the bare minimum, because there are quite likely many negative outcomes they have championed in their role as consultants that were never publicized or reported on.

Totally separate from the above is their absolutely mercenary tendency to work with anyone who will pay them[1][2].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company#Controver... [1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/world/asia/mckinsey-china... [2] - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/mckinseys-work-for-...

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#17

Post by hehehaha »

alexpetralia wrote: post #7
tharne wrote: post #4

Too bad they can't be sued for ruining countless businesses with mindless self-serving "advice" meant to do nothing more than get their contracts re-upped. The whole business is a scam built around sending in some 26 year-old with an Ivy League degree and $100 haircut to regurgitate snippets from articles in HBR.

I know it's fashionable to hate on MBAs, but I am not entirely convinced engineers are any better equipped with skills such as: requirements gathering, scoping, presenting, project management, competitive research, financial modeling, memo writing, and strategic planning. I don't believe these are truly vacuous activities, and - loathe as I am to say - MBAs may be the best trained to do this. (Disclosure: I do not ha…

Getting an MBA right now is a clear signal that you have zero skills.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#18

Post by frostburg »

asjldkfin wrote: post #15

It's funny reading comment here saying how "Consulting is useless BS" whilst also condemning them for "turbocharging Opioid sales"

You don't need to do much to be wrong, especially in the context of selling highly addictive drugs.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#19

Post by mywittyname »

sharkweek wrote: post #10

The absolutely most fascinating part of this is learning how McKinsey has long argued that making recommendations that businesses may or may not act on does not create legal liability (until this). I’m trying to see that argument applied in any other instance and it becomes totally ridiculous. “You see, your honor, I merely suggested to my client that he kill his neighbor in order to take his land, I didn’t think he’…

I think there are times when this disclaimer makes sense. Industry regulation can be quite complicated and nuanced enough that an action might be illegal despite not seeming so on the surface. They also can vary between jurisdiction.

Having an experienced industry lawyer review future business plans is just good sense.

Re: McKinsey to pay $573M to settle claims over opioid crisis role: source

#20

Post by asjldkfin »

frostburg wrote: post #18
asjldkfin wrote: post #15

It's funny reading comment here saying how "Consulting is useless BS" whilst also condemning them for "turbocharging Opioid sales"

You don't need to do much to be wrong, especially in the context of selling highly addictive drugs.

That's not the point; you can't say their advice is ineffective, while also condemning them for being effective.

The top comment derisively states:

"The whole business is a scam built around sending in some 26 year-old with an Ivy League degree and $100 haircut to regurgitate snippets from articles in HBR"

In the context of fining the company $500MM for being too effective.

At least in the US, where the punishment is relative to the crime; the court clearly agrees about their efficacy.

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