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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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volume 1
issue 3
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“a-connect challenges my work on a continuous basis, serving as an extremely valuable sparring
partner when I'm out on a project.” —D.G., IP since 2006
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Welcome to the a-connect IP Newsletter
by Perry Fagan
Welcome to the February 2007 issue of the a-connect IP Newsletter! In this issue we explore the roots of the effectiveness of management consultants, and the challenge for clients of utilizing external advice to gain lasting impact.
First up is an article by a-connect Talent Partner Sascha Schmidt, who presents a summary of his research into the question of what makes a management consultant effective. Next, this issue's getAbstract business book abstract, "Flawed Advice and the Management Trap: How managers can tell when they are getting good advice and when they are not", by Harvard Business School Professor Chris Argyris, offers executives valuable insights on how to seek specific, testable, actionable advice from consultants.
We are also proud to present an update on events at a-connect over the past several months, including a distinctive client event in Basel, a sampling of recent projects, changes to our team, and the continuing growth of our global talent pool.
Once again, welcome. Enjoy!
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Choosing a Management Consultant with Impact
Does grey hair matter more than education or professional background?
by Sascha Schmidt
The question of whether it’s worthwhile to engage highly-paid management consultants is as old as the consulting industry itself. As a professional services firm a-connect's focus is squarely on impact, with our more than 400 independent professionals often serving as the crucial link between strategy and implementation. But what drives the impact of consultants? Is it their level of education, richness and diversity of work experience, or merely seniority?
Given the importance of impact and its antecedents, Talent Partner Sascha L. Schmidt, together with Professor Ansgar Richter of the European Business School, analyzed the effect of both the level and the type of education and professional experience, two critical dimensions for the performance of management consultants. They used both qualitative and quantitative data on client ratings of the performance of 50 senior management consultants engaged in 100 consulting projects.
The results of their research may surprise you.
> full story
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Speed Read: This Issue's Complimentary Business Book Abstract
"Flawed Advice and the Management Trap", by Chris Argyris
 Harvard Business School Professor Chris Argyris says that management advice–the content of countless seminars by management consultants and human resource professionals–rests upon a discrepancy. The goal of a more democratic workplace with empowered, internally-driven workers contradicts the actual actions executives take to produce this result. Argyris contends that much leadership, decision-making, corporate change and management advice lacks critical thinking. He urges executives to seek specific, testable, actionable advice. Role-playing and numerous examples show how advice givers may fail to understand the nature of the problems they’re addressing.
Read on to find out more!
> full story
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"Voyage vers la Source"
A sensuous musical journey at the intimate Hirzen Pavillon in Basel
by Serge Stanek
 On Friday, November 24, 2006 our Zürich office held a special event: a sensuous musical journey around the world that took place in the intimate Hirzen Pavillon in Riehen, near Basel. This musical journey led us from the rhythms of Hungary to Argentinean tango, to Bulgarian dances, performed by a truly inspiring Eastern European trio of independent musical talents.
> full story
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Recent Projects
Read about three exciting projects our independent professionals are executing around the world
Card business strategy
One of a-connect’s financial services and card experts is supporting a regional banking client in a concerted effort to review their card organization and strategy. The objective of the project is to develop a new card organization structure, and to provide guidance for the acquiring strategy for credit cards and well as for issuing debit cards.
Customer service improvement
a-connect currently supports a Middle Eastern regional financial services client in a major three-phase customer service improvement program, including the development of a blueprint for the program, a pilot phase and the actual implementation with the rollout. The effort includes the assessment of the client’s customer service level, the development of a comprehensive set of standards and measures for customer service quality, the formulation of a “customer service mission” and an actionable improvement program to match best practices.
Digital asset management
The client asked a-connect to support an internal initiative to build up the largest digital film and picture archive in European sports. The a-connect Independent Professional is a senior expert with comprehensive knowledge of the online and offline media industry and its sales engines. For instance, prior to the current project he led the repositioning of online job board activities of a leading special interest publisher and successfully supported the acquisition of the no. 3 job board in Germany and Switzerland by the largest European ISP company. His role is to support the legal and technical departments and guide the request for proposal process to find the best digital asset management system provider for the effort. Besides many legal aspects, the challenge is to orchestrate different interest groups but at the same time push the initiative forward and keep close to the technical details.
> full story
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a-connect Team Update
Three new Talent Partners and a new Talent Manager join the a-connect team
We are proud to welcome Talent Partners Frank Mattes (Düsseldorf), Patricia Nichol (Hong Kong) and Serge Stanek (Zürich), as well as Zürich-based Talent Manager Ellen Tegenbos. Click below to read more about them!
Meanwhile, Asia-based Talent Partners Matthias Goertz and Marcel Pordes left a-connect as of September 30, 2006, although they both remain in the region. Matthias joined the executive search firm Edward W. Kelly & Partners in Singapore, while Marcel started his own business in the retail space in Hong Kong. We greatly appreciate their efforts in building a-connect’s presence in Asia and wish them well in their new professional endeavors. As we continue to focus on growing the Asia office during this period of transition, Talent Partners Corina Turnes and Bernhard Stadler have transferred from Zürich to Hong Kong.
> full story
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IP Pool Statistics as of December 2006
We are proud that our pool of exceptional independent talents is growing rapidly. Here are selected statistics for the pool as of December 2006:
| New applications received during January-December |
1,487 |
| IPs interviewed |
288 |
| Interview rate |
19% |
| IPs accepted into the pool |
170 |
| Acceptance rate |
11% |
| Total IPs |
398 |
Regional breakdown:
Europe
Americas
Asia |
208
106
84 |
Moreover, during 2006 we continued building strength across functions, situations, and industries. Click on the links to see an overview of a-connect's expertise.
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Published by
Copyright © 2007 a-connect (group) ag. All rights reserved.
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a-connect (schweiz) ag
Seefeldstrasse 293
CH-8008 Zürich
Phone: +41 43 266 77 77
Fax: +41 43 266 77 27
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a-connect (US) Inc.
470 Atlantic Avenue
4th Floor
Boston, MA, 02110
Phone: +1 617 946 33 33
Fax: +1 617 956 07 01
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a-connect (China) Ltd.
18/F One International
Finance Centre
1 Harbour View Street
Central, Hong Kong
Phone: +852 2526 6766
Fax: +852 3006 2766 |
a-connect (deutschland) gmbh
Stadttor 1
D-40219 Düsseldorf
Phone: +49 211 955 999 88
Fax: +49 211 955 999 80
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