When McKinsey Comes to Town
The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm
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When McKinsey Comes to Town
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Narrated by:
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Ari Fliakos
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
An explosive exposé of the world's most prestigious and successful management consultancy.
McKinsey earns billions advising almost every major corporation as well as countless governments, including Britain's, the USA's and China's. It boasts of its ability to maximise efficiency while making the world a better place. Its millionaire partners and network of alumni go on to top jobs in the world's most powerful organisations. And yet, shielded by non-disclosure agreements, its work remains largely secret—until now.
In this propulsive investigation, two prize-winning journalists reveal the reality. McKinsey's work includes incentivising the prescription of opioids; ruthless cost-cutting in the NHS; executing Trump's immigration policies (the ones that put children in cages). Meanwhile its vast profits derive from a client roster that has included the coal, tobacco and vaping industries, as well as some of the world's most unsavoury despots. And for the last six decades, McKinsey has been the brains behind many of the most loathed and controversial business practices: mass lay-offs, outsourcing overseas, soaring executive pay, as well as the key innovations that led to the financial crash.
McKinsey proudly insists it is a values-led organisation. When McKinsey Comes to Town is a parable of values betrayed: a devastating portrait of a firm whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt and more dangerous.
©2022 Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Panoramic, meticulously reported and ultimately devastating." (Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain)
"Every page made my blood boil." (Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate, author of The Price of Inequality)
What listeners say about When McKinsey Comes to Town
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Antbowena
- 25-07-24
very interesting listen
Very entertaining book. Great insight into the work that McK is involved in, but it does feel quite biased. That aside, I couldn't put the audio book down.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Audible Customer
- 23-07-23
Evidential investigative journalism at its best
Evidence-based investigative journalism into the McKinsey cabal, exposing the breadth and depth of this one company's influence and impact on a global and local scale. Horrifying, but, sadly, not surprising. A hard truth of how corrupt our current business, government, and political systems are, not necessarily individuals, but the fundamental structure of how these aspects of society are setup and operate. Required reading to remind of the importance of having a skeptical thread in one's inquisitive mindset.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-05-23
Hilariously predictable
Every time America or a western government are mentioned, McKinsey is “infiltrating” and “taking advantage” of the government. Every time the same scenario is happening with the “wrong” type of government, McKinsey is “enticed by money” and “taken advantage of”
The authors also seem to choose when McKensey is wholly incompetent, and when they’re so effective they must not be allowed to work for non-Americans.
Even after spending the entire book telling us of the evils of executives and millionaires, it demonstrates the only event that gave payback to these millionaires as being inhumane because it wasn’t done by the right government
I don’t know who this book is written for, but it’s certainly not for the international audience.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Dhaval Shah
- 09-12-23
You’ll never look at a consultant in the same way ever again
A great narrative that builds a layer by layer image of McKinsey that leaves you wondering why on earth does this industry exist and why do people tolerate them
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- hellkatjen
- 16-08-23
Extremely interesting and easy to understand
I really enjoyed this book. It covers a range of interesting topics. As a non-industry reader (i.e., I don't work in the field of "business consulting or other related professional areas), I thought some of the topics would be "above my head" but in fact it was so clearly written that I understood at least 80% of the items discussed, and learnt a great deal about some "historical current affairs" that had bypassed my attention.
I'm not particularly a conspiracy theorist and I prefer to seek truths for myself instead of being led by the nose, by my peers. This book is exactly the sort of eye-opening reading matter that I enjoy - one that leads me to think for myself and draw my own conclusions. It was excellently narrated and without too much jargon.
Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- mark walker
- 04-04-24
A detailed account of the modern world
Feel sorta naive writing that I’m shocked by this. This book arranges the jigsaw pieces, so we can see the detail more clearly, on how the global chumocracy goes about its business. I’m not a raging MAGA, or a crazed conspiracy theorist, just an average Joe hearing some of the pieces put in place.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Harry
- 17-07-23
Great insight although there are some almighty reaches
Fascinating account and there are clearly some skeletons in the closet. But it does seem a bit of a reach to blame McKinsey wherever data is used by a company for instance (see Houston Astros chapter).
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Suke
- 26-05-24
Great reporting
Great content. Lots of interesting facts. Thematically written rather than chronologically but works overall. But hard to have a sense of how McKinsey may have changed over time.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- riley36
- 16-10-24
fantastic business book
interesting account of how business consultants operate regarding ethical and morality with contracts for clients.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Bill Atkinson
- 03-03-23
An eviseration of McKinsey
This shows the cancerous element of this consultancy in practice. Unfortunately it is unlikely that they will ever face the justice that is required. When good turns to bad you know it’s time to finish. McKinsey is not dissimilar to its old client Enron.
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1 person found this helpful