McKinsey: A profile in amorality

When McKinsey is held to account, the blame is invariably taken by the partners engaged in that transaction

When McKinsey Comes to Town

Author: Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe

Publisher: The Bodley Head/Penguin RandomHouse

Pages: 368

Price: Rs 1119

McKinsey, the storied global management firm, will be celebrating its centenary in 2026. The authors of this book, journalists with the New York Times, use their considerable investigative skills, to craft an evidenced, albeit selectively curated, assault to expose the rot behind McKinsey’s public image. It makes for a riveting read but fails to shake the reader’s faith in either the market for consulting or in McKinsey.

The book gets quickly off the mark with a hint of the knife attacks on McKinsey to follow