Where next for management’s consiglieri?

- of Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group () and McKinsey, the trio at the pinnacle of management consulting, are accustomed to operating in the shadows. Of late, though, they have been thrust into the light by . Bain has come under fire for gutting South Africa’s tax office. has been criticised for its close ties to Saudi Arabia’s autocratic de facto ruler, , and for allegedly profiting from corruption in . In a new exposé published on October 5th, “When McKinsey Comes to Town”, Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe of the pile on with a harrowing account of decades of dishonourable exploits at McKinsey, the . Allegations covered in the book include helping opioid manufacturers peddle their products to addicts, encouraging insurers to slash claims payouts to motorists and profiting from ill-gotten contracts with state-owned companies in , a charge for which the country’s prosecutors announced criminal proceedings on September 30th. McKinsey says that the book “fundamentally misrepresents our firm and our work” and that “the charges filed against our South Africa office are meritless and we will defend against them.”