on the other hand, our local Archbishop-cum-Cardinal (Roger Mahoney) broke the grave-diggers' strike. He also tore down a Spanish-era chapel to build a huge "Taj Mahoney" cathedral. As William Slone Coffin once said, there's a difference between the hierarchy and the lowerarchy... JD
On 6/28/05, Seth Sandronsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > FWIW, Catholic labor philosophy taught by the Jesuits at the University of > San Francisco competed with Marxian class analysis offered by the Communist > Party-backed California Labor School during the Cold War era. Then and > there, the Church supported cooperation between employees and employers, > including the right of workers to go on strike, by invoking the labor > encyclicals issued by Pope Leo (1891) and Pope Pius XI (1931) as bulwarks > against radical politics. A leading example of that was the SF general > strike led by Harry Bridges of the ILWU during the Great Depression. > > Seth Sandronsky > > > Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:57:01 -0700 > From: Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: the Jesuits of Capitalism > > seems unfair to the Jesuits, who (at least in the US) are currently a > shrinking bunch of aged men who operate the "Pope's think-tank" and > believe in the "preferential option for the poor" (a religious version > of the Rawlsian principle of justice). > > (clip) > The real power behind No 10 McKinsey is a highly secretive consultancy firm > - and Tony Blair is more likely to listen to its advisers than to his own > ministers. > Katherine Griffiths investigates the 'Jesuits of capitalism' > > JD [who works for Jesuits] > > > > > <http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=649959> > > > The real power behind No 10 > > McKinsey is a highly secretive consultancy firm - and Tony Blair is > more likely to listen to its advisers than to his own ministers. > Katherine Griffiths investigates the 'Jesuits of capitalism' > > 27 June 2005 > > They are the modern buccaneers of the business world. They jet between > cities, rack up huge expenses, and charge up to £6,000 a day to think > the unthinkable for clients including big corporations and > governments. > > They are the star consultants of McKinsey, the élite global management > consultancy. Their backgrounds are diverse - former SAS commandos, > business people, aid workers - but they are drawn together by the > distinct McKinsey culture. Known as "the Firm" or the "McKinsey > Mafia", they are radical, zealous - and above all secretive. > > But now, it seems, McKinsey is becoming the problem rather than the > solution. After almost 80 years as the most prestigious name in the > management consultancy world, these "Jesuits of capitalism"are under > attack. > > McKinsey stands accused of cronyism, greed and arrogance, as a result > of associated scandals that stretch from the offices of Enron in > Houston, Texas, to the corridors of 10 Downing Street. > > The firm, founded in 1926 by James "Mac" McKinsey, a professor of > accounting at Chicago University, has grown to 83 offices around the > world. It has counted former US President Dwight D Eisenhower and the > Bank of England among its clients. Alumni have gone on to run famous > companies, such as Louis Gerstner, who departed in the Seventies for > American Express and later became chief executive of the food giant > RJR Nabisco, and then IBM. > > Others, such as its director Kenichi Ohmae, helped to define thinking > on globalisation in the 1980s. Stephen Green, chief executive of > Britain's biggest bank, HSBC, trained at McKinsey. > > However, among the successes, there have been some notable failures > for the firm. In recent years, a string of McKinsey accounts have > become public-relations disasters, attracting a great deal of unwanted > attention, including Swissair, America's discount retailer Kmart, and > the telecoms group Global Crossing. The firm also advised the computer > maker Hewlett-Packard on its acquisition of rival Compaq in 2002. > > More significantly, the firm has an uncomfortably close history with > Enron. The Texas-based energy giant was transformed from a plodding > company into a highly leveraged energy-trading powerhouse by Jeffrey > Skilling, a rising star at McKinsey who joined the company in 1990 and > seconded several other McKinsey graduates to help implement his > radical ideas. > > While there is no suggestion that McKinsey was complicit in the > subsequent scandal, critics say the arrogance of Enron's leaders is > emblematic of the McKinsey culture. McKinseyites are notorious for > enjoying bravado-fuelled pastimes and a hothouse work culture often > compared to that of a conservative law firm. > > David Craig, a former consultant, wrote a book called Rip-Off! The > Scandalous Inside Story of the Management Consulting Money Machine. He > said consultants have been known to celebrate deals at parties with > this song: "McKinsey management consultants are we/ We take all our > clients' money/ We can earn many a million/ Because our clients have > no vision". > > Craig, who is not using his real name, says McKinsey people are not > above subscribing to the popular management consultancy acronym AFAB - > Anything For A Buck. "They are a colossus. They are utterly and > totally dominant, and they are light years ahead of everyone else. > They also have a network of alumni in powerful jobs around the world." > > Nowhere are McKinsey's connections more notable than at the heart of > the British Government. Focus groups, think tanks and consultants have > never been far from Tony Blair's leadership. Yet the extent to which > Downing Street relies on McKinsey has only recently been made clear - > with the help of the Freedom of Information Act. > > McKinsey shares a long and fruitful relationship with UK governments. > William Hague worked there as his first job, and John Major recruited > Norman - now Lord - Blackwell from the firm to lead his policy unit. > But the degree to which McKinsey alumni have ended up among Blair's > most favoured advisers is unprecedented. > > Earlier this month, David Bennett, a former McKinsey partner, was > appointed as the new head of Downing Street's policy directorate. He > joins Adair Turner, another McKinsey insider, who was asked by the > Government to formulate sweeping changes to Britain's pension system. > Also at the Prime Minister's side in 2001 and 2002 was Nick Lovegrove, > a director at McKinsey, who acted as an unpaid adviser to Blair. > Matthew Elson, another former McKinsey consultant, was brought in to > Downing Street in 2002. > > Most controversial of all was the appointment of Lord Birt of > Liverpool, a former director general of the BBC and a close friend of > Blair, who has been ushered into No 10 to do "blue skies thinking" on > everything from transport to crime. Lord Birt, who works for free, > handed over millions in fees to McKinsey to help set up the infamous > "internal market" in the BBC, under which programme makers had to > pitch ideas to accountants. These days, the boot is on the other foot: > as well as providing strategic advice for Blair, Lord Birt is a paid > consultant at McKinsey, where he is formally attached to its New York > office. > > And the flow has not all been one way: Sir Michael Barber is about to > leave his post as head of Downing Street's "delivery unit" to take up > a role looking after public-sector clients at McKinsey. Below the big > names, McKinsey middle-rankers have permeated through government > departments in Blair's time in office, working with civil servants on > huge swathes of public policy. > > The scale of investment in consultancy by the Blair Government is > alarming for many. British taxpayers paid £1.9bn last year for > consultants. The Government has resisted being specific about how much > of that went to McKinsey but, in response to a request under the > Freedom of Information Act, it had to reveal that the Ministry of > Defence alone has directed £40m to McKinsey since 2002. Before then, > the annual bill for McKinsey was less than £500,000. > > Lord Hanningfield, a Conservative peer and a House of Lords whip, > believes the situation is of such concern that a thorough > investigation of the relationship between Whitehall and the firm is > needed. "At present we almost have a revolving door, with senior > figures moving in both directions," he says. "Given the scale and > value of existing government contracts undertaken by McKinsey, the > relationship must be beyond reproach." > > The peer is keen to get to the bottom of the many roles played by Lord > Birt. "The Government has consistently refused to reveal what advice > Lord Birt, a paid consultant of the company, gives in his role as the > Prime Minister's strategy adviser. They won't even deny whether he has > used his office in No 10 to meet McKinsey colleagues and clients." > > McKinsey is not used to being in the spotlight, and is even less > accustomed to being in hot water. It never reveals its clients, and > refused to comment for this piece. But senior staff who've left the > firm are now speaking out. > > Eileen Shapiro, a McKinsey consultant in the US for 10 years, lifted > the lid on the more cynical side of its business in her book, Fad > Surfing in the Boardroom. Fad surfing, she says, is "the practice of > riding the crest of the latest management wave and then paddling out > again just in time to ride the next one; always absorbing for managers > and lucrative for consultants; frequently disastrous for > organisations". > > Craig, who did not work for McKinsey, believes that - leaving aside > the intrigue of the web of connections between Downing Street and > McKinsey's Jermyn Street offices - there is a fundamental culture > clash between consultants and civil servants. "The Government says it > is using unbiased experts, but in fact it is using incredible selling > machines. Are they going to say, 'Don't worry; we can fiddle around > and make this work'? No. They are going to want to build a new > system," Craig says. > > McKinsey's supporters reject the notion that the firm cavalierly > incurs huge expenses for clients. One of its core teachings to new > recruits, they say, is that consultants should put clients' interests > before those of their own firm. > > Those close to the firm also maintain that it is not full of arrogant > whizz-kids. They say McKinsey's atmosphere is collegial, and that most > staff have the attitude, in internal meetings, that others in the room > are probably more intelligent than they are. Also, McKinsey's people > are encouraged to be risk-taking iconoclasts because they are meant to > invent new ways of doing things rather than just to patch up imperfect > systems. > > That bold approach does not always come off, however. If it goes > wrong, McKinsey can move on to the next project, but its clients are > left with a mess - and a hefty bill. > > I'm with the Firm: McKinsey alumni > > David Bennett > Arrived in No 10 on 1 June to lead its policy unit after a 20-year > association with McKinsey, which he left last year. Expected to head > an electronic revolution in services delivery. > > Nick Lovegrove > A director of McKinsey for 20 years, and an unpaid adviser in 2001 and > 2002 to Downing Street's Forward Strategy Unit. Lovegrove is head of > public-sector work at McKinsey. > > Matthew Elson > A former McKinsey senior partner, he became transport adviser in the > No 10 Policy Unit in 2002. Lord Birt and Lovegrove have also worked on > British transport policy. > > Adair Turner > Another ex-McKinsey partner drafted into Lord Birt's Forward Strategy > Unit. A former head of the Confederation of British Industry, he is in > charge of rethinking pension policy. > > Sir Michael Barber > The head of Downing Street's delivery unit, Sir Michael is poised go > into the private sector - by joining McKinsey in a newly created post > looking after global public-sector clients. > > Lord Blackwell > An example of McKinsey's contacts with the Conservatives, he was lured > from the firm to head John Major's policy unit between 1995 and 1997. > He was made a life peer in 1997. > > Stephen Green > Chief executive of HSBC, and ordained Church of England minister. He > started his career in the Ministry of Overseas Development, joining > McKinsey in 1977 and HSBC in 1982. > > Lord Birt > Jumped from his role as BBC director general to a senior position at > McKinsey as a media expert. Now an unpaid adviser to Tony Blair, along > with a string of other senior McKinseyites. > > William Hague > Joined McKinsey after first class degrees at Oxford and the Insead > business school in France. Spent five years with the firm before > entering the House of Commons. > -- Jim Devine "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
