McKinsey, have you considered working on your own reckoning?

Management consulting is one of the world’s most successful industries. In 2021, estimates for the size of the global market ranged between [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( [McKinsey’s Missteps Point to an Industrywide Mess]( — Adrian Wooldridge Management consulting is one of the world’s most successful industries. In 2021, estimates for the size of the global market ranged between [almost $700 billion]( (£425 billion) and [over $900 billion]( (£674 billion). Elite consultancies such as McKinsey & Co. and Boston Consulting Group have their pick of the brightest graduates of the world’s top universities. IT service consultancies make up in size what they lack in exclusivity: As of this writing, Accenture was the [57th-biggest company by market capitalization](, ahead of familiar behemoths such as Comcast, Wells Fargo, Verizon and United Parcel Service. Photographer: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images In recent decades, scandals have plagued this booming industry, ranging from IT contracts that have failed dismally to ugly ethical lapses. McKinsey has often been at the center of such tawdry episodes, despite regarding itself as a cut above the rest, both ethically and professionally. The sheer number of scandals has inevitably led to a backlash against the consulting industry. The relationship between consultants and clients has always been open to abuse. Clients never know exactly what they want from consultants. That is inevitable when you are transferring knowledge. Success is always a matter of the client’s ability to learn as well as the consultant’s ability to teach. That creates an excuse for blame-shifting. Consultancies can only survive if they have a constant stream of new clients. They have an incentive not only to create dependency in existing clients but also to stoke up further demand in the future. Read the [whole thing](. [Manchin’s Plan to Avert a Debt Crisis Just Might Work]( — Matthew Yglesias [China Is Trying to Play Nice, and It’s a Problem for the US]( — Hal Brands Are You Ready to Take Care of Your Boomer Parents?]( — Erin Lowry [Elon Musk Never Jokes]( — Matt Levine [Biden’s New Chief of Staff Has a Weak Spot]( — Jonathan Bernstein [US Could Defend Taiwan From China — at Great Cost]( — Tobin Harshaw [Democrats Are Now United, and It’s Likely to Last]( — David A. Hopkins [NATO Shouldn’t Let Erdogan Delay Expansion]( — Bloomberg’s editorial board [The Adani Short Sale Puts Investor Trust in India in Doubt]( — Andy Mukherjee More From Bloomberg Opinion Here’s what we’ve been listening to this week. - [Crash Course: Disney Vs. the Battle of the Bobs]( with Tim O’Brien (listen on [Apple]( and [Spotify]() - [Your Pension: Everything You Need to Know]( with Merryn Somerset Webb, John Stepek and Stuart Trow - [Twitter Spaces: Adani Vs. Hindenburg: A Bitter Fight]( with Andy Mukherjee, Shuli Ren and Ruth Pollard This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week based on web readership. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022