Letters
"…so one-sided it falls off my bookshelf."

Breakaway strategies
Re: your June/02 article on "The End of Consulting as We Know It," I nearly choked on my green tea when I read the quote from consulting firm Accenture's Mary Tolan: "Accenture is less focused on classical strategy studies and more on shareholder value creation; how to double the client's share price, where the breakaway strategy for the firm is. We tend to form very close relationships with senior-level executives and, taking their ideas, accelerate their ability to implement them and get results."

Dare one ask whether this was written before the current revelations of criminal shenanigans which have tanked the market? Which have lost ordinary shareholders their investments in firms they trusted? Which have robbed them of their savings and plans for retirement?

What kind of "consulting" advice did Accenture give, aimed at "doubling the client's share price" by "taking [their] ideas" and accelerating their ability to implement them? How closely do these firms scrutinize their clients' (often cooked) books?

What kind of moral lesson are we to draw from this "breakaway strategy"?

Sara Meric, PhB'48
Santa Monica, California